Thanks for the advice sirs!

Quote from: Cranewings;418632In a science fiction world where people have laser guns, jet packs, teleporters, force fields, mind control drugs, and invisible metamaterials, how does one write a magic system that seems magical?

To address the question more directly: it seems magical not because of what it does. Have you ever seen the Venture Bros. episode where Dr. Venture has the argument with Prof. Orpheus about magic vs. science? That's the sci-fi reality; tech can do anything magic does, just differently.

So the real difference will be in how it seems to work.  
And in game terms, you have to question two things: whether it is individually more powerful than technology, and whether on a massive scale it is more powerful than technology.
If you're playing a truly SCI-FI game, then the answer to the second should always be "no",  or people would be living in a magical rather than technological universe.  Magic is some ancient unpredictable power that only a few have a chance to learn at all, that is difficult to use, and unpredictable in its results; whereas with science anyone who applies themselves can get the degree  to know how to build a death-ray.

The first question, then, is the really important one for the PC group.  If the answer is yes, then you'll have a disproportionate number of players wanting to be magic-users.  If the answer is no, then only those players who really dig magic will care about it enough to have it, and magic is likely to show up as something that wacky NPCs and powerful deranged opponents have.  Also, in whatever way you answer these questions, make sure the system backs it up! Make sure that if you say "magic is more powerful individually than tech", the magic user shouldn't feel fucked over by the rules; or that if you say "magic is individually less powerful than tech", the system actually makes it broken.

RPGPundit

I was looking for the Venture Brothers scene to post here actually. Right now, I'm writing the martial arts rules. I actively decided to make martial arts weaker than technology, unlike my last game. Magic is going to go the same way I believe.

For a sample of the martial arts, here is one of the powers I wrote up. If it helps to scale it, people usually have about 30 hit points and deal about 3d6 damage with their hands. A laser pistol deals about 1d10x10. The rifles used by mobile infantry deal about (2d10+2)x10.

Mind over Body
Through intense meditation, the martial artist can enter an altered state in which his mind takes on all of the pain and damage that would otherwise be dealt to the body. Blades can’t pierce his skin. Fists have no effect.

This power grants the martial artist a damage reduction of 50.

While using this power, he is eligible to receive full damage from the Channel Chi ability. Martial artists who can perform Atemi strikes, gain super human strength, or simply wrestle well are effective against those using this power. Anyone using this power can ignore the damage reduction of others using it. Both warriors meet to battle on the higher plan first, their bodies acting out what transpires there.

This altered state can’t be entered into lightly. It requires up to an hour of meditation. This time can be cut in half for each one of the following present: musicians and dancers, psychoactive drugs, others entering the altered state, and a crowd of believers and supporters.

Though in this game system, a martial artist that takes non-magical abilities that let him run forward while dodging, draw his weapon as a free action, and make extra hits with his sword is pretty god damned scary to people with guns, especially if the guy doing it has a plasma sword and his victim doesn't know what's coming.

As a GM, my first question in regards to any setting that mixes Technology with Magic is "if magic can create the same effects, why was the technology developed in the first place?" Necessity is the mother of invention, and it's hard to imagine a setting where a culture has at once Wizards who can hurl fireballs in battle and artillery guns.

So, my first question would be what problems would a society turn to technology to solve if magic is already accessible? This is related to what "role" magic plays in the society. If magic is viewed as a a religious or supernatural phenomenon, then perhaps it can only be used in certain socially-acceptable situations. If "magic" is much more ingrained in the culture, then there's a chance the penumbra of what constitutes "magic" will be broader. In the middle ages, the Blacksmith was considered almost on the same level as a Wizard.

 "Magic" may involve certain rituals the farming community employ to ensure a good harvest, or a fisherman may know some "spells" to avoid danger at sea or improve his catch for the day. The point being, looking to older human civilizations, often their conception of "Magic" is comparable to certain high levels of proficiency (elfs granting a musician the ability to play the harp with great skill, or a healer whose herbalism talent allows them to "magically heal").

The more intergrated into the setting a magic system is, the more it seems to "make sense" using fairytale logic. It also can be used to set up an interesting juxtoposition, where magic seems a natural and normal part of life and technology is actually the strange, weird, and sometimes scary otherworldly power.

Quote from: TristramEvans;419428As a GM, my first question in regards to any setting that mixes Technology with Magic is "if magic can create the same effects, why was the technology developed in the first place?" Necessity is the mother of invention, and it's hard to imagine a setting where a culture has at once Wizards who can hurl fireballs in battle and artillery guns.

In Sci-fi, there are MANY ways to address this.  In the Legion campaign, for example (which granted, is a superhero background as well as sci-fi), Magic was once far more prevalent in the universe, and is now dimmed down in this age (with one major epic in the campaign, "The Magic Wars" being where powerful forces attempted to reignite the power of magic and destroy the technological world).
Beyond that, it was clear that magic and technology did NOT develop side-by-side; worlds chose their path. Most worlds chose technology over magic.  The Sorcerer's World (Xerox, later Tharn) was one where magic dominates, and there are a couple of other worlds where aristocracy with certain magical powers (Orando, Talok, Zwen, Naltor) created societies that were originally magic-dominant, but the relatively weaker nature of the magic that they had (compared to the full-bore magic of the Sorcerer's World) made those worlds stay primitive and isolated until found by the technology-wielding races of the galaxy.  After that, some (like Zwen and Naltor) chose to embrace technology; those few with access to magical powers continuing to use them but the bulk of society switching over to technological convenience, while other worlds (Orando, Talok) choosing the path of isolationism and remaining in relative barbarism (medieval-esque barbarism in the case of Orando, Conan-esque barbarism in the case of Talok).

RPGPundit