The "Leap Tall Buildings" feat _is_ better suited for leaping tall buildings than the generic, broad "Leap" ability. Not because it is a _magical_ ability, but because it is a _specialized_ ability for building-leaping actions.
What i was trying to convey was that magical abilities aren't inherently superior to mundane abilities just because they're magical. Particular abilities are OTOH often superior to other particular abilities when used appropriately.
>One way of putting your view is that how magical an effect is depends on
>how similar it _sounds_ to a mundane ability. If it's called "Flying",
>well that's not natural, so hey - you can fly with it. But if it contains
>the word "Leap", that immediately brings it down to earth - everybody can
>jump, so this is just the same thing with a colorful tag.
No. If you have "Flying" you can use it to fly. But it's your rating that determines how good you are at it. If you have the magical affinity "Leap" at 15ww but your opponent has the mundane ability "Leap" at 15www, your opponent will likely win the leaping contest.
Also, if the contest is about leaping across a 100m wide chasm (say, "Wide" at 15www), your opponent stands a good chance of actually jumping across with his 'mundane' ability.
Just because an ability is mundane in origin doesn't mean it can't be used for superhuman, 'magical' actions.
If you (for obscure some reason) have the mundane ability "make fire" at 15www and the magical feat "ignite" at 15, you still need some firemaking equipment in order to successfully use the mundane ability. Which you don't when using the magical feat.
>Then again, just because a feat contains the word "Kill", that doesn't
>make it an instant-death ability.
I know. But newcomers, used to frex RQ magic, might be confused as to how such absolute-result abilities are used in play. I know i was, in the early days of HWing.
-- - Mikael Raaterova [.sig omitted on legal advice]
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