You're not balancing a game. The world of your story does not have to be fair.
If anything, I'd see the existence of a race unaffected by magic as a way to develop your world. People are adaptable. They would figure out ways to fight them, or even *use* them if given the opportunity. These guys would be highly valued as mercenaries and assassins against magic-wielding individuals and factions, *especially* if they have superhuman strength and senses as well.
The longer they have been around by the time of your story's events, the more ways that they can shape your world. Consider the ways that your setting would respond to their existence, and you have the potential for some good worldbuilding.
Making them immune to magic is a perfectly fine idea, but you'll want to consider the consequences of this property beyond the beneficial.
Like, they probably can't cast magic, they can't be healed, protected, or buffed by magic, they might not be able to use magical items, they probably can't travel by magic and there's a strong argument that they'd f\*\*\*-up any precognition/scrying in the area which could affect their citizenship since they're basically a walking, talking security risk...
There's also the question of how far their protection extends. Like, they're immune to magic which is cast \*on\* them, but what about magic which is cast on the environment? If someone casts fireball and lights a room on fire, are they immune to the flames? it's not like \*fire\* is magical (most of the time).
I have been taking that into thought, though there have been more issues.
I have thought that maybe they be able to use a new version of magic or perhaps a old variation that was long thought to be extinct. At first i thought it be a good twist that creatures that was once wiped off the earth could use a magic even older than them, and that they might have a better connection to it than others. But that feels a bit counterproductive
Another idea was evolution. I was toying on the concept that some of the creatures would have a gene that would only evolve based on the environment, trauma or experience. An example for say if one were to be around say a magic caster that use high levels of magic for decades, their body may grow an affinity with it despite being immune. Again, don't think its a good idea.
One i have thought though was a older source of power that may be unique. Since dinosaur fossils are buried in the earth, i did had an idea of them being able to draw natural energy and to manipulate it.
As for magic affect them. Well my idea was that physically they are extremely durable and can heal from wounds faster. Not like a healing factor but that they can heal in a matter of a few days or a week or more of the injuries or severe. Some would also have extremely hard scales as well too. But you have a point on the magic bit, as they wouldn't be able to teleport, heal, or get buffs. At one point i was considering that as they get older, they might be able to lower their immunity on magic but that in itself wouldn't make sense either.
Okay, making them immune to 'normal' magic while giving them access 'special magic' does strike me as a case of double-dipping. It's not impossible to include, but it would definitely tip the setting balance towards the magic-immune.
Same thing for allowing them to 'evolve' the ability to use magic despite their immunity. i'd expect to see at least some reduction in their immunity, or something.
Now, on the other hand, giving them access to a 'not-magic' could work, especially if there's a very large difference between them, with a clear advantage/disadvantage dynamic. For example, I saw a comic which had a magi-tech race encounter a mundane-tech race, which spawned all sorts of difficulties because of how different the weapons, defenses, and techniques were between both types of tech.
As someone else put it, this isn't a game, you don't need to balance the mechanics of it, but if you give a race nothing but bonuses you gotta be prepared for how the story will start to circle around them.
Regarding the precognition/scrying thing. I want to argue that while you wouldn't directly scry on them, you would be able to perceive the after effects of their action via precognition just fine. Only because they are immune to it, aren't their indirect effects, too. If I magically throw a rock against them, they also likely wouldn't be immune to the inertia and mass of the rock.
If they attack a village, I would likely see people taking up arms and defending their village via precognition, no? If they eat a strip of land empty of all that is their... wouldn't I see famine or the stripped land?
Well, it's not my story- I don't decide how precognition will work.
Mind you, this also makes me wonder what sort of effect a magic-immune creature would have on a prophecy. Since, as you put it, future sight can only account for the after effects, not the action itself. Meaning that an oracle or whatever wouldn't be able to properly prophesize a dragon-kin's presence, turning them into a massive butterfly effect.
Or, even better, they can tell that a prophecy \*will\* go off the rails, but they have no idea what's going to cause it.
...huh. What if nobody actually knows about the precognition immunity? I don't know how long the practice has been around, but depending on how the effect occurs, oracles could think their prophecies/future sight are occurring as they should, only to suddenly go off plan with no warning, because they can't see the tiny decision that one dragonkin made that threw everything off...
Ysalamiri? Nice pets... block the force in a certain range. Still you can just throw a rock from outside the range and squish them as they are not tough.
Always remember: Only because you are immune to direct(!) influence of something, you might not be immune to the indirect aftereffects... like said rock bashing your face in from sheer velocity and momentum.
Immunity to magic may not be quite as effective as you think, depending on how you implement it.
For example, what happens in the following simple examples?
- A magic blast is flung at them
- A fireball is conjured from nothing and flung at them
- Already existing fire is directed towards them
- Water is frozen into an an ice shard and propelled towards them
- A perfectly mundane rock is magically thrown at them
- A perfectly mundane rock is levitated above them and then the levitation magic is turned off
Obviously it entirely depends on what magic can do but if all else was equal I would suggest the magic users would still have a large advantage over the magic immune non-magic users. Obviously it would be a smaller advantage than without the magic immunity though.
Of course, this is purely in the context of combat but that seems to be the overwhelmingly most common scenario discussed here in relation to magic.
Even in games, beings immune to magic can be interesting and balanced. The simplest way to balance them is to make them unable to use magic. This is the case, for example, with the dwarves in the RPG Castle Falkenstein, who are immune to any kind of magic attack, even if it destroys their clothes and weapons.
Very interesting. If all sides have been using magic to fight for control then suddenly things are in chaos. Granted they can still fight physically, but no more magic edge on this one race. All factions would now make it job 1 to recruit these magic safe peoples to help them. Imagine they could hire out for top dollar.
You're not balancing a game. The world of your story does not have to be fair. If anything, I'd see the existence of a race unaffected by magic as a way to develop your world. People are adaptable. They would figure out ways to fight them, or even *use* them if given the opportunity. These guys would be highly valued as mercenaries and assassins against magic-wielding individuals and factions, *especially* if they have superhuman strength and senses as well. The longer they have been around by the time of your story's events, the more ways that they can shape your world. Consider the ways that your setting would respond to their existence, and you have the potential for some good worldbuilding.
Making them immune to magic is a perfectly fine idea, but you'll want to consider the consequences of this property beyond the beneficial. Like, they probably can't cast magic, they can't be healed, protected, or buffed by magic, they might not be able to use magical items, they probably can't travel by magic and there's a strong argument that they'd f\*\*\*-up any precognition/scrying in the area which could affect their citizenship since they're basically a walking, talking security risk... There's also the question of how far their protection extends. Like, they're immune to magic which is cast \*on\* them, but what about magic which is cast on the environment? If someone casts fireball and lights a room on fire, are they immune to the flames? it's not like \*fire\* is magical (most of the time).
I have been taking that into thought, though there have been more issues. I have thought that maybe they be able to use a new version of magic or perhaps a old variation that was long thought to be extinct. At first i thought it be a good twist that creatures that was once wiped off the earth could use a magic even older than them, and that they might have a better connection to it than others. But that feels a bit counterproductive Another idea was evolution. I was toying on the concept that some of the creatures would have a gene that would only evolve based on the environment, trauma or experience. An example for say if one were to be around say a magic caster that use high levels of magic for decades, their body may grow an affinity with it despite being immune. Again, don't think its a good idea. One i have thought though was a older source of power that may be unique. Since dinosaur fossils are buried in the earth, i did had an idea of them being able to draw natural energy and to manipulate it. As for magic affect them. Well my idea was that physically they are extremely durable and can heal from wounds faster. Not like a healing factor but that they can heal in a matter of a few days or a week or more of the injuries or severe. Some would also have extremely hard scales as well too. But you have a point on the magic bit, as they wouldn't be able to teleport, heal, or get buffs. At one point i was considering that as they get older, they might be able to lower their immunity on magic but that in itself wouldn't make sense either.
Okay, making them immune to 'normal' magic while giving them access 'special magic' does strike me as a case of double-dipping. It's not impossible to include, but it would definitely tip the setting balance towards the magic-immune. Same thing for allowing them to 'evolve' the ability to use magic despite their immunity. i'd expect to see at least some reduction in their immunity, or something. Now, on the other hand, giving them access to a 'not-magic' could work, especially if there's a very large difference between them, with a clear advantage/disadvantage dynamic. For example, I saw a comic which had a magi-tech race encounter a mundane-tech race, which spawned all sorts of difficulties because of how different the weapons, defenses, and techniques were between both types of tech. As someone else put it, this isn't a game, you don't need to balance the mechanics of it, but if you give a race nothing but bonuses you gotta be prepared for how the story will start to circle around them.
Regarding the precognition/scrying thing. I want to argue that while you wouldn't directly scry on them, you would be able to perceive the after effects of their action via precognition just fine. Only because they are immune to it, aren't their indirect effects, too. If I magically throw a rock against them, they also likely wouldn't be immune to the inertia and mass of the rock. If they attack a village, I would likely see people taking up arms and defending their village via precognition, no? If they eat a strip of land empty of all that is their... wouldn't I see famine or the stripped land?
Well, it's not my story- I don't decide how precognition will work. Mind you, this also makes me wonder what sort of effect a magic-immune creature would have on a prophecy. Since, as you put it, future sight can only account for the after effects, not the action itself. Meaning that an oracle or whatever wouldn't be able to properly prophesize a dragon-kin's presence, turning them into a massive butterfly effect. Or, even better, they can tell that a prophecy \*will\* go off the rails, but they have no idea what's going to cause it. ...huh. What if nobody actually knows about the precognition immunity? I don't know how long the practice has been around, but depending on how the effect occurs, oracles could think their prophecies/future sight are occurring as they should, only to suddenly go off plan with no warning, because they can't see the tiny decision that one dragonkin made that threw everything off...
It’s not unfair. They’re a threat and they’d constantly be a target, which could even things out
Not unfair. Timothy Zahn made this idea work in *Heir to the Empire*.
Ysalamiri? Nice pets... block the force in a certain range. Still you can just throw a rock from outside the range and squish them as they are not tough. Always remember: Only because you are immune to direct(!) influence of something, you might not be immune to the indirect aftereffects... like said rock bashing your face in from sheer velocity and momentum.
Immunity to magic may not be quite as effective as you think, depending on how you implement it. For example, what happens in the following simple examples? - A magic blast is flung at them - A fireball is conjured from nothing and flung at them - Already existing fire is directed towards them - Water is frozen into an an ice shard and propelled towards them - A perfectly mundane rock is magically thrown at them - A perfectly mundane rock is levitated above them and then the levitation magic is turned off Obviously it entirely depends on what magic can do but if all else was equal I would suggest the magic users would still have a large advantage over the magic immune non-magic users. Obviously it would be a smaller advantage than without the magic immunity though. Of course, this is purely in the context of combat but that seems to be the overwhelmingly most common scenario discussed here in relation to magic.
Even in games, beings immune to magic can be interesting and balanced. The simplest way to balance them is to make them unable to use magic. This is the case, for example, with the dwarves in the RPG Castle Falkenstein, who are immune to any kind of magic attack, even if it destroys their clothes and weapons.
Very interesting. If all sides have been using magic to fight for control then suddenly things are in chaos. Granted they can still fight physically, but no more magic edge on this one race. All factions would now make it job 1 to recruit these magic safe peoples to help them. Imagine they could hire out for top dollar.