Ever notice that all the enemies are aligned with a school of magic?
Why are all creatures that we battle aligned with the same schools of magic we learn in Ravenwood? Why don't some of them have other schools of magic possibly with different spells we never get access to? (Dark shadow magic! Or funky weird leprechaun magic!)
And why don't spiral creatures that don't have magic participate in battles using conventional fighting?
In Marleybone we learn that most Marleybonians don't ever learn magic. I don't think the dogs ever show the use of magic, but of course the other creatures in Marleybone do (cats, frogs, etc.). The police dogs do walk around with billy clubs though.
and a good observation. Wysteria is the same way really. They talk about changing how magic is used or the schools of thought behind them, but they have only those spells you learn in Ravenwood plus whatever you MIGHT learn while questing there. I think it could be neat if there were monsters that had NO magic, and rumbled old school style. if that were to happen, they should have magic resistance (across the board) just as we should have physical attack resistance. Could be interesting, no?
I'm not complaining, giant astral bosses still waste all their pips on huge off-school spells :)
as for non-magical combat the game is built on a turn-based card game combat system. You would need a new combat system for non-magical battles. One that ignores relative size, age, and build for the most part.
Remember that we as wizards are (mostly) pasty, bookish creatures who spend most of our time poring over tomes, spellbooks, and crafting tables. Facing down even a rotting fodder in a physical fight would be quite a challenge since he, at least, has a shovel, whereas we rarely have more than a short stick or a staff at that level.
I suppose it's possible to allow you to use your ringed broadsword or bow as a weapon in nonmagical combat, if you had one. This might be unfair to wizards who haven't got one or who choose not to equip it because of a magic-based strategy decision (i.e. cut down on wand hits to enrich draws of other spells).
In most magical and mythical traditions, magical weapons should never be used for physical attacks, either because they can become physically marred or broken and lose their magical properties, or because they can become cursed or contaminated when they are used to shed blood. I think W101's system implicitly adopts this "rule" when it disallows wizards from using natural attacks (the kind where the mob walks across the circle and physically attacks you) instead letting you use wand attacks that look like kung fu moves or a volley of arrows.
