The creatures living on the Warhammer World have had to get used to the fact that for them magic is real. The contamination of their environment and even their own bodies by warp energy means that it is perfectly feasible to create a physical manifestation of anything based upon your own willpower and imagination.
That this is actually based on their psychic ability is completely beyond most mortals comprehension, they simply consider it to be either magic, or a divine gift. On other planets with more technologically advanced civilisations scientists have made the psychic connection, but Warhammer is not that advanced.
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Not everyone can use magic and the probability varies amongst the different species living on the Warhammer world.
We are told that approximately one human child in a thousand is born with the ability to manipulate magic.(WFRPv2 Core Rules ‘Magic and the Races’ page 141) Unfortunately, very few of these children have the willpower and intellect necessary to control their gift, and so for most, their lives tend to be short and end horrifically. It is for this reason more than any other that the use of magic has a reputation for being dangerous amongst the human races of the planet.
By comparison almost every Elf on the planet can at least detect the existence of magic energy, and the vast majority learn to manipulate it during their childhood. In fact, an elf who could not at least see the flow of magical energy in the air around them would be considered disabled by their kindred.
Dwarfs on the other hand are almost impervious and oblivious to magic. Perhaps because of their relative body density they don’t seem to absorb warp energy as readily as other races and so can only wield it at all by subsuming it into other objects as part of their crafting processes. This tends to make dwarven crafted items extremely powerful and sought after, by everyone except the elves who consider them crude.
Halflings and Gnomes, perhaps because their similar body densities, tend to share a similar relationship with magic as dwarves. Though Halflings cannot match the dwarven crafting skills and prefer to concentrate on the application of magic for therapeutic or cultural benefits. Gnomes on the other hand claim to be even better craftsmen than the dwarves, although they tend to focus more on the fashioning of charms and jewellery from precious metals and objects than weapons and armour.
Regardless of their race if a mortal can learn to channel warp energy effectively and control their thoughts then they can be reasonably certain of producing a predictable result. Unfortunately, many can’t and for them anything can happen. Thus every race on the planet has adopted its own strategy and attitude towards magic, the Skaven, a race of giant rats, even eat it to enhance their power.
Every race has also developed their own rationalisation about what magic is and how best to use it, and over the centuries these beleifs have shaped their evolution and culture.
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