ASoIaF qualifies as low magic because those things are still incredibly rare, and they're not all that powerful. One guy can raise one person from the dead, but can't heal his wounds. A few ice faeries can raise large armies of the undead, but they're the villains and they're far away from the main plot. The faceless men are adept at shapeshifting, but they aren't actually that powerful. They're good at infiltration and make decent assassins, but that isn't exactly high magic. Dragons are dragons. Shadow assassins are nice, but also aren't something that can be spammed.TheFlatline wrote:And if memory serves, the dog-fucking thing is considered a really Bad Thing to do.angelfromanotherpin wrote:Varamyr Sixskins is a warg. It's a power set which includes projecting your consciousness into the bodies of animals (and sometimes people). He does not actually 'turn into' anything.Fucks wrote:Which character got turned into a dog?
Game of Thrones is popular for a number of reasons: Titties, soap opera-esque plotlines, good casting, some good storytelling, and the utter willingness to kill off major characters. He's pulled most of the intrigue and individual plot threads from history and wove a bunch of magic and scandal.
I still don't get the point of this thread. Yeah sure there's some kinky sex shit in the books but as AH pointed out, that's nothing new. Have you even *heard* of The 120 Days of Sodom? Justine? That shit was written nearly 250 years ago.
Also, you're not paying attention to Game of Thrones if you think it's a no/low magic world. By the end of season 3, you have inhuman ice creatures that can bring the dead back, fire breathing dragons, a woman who is basically immune to fire/heat, dark healing magic, a chick who gives birth to shadow demon assassins, a dude whose blood can catch a sword on fire, a priest who has brought a man back from dead *six* times (and will bring him back a few more times), an assassin who can change his face at will, and an entire *family* of people who can project their minds into animals. And I'm sure I'm missing a few things like wildfire.
The entire point of the story according to GRRM is that this is a world where magic is returning, suddenly and swiftly. So in that respect, it shares more in common with Shadowrun than with a no/low magic game.
When I think high magic, I think wizard from outer space teleports into your bathroom while you're on the toilet, kills everyone in your castle with a single spell, and then teleports home and has his succubus harem fetch him an sandwich from an eatery on the shores of the river Phlegethon.
Characters in A Song of Ice and Fire do not teleport to other planets, visit heaven and hell, fistfight literal gods, or level cities with a single word. Supernatural is more high-magic than Game of Thrones is.
