Editing Magocracy

''Not to be confused with the system of government centralized entirely around [[Magnus the Red]].''


A '''magocracy''' is a form of civil leadership only present in fantasy settings; derived from the Greek word '''''"Μάγος"''''' (''literally "wise man", but more commonly known as "mage" or "wizard"'') and Greek word '''''"Κράτος"''''' (''"Power"''), it is a government in which magic-users rule and the ability to perform magic is essential to be a member of the leadership caste.

Note that this is different to the ultimate ''ruler'' just happening to be a magic-user; to be a magocracy, ''every'' true authority figure must be some sort of magic-user, and preferably there is an explicit rule saying spellcasting ability is a prerequisite to being allowed into any position of power.

Most settings will specify magocracies as being led by ''arcane'' spellcasters; because of the usual relationship between a god and a wielder of divine magic, divine magocracies tend to be indistinguishable in many practical ways from the common [[theocracy]]. Magocracies dominated by [[psionics]]-users are sometimes referred to as ''psiocracies'' instead.

For obvious reasons, this sort of government is particularly common in high-fantasy settings like [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Canonical magocracies include [[Halruaa]], [[Thay]], [[Netheril]], and [[Imaskar]] in the [[Forgotten Realms]], Alphatia on [[Mystara]], Aundair in [[Eberron]] and the [[New Kingdom]] in the [[Warhammer 40,000]]'s galaxy.

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