Enchanted weaponry isn't completely off the table, but it should be rare enough that it won't "replace" gunpowder if gunpowder doesn't exist. It performs a very different function in this setting: it's the stuff of legends and is only available to the lucky few, not something that changes how the world works (as gunpowder did).

The feel I'm aiming for as we create this setting is one where magic actually feels [i]magical[/i]. In most settings, magic is sort of passe. Some guy gets a magic sword and everyone shrugs. A mage enters the room and casts a spell and people treat it like they've seen it a thousand times.

For this setting, I want every magical item to be unique. I want them to be special. When the RP itself starts after we finish world creation, I want whoever finds a magical axe, for instance, to notice immediately just how much better that weapon is than others. A magical throwing axe that flies with the speed of thunder? A sword whose glow banishes creatures of the dark? A bow that sets every arrow it fires aflame? I want these things to be items with a story behind them, not something you sell to a vendor.

Anyway: magical stuff is out there. It's just not common at all.

Gunpowder? Like I said, I'm going to wait until the OOC thread is made before I weigh in at all, and probably after everyone else has voted, and only if there's a tie. I'd rather hear whatever cases someone has to make for it, since I was pretty much on the fence about the matter originally.

Also...

[b]Before I draw the base map, is there any sort of terrain feature someone really wants included?[/b] Normal terrain, that is. You guys can invent whatever you like once we start the OOC on Tuesday.

The map won't be fancy. I'll be drawing a map in MS paint and it won't be impressive. I may pay a friend to make a better rendering of it after the world creation stage is done.