After doing a lot of research and resigning myself to the fact that the number of kung fu duels I fight will be increasing exponentially in the next few years, I turned in my article on magic and qi to Fantasy Faction. You can read it here!
The article includes a basic overview of qi (aka chi or ki), its history and relationship to Daoism, its use in the training of the Shaolin monks, and the introduction of the Monk class into D&D, which became an archetype for fantasy martial artists in the Western fantasy genre.
This is the second column I’ve done focusing on a specific type of mage and magic, the first being my column “Old Grey Beards.” If you haven’t read my Worlds Within Worlds columns on Fantasy Faction, here they are:
THE NECRONOMICON TO THE NOKIZI: CREATING TEXTS FOR SECONDARY WORLDS
EXPLORING VVARDENFELL: HOW MORROWIND CREATED AN IMMERSIVE SECONDARY WORLD
WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS – PART TWO: MAGIC WARFARE
WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS – PART THREE: OLD GREY BEARDS
WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS – PART FOUR: QI AND FANTASY
The next spotlight on mages and magic will (hopefully) be necromancers and necromancy!