Cosmic 2: Shadows of Mana

And now for something completely different. Seeing as how only a few are responding to the latest Cosmic update I have decided to start anew with a different game. There will be fewer players: the first three to five people to respond to this in a resonable amount of time will be in. Now a bit on the world.

This is set in an alternate universe/history in which not only does magic exist, but every sentient being has the capacity to cast at the very least simple spells (equivalent to D&D cantrips). The planet is Earth geographically but politically it is completely different. Ancient empires never fell completely, natives were more successful defending their homelands from Europians, and in general the existance of powerful mages has made countries on a more level playing field with one another.

The magic works much like a fifth fundamental force of the universe. Mana is an form of energy that the mind can manipulate in order to cause magical effects. Magic works very simply; no complicated gestures or incantations. All that is fundamentally needed is a powerful will and sufficient mana. Of course, people are limited as to how much mana they can store and what magical effects they have mastered, but theoretically magic can do nearly anything. Magic in this world is not itself conscious and can not do anything illogical, nor can it be 'programmed' without direct conscious intervention at the time. For example, Explosive Runes would not be possible as there would be no way for the runes to know when they have been read. Magic can't bring people back from the dead, although it can revive the clinically dead, or the mostly dead, to use Princess Bride terminology. Powerful magic can slow down or speed up time, but can't reverse it.

Humans have, over the millenia, altered themselves with magic to become new races (standard fantasy fair, plus some others. If you have an idea for one, let me know). Also, there are dragons. It is not known whether they come from humans or they were completely seperate. There are gods. Some of them are gods from ancient mythology, some of them are younger gods that have just recently ascended to immortality. The gods are exceptionally powerful mages but are only immortal in the sense that they don't die from natural causes or ageing. It is entirely theoretically possible to kill a god, and it has been done before.

Magic may or may not have something to do with the Dream World, a world of spirits and shifting forms where everyone goes when they sleep. It is somewhat more stable than the dreams in our reality, and people have been known to encounter friends and aquaintances there, proving that it is all the same world. Gaining lucidity is as difficult as it is in our world, however. Dream creatures can be summoned to the real world, each one unique, with somewhat of a fluid form, and made out of pure magic.

Technology has progressed, although often magic is substituted where technology would be in our world. Notable developments include electricity, nuclear weapons, powered flight and space travel to the moon (magical flight takes a lot of energy to travel long distances). Computers and the internet exist, in fact somewhat more advanced than 2009 Earth. Magic and technology can be combined, although few applications of this have been explored until recently. There is a theory that computers may be used to 'program' magical effects and a breakthrough on this may be imminant. In short the technology is much like us but a few things more advanced and a few things more primitive or unnecessary.

Your characters will be university students who go to a medium-sized school in the nation of Niagara (which covers the southern Ontario region and some of western New York state. International latin is the main language spoke here, which is an evolved form of classical latin that incorperates many other languages and is as different from classical latin as modern english is from old english, if not more so.

Characters will have stats. More on this soon.