What if... Magic runs dry?
„Just a little test – same chaotic brain, different language. Let’s see if the void answers.“
Post 1 (Englisch): Testballon mit Ansage
Meta Note
✉️ Just a test.
This is a rough translation of one of my German posts. I wanted to see how the tone works in English. Still sarcastic. Still ranty. Still messy.
Let’s see if the void answers.
If you’re new here: Welcome to the sandbox. I break worldbuilding until it screams.
Title in German:
„Was wäre, wenn Magie versiegt?“
In English:
What if... Magic runs dry?
Also known as:
Your magical credit score was revoked by the universe for non-payment.
🧠 Part 1 – Think. Or die stupid.
Imagine a world where magic isn’t just sparkly bullshit that flickers on cue when the plot demands it.
Magic is infrastructure. Backbone. Necessity.
Like electricity. Like antibiotics. Like the internet.
Only: all of them. At once.
Magic isn’t a spell.
It’s the operating system of the world.
It holds roofs together. Moves things. Heals. Cooks. Shields.
It brews your damn coffee.
And now?
Now it’s gone.
No warning.
No updates.
Just:
System Error 404 – World not found.
And no, this isn’t the usual fantasy crap:
“Oh no! The artifact was broken, now magic is gone. Time for a dramatic quest!”
Screw that. This is not your plot excuse for heroes to become important.
This is the moment everything collapses.
Everything people took for granted.
Everything your setting relied on.
Gone.
🔍 Brain teaser time:
– Where did magic come from?
Was it discovered? Created? Stolen?
– Was it a law of nature – or a pact?
– Did we ever understand it – or just use it?
– Was it even meant for us?
– What if it always had a price…
…and we just stopped paying?
⚠️ What crashes with it?
– Architecture that floats by enchantment?
– Supply chains based on conjuration?
– Healing magic that rewinds wounds, not treats them?
– Mirror calls. Spirit messengers. Ghostline communication?
– Teleportation hubs? Levitation roads? Dimensional anchors?
– Farms dependent on ritual weather and harvest glyphs?
– Police armed with sigil-bound flame and magical iron?
– A monetary system backed by essence instead of gold?
Yeah. That.
Now take all of it.
Delete.
Lights out.
Mirrors blind.
Golems dead.
Portals empty.
📉 Who breaks first?
– The capital city with floating districts?
– The clergy – without magic, no more miracles?
– The elites whose medicine is now battlefield surgery?
– The army, stripped of its spellforged armor?
🪨 Who survives?
– The villages that never relied on anything but their hands?
– The cults that always said magic was sin?
– The tinkerers with screws instead of sigils?
🎯 Why this exists:
Because “magic is gone”
isn’t a plot hook.
It’s a systemic collapse.
And if you build a world where magic disappears,
then you’d better damn well know
what exactly you just tore down.
🧨 Chapter 1 – Welcome to the Post-Magical World Order
(Or: Your mana card just bounced. The world declined the transaction.)
Next up: What magic actually was – and why it could die in the first place.
With context.
With consequences.
Even if you think they suck.
1. Let’s be honest: We all know the rulebooks.
Not by heart, maybe – but we know they’re there.
Dungeons & Dragons. Pathfinder. DSA. Midgard. Whatever.
They all deliver magic.
In chunks. In slots. In spells. In damn tables.
But always with one thing in common:
🧍 Focus: The heroes.
🤷 Consequences: Barely any.
You blow up a house?
Next session: Reset.
No one’s traumatized.
The land’s not poisoned. (One of my most liked parts btw)
The economy isn’t ruined.
We’re not doing that.
We break it properly.
2. What even was magic?
You can’t talk about why it fails unless you define what it was.
Magic can be many things.
But it can’t be everything at once.
So pick one.
Here are some actual working models:
🧬 A) Magic was a law of nature.
Like gravity.
Always there.
No one knows why.
No one controls it.
At best, mages are just people who learned to manipulate water…
without ever knowing what H₂O is.
🧪 B) Magic was technology.
Some ancient system built by gods, aliens, or something in-between.
And you? You’re just a script kiddie bypassing the interface.
When the server goes down?
Game over.
🩸 C) Magic had a price.
And not just mana.
I’m talking life force.
Memories.
Connections.
Animals, places, emotions.
Maybe every time you lit a fire, you lost a day of your life.
You just don’t remember which one.
➡ This is the best theory. Why?
Because it explains civilization.
Because it demands consequences.
Because it forces you to admit:
“Every time I cast a spell, someone might die. Maybe me.”
3. Was magic meant for us?
Maybe not.
Maybe it was a glitch.
A current in the fabric of the world we stumbled into… and abused.
Maybe it was never meant for humans.
And the universe just cancelled the contract.
4. How long was it even around?
Set a timeline.
– Since the dawn of time?
– Discovered 400 years ago?
– Fell with a meteor? Gifted by a god?
– Was it what gods were all along?
Also ask:
– Was anything documented?
– Are there forbidden archives?
– Ancient libraries under seal?
– Taboo words about what came before the First Witch?
5. Magic ≠ Sorcery?
Fantastic point.
Let’s break it down:
This gives your world rules.
It lets you say:
– What dies first when the collapse begins?
– Raw magic?
– Structured sorcery?
– Ancient rituals?
Pick your poison.
💥 Final thought (Chapter 1):
Magic doesn’t just die.
It dies because:
– It was drained.
– It was abused.
– It was never meant for us.
– It took something we didn’t notice – and now it wants it back.
No system dies without a system error.
And most of the time?
We were the error.
Because we were too stupid to read the damn manual.
Want more of this? Let me know.
I’ve got Part 2 loaded and ready.
Or 6. Or 9.
Depends on how many neurons survive the impact.
📝 Note from the author:
I usually write in German – with sarcasm, structure, and just enough existential dread to make it interesting.
But I’m testing the waters here.
Once a month. Or more often. Or whenever my brain screams “Now!”
If you’re curious, say hi. If not… well. The world’s still collapsing.
Your loss.
Now have a nice Day with this Picture of a Cat!
