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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ian" data-source="post: 342265" data-attributes="member: 6495">The TruthHere's mine. I thought I had a pretty good shot with it, but I tend to think that kind of stuff all the time <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />. I'm really interested to hear what other people think of this, so I'd love any comments.BTW This isn't the exact one I sent in, the final version is on a different computer.Credits: Ian Freeman & Simon Keeble--------------The Truth“For not all true things are the truth… [and] not all true things are to be said to all men.” – Bishop Clement of AlexandriaCore Ethos Statement. The Truth is a world of medieval fantasy, driven by culture shock and magical evolution, that has just seen The Divinity War: 30 years ago, Humanity murdered the Gods.Who are the Heroes?This is a world of chaos, but not the “Chaos” that one typically finds in fantasy. Rather, it is the true kind of chaos, a chaos that exists in the mind, a chaos that is catalyzed by hundreds of contradictory religions, cultures, superstitions, uncertainties, wars, and lies. The heroes are those who have a chance to change their world, however they can. Whether they wish to profit from the chaos, end it, or simply revel in it, they are inextricably connected to this chaos and cultural mélange.What do they do?In short, what they will. The heroes are here to shape the world, fundamentally by changing themselves: by coming to understand the world and then using that knowledge. They also have the opportunity to become one of the “touched”, those who perceive the world and their bodies with magic and so rise up as heroes beyond mortal standard. Fundamentally, game play is open-ended.Conflict.The greatest danger is the chaos, a chaos that could spill over into war or worse. This chaos has been sowed not by a specific individual, but rather by the aftershocks of the Divinity War. The truth is also a threat and a conflict. Because the power of magic is dependent on knowledge of the physical world (see below), the flow of this “scientific” knowledge is of great significance. This leads to the paralysis of technology. The Shapers (powerful, more-or-less benevolent mages) understand science and technology, but cannot give these boons to the general populace for fear of what might be done in the wrong hands, because if everyone is as powerful as a great mage, terrible things would occur. A villain is, fundamentally, someone who opposes or threatens the ideology (because of it’s importance) of the heroes.What is Magic?There are many different views on how magic works (from simple superstition to more complex systems), but the truth is not to known to many. It is built on fundamentally logical principles, and those principles are driven by the knowledge of the natural world (physics, chemistry, and biology, but very few mages have extensive knowledge). And, one’s power is entirely dependant on knowledge. In short, a mage is a scientist and a scientist is a mage. This let’s us do some very distinctive things: the explanation behind  the paralysis of technology (above), certain elements of evolution (below), and it plays into the idea of the truth. Also, it is important thematically, because this is a world that exists on rational principles and still fell into chaos. If the principles were arbitrary, the effect would be lost. It is not a limitation, but an opportunity to do new things with the magic system and it’s effect on the world. What’s new?A unique element to this setting is the idea of superstition vs. truth. In most fantasy stories, what is believed as myth is in fact truth. This is not the case in this setting, because different people believe dozens of contradictory things, most of which are simply wrong. Take the geography of the world, it takes place on 7 different planets, distinct in space (different solar systems entirely). Most people believe that these represent 7 layers of reality, but the truth is something different. These 7 planets are connected by “Shatterways”, which easily enable mass transit and mass communication across the distinct worlds. The setting is also very organic, everything flows logically into everything else. Not only does the geography create many possibilities for mass transit, but it also changes the shape of political units, as the ability to teleport using features of the natural landscape totally redefines the nature of political borders. It a;so creates a caste of people just ripe for adventuring: Landwalkers, those who forgo the shatterways and travel overland in search of natural resources, other cultures, or simply the thrill of the journey. While interesting cultures are not new to fantasy, this setting provides unique opportunities for exploring them. The Divinity War has sent people reeling with moral questions and ramifications, the landscape provides opportunities for many and seclude cultures, and it important that cultures are the central power block.Evolution. This is a big thing. The mage’s understand evolution, they know that it fills every ecological niche it can, and even they don’t know why it has never produced beings that use the laws of magic as a natural process of their being (the way that life normally uses the laws of physics); in fact, the definition of magical forces are those forces which never exist naturally. In truth, evolution has, but the God’s last great spell (“The Plague of Ash”) is killing them all.The politics. Nations are ruled by an elite of touched, those who are trained to use magic as another method of perception. Because of the touched, mages are not the uniform rulers of everything (also, the shapers are trying to engineer society to ensure it’s survival once they reveal science to the masses). Everyone believes that the ability to be touched travels through bloodlines, but that is a lie. In truth, the Council of the Touched pretends to determine who is and who is not touched as political leverage.-----------------------------Edit: spelling</blockquote>

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