Replacing technology with magic (be imaginative)

[Accelerator]

So let's say there's a world with... what we would refer to as magic. Summoning, golem-making, spells to make plants grow faster, fleshcrafting... the works.

So basically, its a world where what we can refer to as magic, exists. The thing is, human needs are always the same. So of course, people would use magic as a way of making our lives easier, the same way people would use technology in our world to make our lives more convenient.

Ok, you can do this with any type of magic, but here's the catch: make it imaginative and different.

Ok, here's one for mining.

The problem with mining and such, is twofold: First, to get to the minerals and the stuff. Secondly, to actually extract it. Burrower worms are one such solution to the problem. Being at least the size of a man and with a mouth capable of grinding rock to dust, this docile and harmless animal can be trained to 'sniff out' and eat rock containing certain minerals, metals or any substance contained within the earth. The worm burrows through the earth, eating and digesting everything, except for that particular substance, which it stores in a special pouch. On a signal, it vomits out the substance, which can vary from iron, to gold, to silver.

So yes, burrowing snakes that can spit out gold and silver.

 

[Ivar]

I will immediately say that I write this from the point of a very specific and personal setting where magic: can not be taught to everyone, mages are rather rare, magic powerful, magic does not lend itself to certain methods of mass reproduction.

Let's take the refrigerator for example. It is very difficult to make a unique spin on this concept, considering that cold cellars existed before the invention of the refrigerator itself. But there are several ways, one that I use is the creation of a unique infrastructure. Those. Refrigerated boxes require unique ice crystals that are grown separately with the help of trained personnel for this particular magical process. Then it's just a matter of creating a nonmagic cold distribution system.

But this is the most common model of a refrigeration box, more exotic models may say include a contract with spirits. Give the spirit of the refrigerator, a pint of ice cream once a week or it will break and you will have to buy a new one. Another way is unique artifacts that require special conditions of use, such as placing only in the pentagram.

In general, the idea that I have for a magical civilization is the fact of the production of magic products by trained personnel of not magicians. Then these products are used in everyday business as coolers, fuel, reagents and so on. In this case, some production processes can be aimed at creating reagents for magicians, which in turn allows them to produce more things.

 

[Rakaziel]

I think the most realistic take would be convergent evolution - different civilizations replacing different (and sometimes the same, especially the higher complexity goes) technologies with different magic.

A civilization of druids might try to solve everyday problems with pacts with elementals and spirits - the easiest example would be contracting the services of a minor fire elemental in lighting a fire - easier to find than flint and steel (especially in the middle of the woods) or making a fire by hand - the price of the pact is that the elemental gets to feed on the fire when it is time to extinguish it - a bit more wasteful in materials (elementals have an appetite) but it risks no forest fires since the elementals are sated by a larger number of smaller meals. Refrigeration, aside from cold cellars, would be done in the depths of lakes and rivers through a compact with the merrows.


A civilization of necromancers on the other hand might use death spells for various functions - water purification, wound desinfection, abortion, and depending on how they can alter organic tissues (presumably into anorganics) in tanning, industrial level production of petrified wood as a building material, reducing waste into flammable fuels etc. Of course there is also the classic necromancy, calling upon spirits as messengers, spies, teachers and advisors, or simply talking with deceased ancestors. The thing with raising skeletons to do all the work is always where they get the energy for moving, and with zombies in how you handle the repairs (rot is not problem if you continiously kill the microorganisms (which would also explain their "aura of death" and doing Necrotic damage on touch) but knitting tissue back together is kind of a problem (albeit is can be temporarily be solved with transplants as they no longer have an immune system that can reject it).


If bardic magic is the basis of a civilization (essentially convincing the gods or genius loci to alter reality to your whims) things would quickly turn unpredictable, and it would probably not have much of a basis in the sciences if it can just suspend the rules of physics - the gods and genius loci in turn might be powered by belief, making live performances in their favor very important.

A mechancially very similar but societally very different civilization would be one where you have to convince your myriad little patron gods to do your things - you might have to pray to the effigy of a fire god which you have built as your oven to burn the fuel more efficiently or to not burn your bread, pray to the god of walls to survive an earthquake or siege, pray to the god of clouds to avoid flood or drought.
Of course, if the gods are shaped by the minds of living beings, they might inherit their evolutiary psychology and vie for status, and demand ever more extortionate sacrifices from their worshippers as a form of conspicious consumption. The end result could be the people becoming pets (if they are lucky!) to the products of their own minds.


Fleshcrafting or more precisely biomancy (must convince the crafted flesh to heal back together) is essentially tissue engineering, induced chimerism and genetic engineering - without needing modern or SciFi medical equipment.
A society resulting from utilizing this would not have most medievel -or even modern!- worries about agriculture and health issues, but might be seriously behind in (non-biological) civic engineering, modern firearms and anorganic computing (instead relying on mentats ala Dune). The square cube law (unless it is suspended) means they still cannot build kaiju (the highest would be relatively tall buildings from interwoven trees, with entire teams of biomancers carefully controlling the growth cycle) and flight would also mean serious limitations (the best they can build aside from griffins and dragons would be organic zeppelins, the membranes probably built from algae).