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Tech and magic are counter cultural and thus the difficulty in attempting to use both. For instance a being grows up using magic, everyday, all day. It's taught in schools. He has a job using magic. Then he travels to a tech city...guess what, he is not going to understand how to drive a car, or fly a plane or use a computer...why? Because his reality is different and it doesn't follow the same rules as another beings reality.
Eventually, with time, he might learn how to drive a car or fly a plane but will never understand the underpinnings of HOW a car works or a plane flies...just as a technologically indoctrinated being will ever understand how a bunch of squiggly lines on a stone wall can teleport a being thousands of miles away in the blink of an eye. He will know that it works, but never understand how.
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And thanks for the speedy answer!
Am I right in assuming, then, that the three cultural blocs inhabit parallel realities, but not the same physical reality? If so, then yep, I can buy the above.
If they co-exist in the same plane, on the same world, then I have trouble with it. Every culture inhabiting the same physical space, if it has the means to travel and communicate, is going to absorb elements of the cultures it meets and disseminate elements of its own. In that regard, it would be nigh-on impossible to keep your fae, human and goblinoid cultures as distinct as you say they are. And, if you have a fae mage who is capable of understanding deep esoteric and magical theory, why wouldn't he also grasp the principles of physics, or the co-ordination skills, needed to drive a car? That's where I have a problem with using clear divisions between magic users and tech users, as exclusive propositions, if the three cultures inhabit the same plane of existence. It seems to be more of a game balance mechanic to limit PCs power, rather than a genuine way of representing different cultures and how they clash.
You can, by all means, have magic use as a dominant cultural trait in one society, and tech use in another, but saying that one culture will
never understand the trappings of another is rather artificial. Cultures always exchange doctrines, practices and understandings. That's how the world works. Someone might not
choose to understand magic or tech, but there'll always be those who strive to do so, in order to gain an advantage or an edge over their enemies, if for nothing else. If there isn't this possibility, then the premise is rather short-changing the PCs and limiting all kinds of great adventuring potential too. One of the things that made Shadowrun so fun was the ability to play an Elven, magic-wielding street samurai who could teleport, but was also equipped with cyberware and tech augmentations.
But, as I say, if you have three 'bubble' realities, or the cultures occupy parallel dimensions, where the laws of the universe are unique, then I can buy what you're saying!