It's Science Fantasy.
It works both ways because a wizard did it - literally.
Real world physics are relatable and down to earth. That's why all of the playable races are humanoids and not the much more logical creatures beyond explanation or in completely different states as compared to humans, with entirely different biological systems. But humanoid characters help players connect with the story, in the same way that real world physics do.
The other elements, such as the planes and magic and cities built into the actual sun, are the fantastical elements, to give the setting flavor and to extend upon the pre-existing universe.
It's a tool to facilitate storytelling.
It's Science Fantasy.
It works both ways because a wizard did it - literally.
Real world physics are relatable and down to earth. That's why all of the playable races are humanoids and not the much more logical creatures beyond explanation or in completely different states as compared to humans, with entirely different biological systems. But humanoid characters help players connect with the story, in the same way that real world physics do.
The other elements, such as the planes and magic and cities built into the actual sun, are the fantastical elements, to give the setting flavor and to extend upon the pre-existing universe.
It's a tool to facilitate storytelling.
You can have all those elements without the underlining physics of the game universe contradicting each other. One one hand the lore talks about the sub-atomic that make up the universe, which were created by natural processes following the big bang, then on the other hand it talks about how the universe was created from fire, earth, water, and air merging with positive energy.
You can have all those elements without the underlining physics of the game universe contradicting each other. One one hand the lore talks about the sub-atomic that make up the universe, which were created by natural processes following the big bang, then on the other hand it talks about how the universe was created from fire, earth, water, and air merging with positive energy.It's Science Fantasy.
It works both ways because a wizard did it - literally.
Real world physics are relatable and down to earth. That's why all of the playable races are humanoids and not the much more logical creatures beyond explanation or in completely different states as compared to humans, with entirely different biological systems. But humanoid characters help players connect with the story, in the same way that real world physics do.
The other elements, such as the planes and magic and cities built into the actual sun, are the fantastical elements, to give the setting flavor and to extend upon the pre-existing universe.
It's a tool to facilitate storytelling.
These are explained by various attempts at a "combined aspect theory", analogous to the IRL unified field theory. IOW, they just appear to contradict and not be simultaneously possible when in fact they don't. We know they are possible because they both are "real".
No one as of yet having succeeded in writing an accepted combined aspect theory is not reason for assertion that the two ideas are mutually exclusive.Note: I haven't seen any mention anywhere of a "combined aspect theory" but am rather pointing out the dubiousness of asserting contradiction in physics/magic as a problem in this sci-fantasy game system/setting.
You can have all those elements without the underlining physics of the game universe contradicting each other. One one hand the lore talks about the sub-atomic that make up the universe, which were created by natural processes following the big bang, then on the other hand it talks about how the universe was created from fire, earth, water, and air merging with positive energy.
Ah, I didn't pick up on that part. Now I get what's being layed down.
That said... It's still possible both are true. The makeup of sub-atomic particles may be pieces of elemental planes and the positive energy plane, which may be responsible for the big bang.
At the very least, that is vague and not that well linked together.
Alternatively, the nature of reality could be contingent on the narrative framework with which an observer approaches it. Expect Standard Model particles? All your experiments show Standard Model particles. Expect elemental planes? Your wizardry shows elemental planes.
The wave function collapses in weirder ways than we can imagine... or perhaps it collapses as we imagine.
Why can´t Inner Planar forces from all of the Inner Planes, being grinded together into an seperate plane of existance have underlying laws of physics?
I mean, if all the planes "push" the same amount of planar substance into the Material, should there not be some established rules of how things interact and work?
Magic would then be a lever of some sort, that shifts the baseline governing rules in one way or another, to get an wished effect by appeasing, coercing or otherwise manipulating the planar forces to change how they interact with the Material, such that an Fireball is actually unstable plasma that is being kept in check by elemental pressure until it explodes, this is being done by increasing the influence of the Plane of Fire in an small area for a short while, until you release the thin shell of elemental forces keeping it stable and let physics take over. (Small ball of pressurized plasma introduced to an sudden release of said pressure equals BOOM!)
If you disagree, just make up your own theories of how thing interact and dont use sci-fi jargon, but explain things with Planar Interaction Theory and the Unnified Divinity Theorem instead of Physics and Quantum Theory.
Or their alternate dimensions that work on different physics. The cross over is some weird combination of dimensions meeting each other and making weird things happen.
Alternatively, the nature of reality could be contingent on the narrative framework with which an observer approaches it. Expect Standard Model particles? All your experiments show Standard Model particles. Expect elemental planes? Your wizardry shows elemental planes.
The wave function collapses in weirder ways than we can imagine... or perhaps it collapses as we imagine.
Except that we (the humans of Earth) weren't expecting anything when we started looking at the world in detail and we found subatomic particles, so clearly your expectations do not shape what you see.
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Except that we (the humans of Earth) weren't expecting anything when we started looking at the world in detail and we found subatomic particles, so clearly your expectations do not shape what you see.Alternatively, the nature of reality could be contingent on the narrative framework with which an observer approaches it. Expect Standard Model particles? All your experiments show Standard Model particles. Expect elemental planes? Your wizardry shows elemental planes.
The wave function collapses in weirder ways than we can imagine... or perhaps it collapses as we imagine.
How can you know that? Maybe Rutherford and Goldstein were slightly convinced that Prout´s hypothesis about "protyles" were right somewhere. I mean, the hypothesis had been around for near a century before they found them, if not as Prout predicted, but he might have planted the idea.
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*Waits patiently for Descartes to catch up*
Except that we (the humans of Earth) weren't expecting anything when we started looking at the world in detail and we found subatomic particles, so clearly your expectations do not shape what you see.Alternatively, the nature of reality could be contingent on the narrative framework with which an observer approaches it. Expect Standard Model particles? All your experiments show Standard Model particles. Expect elemental planes? Your wizardry shows elemental planes.
The wave function collapses in weirder ways than we can imagine... or perhaps it collapses as we imagine.
This presumes that expectation is a phenomenon of consciousness. But it is possible that the expectation that shapes empirical observation never rises to the level of conscious awareness. Also, seeing alpha particles certainly means one wants to shtupp one's mother.
How can you know that? Maybe Rutherford and Goldstein were slightly convinced that Prout´s hypothesis about "protyles" were right somewhere. I mean, the hypothesis had been around for near a century before they found them, if not as Prout predicted, but he might have planted the idea.Except that we (the humans of Earth) weren't expecting anything when we started looking at the world in detail and we found subatomic particles, so clearly your expectations do not shape what you see.Alternatively, the nature of reality could be contingent on the narrative framework with which an observer approaches it. Expect Standard Model particles? All your experiments show Standard Model particles. Expect elemental planes? Your wizardry shows elemental planes.
The wave function collapses in weirder ways than we can imagine... or perhaps it collapses as we imagine.
Because the universe has proven time and time again that our expectations of it are wrong and that we have much more to learn, and has many times gone against our expectations.
What Paizo seems to be aiming for is "We want scientific concepts and physics-babble, because it is just not sci-fi without them... but we also want our Great-Wheel-expy cosmology, including the Inner Planes, for legacy purposes," which is the wrong way to go about it.
You had some other stuff, but I selected the most relevant portion to reply to. The point of sci-fantasy is to have it both ways, it's quite literally the purpose of the genre. Now you may think it's the wrong way, but that's an opinion, one which not everyone is going to agree with.
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Whether it's four magical fundamental elementals or a bunch of mundane subparticles, it doesn't change the fact that the world is a blasted irradiated hellscape and that "we're all gonna die" is the only optimistic truth.
"we're all gonna die" is the only optimistic truth.
I have some further bad news for you, my friend.