Not all Geekomantic paradigms are created equal. And that is not a statement based on how cool the setting is, or how good the character design or writing is within the property. Some settings and paradigms might seem cool—but they would actually be constricting or overtly harmful for practitioners. 

When a Geekomancer uses a paradigm, or is considering a paradigm, it is important to look at several aspects of the paradigm. Does the source material state that something terrible happens to magicians? Does the paradigm effectively sentence magic users to some form of terrible fate, tragedy, or other forms of unpleasantness? Is magic within that setting actively evil? 

There are six awful paradigms explored below, and reasons why they are terrible.

Lovecraft 

A world setting where knowledge is actively dangerous, and will drive anyone insane, it is not a safe place to be magic. Nevermind the racism. Lovecraftian Paradigms are often the butt of jokes, because it is so clearly an unsafe magical practice. But, people still go for the space tentacles and non-euclidian monsters. It is shocking how often people go into the Lovecraftian Mythos thinking that somehow they will be spared total madness, when total madness is the universal fate of magicians in that faith. 

The fandom wikipedia even outright states that magic within the Lovecraftian Mythos is extremely dangerous to the people who attempt to use it. Also, I am not the type who enjoys hours upon hours of chanting or ritual preparation. (https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Magic)

Do you want a grippy sock vacation? Because this is how you get a grippy sock vacation. 

Final Grade: F

Star Wars : Jedi / Sith

The Light Sabres are cool. No one can argue that, because that is a fact. But from the standpoint of the Jedi and Sith traditions, the paradigm actively sucks. Looking at the Jedi and Sith traditions after taking away the lens of the cool powers and the atmospheric music, the traditions are utterly stifling. In this article, the theoretical paradigm is examined—not the way those paradigms are portrayed in media. 

Jedi are expected to practice mindfulness and eschew attachment—much like the ‘real world’s Buddhism. This makes it a poor choice for anyone who approaches that tradition from the idea that the lightsabers or the force are cool—because Geeks are often very attached to the source material they love. So herein we have a pre-established conflict with the innate nature of Geekomancers and the paradigm itself. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi)

This also gets into a few philosophical questions. How much non-attachment is good? At what point does someone without attachment have the ability to make judgements for others they cannot relate to (because those individuals are attached)? How far does the idea of non-attachment go before it becomes toxic to mental health or existing in a secular world? 

And then you have the Sith—who appear to channel their power through constant temper tantrums. Anger can literally become poison for the body, in the form of Cortisol. Thus within these two traditions you are either forced to behave in a way against your nature (as a geek) and repress your emotions—or you are doomed to stress poisoning. 

Final Grade: D

Jujutsu Kaisen

Curses and cursed energy within the Jujutsu Kaiser universe all originate from negative emotions. Eventually, collections of negative emotions can become ‘curses.’ Most of the disappearances and unexplained deaths within this world setting are caused by curses. 

Jujutsu Sorcerers always die with regrets. This is an overt statement within the manga, from the perspective of Yaga. Gojo and Yaga also both state that someone has to be ‘not quite right in the head’ in order to be a successful exorcist. Curses are so abhorrent and repulsive that many cannot face them. Many are encourage to detach themselves from a normal sense of compassion, for the sake of their own survival. (https://jujutsu-kaisen.fandom.com/wiki/Jujutsu_Sorcerer)

And then we get into the culture of the Jujutsu-shi world. There are a few ‘legitimate’ families of Jujutsu-shi within Japan. Everyone else is called a ‘curse-user’ so there is a very clear hierarchy within the culture of sorcerers. And the culture of that world is often very cruel—and filled with some pretty harsh misogyny. 

Also, the way people become tortured and deformed by curses? It is actively grotesque. Thus, magicians who survive and live are forced to harden themselves to kindness and compassion, and they are stuck within a harsh caste system. Those that die, always die with regrets. Oof.

Final Grade: F

The Witchers

Without getting into the process in detail, the process of ‘making’ humans into Witchers is horrific and filled with both mental and physical suffering. Straight from the wiki, most trainees die by the third day of the first trial. (https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Witcher_Trials). There are there additional trials after that. And that first trial? Seizures, vomiting, and agony are par for the course. 

Within setting, Witchers are also shunned as ‘freaks’ by the vast majority of society. There are few places and few people who don’t actively chase Witchers out. In some ways, this may seem appealing to some Geeks. Both Occultists and Geeks can feel like they don’t belong in ‘normal’ places. But, this paradigm just drives that point home further. So the process of gaining power is very likely to actively kill a hopeful practitioner. In the unlikely event that someone does survive to the point of receiving the power they were after? Well, it’s going to be hard living in the ‘normal world’ if the magic of the paradigm makes people actively shun and hate you. 

Final Grade: F

Dragon Age

Does anyone else feel like the concept of a class of downtrodden mages just doesn’t make sense? If mages have all these crazy powers, how did they let themselves get put into a Very Sad Tower and have to deal with being hated by the Chantry? This is another setting where the Paradigm setting is going to make people hate practitioners and sneer at them. So that just does not seem appealing. Geeks and Occultists already have enough problems with organized religion actively campaigning against them. So this is another hard pass for me. 

The only thing that makes Dragon Age a better paradigm than The Witcher is the fact that the odds aren’t likely a Mage will die horrifically in the process of gaining their power. 

Final Grade: D