#somatic

Yo- so- I’ve been doing some thinking recently. Specifically about what ways in TTRPGs geography would/should/does effect the prevalence and manifestation of magic. 

Like we all get druids hang out in the woods- clerics are around temples- wizards have towers and schools and all that jazz in some classic fantasy. That just sorta scratches the surface of what I’m thinking about though. And to a certain extent this idea has been considered by the Circle of the Land Druids but id like to explore it further.

For example- let’s us, you and I- look at the Tempest Cleric. It makes sense to me that the storm gods are prayed to more heavily in costal regions and so it tracks to me that in port towns or seaside villages the most common/largest/best kept temples would be staffed by Tempest Clerics. And that when a ship goes out to sea they either get blessed by a stormy priest or even bring one along both to keep wind up and in the sails and to prevent shipwrecking storms from arising. 

I think this train of though kinda continues to track with other classes too. I would posit that rural or more isolated communities would be more likely to have a sorcerer or warlock as arcane casters than a wizard just based on access to fancy magical education. It’s way easier to make a deal with a hag for some good good magic then it is to move your ass a thousand miles just to be the man who went to wizard school. AAAAND think through this with me- I would argue it is more beneficial for a village to have an in with a hag than one good wizard- help protect your crops in the fall, maybe get a milder winter, maybe your village livestock never really seems to have issues with predators. No good ol’ wizard is really gonna be able to do that.

On the subject of arcane nerds however I think some schools of magic would be more popular foci of study in different areas. A rural wizard might practice divination to find the ideal time for planting and how late you can leave crops in before the seasons change. An urban wizard might be more inclined towards abjuration or evocation- two schools where they city they live in might be more interested in employing them for defense or what not.

I dunno if all this makes sense to anyone else but I’ve really been thinking about it a lot recently and wanted to throw it on out there.