![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Valor campaign setting overview
MAGIC
Humans have the ability to exert their will to alter reality in accordance with their own beliefs. Belief is the heart of magic - anyone can use magic, but the great hurdle that stops most people is the failure to believe that magic works. Even when one does have the personal belief to make magic work, it's a battle against the belief of the world you're using the magic in. This is how magic stays underground - if somebody tried to use magic on public television, it would be their magic against the disbelief of millions of viewers, so the magic would fail.
Magic has three unavoidable limitations:
1: Magic does not exist to create or reconstruct souls. New life cannot be created, and the dead cannot be revived.
2: Magic cannot change the past. Once something has happened, it is immutable.
3: Nothing can be gained without sacrifice.
There are three schools of magic, each corresponding to a different object of belief, source of power, and school of expertise: Arcane, Divine, and Innate.
ARCANE MAGIC is a highly ritualistic form of magic that draws from the belief in magic itself - more specifically, in a metaphysical source of all magic, the Akashic Record. The belief is that the Record exists and from it all supernatural power is drawn. Arcane wizards are most proficient in altering the world around them - molding the land, slinging fire and lightning, classic sorcery. It is less powerful when it comes to altering living things, focusing instead on indirect methods (hit someone with a heavy rock rather than draining their life force directly). Most arcane wizards answer to the Order of Flamel, an organization of highly powerful wizards who police their own kind, making sure that magic never becomes to widely known.
DIVINE MAGIC is magic drawn from the belief in a higher power, be it God, any of the old pantheons, or even an unknown divine spiritual presence. The unifying factor is that divine wizards believe that their power derives from a consciousness above our plane of existence. Does it? Nobody knows for sure, but divine wizards are most proficient in affecting other living beings. This includes illusions, mind control, healing, and manipulation of the physical bodies of their enemies (the ancient and terrible art of Curses). There is no unifying organization that governs divine wizards, but the largest of such organizations would naturally be the Catholic Church.
INNATE MAGIC is a more informal school of magic that draws from a belief in the power of the self. It is attained by looking within, seeking enlightenment, and believing in one's own ability to overcome any obstacle. Innate wizards are most proficient in altering themselves - enhanced perception, magnification of physical attributes, regeneration, transformation, and so forth. Innate magic has no central organization, being primarily practied by individuals who will take other individuals in as their students.
THE CROSSROADS
Earth is not all of creation. There are four known worlds, and the one at the center of the others is the Crossroads, an endlessly shifting and boundless network of roads and paths. Any sort of road can be found in the Crossroads, from asphalt highways to poorly-maintained brick pathways to cold rivers filled with empty boats drifting along dark waters. Entering the Crossroads without a trained navigator is a quick way to get lost, as the logic that governs the paths through it are wildly removed from conventional geometry.
The only known native inhabitants of the Crossroads are the Wardens, monolithic creataures of unknown origins that periodically harass anyone who obstructs the roads, urging them to continue moving. If they refuse, they will be given an option to be returned to the gate they entered from. If they refuse, they will be annihilated.
The main purpose of the Crossroads is that it connects other worlds, so any travel between them must pass through the Crossroads. The known places one can reach from the Crossroads are Earth, the Wild Keep, and the Astral Sea.
THE WILD KEEP
Home of the Fey, the Wild Keep is a world quite unlike Earth. The land itself is alive, growing like a world-sized tree to naturally form spires, bridges, courtyards, and great halls. Dozens of wildly varied species of Fey live here, and it's a very dangerous place for humans, who are only welcome there in very rare circumstances.
THE ASTRAL SEA
A plane of great mystery, few have ever ventured into the Astral Sea and returned to tell the tale. The beings that make their home here are so alien to humans that communication with them is almost always impossible. They are referred to as Outsiders, and vary in form even more than the Fey.
FEY
While magic is the gift of humans, Fey gifts are as varied as their species. There are shifters, which possess great strength and can assume deadly animal forms. There are golems, incarnations of the Wild Keep's living stone. There are the Dark Walkers, creatures that live in shadow and can take the face and voice of another. The list goes on.
Fey are unified by great supernatural power coupled with strong bindings to Truth. A Fey's promise is law. Lies are to them as magic is to humans - the greater the lie, the greater the personal cost or sacrifice it requires.
OUTSIDERS
There's no easy way to summarize Outsiders. Incredibly little is known about most of them, except that they are almost impossible to communicate with directly and they are extremely dangerous. Many Outsiders are completely immune to magic, and some can drive men mad with their mere presence. However, there is one well-researched interaction with the Outsiders: Necromancy.
Since creating a new soul is impossible, the living dead need a way to operate without one. The standard method for this is to draw a minor energy-based Outsider into our world to inhabit a corpse. This creates a creature that can't think and can't die - it obeys the thoughts of its summoner, and can be stopped by forcing the master to dismiss it, killing the master, somehow disrupting their bond, or by damaging the corpse until it can't move at all. The proper term for such constructs is Abominations.
THINGS AS THEY ARE NOW
The campaign will be centered in New York City. Magic is real, but cannot emerge into the public eye that doesn't believe in it. Wizards and Fey engage in otherworldly dealings under the cover of darkness - in the shadows, among believers, magic can fly unrestrained.
There are a few high-ups in the NYPD who are aware of the second world hiding under the surface of the world we know. They have created a special and very hush-hush division of experts in the supernatural to deal with crimes caused by the things that go bump in the night. Not all or even any of the PCs have to be part of this division - there are also independent magical investigators, groups of Fey living in the shadows, and seedy criminal underworld wizards. I haven't constructed a metaplot, yet, so that depends on what you guys think up for character concepts.
TLDR Version:
-Magic comes from belief.
-Magical creatures come from the Wild Keep.
-Undead are raised by Outsiders.
-New York has a magical secret underworld.
-Part of the NYPD is in on it.
All of the above is subject to change, at this point. Let's have some thoughts on characters or setting ideas! Plot hooks, too!
Humans have the ability to exert their will to alter reality in accordance with their own beliefs. Belief is the heart of magic - anyone can use magic, but the great hurdle that stops most people is the failure to believe that magic works. Even when one does have the personal belief to make magic work, it's a battle against the belief of the world you're using the magic in. This is how magic stays underground - if somebody tried to use magic on public television, it would be their magic against the disbelief of millions of viewers, so the magic would fail.
Magic has three unavoidable limitations:
1: Magic does not exist to create or reconstruct souls. New life cannot be created, and the dead cannot be revived.
2: Magic cannot change the past. Once something has happened, it is immutable.
3: Nothing can be gained without sacrifice.
There are three schools of magic, each corresponding to a different object of belief, source of power, and school of expertise: Arcane, Divine, and Innate.
ARCANE MAGIC is a highly ritualistic form of magic that draws from the belief in magic itself - more specifically, in a metaphysical source of all magic, the Akashic Record. The belief is that the Record exists and from it all supernatural power is drawn. Arcane wizards are most proficient in altering the world around them - molding the land, slinging fire and lightning, classic sorcery. It is less powerful when it comes to altering living things, focusing instead on indirect methods (hit someone with a heavy rock rather than draining their life force directly). Most arcane wizards answer to the Order of Flamel, an organization of highly powerful wizards who police their own kind, making sure that magic never becomes to widely known.
DIVINE MAGIC is magic drawn from the belief in a higher power, be it God, any of the old pantheons, or even an unknown divine spiritual presence. The unifying factor is that divine wizards believe that their power derives from a consciousness above our plane of existence. Does it? Nobody knows for sure, but divine wizards are most proficient in affecting other living beings. This includes illusions, mind control, healing, and manipulation of the physical bodies of their enemies (the ancient and terrible art of Curses). There is no unifying organization that governs divine wizards, but the largest of such organizations would naturally be the Catholic Church.
INNATE MAGIC is a more informal school of magic that draws from a belief in the power of the self. It is attained by looking within, seeking enlightenment, and believing in one's own ability to overcome any obstacle. Innate wizards are most proficient in altering themselves - enhanced perception, magnification of physical attributes, regeneration, transformation, and so forth. Innate magic has no central organization, being primarily practied by individuals who will take other individuals in as their students.
THE CROSSROADS
Earth is not all of creation. There are four known worlds, and the one at the center of the others is the Crossroads, an endlessly shifting and boundless network of roads and paths. Any sort of road can be found in the Crossroads, from asphalt highways to poorly-maintained brick pathways to cold rivers filled with empty boats drifting along dark waters. Entering the Crossroads without a trained navigator is a quick way to get lost, as the logic that governs the paths through it are wildly removed from conventional geometry.
The only known native inhabitants of the Crossroads are the Wardens, monolithic creataures of unknown origins that periodically harass anyone who obstructs the roads, urging them to continue moving. If they refuse, they will be given an option to be returned to the gate they entered from. If they refuse, they will be annihilated.
The main purpose of the Crossroads is that it connects other worlds, so any travel between them must pass through the Crossroads. The known places one can reach from the Crossroads are Earth, the Wild Keep, and the Astral Sea.
THE WILD KEEP
Home of the Fey, the Wild Keep is a world quite unlike Earth. The land itself is alive, growing like a world-sized tree to naturally form spires, bridges, courtyards, and great halls. Dozens of wildly varied species of Fey live here, and it's a very dangerous place for humans, who are only welcome there in very rare circumstances.
THE ASTRAL SEA
A plane of great mystery, few have ever ventured into the Astral Sea and returned to tell the tale. The beings that make their home here are so alien to humans that communication with them is almost always impossible. They are referred to as Outsiders, and vary in form even more than the Fey.
FEY
While magic is the gift of humans, Fey gifts are as varied as their species. There are shifters, which possess great strength and can assume deadly animal forms. There are golems, incarnations of the Wild Keep's living stone. There are the Dark Walkers, creatures that live in shadow and can take the face and voice of another. The list goes on.
Fey are unified by great supernatural power coupled with strong bindings to Truth. A Fey's promise is law. Lies are to them as magic is to humans - the greater the lie, the greater the personal cost or sacrifice it requires.
OUTSIDERS
There's no easy way to summarize Outsiders. Incredibly little is known about most of them, except that they are almost impossible to communicate with directly and they are extremely dangerous. Many Outsiders are completely immune to magic, and some can drive men mad with their mere presence. However, there is one well-researched interaction with the Outsiders: Necromancy.
Since creating a new soul is impossible, the living dead need a way to operate without one. The standard method for this is to draw a minor energy-based Outsider into our world to inhabit a corpse. This creates a creature that can't think and can't die - it obeys the thoughts of its summoner, and can be stopped by forcing the master to dismiss it, killing the master, somehow disrupting their bond, or by damaging the corpse until it can't move at all. The proper term for such constructs is Abominations.
THINGS AS THEY ARE NOW
The campaign will be centered in New York City. Magic is real, but cannot emerge into the public eye that doesn't believe in it. Wizards and Fey engage in otherworldly dealings under the cover of darkness - in the shadows, among believers, magic can fly unrestrained.
There are a few high-ups in the NYPD who are aware of the second world hiding under the surface of the world we know. They have created a special and very hush-hush division of experts in the supernatural to deal with crimes caused by the things that go bump in the night. Not all or even any of the PCs have to be part of this division - there are also independent magical investigators, groups of Fey living in the shadows, and seedy criminal underworld wizards. I haven't constructed a metaplot, yet, so that depends on what you guys think up for character concepts.
TLDR Version:
-Magic comes from belief.
-Magical creatures come from the Wild Keep.
-Undead are raised by Outsiders.
-New York has a magical secret underworld.
-Part of the NYPD is in on it.
All of the above is subject to change, at this point. Let's have some thoughts on characters or setting ideas! Plot hooks, too!
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject