Anyone interested for discussion on this, I will be in #DLIAQ. Yeah, it's still open.
There seems to be enough interest in the project in question that I might as well start on the next set of posts. Normally, I'd follow the example used for the previous IAQ Project and focus on systems first...except that that our options are considerably more limited for the sake of practicality--if only because we have neither ARPG nor SRPG style grids available, to be honest. Furthermore, I admit I want the gameplay to reflect on the flavor. Therefore, I will be bringing out the setting topic first, and letting the battle system follow.
I admit, I only have some ideas floating around that would fit into a setting as of current, as opposed to a full-blown setting pitch, but...I might as well start here, since I have a "what" without a "where", so to speak. Anyway, setting element pitch! Warning: may be disorganized, rambly, and/or stupid, and may be partially and/or wholly thrown out.
Races?: Going all human could work. At the same time, however, I had the idea of a couple of other races. You have humans (naturally), which wouldn't need much explanation (aside from being largely magic-dead), but then two other main ones, as would follow:
"Attuned" would be some nonhuman race that actually has magical capability. Not too many ideas on details there, though they'd have what one would expect for standard magical abilities. Would like to avoid any 'nature'-affinity here for them, and if so desired, this can be reskinned into a specific group of humans instead.
"Ethereals" would be akin to gods in a sense--they normally exist in a completely different plane, and while they could interact to a degree with the material world, such interaction tends to be both amazingly slow and inefficient for their own energy expenditure--one could say their powers are on dial-up in this state, and the majority are simply content watching. And no, they don't grant worshippers magical powers--in fact, the vast majority of Ethereals are unknown in general. However, Ethereals are capable of expending energy to create transient 'shells' that exist within the material world--that they could then transfer their consciousness to and the like. The general appearances and capabilities of said shell depend on what the Ethereal that created them wanted, and the amount of power they put into it--it is typically a fragment of the Ethereal's actual power in effectiveness. This does not mean that killing a shell will kill the Ethereal in question under most cases--the Ethereal's core typically remains on their own plane, with a 'tether' feeding power to the shell. (Some are capable of disabling a shell by means of severing the connection--the shell would remain inert until the Ethereal in question could reconnect
A notable exception to this is if the Etheral intends to perform a full manifestation--that is to say, placing the entirety of themselves into the shell. On the one end, this allows for a vastly greater amount of capability in the material world--as the shell has access to the Ethereal's full power, without having to expend energy to have it work across the boundary or to keep a conduit active--everything is there. This is, however, considered suicide for an Ethereal for several reasons; the manifestation is one-way, and not only is the ethereal incapable of returning to their home plane after a full manifestation, but killing the shell--often by disrupting the core--would ultimately kill the Etheral in question for good.
Ethereals lack the general morality that humans have--being on a completely different plane of existence tends to do that, and indeed, many Ethereals view material beings as something more for entertainment than anything else--as such, an 'as long as it's fun/interesting' attitude is common. Of course...the concepts of what an Ethereal might find entertaining may vary wildly.
On magic and men: Magic...does not come naturally to humans. Even with a lifetime of study of arcanological phenomena, it is simply impossible for a standard human to naturally cast a spell--they simply cannot properly interface with reality in such a manner for the requisite alterations, so to speak. However, through innovation (possibly with outside influence down the line), manatechnology would have been created--the most significant of which would be Personal Ambient Manalogical Manipulation Devices, often referred to as 'Devices' for short. Needless to say, these devices have evolved from a mere scientific curiosity, into a military-grade weapon, often complete with a mode of use as an actual weapon alongside the reality-altering capabilities. Furthermore, it has been evolved to the point to where cartridges may be used to enhance these devices: whereas one used to have to learn how to interface with the devices in question for effect (and one still can), data cartridges can be used to allow for quick pattern input into a given Device, allowing one to switch out spellsets as necessary. Furthermore, these typically allow for direct enhancement of the weapon in question--bestowing properties to the Device aside from the limited spell data. It is notable that Devices in general have a limited capability for memory, and can only carry a small number of manalogical alteration paterns in general.
Devices are also limited by an internal capacitator(Reality alteration is energy-consuming!)--while micro-generators are allowed for a recharge of a Device's internal battery, it is notable that this process is lengthy enough that it cannot be performed in the middle of a combat situation; the device in question would be completely depowered during that time, leaving the user comparably helpless if they do not have a backup means of offense or defense.
Naturally, the distribution of Devices would be strictly regulated to military use--this however, hasn't stopped some groups and individuals from trying to illegally create their own bootleg Devices; often less capable in several ways compared to the full-grade versions. Most military-grade Devices are personalized to the prospective user, however, so a stolen Device would have a notable learning curve to say the least.
It is also rumored that there has been research into creating artificial magic users with innate capabilities. This may or may not be true. This may or may not also be usable as a plot point.
Yeah, at this point I'm seeing things with an arguably high level of "magitech", so to say. Possibly where the line between fantasy and sci-fi may be blurred a bit.
This has been yet another case of ramblings from Nama. People may feel free to comment, extrapolate, throw out, or do whatever to these disjointed ideas, as well as add in their own ideas. It's still a setting very much in progress, to say the least.
