Editing Magipunk:Magic (section)

== Obsolesence ==

The invention of new spells is a flourishing art in the Magipunk setting. The spells of today are far more elegant, compact, and efficient than spells of even a few years ago – the prevalence of spellcasters, competition, and openness of magic have driven a great deal of change in comparison to generations past, when sorcery was the provence of only a few dedicated but secretive individuals. This means that spell-storage items from more than a few years ago tend to be clunkier, larger, less mana-efficient, and otherwise inferior to today's products. This is one reason that not everyone is thrilled with the idea of indelibly tattooing themselves with spells that will one day become obsolete.

Pseudo-game rules:  Obsolesence is measured in an abstract number-set, starting at 0 (meaning a spell which is not at all obsolete -- totally up-to-date/cutting edge), and trailing off down to 10 or more (meaning a spell which is incredibly backwards by modern standards).  Obsolesence has been accelerating in recent years, so while a spell that was up-to-date five years ago is somewhat obsolete today, one that was up-to-date ten years ago isn't that much worse.  A rough table of obsolesence values to time:

{| border="1"
|-
| Obsolesence
| Meaning
|-
| 0
| Cutting edge -- probably creatd no more than 6 months ago.
|-
| 1
| Modern -- still very nice, created probably 6-18 months ago.
|-
| 2
| No longer new -- created probably 18-30 months ago.
|-
| 3
| Getting somewhat old -- created probably 3-4 years ago.
|-
| 4
| Obsolete -- created probably 4-5 years ago.
|-
| 5
| Very obsolete -- created probably 5-7 years ago.
|-
| 6
| Almost unusable -- created probably 7-10 years ago.
|-
| 7
| Pathetic -- created probably 10-15 years ago.
|-
| 8
| Ancient -- created probably 15-20 years ago.
|-
| 9
| Generations behind -- created probably 20-30 years ago.
|-
| 10
| Of a different era -- created probably 30-40 years ago.
|}

In some rare cases, a spell may actually have negative obsolesence -- this represents a major breakthrough in spell construction that hasn't really "hit the streets" yet.

Obsolesence ratings are primarily used for spells that have been engraved onto items or tattooed onto people.  Any sorcerer in Atathorn who cares at all about his craft will stay up-to-date on the latest breakthroughs, and so any spell cast dynamically will usually be Obsolesence 0.  Sorcerers from less advanced areas (out in the country side, or from kingdoms less advanced than Branmir) may still be casting "behind the times," at Obsolence 1 or even 2 or 3, until they catch up with the state of the art.

Obsolesence affects both a spell's power and its ability to affect other magic.  In general, Obsolesence 0 spells cost "what they should."  Higher Obsolesence spells cost 10% more mana per point of Obsolesence than would a Obsolesence 0 spell (so if you have a tattoo that gives you some amount of personal armor, and it's Obsolesence 3, and that spell cast by a sorcerer today would cost 10 mana, activating your tattoo would cost 13 mana).  In addition, if two spells with different Obsolesence ratings come into direct opposition (like an attack spell against an armor spell, or a dispell targeting any kind of standing spell), the lower-obsolesence spell should get some kind of bonus (dependent on game system).