MAGIC returns to OUR world...

[T51R]

No sh!t, its actual freaking MAGIC!

How? In order to seal their place in eternity as The Loudest Band on Earth, Ever? Manowar bribe a certain Alien Emissary to tune their amps for their Final Battle world tour, after which they'll return to Valhalla(i.e. retire and roll in it)

So? Well, they play so hard and so loud that their amps, fused with alien tech and powered by Eric Adams' final, earth-shattering vocal solo break the seals that the Gods placed on Earth that kept all life from accessing, and using, actual Magicks!

The Age of Magic is upon us once again while our technology is more advanced than it has ever been, creating endless conundrums!

POKEMON! DRAGONS! MERMAIDS! SWORDS AND SORCERY! YOUR FAMILY CATS TURNING INTO SEMI-DEMI-HUMANS AND CLAIMING YOU AS THEIR PARENTS! Oh, my!

How well(or badly) do you do in this New World Order of both magic and technology?

[Sharpandpointies]

Two things -

1. Try to survive;
2. Try to learn magic.

I guess everything depends on the rest.

Also, swords? Not so important, seeing as you've left us with Tech. This isn't Ariel, for example.

[Primetime Harder]

Aurors become a thing real quick after millions of teenage edgelords discover it's possible to summon actual demons.

[Iron_Twister]

Aurors become a thing real quick after millions of teenage edgelords discover it's possible to summon actual demons.

I'm thinking more like Dreden Files Wardens...probably because that shows I need to reread Harry Potter series again.

[Sharpandpointies]

It all depends on how easy it is to use magic.

'Magic!' is a very generalized thing. But is it something anyone and everyone can learn to use easily? Does it take massive amounts of devotion and study (which, honestly, wipes away most of the planet's population as being either incapable/not having the time/not wanting to put the time in)? Does it take being born with a special 'gift' (ugh, I detest this one)?

We know it's not the last one - 'all living beings', etc. But how easy IS it to learn? Does it require specialized artifacts to use? What are its limitations?

Without these details, it's far too vague to give anything but vague answers.

[The MunchKING]

Also, swords? Not so important, seeing as you've left us with Tech. This isn't Ariel, for example.

Tell it to Final Fantasy.

Magic swords beat ordinary assault rifles every day.

[Sharpandpointies]

Magic sword being swung by a superhuman, sure.

I'm not that, and probably won't be - it'll be something they figure out further generations down the road. :)

[wjowski]

Time to see if the local Hermetic chantry has any openings.

[The Drunkard Kid]

"Returns"?

I'm pretty sure that 2016 as a whole is solid evidence that Earth has run afoul of some sort of especially petty wizard.

[Primetime Harder]

"Returns"?

I'm pretty sure that 2016 as a whole is solid evidence that Earth has run afoul of some sort of especially petty wizard.

The Cubs winning the series broke the seventh seal.

[StupidMoniker]

I become a Shadowrunner.

[T51R]

It all depends on how easy it is to use magic.

'Magic!' is a very generalized thing. But is it something anyone and everyone can learn to use easily? Does it take massive amounts of devotion and study (which, honestly, wipes away most of the planet's population as being either incapable/not having the time/not wanting to put the time in)? Does it take being born with a special 'gift' (ugh, I detest this one)?

We know it's not the last one - 'all living beings', etc. But how easy IS it to learn? Does it require specialized artifacts to use? What are its limitations?

Without these details, it's far too vague to give anything but vague answers.

Lets just say that anything and everything now has magical potential, but some magics are easier to learn than others. i.e....

Let's put is as "you get what you train for," so if a person isn't somehow naturally gifted in say, Primordial Macicks he or she will have a very hard time with it even with the same amount of work. But that person can still use Sympathetic Magicks well enough to either heal, summon small familiars, or very slightly alter probability.

But a person who is willing to monster their training and go beastmode every day, they can get quite good at even the most difficult tasks.

Those who possess both natural gifts for the Craft, AND work like a dog to get better? These people are likely going to be damned powerful.

Of course, attempting to use the Divine Magicks would instantly kill any Earth life form since we can't handle godly powers.

OH! Might as well also put it that we can draw the magical energy from inanimate and/or non-living objects, and use it to POWER UP...

[Sharpandpointies]

Okay, so that means people need to experiment with stuff to find out what they're good at doing.

Eventually, I'm sure someone will figure out some kind of 'sorting hat' kind of garbage to determine this the easy way. But that'll take years. If not decades. Until that point, only the most obsessive-compulsive people or extremely lucky ones will discover their 'true calling' and become...well, however powerful people with magic can be (you haven't really noted anything of the power level).

And that's without considering that for some time, there aren't any schools or such, so people are trying to learn this stuff on their own. That's not a fast process. Most people won't care to drop all of their creature comforts and put in the work. Those in poor situations who WOULD want to do it? Might not have the time.

Eventually, if magic is powerful enough, I can completely see the world becoming some kind of place run by the magical elite, or wars happening between them where they use people as pawns, etc. Personal power becoming a huge thing, yeah, people will go for that and it can and will (often) bring out the worst in them.

But at the start?

We're going to be really busy trying to avoid getting messed up by magical creatures and disasters. There aren't suddenly going to be archmages running around messing things up, in my opinion. Like any area of human research, it's going to take time to get off the ground (though I'd be curious if computer modeling using 'augmented' systems would help - I suspect technomagick would become a thing, more than old school sorcery).

Mileage may vary.

[The MunchKING]

given that he mentioned both Pokémon and Sword and Sorcery, I'm guessing a lot of kids wander off to try to be "friends" with the Pokémon, and get caught by the various nasty beasties in S&S (EDIT: or Pokémon, some of those guys were NASTY). How bad that is I guess depends on how smart/resourceful the kids are and how many Heroes with magic are wandering around now.