[b]Note:[/b] This is [i]not[/i] a Mage: the Ascension Game, nor a World of Darkness one; it just uses the Mage: the Ascension system. So no Traditions, no Technocracy, no Disaprate Alliance; Nephandi may exist, but independently of their WoD counterparts. [CENTER][B]Under the Yoke: A Science Fantasy RP - Redux![/b] [IMG]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSqi4Z-czvGgmtdngZKV6YNJBcLVmBkBqT62fciaZ1FqysIs3PS[/IMG] [B]Credits to Camby from Alternatehistory.com for giving me permission to use the Drakul[/B][/CENTER] [b]Intro[/b] [hider=Intro] We spent so much time warring against each other, and not much time gazing upwards, towards the stars. Nevertheless, we had warning, warning when their ships came into the system, taking their time coming to us, allowing us time to panic and prepare. New stars appeared in the sky those days, points of light from the reflective hulls of their dreadnoughts, portents of the calamity to come. For this was our first Alien Invasion. Oh, we did fight. We destroyed one-fourth of their fleet with our entire nuclear arsenal, then mobilized for total war. And we got it. As they landed, we were surprised - the Aliens' leaders looked like the dragons of myth; great flying lizards both strong and magnificent. They even had a similar name, [i]the Drakul[/i]. They were ruthless, cruel, and gifted not just with strength and flight, but also the ability to breathe fire and electricity. Following them were armies of races they had enslaved, armies that were not only armed with technology beyond our ken but also feared their masters' wrath more than death in battle. We fought hard, and strong, but eventually, our cities burned, our forces and navies swarmed under, our mountains, leveled, and, finally, after seven years of war in which two billion people died, we surrendered to The Yoke. All we had to do was simple: Build technology for the Drakul - the other slave races would teach us - and use said technology to extract resources and build palaces for them, as well as fight their battles elsewhere in the galaxy. Ironically, in our servitude, we became more unified, less prejudiced against each other, and more technologically advanced than ever before. Nevertheless, life was harsh, with the Drakul's whims governing our lives. Then, one day, reality itself changed, thanks to a quantum physics experiment conducted by one of the Drakul. This change in reality caused many humans and members of the other slave races to gain strange powers, powers that violated the rational rules of the Universe. And with this empowerment, came a dream long-lost, a dream of freedom. For the Drakul, although the ones who changed reality, were exempt from the changes made to it. Right now, however, the Drakul's orbital guns keep any hope of taking back the planet to a wild fantasy. For while insurgent and resistance groups have started to grow in strength, to gather their forces, the 'Drakes' are still intelligent and physically powerful, and the extent of the 'new powers' are still being tested. However, the Earth Resistance has already formed a team of these 'Magi', a team that would hopefully undermine the foundations of Drakul Rule and leads to a new, free Earth... [/hider] [hider=Where will we start?] You start as a team of newly-awakened Magi in the mountain hideout of the Earth Resistance, deep under the lair of a Drakul friendly to Humans. This newly-awakened team will meet up, interact, and prepare for their first mission; infiltrate a prison where captured Resistance members are being kept, including a Quantum Scientist involved in the reality-changing experiment. The prison, known as 'The Oasis', is a place where torture and degradation are rampant and experimentation on Sapient beings is encouraged. Which is why entering it will take a miracle you can provide... [/hider] [B]Mods:[/b] Letter Bee [b]Types of Magic (Ripped off from Mage the Ascension)[/b] [hider=Types of Magic] There are 9 different types of Magic Power. [i]Correspondence:[/i] The magic of Communication and Transportation [i]Entropy:[/i] The magic of Fate and Death [i]Forces:[/i] The magic of fireballs, lightning strikes, and freeze rays [i]Life:[/i] The magic of healing or Biological construct [I]Matter:[/I] The magic of matter and manipulating it. [I]Mind:[/I] The magic of Enthrallment, Empathy, and Mental Organization [I]Prime:[/I] The magic of magic, making magic permanent, affecting people's magical circuits [I]Spirit:[/I] The magic of the Soul, and manipulating the unseen supernatural worlds of ghosts and ethers [I]Time:[/I] The magic of Time, and Time Manipulation Each type has a measured level of power from 1 to 5. Note that from Level 2 onward, every example listed on the list are merely [i]suggestions[/i]; if you have the required level for one type of Magic, then you can do every sort of spell [i]equivalent[/i] to the examples listed. For example, Level 2 Correspondence allows not [i]just[/i] messaging and warding, but also scrying; any Mage that can do one of those things can do [i]all[/i] of them and equivalent miracles. Level 1 is sensory; you can see magic of the type you select, as well as see the hidden secrets of the Universe. [B]Correspondence:[/B] You can detect portals, teleporting people, and attempts to spy on you with Magic. You also have a perfect sense of direction. [B]Entropy:[/B] You can see Ghosts, magically sense dead bodies and decaying objects even when they are hidden from you, and abnormalities in luck/fate. [b]Forces:[/b] You can see outside the range of visible light (infrared, ultraviolet, etc) hear sounds outside the normal hearing range, and see magic spells that affect those things. [B]Life:[/B] You can sense living beings and organic matter and instantly diagnose any form of disease. [B]Matter:[/B] You can see the composition of inorganic matter, as well as small details in craftsmanship; you can instantly know if a bill is counterfeit. [B]Mind:[/B] You can sense the minds of Humans and Animals, and detect Mind Control. [B]Prime:[/B] See all Magic, but not know what type a certain spell belongs to. [B]Spirit:[/B] See nature spirits and other dimensions (Hyperspace). [B]Time:[/B] See people stopping or speeding up time. You also know what time it is even without seeing the sun or having a watch. Level 2, is where you can do the little power stuff. You can affect things in small ways: [B]Correspondence:[/B] Send messages that cannot be intercepted, or cast a mystic ward, stopping incoming teleporters or preventing magical eavesdropping. [B]Entropy:[/B] Affect probability in small instances (like dice rolls), Break simple machines, predict future, talk with Ghosts. [b]Forces:[/b] Featherfall, Ball Lightning; Control existing Sound, Light (including Radiation), Heat, and Kinetic Energy. Cast holographic illusions (as opposed to mental). [B]Life:[/B] Heal yourself (Just yourself, not others), control insects, fungi, and plants. [B]Matter:[/B] Make an excellent counterfeit bill, transmute lead to gold. [B]Mind:[/B] Give someone a mental compulsion, cast mental illusions (as opposed to holographic ones). [B]Prime:[/B] Create Magitech, Set magical patterns, enchant a weapon to do damage unhealable by magic. [B]Spirit:[/B] Commune with Nature Spirits. [B]Time:[/B] Get a prediction of the future (not perfect), see events in the past (this, however, is unless counteracted with magic). Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well. Level 3, is more powerful and allows you to push others... [b]Correspondence:[/b] Teleportation, SuperSpeed. You can also see multiple places simultaneously. [B]Entropy:[/B] Break Complex Machines or Structures, Raise Skeletons [B]Forces:[/B] Palpatine Lightning Attacks, Fireballs, Telekinetic Assault. [B]Life:[/B] Heal others, enhance your eyesight, grow your fingernails into claws, control Animals. You can also turn lesser forms of life (snails, insects) into other lesser forms of life (turnips, orchids). [B]Matter:[/B] Turn lead into fog, solid into liquid, ice into burning plasma. [B]Mind:[/B] Mental Command on a conscious level not subconscious or Dreamwalk. [B]Prime:[/B] Create complex magitech. Create biological magi-constructs (non-perpetuating), blast people with bolts of silver light whose damage cannot be healed by magic. [B]Spirit:[/B] Summon Nature Spirits, Enter Hyperspace by yourself. [B]Time:[/B] Slow Time to a crawl for you, loop time for a few seconds (Requires the permission of the majority of players and the GMs). Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well. Level 4, is super powerful, and has to be earned during gameplay. [B]Correspondence:[/B] Mass Teleportation or Portals. You can also use this spell in conjunction with Mind and Life to appear in multiple places at once, cloning yourself. [B]Entropy:[/B] Destroy Living Things, Create Complex Undead (with Prime). [B]Forces:[/B] Summon Storms, Fire Rain. [B]Life:[/B] Affect Life in Complex ways. [B]Matter:[/B] Create stable forms of matter that have magical properties (Orichalcum, Mithril, Tiberium) [B]Mind:[/B] Dominate a person or Brainwash. [B]Prime:[/B] Merge Magitech into any human form, suck out magical energy from ordinary objects. [B]Spirit:[/B] [i]Create[/i] Nature Spirits, and stay in Hyperspace for years without needing to eat, sleep, and drink. [B]Time:[/B] Set time (Conditional effects that go off on specified conditions, for example; pressing this trigger causes your gun to emit a fireball.). Stop Time. Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well. Level 5 is deity-like, and unavailable to players and requires GM permission to even try to do. [B]Correspondence:[/B] Warp Space, Teleport to anywhere. [B]Entropy:[/B] Destroy Thoughts and ideas, Perfect Prediction of the Future. [B]Forces:[/B] Summon Hurricane or equivalent natural disasters. [B]Life:[/B] Perfect Transformation to another form. [B]Matter:[/B] Make materials that shatter the Laws of Physics. [B]Mind: [/B]Mass Mental Control, Permanent Enthrallment. [B]Prime:[/B] Make a place of Power of any scale, Siphon Magical Energy from Other Mages. [B]Spirit:[/B] Bring Cthulhu-level entities into the material world. [B]Time:[/B] Time Travel (Forbidden forever). Note: As said, the examples listed above are just suggestions; if something falls under [Insert Sphere Here], isn't listed, and is equivalent to this level, feel free to have that spell as well...[b]Not.[/b] After reading the above, distribute 12 points among the 9 Spheres; you can have up to Level 3: [B]Correspondence:[/B] [B]Entropy:[/B] [B]Forces:[/B] [B]Life:[/B] [B]Matter:[/B] [B]Mind:[/B] [B]Prime:[/B] [B]Spirit:[/B] [B]Time:[/B] [/hider] [B]Factions and Slave Races:[/b] [hider=Factions and Slave Races] [B]The Drakul:[/b] Any Xenobiologist worth their salt would recognize that the Drakul were not the products of natural evolution, but were rather created, perhaps as weapons of war. It is also theorized that the creators of the Drakul were highly intelligent themselves, and wanted 'tools' that can take care of themselves and didn't want constant maintenance. Either way, the Drakul can naturally fly, breathe fire and electricity, and super-strong, and super-intelligent. Drakul Subfactions are the Children of the Stars and the Infernus Sect. [B]Children of the Stars/The Starborn:[/b] Renegade Drakul who believe that all beings are all 'Children of the Stars' and that therefore none of them must be enslaved. Believe in using robots and paid workers instead of slaves; a solution that, while possible, isn't easy, practical, or economic for the Drakul Imperium. Thus, the Children of the Stars are a persecuted sect amongst the Drakul species and Empire. [b]The Infernus Sect:[/b] The Prime Sect of the Drakul, the Infernus Sect believes in a 'Holy Flame' that has chosen the Drakul to be rulers of all the other races. Thus, the Infernus are the prime slavers, generals, and priests of the Drakul, as well as the head of their Inquisition. They persecute both members of the Earth Resistance and The Starborn and are most successful in keeping both sects from working with each other. [b]The Kaisoken[/b]: A race of sentient crystal-like minerals bound by quantum pathways and transcendant intelligence. Floating gently, the Kaisoken communicate through impulses translated into audible speech, and are proficient in the control of magic (before the coming of magic, they were good at communications and communications tech), though they are limited in a straight fight. [b]The Gill[/b]: Combining reptilian and amphibian features, the Gill are evolved to live primarily in water, with long, slender limbs for powerful strikes ending in webbed hands. Hardy against poisons and extreme terrain, on account of the noxious swamps on their homeworld, they have moved to colonize other oceanic places, and are proficient skirmishers. [b]The Korta[/b]: Diminuitive beings resembling pachyderms, the Korta are highly intelligent and analytical, mostly serving as engineers and bureaucrats. Computer systems, locks, and riddles tend to fall quickly before them. [b]The Tayanen[/b]: Clusters of sentient amorphous material locked into massively armored shells, the Tayanen deliver heavy firepower with high resistance to shock, heat, or trauma, having little vulnerable area. Nevertheless, they are slow to react, though their decision making ability when in a group can be very fast. [b]The 'Earth Resistance':[/b] A loose group of insurgents who are gaining strength with the addition of magic to the equation. [/hider] [B]Rules:[/b] [hider=Rules] 1.) No Godmoding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions, no defeating your enemy in one shot, and no shrugging of all hits without a magical shield. 2.) Any consenting relationship between people of the same age group is allowed, whether it's Homosexual or Heterosexual. If you cannot stand such things, [i]don't post here in the first place[/i]. 3.) Be polite to others. 4.) Unlike Mage the Ascension, you can teach Magic to normal people. 5.) Please notify me if you will be gone longer than a few days, I myself will let you guys know if I will be gone. 6.) Yes, Magic can be gained through artificial means. 7.) The Tone of the RP is 'Dark, but Optimistic'. Things are grim at first, but your characters are not supposed to be hopeless jerks about it, nor would basket cases be accepted. This world can be made fairer and its suffering will be reduced if the PCs do things right. So, do things right. [/hider] [B]Character Sheet:[/b] [hider=Character Sheet] [b]Name:[/b] [b]Species:[/b] [b]Appearance:[/b] [b]Bio:[/b] [b]Age:[/b] [b]Skills (Spheres go here):[/b] [b]Personality:[/b] [/hider] Credits to BlackWave from Alternatehistory.com for helping develop the races!