An imminent threat requires an immediate response.
Baba Yaga is on the loose in a post-Communist arms bazaar with a weapon like no other.
In the hands of a rogue actor, it could spell disaster for the world.
Enter a legendary team of black ops, intelligence-agency picked, elite special forces soldiers. Tier One casters. The best of the best.
Physically proven, mentally resilient, and with more firepower and mana than anyone else in the game.
They’re conditioned to come from the shadows. Fall from the sky, watch, wait, and pounce. Turn chaos into order. Turn bad actors into nil factors.
You’ll never see them coming. You’ll never see them leave. You’ll never see them blast the light out of your eyes.
This is Fireteam Rav.....wait, fuck, sorry, wrong team, wrong story,...we've done this one already!
Then who did you mean?
Oh, shit, sorry, I meant this team. Fireteam Hex.
A roughly assembled fireteam in a bar at the The World’s End in rural Polavia, this, this particular band of unemployed, questionably sober, unlucky mercs is it.
A bunch of redundancy package having ex-Reactor PMC operators in various states of stupor. Drinking away their last paycheck. Another shot of vodka, and wait for all this to blow over.
And in a bad place, at a bad time....they're the best we've got against a world ending threat.
And they might not even have time to get sober.
(Please don’t narrate the entire thing in stage directions, that would be shit and cheap. Anyway, all Slice of Life RPs have done that already, and the GM is going to actually go postal if he has to keep this fourth-wall stuff up all RP, that would be mental!)
Fair.
Welcome to Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex.
It’s the first RP I’ve span out of a more formal lore like-for-like (not that you need to know literally anything about it!), from the excellent indie title of the same name. A military, modern-fantasy RP that has tongue firmly in cheek with comedy, and continues to roll on the rule of cool and sarcastic social commentary that great, long-standing RPs like Raven Squad have established.
Never heard of TBW, but you’re still interested by the concept of a modern fantasy, military-thriller RP? Not really a fantasy person, but love military, or normally don't go for modern settings, but love a bit of fantasy?
You don’t need to know anything about it as I’ll explain below in this Interest Check, and by the end, you'll be armed with everything you want to know.
Because there’s only one condition if you’re keen on this RP.
Do you find the below images funny and / or intriguing?
If yes, this RP is absolutely your jam.
If not, then….sorry you read this far? I can’t do refunds for time, apologies!
So, with that in mind, welcome to a comedy, military, modern fantasy RP that is basically just that. This is a very silly idea played half seriously, and is highly quippy, and inspired by not just that game, but many other influences you’ll probably roll your eyes at. You play wizards, witches, warlocks, mages, necromancers, all sorts that basically bring magic into special forces grade mercenary wet work. Gameplay is a standard play-by post format, and works on reacting to posts, while I'll drive the spine of the RP forward, and the villains you face.
It starts with world building (the overall vibe of the world, and what I'm aiming for- think of it as a vision statement), then onto how your character got to the position above (with some wiggle room), how the Arcane works in this setting, a bit on comedy, how your characters might look when it comes to the OOC and then IC, and finally, some ground rules. If you're interested, drop me a PM or message below!
Right, Tactical Breach Wizards’ (TBW) world is a Modern Fantasy setting, with emphasis highly on the “Modern” part, in an alternative world. This isn’t, and I stress this, an RP that is Magic-First, it’s very much an RP that should, and needs to feel tangible with the magic as a comical afterthought. It’s a world that feels, looks, sounds and smells like ours though, because for the most part, magic is rare, not prominent, and doesn’t run anything. It’s often not that useful. Tech might be a little bit more advanced, but for the most part, it’s 2025. Planes, internet, phones, awful social media, cars, skyscrapers, politics, punk fashion, EDM, non-alcoholic IPA, all of that lovely stuff. This means that while tongue-in-cheek references might be made, for the most part, magic isn’t really talked about, or used by most, so instead, we have all the miserable problems of a modern world with corporate interests and crooked politicians.
It is for all intents and purposes, a modern world. That means relevant to us militarily, tanks, fighter jets, rifles made of composite, kevlar and titanium body armour, maybe a few little bits of some more extravagant and fanciful tech here and there to spice it up, but honestly, it’s close enough. Magic hasn't changed anything fundamentally in how our world operates, bar a few funny little exceptions that pop up here and there that we'll cross when we get there.
The setting, as a variant from TBW’s mostly western and Middle East-set world, is a homage to Eastern European settings like The Witcher, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Stalker, and basically no end of Central / Eastern European folk and stories. Your character is probably gonna be more western, mind, and there will be trips to other countries, but focuses on a new country, that has distinctly janky, post-Soviet feeling structures in a modern fantasy. You should feel like a foreigner- but of course, I'll always listen to characters with a pitch that links to Polavia, but bear in mind- as an Eastern European with a sort of worldbuilding specialist onboard who is also Eastern European, we'll secretly judge ;)
Polavia shares a lot with the rest, but it's Eastern Europe in a specifically vague time. That means Ladas, the remains of Communism, the wreck of shock-Capitalism, gulags, nuclear reactors, dense woods, more corruption than you can shake a stick at, and a world that for mercenaries like you, is your bastion.
The magic bit though is a bit more complex. We will explain that later.
It is for all intents and purposes, a modern world. That means relevant to us militarily, tanks, fighter jets, rifles made of composite, kevlar and titanium body armour, maybe a few little bits of some more extravagant and fanciful tech here and there to spice it up, but honestly, it’s close enough. Magic hasn't changed anything fundamentally in how our world operates, bar a few funny little exceptions that pop up here and there that we'll cross when we get there.
The setting, as a variant from TBW’s mostly western and Middle East-set world, is a homage to Eastern European settings like The Witcher, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Stalker, and basically no end of Central / Eastern European folk and stories. Your character is probably gonna be more western, mind, and there will be trips to other countries, but focuses on a new country, that has distinctly janky, post-Soviet feeling structures in a modern fantasy. You should feel like a foreigner- but of course, I'll always listen to characters with a pitch that links to Polavia, but bear in mind- as an Eastern European with a sort of worldbuilding specialist onboard who is also Eastern European, we'll secretly judge ;)
Polavia shares a lot with the rest, but it's Eastern Europe in a specifically vague time. That means Ladas, the remains of Communism, the wreck of shock-Capitalism, gulags, nuclear reactors, dense woods, more corruption than you can shake a stick at, and a world that for mercenaries like you, is your bastion.
The magic bit though is a bit more complex. We will explain that later.
Right. That's the world, and while there is some more actual lore, history, stuff going on, I will skate over that. For now, we'll play it down what you were specifically into, as geopolitics, much like the real world, is incredibly fluid and messy and far too much hassle to summarise (for now). How did you get to a rural tavern in Polavia drinking with toothless yokels?
Your character, let's just say "you", generally, were an ex-operator of a Private Military Company, called “Reactor”. Like our world’s Blackwater, but somehow, more evil. Maybe not like Wagner PMC though, I mean, you’re not drinking Rakja with Satan himself, fuck, you’re not THAT bad, unless you were just really good at hiding it. Most in the rank and file are just normal operatives, with a bit of something about them, a lack of morals, or just an insatiable greed for hourly contractor rates, but….not you.
You got paid more than others in your discipline, motherfucker.
Reactor Private Security Services Limited, with the tagline of “Special Defense Solutions” were hired by anyone, and everyone to do peacekeeping and private security work. Keep guns pointed at bad people so good people could go about their days. Nothing like privatised defense in third world countries, even in the first world. A D.S.R based company, they’re a magnet for people who can shoot first, ask many paperwork questions later, given the undercut they make on larger militaries and security forces worldwide.
Before choosing a significantly better financial package due to…reasons, you were probably a police officer, an elite soldier, or even just a lifetime soldier of fortune. Reactor promised, then made sure the medical benefits were great, the pension was amazing, hell, even the work balance was significantly better than your old job. It was a really good place to be.
Well, if you ignore the rumours of mercs in tubes being force-fed Mana and turned into chronomancer-like supersoldiers with cancer (we’ll get there later) to try and even emulate your craft. And the fact the CEO actively did not pay interest to local politics and thus justified an armed mercenary group’s presence wherever he deemed fit, with “shareholder value” in mind, to say the least, those bits weren’t so…fragrant. And they didn’t keep up pay with inflation. And shore leave got interrupted with overtime. But you didn’t say no. You had a….thing? Other half? Family? Something else?
You were pretty good at what you did, bringing your little slice of crafty magic to a fireteam that was otherwise dryer than plasterboard. You killed people. Incapacitated a lot more. And probably, built your little nest egg somewhere you’d like to go back to.
Fuckin A'.
It WAS a really good place to work, mind you.
After a series of events that led to Reactor PMC being “financially insolvent” in the last few months due to…..events like the CEO getting impaled by a poisonous vine in an “accident” and a massive venture in Medil that went badly wrong and left dozens of your colleagues dead in the midst of a civil war with Reactor chasing Mana like some cartel would, you’re wondering if you’re maybe in the shit. You might, or might not have been there when it all went bad- Reactor was driven out by the locals, and it all went badly wrong, despite your seemingly overwhelming advantage against the rebels.....things went south. But you survived that to your performance review.
So due to some not so hush-hush discussions stemming from “poor performance”, they’ve had to make a lot of “hard business decisions”, something about “optimising our team”. You might have been good, but you weren’t “core to the business” or some increasingly corporate bullshit that irrespective of how good, or bad you were, happened to you.
All of that’s code for, you were made involuntarily redundant. An ex-something, made ex-mercenary, and given a fat stack of cash, and told to go away. Not make too much fuss and leave. And it’s not like the economy globally is good either. Who’s going to hire an ex-mercenary who’s talents are seeing the future or something like that? You can’t exactly keep yourself entertained flipping burgers when you’re flipping targets.
Oh, and as it turns out, due to Reactor’s activities being now illicit in at least four different countries, you’re now wanted for questioning by just about all of them.
For war crimes.
Not a great start to unemployment, but hey, could be worse. You didn’t actually do them. Defenetration definitely doesn’t count, right? And, you’re breathing, so that’s not too bad. And have a craft that might be handy, too.
But if someone finds out you worked at Reactor, again, you’re going to be asked questions at a tribunal with little hope of being able to afford a solicitor when your bank assets are frozen.
Your last day at Reactor was a week ago, but because of how it all went down, you ran away with your gun, all of your vessels and channels you could carry, and ended up in Polavia, hoping to lie low. (How you did this, I mean, it’s up to you, I’m not going to hold your hand here in international smuggling, use your imagination!).
Ah, Polavia. Land of milk and honey for ex-mercenaries and adventure capitalists, right? And maybe get a fake passport, let this blow over, get your cash out, back to whatever that thing was that you said you loved.
Something like what a friend said on what to do in this situation.
Even if you don’t drink, you have to admit, they have a point.
So, naturally, we start at the end of quite a shit week. The bottom of the (beer) barrel (or non-alcoholic Liquid Death can) is upon you.
And like literally any stereotype of Dungeons and Dragons, of course you’re going to meet other unemployed mercenaries with little to lose in a bar with you.
Like any great adventure would ever start.
You have something in common. A past you ran from. A collective agreement you want to go back. Or at least, not be a fugitive.
It's worth saying, this means you don't start as the "good guys". You're sort of morally grey, and like any great party, anti-heroes!
That said, even that idea of being an anti-hero in a world of cash, AKs and mana isn’t going to last you.
Because you and your new fireteam, are maybe all that is left against a threat even greater than you could have ever imagined.
You got paid more than others in your discipline, motherfucker.
Reactor Private Security Services Limited, with the tagline of “Special Defense Solutions” were hired by anyone, and everyone to do peacekeeping and private security work. Keep guns pointed at bad people so good people could go about their days. Nothing like privatised defense in third world countries, even in the first world. A D.S.R based company, they’re a magnet for people who can shoot first, ask many paperwork questions later, given the undercut they make on larger militaries and security forces worldwide.
Before choosing a significantly better financial package due to…reasons, you were probably a police officer, an elite soldier, or even just a lifetime soldier of fortune. Reactor promised, then made sure the medical benefits were great, the pension was amazing, hell, even the work balance was significantly better than your old job. It was a really good place to be.
Well, if you ignore the rumours of mercs in tubes being force-fed Mana and turned into chronomancer-like supersoldiers with cancer (we’ll get there later) to try and even emulate your craft. And the fact the CEO actively did not pay interest to local politics and thus justified an armed mercenary group’s presence wherever he deemed fit, with “shareholder value” in mind, to say the least, those bits weren’t so…fragrant. And they didn’t keep up pay with inflation. And shore leave got interrupted with overtime. But you didn’t say no. You had a….thing? Other half? Family? Something else?
You were pretty good at what you did, bringing your little slice of crafty magic to a fireteam that was otherwise dryer than plasterboard. You killed people. Incapacitated a lot more. And probably, built your little nest egg somewhere you’d like to go back to.
Fuckin A'.
It WAS a really good place to work, mind you.
After a series of events that led to Reactor PMC being “financially insolvent” in the last few months due to…..events like the CEO getting impaled by a poisonous vine in an “accident” and a massive venture in Medil that went badly wrong and left dozens of your colleagues dead in the midst of a civil war with Reactor chasing Mana like some cartel would, you’re wondering if you’re maybe in the shit. You might, or might not have been there when it all went bad- Reactor was driven out by the locals, and it all went badly wrong, despite your seemingly overwhelming advantage against the rebels.....things went south. But you survived that to your performance review.
So due to some not so hush-hush discussions stemming from “poor performance”, they’ve had to make a lot of “hard business decisions”, something about “optimising our team”. You might have been good, but you weren’t “core to the business” or some increasingly corporate bullshit that irrespective of how good, or bad you were, happened to you.
All of that’s code for, you were made involuntarily redundant. An ex-something, made ex-mercenary, and given a fat stack of cash, and told to go away. Not make too much fuss and leave. And it’s not like the economy globally is good either. Who’s going to hire an ex-mercenary who’s talents are seeing the future or something like that? You can’t exactly keep yourself entertained flipping burgers when you’re flipping targets.
Oh, and as it turns out, due to Reactor’s activities being now illicit in at least four different countries, you’re now wanted for questioning by just about all of them.
For war crimes.
Not a great start to unemployment, but hey, could be worse. You didn’t actually do them. Defenetration definitely doesn’t count, right? And, you’re breathing, so that’s not too bad. And have a craft that might be handy, too.
But if someone finds out you worked at Reactor, again, you’re going to be asked questions at a tribunal with little hope of being able to afford a solicitor when your bank assets are frozen.
Your last day at Reactor was a week ago, but because of how it all went down, you ran away with your gun, all of your vessels and channels you could carry, and ended up in Polavia, hoping to lie low. (How you did this, I mean, it’s up to you, I’m not going to hold your hand here in international smuggling, use your imagination!).
Ah, Polavia. Land of milk and honey for ex-mercenaries and adventure capitalists, right? And maybe get a fake passport, let this blow over, get your cash out, back to whatever that thing was that you said you loved.
Something like what a friend said on what to do in this situation.
Even if you don’t drink, you have to admit, they have a point.
So, naturally, we start at the end of quite a shit week. The bottom of the (beer) barrel (or non-alcoholic Liquid Death can) is upon you.
And like literally any stereotype of Dungeons and Dragons, of course you’re going to meet other unemployed mercenaries with little to lose in a bar with you.
Like any great adventure would ever start.
You have something in common. A past you ran from. A collective agreement you want to go back. Or at least, not be a fugitive.
It's worth saying, this means you don't start as the "good guys". You're sort of morally grey, and like any great party, anti-heroes!
That said, even that idea of being an anti-hero in a world of cash, AKs and mana isn’t going to last you.
Because you and your new fireteam, are maybe all that is left against a threat even greater than you could have ever imagined.
Right, enough of how you got to that bar, time we finally do the magic and explain that bit! I'm not used to writing it as a GM, so go gentle, so this works off a system formed from the world of TBW more than anything else, and then fills in blanks wherever we can. It isn't always going to be systemic, but generally, *tries* to be where it can.
Magic in this world works a little differently than just being able to cast fireballs on poor bastards. You have plenty more up your sleeve than that, yet limitations.
We'll go into main sections- how your character wields it, their main attached trait, bits that help / add to it, and bits that allow them to point it at mostly bad people who are drunk.
We'll go into main sections- how your character wields it, their main attached trait, bits that help / add to it, and bits that allow them to point it at mostly bad people who are drunk.
People who can use magic in combat are typically called “Casters”. Because you know. They…cast things that aren't exactly bullets. And they don’t catch fish in the process.
Those Casters, individuals with inherent magical ability are usually locked up by the government, or gently convinced to serve in the Armed Forces or straight up killed…..or find work in criminal gangs or cartels…and/or, maybe if they’re lucky enough, able to keep it to themselves. And mildly annoy people with it in society without causing too much fuss. Pick how much your state of origin polices it, but most strike a balance between acceptance, anarchy and beating you to death over it, with Casters serving time in the military, before leaving with a nice retirement that comes with a bespoke set of skills. Talents like those are far, far too good to pass up, so, if you Cast, you likely know how it goes. You could be an incredible detective, a really good surgeon for billionaires, even just a great contract killer, or Street Mana dealer. A very particular set of skills can make you a bit extra.
As such, magic isn’t some “well spread” or understood thing, even if society has it in the background. A lot of it is vibes, with broadly understood undertones like how a Vessel might work, or a Channel holds power, yet it makes about as much sense to most as quantum physics.
While punks in the street might take straight up “Mana” (luminescent glowing blue powder), maybe cut it with cocaine or ketamine to get “Street Mana”, making them believe you’re able to run through a wall, it doesn’t really come the same as actually being activated, because….well it doesn’t really work at all. Like how cocaine might make you chat bare, mana is that special sauce that for most, doesn’t do anything. Actual mana, the kind that’s inside you if you’ve got this ability to cast, actually makes you capable of doing the arcane for real.
So, the remarkably few that even have magical abilities are rather useful to those who might need them. And when I say few, I mean, we’re talking, maybe thousands, in a world of billions. If you have it, and are up against other people with a gun, you almost certainly are the only person in a room with that power, so keep in mind- you're sort of a weird, poorly understood operator. Like I dunno, Airborne Pararescue, people in the Coastguard, the guys who do JTAC, you mysteriously make really crazy shit happen.
Wow, how special.
And in a fight, nobody cares if you can spit fire when they’re casting lead at you. Your bullshit opinon on power doesn’t make you immune to reality.
Best keep your options open, yeah?
Oh, and one last thing. It’s called bullshit by some. When you realise what it can do, it sort of is.
Those Casters, individuals with inherent magical ability are usually locked up by the government, or gently convinced to serve in the Armed Forces or straight up killed…..or find work in criminal gangs or cartels…and/or, maybe if they’re lucky enough, able to keep it to themselves. And mildly annoy people with it in society without causing too much fuss. Pick how much your state of origin polices it, but most strike a balance between acceptance, anarchy and beating you to death over it, with Casters serving time in the military, before leaving with a nice retirement that comes with a bespoke set of skills. Talents like those are far, far too good to pass up, so, if you Cast, you likely know how it goes. You could be an incredible detective, a really good surgeon for billionaires, even just a great contract killer, or Street Mana dealer. A very particular set of skills can make you a bit extra.
As such, magic isn’t some “well spread” or understood thing, even if society has it in the background. A lot of it is vibes, with broadly understood undertones like how a Vessel might work, or a Channel holds power, yet it makes about as much sense to most as quantum physics.
While punks in the street might take straight up “Mana” (luminescent glowing blue powder), maybe cut it with cocaine or ketamine to get “Street Mana”, making them believe you’re able to run through a wall, it doesn’t really come the same as actually being activated, because….well it doesn’t really work at all. Like how cocaine might make you chat bare, mana is that special sauce that for most, doesn’t do anything. Actual mana, the kind that’s inside you if you’ve got this ability to cast, actually makes you capable of doing the arcane for real.
So, the remarkably few that even have magical abilities are rather useful to those who might need them. And when I say few, I mean, we’re talking, maybe thousands, in a world of billions. If you have it, and are up against other people with a gun, you almost certainly are the only person in a room with that power, so keep in mind- you're sort of a weird, poorly understood operator. Like I dunno, Airborne Pararescue, people in the Coastguard, the guys who do JTAC, you mysteriously make really crazy shit happen.
Wow, how special.
And in a fight, nobody cares if you can spit fire when they’re casting lead at you. Your bullshit opinon on power doesn’t make you immune to reality.
Best keep your options open, yeah?
Oh, and one last thing. It’s called bullshit by some. When you realise what it can do, it sort of is.
Your Wizard, or Witch (or Warlock, idk) has a “Craft”. This is your main, signature ability. The ability to shapeshift into a Lion? The ability to see seconds into the future? The ability to reverse mistakes you just made? Peel concrete from walls to create walls of temporary cover?
CRITICALLY, you got this craft because you NEEDED IT, not because you would “like” to have it as an ability. You didn’t choose this. It happened to you. It might tie to you by coincidence, might have been something you ran into, but probably, it’s a chance that your chraacter is now very much defined by this.
This means historically, something traumatic, or serious happened to your character that forced that “emergence” in you that might have otherwise killed, or seriously injured you. The degree of which it did that to you, is likely to play proportionately to how strong it is.
Craft is, however, the core of your character’s gameplay. It’s what makes them who they are, and likely, spirals the rest of your character out. It is likely that this is the core of your domain, and your personal journey. Saw a bomb that was going to cut off and cut a wire and might have seen it was the wrong one? Congrats, you have the power of foresight, you can see into the future, and you likely will have had to tame that, because no craft comes with no consequences.
It’s incredibly tough to tame. Headaches, hurt, all of it comes with taming being able to do something that bends the laws of physics, let alone chronology. It can flutter, fluctuate, and go all over the place, and requires work- work you have likely put in. It’s still really not perfect either. But through training (most of which is military), you can harness craft into a power that elevates your magical ability into something tactically critical. It’s a hell of a lot easier to charge a room when you can see every consequence. Or set everyone inside on fire, burning up their insides before you even fire a gun at them.
But as I say, consequences.
Please give it a funny turn. A shapeshifter that can only turn into a lion when starving? A pyromancer that can only produce flame that’s hot, but not really like napalm? A seer that can’t control how far ahead they can see in dreams, or through concrete? Able to switch places with enemies, but getting flooded by their inner monologue?
Not a debilitating “nerf”, but it’s something that means your Craft comes with an issue. The more powerful the Craft, the more serious your issue. The less powerful, like simply just being able to chain bolt lightning at people, means you’ll rely on a variety of other tricks, more diverse than singular, to survive but won’t have the same effect as someone who really fucks with it to a point where it is almost game-breaking, but will break them in turn. This is likely to be a recurring theme, and will, and your craft will also interfere with others, as well as your personal items. So your craft WILL, have an impact on other players in this RP. (Yeah, see this is the clever bit). Which we’ll get to.
Craft is sometimes derogatorily called “Bullshit” by many without it, particularly the very strong stuff. A very strong Crafter’s talent, if worked upon, is seen by even other crafters as “Bullshit”! Chronomancers seem to usually fit that mould because it really can’t be countered directly without a lot of effort.
It's a nasty term, so why then use the phrase, bullshit?
You ever seen someone turn into a Lion and maul someone to death in a firefight?
Or someone else see every option in a room before breaching?
In a modern setting with an AK-103 in hand, to pin each hostile in there before you've breached?
That’s the power of some absolute bullshit.
CRITICALLY, you got this craft because you NEEDED IT, not because you would “like” to have it as an ability. You didn’t choose this. It happened to you. It might tie to you by coincidence, might have been something you ran into, but probably, it’s a chance that your chraacter is now very much defined by this.
This means historically, something traumatic, or serious happened to your character that forced that “emergence” in you that might have otherwise killed, or seriously injured you. The degree of which it did that to you, is likely to play proportionately to how strong it is.
Craft is, however, the core of your character’s gameplay. It’s what makes them who they are, and likely, spirals the rest of your character out. It is likely that this is the core of your domain, and your personal journey. Saw a bomb that was going to cut off and cut a wire and might have seen it was the wrong one? Congrats, you have the power of foresight, you can see into the future, and you likely will have had to tame that, because no craft comes with no consequences.
It’s incredibly tough to tame. Headaches, hurt, all of it comes with taming being able to do something that bends the laws of physics, let alone chronology. It can flutter, fluctuate, and go all over the place, and requires work- work you have likely put in. It’s still really not perfect either. But through training (most of which is military), you can harness craft into a power that elevates your magical ability into something tactically critical. It’s a hell of a lot easier to charge a room when you can see every consequence. Or set everyone inside on fire, burning up their insides before you even fire a gun at them.
But as I say, consequences.
Please give it a funny turn. A shapeshifter that can only turn into a lion when starving? A pyromancer that can only produce flame that’s hot, but not really like napalm? A seer that can’t control how far ahead they can see in dreams, or through concrete? Able to switch places with enemies, but getting flooded by their inner monologue?
Not a debilitating “nerf”, but it’s something that means your Craft comes with an issue. The more powerful the Craft, the more serious your issue. The less powerful, like simply just being able to chain bolt lightning at people, means you’ll rely on a variety of other tricks, more diverse than singular, to survive but won’t have the same effect as someone who really fucks with it to a point where it is almost game-breaking, but will break them in turn. This is likely to be a recurring theme, and will, and your craft will also interfere with others, as well as your personal items. So your craft WILL, have an impact on other players in this RP. (Yeah, see this is the clever bit). Which we’ll get to.
Craft is sometimes derogatorily called “Bullshit” by many without it, particularly the very strong stuff. A very strong Crafter’s talent, if worked upon, is seen by even other crafters as “Bullshit”! Chronomancers seem to usually fit that mould because it really can’t be countered directly without a lot of effort.
It's a nasty term, so why then use the phrase, bullshit?
You ever seen someone turn into a Lion and maul someone to death in a firefight?
Or someone else see every option in a room before breaching?
In a modern setting with an AK-103 in hand, to pin each hostile in there before you've breached?
That’s the power of some absolute bullshit.
A vessel is an item that lets you do something different to your “main” Craft.
Typically, an operator might carry around dogtags, or an item in which their “Craft” is left behind on from another operator with magical abilities. Or you might carry a skull that was them. Or a neckerchief. Or, I don’t know, a smart watch they had? Basically, it’s something that gives your magical power another dimension.
A good Caster, who’s experienced in their particular trade knows what to have. A witch can’t go without a broom and the ability to carry some newt bones. Or an illusionist might find beyond making copies of themselves, they might like to go invisible via some eldritch powers. These are your "extras", the bits you get to have on top of your craft (which makes you more than just some guy in a wizard hat, and actually a multi-dimensional (optional) operative.
This might mean, say, someone who’s really good at transfiguration might have left a slice of what they can do, on the item. This doesn’t work in an “additive” method- it doesn’t stay with you, it stays with the item. But you can stack these. So if you’re a Wizard-seer who can see into the future, you can also create copies of yourself with a transfiguration, and use BOTH abilities to really fuck with people. It also means this could be transferred to someone, in a pinch, but the longer it stays with you, the better you are at using it.
Vessels tend to work best with those who have a Craft. While non-Craft users could use a vessel (Chapel have used this to make shields for riot policing that give non-mana users the ability to lock down areas), it’s usually not something that can be really used by someone without knowledge or instruction because it's so fucking hard.
Keep this in mind. It means that in the RP, dependent on bonds, you can give others your power, or at least, a slice of it. They can use this to an effect. But that bond relies on trust, and that object being given, and then, you get a slice into your fellow Wizard's ability. Want to send people to an eldritch gateway? While carrying around a pump-action shotgun? You can now make a portal wherever you want.
Typically, an operator might carry around dogtags, or an item in which their “Craft” is left behind on from another operator with magical abilities. Or you might carry a skull that was them. Or a neckerchief. Or, I don’t know, a smart watch they had? Basically, it’s something that gives your magical power another dimension.
A good Caster, who’s experienced in their particular trade knows what to have. A witch can’t go without a broom and the ability to carry some newt bones. Or an illusionist might find beyond making copies of themselves, they might like to go invisible via some eldritch powers. These are your "extras", the bits you get to have on top of your craft (which makes you more than just some guy in a wizard hat, and actually a multi-dimensional (optional) operative.
This might mean, say, someone who’s really good at transfiguration might have left a slice of what they can do, on the item. This doesn’t work in an “additive” method- it doesn’t stay with you, it stays with the item. But you can stack these. So if you’re a Wizard-seer who can see into the future, you can also create copies of yourself with a transfiguration, and use BOTH abilities to really fuck with people. It also means this could be transferred to someone, in a pinch, but the longer it stays with you, the better you are at using it.
Vessels tend to work best with those who have a Craft. While non-Craft users could use a vessel (Chapel have used this to make shields for riot policing that give non-mana users the ability to lock down areas), it’s usually not something that can be really used by someone without knowledge or instruction because it's so fucking hard.
Keep this in mind. It means that in the RP, dependent on bonds, you can give others your power, or at least, a slice of it. They can use this to an effect. But that bond relies on trust, and that object being given, and then, you get a slice into your fellow Wizard's ability. Want to send people to an eldritch gateway? While carrying around a pump-action shotgun? You can now make a portal wherever you want.
A channel is what can be used to enhance or improve your character’s Craft, or otherwise, direct it. Channels take on many different types, but for most special forces operatives or mercs of your kind, that consists of their service weapon. And through DIY, or actually gunsmithed method, the staff, bullets, attachments or something else on it. Though want to fire bolts of lightning or energy at people and need something lighter? A wand might be handy for that with a pistol grip. You might want to put a sound suppressor on it though….alternatively, there’s other methods, depending on just what it is you do. A full-blown rifle might not be for everyone.
Confusingly - Vessels and Channels can be one and the same, or separate entirely. Some channels may direct your character’s natural ability, others are items you’ll use that are standalone. A rifle with a staff embedded in it that spits lightning? With the right ammo from a alchemist come gunsmith, that’s a channel, but if you’re already able to cast lightening bolts from a wand or short staff? That’s a war crime!
Channels can be used by those who have a Craft only.
Confusingly - Vessels and Channels can be one and the same, or separate entirely. Some channels may direct your character’s natural ability, others are items you’ll use that are standalone. A rifle with a staff embedded in it that spits lightning? With the right ammo from a alchemist come gunsmith, that’s a channel, but if you’re already able to cast lightening bolts from a wand or short staff? That’s a war crime!
Channels can be used by those who have a Craft only.
Also, there are just guns.
To keep things simple, real-world, actual firearms. Use real ones (even if anachronistic) because this makes it easier to visualise, and well, they take on all their usual traits. Pick the guns that fit your class, a sniper carries....a sniper rifle, a pointman a shorter-barrelled rifle, a support specialist a light machine gun of some sort.
We're talking guns that you can load with 7.62 x 51mm and will, and if your target isn’t a freak, is going to likely kill them if you get a round o ntarget. You probably have a rifle, a pistol, or something to go alongside your usual loadout of a staff, wand, or whatever it is you use to inflict maximum blattage on some poor Polavian’s skull. Though if you bring RPG-7, I swear, you're actually getting punched in the face, but sure, why not
It’s not a bad idea to keep a weapon and it’s not hard to get one either. You’re in a post-Communist Eastern Bloc country with western, eastern and more guns than you could shake a stick at. The price of an AK is about that of a loaf of bread. And I mean, genuinely, at a gun market, you can pick basically anything you want, even Western stuff has started to hit the market and while pricier, it’s still comically cheap. The Polavian Police have struggled in their shift from a hardened paramilitary to a regular police, so finding an arms dealer is about as easy as buying a loaf of bread. This isn't an RP where I'm going to make you play some economy, you decide how much cash you have, or need to beg, borrow, steal for, and can actually afford that you realistically think you can get.
Point is, you’ll probably still want to carry a firearm, but you might be loading it with rounds that may, or may not, be magically affected. There are literally no ends of people who want you dead, so, maybe pack some heat given you’re a relatively talented mercenary who knows how to use a gun alongside spitting literal fire.
Most non-craft having people know if they're up against you their odds if they don’t have a craft of their own, and therefore, are willing to pack more heat than you’d like. Bullets will kill you. They wear armour, some maybe even more, and are enjoying the trade in mana and creatine-based enhancement activities (also known as the gym). So they'll take as much as they can carry. They might also bring fixed countermeasures to your Craft. Wards hooked up to EMP generators make some really scary counter tools that will strip you of your craft and leave you dependent on wits and a killer headache. They really aren't playing when they know you're en route. When they don't, well, hunting season?
Your bullshit is bullshit, but they’re catching on.
To keep things simple, real-world, actual firearms. Use real ones (even if anachronistic) because this makes it easier to visualise, and well, they take on all their usual traits. Pick the guns that fit your class, a sniper carries....a sniper rifle, a pointman a shorter-barrelled rifle, a support specialist a light machine gun of some sort.
We're talking guns that you can load with 7.62 x 51mm and will, and if your target isn’t a freak, is going to likely kill them if you get a round o ntarget. You probably have a rifle, a pistol, or something to go alongside your usual loadout of a staff, wand, or whatever it is you use to inflict maximum blattage on some poor Polavian’s skull. Though if you bring RPG-7, I swear, you're actually getting punched in the face, but sure, why not
It’s not a bad idea to keep a weapon and it’s not hard to get one either. You’re in a post-Communist Eastern Bloc country with western, eastern and more guns than you could shake a stick at. The price of an AK is about that of a loaf of bread. And I mean, genuinely, at a gun market, you can pick basically anything you want, even Western stuff has started to hit the market and while pricier, it’s still comically cheap. The Polavian Police have struggled in their shift from a hardened paramilitary to a regular police, so finding an arms dealer is about as easy as buying a loaf of bread. This isn't an RP where I'm going to make you play some economy, you decide how much cash you have, or need to beg, borrow, steal for, and can actually afford that you realistically think you can get.
Point is, you’ll probably still want to carry a firearm, but you might be loading it with rounds that may, or may not, be magically affected. There are literally no ends of people who want you dead, so, maybe pack some heat given you’re a relatively talented mercenary who knows how to use a gun alongside spitting literal fire.
Most non-craft having people know if they're up against you their odds if they don’t have a craft of their own, and therefore, are willing to pack more heat than you’d like. Bullets will kill you. They wear armour, some maybe even more, and are enjoying the trade in mana and creatine-based enhancement activities (also known as the gym). So they'll take as much as they can carry. They might also bring fixed countermeasures to your Craft. Wards hooked up to EMP generators make some really scary counter tools that will strip you of your craft and leave you dependent on wits and a killer headache. They really aren't playing when they know you're en route. When they don't, well, hunting season?
Your bullshit is bullshit, but they’re catching on.
There isn’t just Craft, there are other magic-y, stuff. Usually, badly understood, but here are the main ones you need to know about.
Glyphs. These can be one-time use items, to teleport you out of a hot zone to a previous marker (Extraction Glyph), or everyone’s favourite, a Breach Glyph. Drawn on a door, it opens you up. About the same as about a few hundred grams of plastic explosive. They’re individually quite weak, but situationally, incredibly powerful. Usually your supply is limited to how much mana-enabled ink you have, and any good operator knows how to use it sparingly, given it isn’t usually for combat, but in support of said work.
Spells also exist, typically restricted to alchemists, witches and those who know how to fuck with a cauldron. Blood tracking, noxious smoke, are all features your favourite trackers, scouts and specialists might have access to that aren’t quite a glyph, craft or channel. These are usually something extremely specific, and should, and would tie into your general character’s aesthetic, usually bolstered by using grenades and the like.
You could just also throw non-arcane stuff. I dunno, throw drugs at people to disorient them, flashbangs, regular fragmentation grenades, knives and daggers too. Smoke bombs, especially with a smoke-o-caster (is that a thing? Smoke Witch maybe?) have the potential raise all hell, so they might even just be a channel for you too.
Glyphs. These can be one-time use items, to teleport you out of a hot zone to a previous marker (Extraction Glyph), or everyone’s favourite, a Breach Glyph. Drawn on a door, it opens you up. About the same as about a few hundred grams of plastic explosive. They’re individually quite weak, but situationally, incredibly powerful. Usually your supply is limited to how much mana-enabled ink you have, and any good operator knows how to use it sparingly, given it isn’t usually for combat, but in support of said work.
Spells also exist, typically restricted to alchemists, witches and those who know how to fuck with a cauldron. Blood tracking, noxious smoke, are all features your favourite trackers, scouts and specialists might have access to that aren’t quite a glyph, craft or channel. These are usually something extremely specific, and should, and would tie into your general character’s aesthetic, usually bolstered by using grenades and the like.
You could just also throw non-arcane stuff. I dunno, throw drugs at people to disorient them, flashbangs, regular fragmentation grenades, knives and daggers too. Smoke bombs, especially with a smoke-o-caster (is that a thing? Smoke Witch maybe?) have the potential raise all hell, so they might even just be a channel for you too.
Arcane stuff is maybe not as simple as "witch cast spell", but, it is at least a good framework for the reason, the items, and how you do what you wouldn't like unto others. The countries on the other world put all of that in context in how they exist as modern, or not so modern states around a large central ocean.
This RP, in an alternate-world to our own, focuses on countries not quite like ours- but also, close in feel to ours that they should have analogues.
An ex-communist, newly capitalist, absolutely Eastern European ripped off country far across the warm Illyrian Sea south of Medil (to be explained shortly), Polavia really is the tinderbox for an ex-mercenary like you to end up in.
The way you know things changed is that the national anthem sounds significantly less like you want to depose rich people than it did once.
And weirdly, it still sounds like there are accordions.....
Also, lots of people who want to smuggle guns, drugs, WMDs, vodka, mana and bootleg DVDs, and usually, are involved in two or three, maybe all six illicit activities at the same time, if not more that you could dream of. The Scarlet Revolution turned this country from having the last remaining CCP this hemisphere has had into a democracy where everything’s for sale and nothing is apparently nailed down. Everyone had nothing, now, they’re finding out they can have more nothing, while others can make so much money it’s untrue. If there was a God, the last regime killed him, and the new one’s selling whatever organs he had left in his carcass to anyone who’s buying, but it isn't all gloom and doom. It's on the up, just, not everyone is seeing that yet.
The flag is a blue, white and yellow tricolour, with a Stag, the nation’s animal of pride, in (rampant, yet) dead centre.
Welcome to something Balkan, Baltic and Slavic, but despite all the magic in the world, it’s anything but a magical place. Imagine Yugoslavia, Poland, the Czech Republic and a bit of the old Soviet Union mashed together in a Ukraine-sized package, still feeling like it’s maybe in modern times, sometimes like it hasn’t changed since the early 90s.
Bordered by the Samiya Republic to the north-west only via a thin sandy isthmus at the border village of Yelen, Polavia is accessible generally by ferry or via air travel.
With a shore on the Illyrian Sea to the north-west that features beautiful rocky cliffs and golden sand beaches with turquoise water and resort hotels, it looks to the world quite pretty. To the east, a rocky, cliff-strewn shore hides long sandy beaches and very little beyond sleepy old farms on the Eastern Sea.
Polavia's second city on the north-eastern coast, Královec, is an important warm water harbour with the Druid Mafia’s Slavic cousins, the….uhh, it’s just the Druid Albani, taking a firm hold on the important import-export business in the once disputed independent city-state. They’ve turned selling cocaine into basically the main reason why the local construction industry builds so many villas out of the old Communist dachas, and are better run than most businesses in the “West” in how fast they’ll sell you a brick of mana-enfused drugs. There's law, there's order, but there's plenty of coke on order. It's a beautiful, medieval city, but it is also, full of tourists from the DSR trying to score Mana in this new world we are in given the above. There's a whorehouse on every corner, it's like Amsterdam with even more sleaze, outside of the golden coast, and is the face of the country beyond where actual business is done.
That coastline facade hides a deep, dark forested inland with mountains and hills that feel straight up from the Witcher. Hills and rivers, of which hide villages of drunk yokels and endless amounts of weapons dumps, vodka factories, abandoned nuclear power stations, strange looking huts in the woods with copious amounts of mana-infused magic mushrooms, former Polavian Security Apparatus blacksites…the interior of Polavia is not your usual countryside. People here think electricity is magic. Let alone a flatscreen LCD TV. You kinda seem normal here, motherfucker!
The main bit of civilization, with museums, culture, banking, everything like that, can be found in the capital, Novi Jork. Split by the Tala River in the shadow of the nation’s tallest mountain of Lysy, the city is undergoing renovation. It’s currently not sure if it’s a beautiful Medieval castle city (Stari Jork), a Brutalist concrete jungle with bloc architecture (Novi Grad), or a modern, glass-fronted financial hub bringing in DSR companies and money (Zloty Targ). It's sort of unsure, but basically, somewhere like Warsaw or Prague between 1991 and 2025 is about right.
Beyond the Carpaty Mountains that divide the land like a knife with jagged Dolomite-like rock and cracking dams and more Security Apparatus prisons, the “Pusty” coastline to the south, on the Antarctic Sea, is frozen cold with abandoned mining towns including Yarrow, a former radium and nickel refinery.
Like a tundra meets the Arctic- imagine way fewer Canadians, and way more drunk ex-Polavian Navy people who couldn't afford to leave and are locked into hazardous, horrid jobs working in freezing cold, toxic-air having shitholes. It thaws over every now and then for oil tankers and other bulkers to extract the mineral riches of the frozen south- and is littered with the old regime’s warships and rotting nuclear subs, as well as oil spills and squalor. Not on the tourist brochure, because it’s an absolute shithole.
A state in flux, Polavia feels distinctly Slavic, and you are a foreigner in a land far from wherever you called home. There’s order one place you look, drunk uncles in the other. You could call it paradise. Sometimes when you squint, it's a fairytale place, where the joke about huts made of butter and monsters in the dark forests seems true. You could call it purgatory, because those forests contain more toxic waste dumps and doomsday bunkers that you do not want to know about. Either way, it’s where you are right now.
Speaking of home, what about the other countries in the region you likely came in from?
The way you know things changed is that the national anthem sounds significantly less like you want to depose rich people than it did once.
And weirdly, it still sounds like there are accordions.....
Also, lots of people who want to smuggle guns, drugs, WMDs, vodka, mana and bootleg DVDs, and usually, are involved in two or three, maybe all six illicit activities at the same time, if not more that you could dream of. The Scarlet Revolution turned this country from having the last remaining CCP this hemisphere has had into a democracy where everything’s for sale and nothing is apparently nailed down. Everyone had nothing, now, they’re finding out they can have more nothing, while others can make so much money it’s untrue. If there was a God, the last regime killed him, and the new one’s selling whatever organs he had left in his carcass to anyone who’s buying, but it isn't all gloom and doom. It's on the up, just, not everyone is seeing that yet.
The flag is a blue, white and yellow tricolour, with a Stag, the nation’s animal of pride, in (rampant, yet) dead centre.
Welcome to something Balkan, Baltic and Slavic, but despite all the magic in the world, it’s anything but a magical place. Imagine Yugoslavia, Poland, the Czech Republic and a bit of the old Soviet Union mashed together in a Ukraine-sized package, still feeling like it’s maybe in modern times, sometimes like it hasn’t changed since the early 90s.
Bordered by the Samiya Republic to the north-west only via a thin sandy isthmus at the border village of Yelen, Polavia is accessible generally by ferry or via air travel.
With a shore on the Illyrian Sea to the north-west that features beautiful rocky cliffs and golden sand beaches with turquoise water and resort hotels, it looks to the world quite pretty. To the east, a rocky, cliff-strewn shore hides long sandy beaches and very little beyond sleepy old farms on the Eastern Sea.
Polavia's second city on the north-eastern coast, Královec, is an important warm water harbour with the Druid Mafia’s Slavic cousins, the….uhh, it’s just the Druid Albani, taking a firm hold on the important import-export business in the once disputed independent city-state. They’ve turned selling cocaine into basically the main reason why the local construction industry builds so many villas out of the old Communist dachas, and are better run than most businesses in the “West” in how fast they’ll sell you a brick of mana-enfused drugs. There's law, there's order, but there's plenty of coke on order. It's a beautiful, medieval city, but it is also, full of tourists from the DSR trying to score Mana in this new world we are in given the above. There's a whorehouse on every corner, it's like Amsterdam with even more sleaze, outside of the golden coast, and is the face of the country beyond where actual business is done.
That coastline facade hides a deep, dark forested inland with mountains and hills that feel straight up from the Witcher. Hills and rivers, of which hide villages of drunk yokels and endless amounts of weapons dumps, vodka factories, abandoned nuclear power stations, strange looking huts in the woods with copious amounts of mana-infused magic mushrooms, former Polavian Security Apparatus blacksites…the interior of Polavia is not your usual countryside. People here think electricity is magic. Let alone a flatscreen LCD TV. You kinda seem normal here, motherfucker!
The main bit of civilization, with museums, culture, banking, everything like that, can be found in the capital, Novi Jork. Split by the Tala River in the shadow of the nation’s tallest mountain of Lysy, the city is undergoing renovation. It’s currently not sure if it’s a beautiful Medieval castle city (Stari Jork), a Brutalist concrete jungle with bloc architecture (Novi Grad), or a modern, glass-fronted financial hub bringing in DSR companies and money (Zloty Targ). It's sort of unsure, but basically, somewhere like Warsaw or Prague between 1991 and 2025 is about right.
Beyond the Carpaty Mountains that divide the land like a knife with jagged Dolomite-like rock and cracking dams and more Security Apparatus prisons, the “Pusty” coastline to the south, on the Antarctic Sea, is frozen cold with abandoned mining towns including Yarrow, a former radium and nickel refinery.
Like a tundra meets the Arctic- imagine way fewer Canadians, and way more drunk ex-Polavian Navy people who couldn't afford to leave and are locked into hazardous, horrid jobs working in freezing cold, toxic-air having shitholes. It thaws over every now and then for oil tankers and other bulkers to extract the mineral riches of the frozen south- and is littered with the old regime’s warships and rotting nuclear subs, as well as oil spills and squalor. Not on the tourist brochure, because it’s an absolute shithole.
A state in flux, Polavia feels distinctly Slavic, and you are a foreigner in a land far from wherever you called home. There’s order one place you look, drunk uncles in the other. You could call it paradise. Sometimes when you squint, it's a fairytale place, where the joke about huts made of butter and monsters in the dark forests seems true. You could call it purgatory, because those forests contain more toxic waste dumps and doomsday bunkers that you do not want to know about. Either way, it’s where you are right now.
Speaking of home, what about the other countries in the region you likely came in from?
The main countries you need to know about are:
The D.S.R: A temperate, sub-continent sized state, the DSR has been the long-standing power of the region and a superpower militarily, as well as economically, producing the vast amount of media, manufacturing and people smoking dubious weed-filled Mana joints on street corners. Feels a bit like the United Kingdom or United States of America, to be honest, with rolling hills, a long coastline and lots of cool, cosmopolitan cities. (Even the police look like they’re British, and it rains a lot). A high-tech, highly advanced economy, the DSR is a bastion of culture, economy, productivity, high tech industry and quaint farmland, this is Tolkien-spec Shire with high rises, skyscrapers and motorways mixed in peaceful countryside.
The Republic of Liboli: A notionally “free” democracy, Liboli gives off the vibe of going on a holiday to a Mediterranean country, the state is also “notional” and it feels like most mercenaries love it, sketchy Blacksites included too. The state has a hand on most things in cities and big population centres, but there is a lot of desert, lemon groves and old dusty mountains that don’t get any overreach. Imagine a blend between southern Spain and northern Morocco, and you’re about right, with a desert and dry mountains inland and a Mediterranean coast with cute little villages with most people drinking in Tabernas. A great place to retire, really.
The Holy Nation of Kalan: An isolationist theocracy run by “Chapel” that will take too long to explain in full, but….well, they’re nutters, basically. North Korea meets the Vatican, with an actual religion where those who connect with their ancestors voices are finding that noise shattered by brutal theocratic authoritarianism. In all the worst ways. A ban on any “Craft”, with a belief that nobody like that could even exist having it means they repress and force people into the cult-like, repressive beliefs that only Chapel do have the means to Craft itself. Forcibly. Riot Priests in armour and with smoke flails convinced they have vessels bestowed upon them quell dissent (even if many truly are just pumped up bootlickers with no power at all behind the plexiglass)- but currently, the civil war between the Chapel forces and the Resistance is tearing that idea apart, and it’s a warzone. A peninsula that looks a lot like a tooth, the climate is halfway between Liboli and the DSR, a bit like northern France, with gothic-like church-inspired architecture and dark, dingy, industrial cities. A real shithole, with Kalan’s industrial relics and civil war being a terrible place for anyone, civilian or merc, considering the complications.
Republic of Medil: A small, thin strip-like island nation, Medil has a near perennially snowy inland area with tall, volcanic mountains and a thin coastline that supports agriculture and mining in the south, and the Druid Mafia’s activities in the north. They seem to harass the Jodassa Strait, like actually competent Somali pirates. Recently having re-asserted their council-formed democratic government, thousands in Medil are missing in the aftermath of a bloody Reactor-led invasion that has since turned tail and is the reason for your recent unemployment. Imagine New Zealand, or Chile. The teeny island chain of “The Breaks” is a quasi-independent area that feels more like the Caribbean states of St Lucia and Barbados, a holiday paradise meets banking hub, mostly impenetrable due to a cluster of active, nasty volcanoes, including Mount Doombar, which has been in constant eruption for at least the last hundred years.
Samiya Republic: A recently devolved nation that borders the DSR, it’s a bit of a backwater, with plains, corn, and very little else. Think Oklahoma, Iowa and maybe the more bland bits of Texas, rolled into one, it always feels like the “little brother” to the DSR’s teeming nature. Corn farms, lead paint factories, and weird roadside attractions in every small town.
The D.S.R: A temperate, sub-continent sized state, the DSR has been the long-standing power of the region and a superpower militarily, as well as economically, producing the vast amount of media, manufacturing and people smoking dubious weed-filled Mana joints on street corners. Feels a bit like the United Kingdom or United States of America, to be honest, with rolling hills, a long coastline and lots of cool, cosmopolitan cities. (Even the police look like they’re British, and it rains a lot). A high-tech, highly advanced economy, the DSR is a bastion of culture, economy, productivity, high tech industry and quaint farmland, this is Tolkien-spec Shire with high rises, skyscrapers and motorways mixed in peaceful countryside.
The Republic of Liboli: A notionally “free” democracy, Liboli gives off the vibe of going on a holiday to a Mediterranean country, the state is also “notional” and it feels like most mercenaries love it, sketchy Blacksites included too. The state has a hand on most things in cities and big population centres, but there is a lot of desert, lemon groves and old dusty mountains that don’t get any overreach. Imagine a blend between southern Spain and northern Morocco, and you’re about right, with a desert and dry mountains inland and a Mediterranean coast with cute little villages with most people drinking in Tabernas. A great place to retire, really.
The Holy Nation of Kalan: An isolationist theocracy run by “Chapel” that will take too long to explain in full, but….well, they’re nutters, basically. North Korea meets the Vatican, with an actual religion where those who connect with their ancestors voices are finding that noise shattered by brutal theocratic authoritarianism. In all the worst ways. A ban on any “Craft”, with a belief that nobody like that could even exist having it means they repress and force people into the cult-like, repressive beliefs that only Chapel do have the means to Craft itself. Forcibly. Riot Priests in armour and with smoke flails convinced they have vessels bestowed upon them quell dissent (even if many truly are just pumped up bootlickers with no power at all behind the plexiglass)- but currently, the civil war between the Chapel forces and the Resistance is tearing that idea apart, and it’s a warzone. A peninsula that looks a lot like a tooth, the climate is halfway between Liboli and the DSR, a bit like northern France, with gothic-like church-inspired architecture and dark, dingy, industrial cities. A real shithole, with Kalan’s industrial relics and civil war being a terrible place for anyone, civilian or merc, considering the complications.
Republic of Medil: A small, thin strip-like island nation, Medil has a near perennially snowy inland area with tall, volcanic mountains and a thin coastline that supports agriculture and mining in the south, and the Druid Mafia’s activities in the north. They seem to harass the Jodassa Strait, like actually competent Somali pirates. Recently having re-asserted their council-formed democratic government, thousands in Medil are missing in the aftermath of a bloody Reactor-led invasion that has since turned tail and is the reason for your recent unemployment. Imagine New Zealand, or Chile. The teeny island chain of “The Breaks” is a quasi-independent area that feels more like the Caribbean states of St Lucia and Barbados, a holiday paradise meets banking hub, mostly impenetrable due to a cluster of active, nasty volcanoes, including Mount Doombar, which has been in constant eruption for at least the last hundred years.
Samiya Republic: A recently devolved nation that borders the DSR, it’s a bit of a backwater, with plains, corn, and very little else. Think Oklahoma, Iowa and maybe the more bland bits of Texas, rolled into one, it always feels like the “little brother” to the DSR’s teeming nature. Corn farms, lead paint factories, and weird roadside attractions in every small town.
That's the specific nations in a nutshell! Onto a stranger note- this RP's definitely a bit more tongue in cheek, so I wanted to put a little time into how that might come about, not exactly a requirement, but it might put you in the "ethos" of where this RP goes for comic value.
This RP is incredibly tongue in cheek. If you haven’t noticed, this RP doesn’t take itself too seriously, because wizards wearing Oakleys and tactical robes in MARPAT sand with assault M4s with a staff in it are….well, look, not going to work out that way. This isn't a die hard serious RP, and isn't dying for seriousness, even if some of the feeling of firefights have a tinge of it- think classic Pink Panther, high stakes, high comedy.
The main rule is to not take things too seriously without being completely stupid. If you can make me and the other players laugh, you have succeeded. That doesn’t mean slapstick, unless you really, really know how to make that work. Humour here is dry, witty, quippy, absurd sarcastic, and generally, all sorts of vile, dark, plays on magic in a modern fantasy, yet sometimes mundane setting. A very British or Eastern European sense, it's all about punching up, and then all over when drunk. This RP thrives on your character not just being able to cast, but having their own taste of comedy. My characters tend to play it down the middle- yours might not. This means while I won’t always prompt you to be funny, I will entertain it and that’s where the beauty of this RP comes in.
There are moments which will be dead serious, and you can giggle like you’re at a funeral.
There are moments that will be comic, yet will be highly charged, emotional and will likely be quite visceral and will come with drama and stakes that will, and are going to affect your character. They’re still a person, just in a bit of an absurd setting, and the absurdity itself is where the comedy comes in.
I try not to pull punches, and therefore, whilst light in tone, the characters, their struggles, and what being a magician does to them. It’s a dumb action thriller, with quips and all.
For inspiration, a lot of British comedy, as well as other international sources have been used as a baseline. It's an RP with wizards carrying Steyr AUGs in it!
The main rule is to not take things too seriously without being completely stupid. If you can make me and the other players laugh, you have succeeded. That doesn’t mean slapstick, unless you really, really know how to make that work. Humour here is dry, witty, quippy, absurd sarcastic, and generally, all sorts of vile, dark, plays on magic in a modern fantasy, yet sometimes mundane setting. A very British or Eastern European sense, it's all about punching up, and then all over when drunk. This RP thrives on your character not just being able to cast, but having their own taste of comedy. My characters tend to play it down the middle- yours might not. This means while I won’t always prompt you to be funny, I will entertain it and that’s where the beauty of this RP comes in.
There are moments which will be dead serious, and you can giggle like you’re at a funeral.
There are moments that will be comic, yet will be highly charged, emotional and will likely be quite visceral and will come with drama and stakes that will, and are going to affect your character. They’re still a person, just in a bit of an absurd setting, and the absurdity itself is where the comedy comes in.
I try not to pull punches, and therefore, whilst light in tone, the characters, their struggles, and what being a magician does to them. It’s a dumb action thriller, with quips and all.
For inspiration, a lot of British comedy, as well as other international sources have been used as a baseline. It's an RP with wizards carrying Steyr AUGs in it!
Right, laughs played up, onto how characters come together in this world- and how you are set to make them!
How your character works based on the above, and the character sheet.
Your character needs to be described in three words or less as a “headline”. See this as their “tag”- this is how I perceive your character as a GM (and also, focusses your character’s ability into a condensed point).
The funnier, the better. For example, “Navy Seer” works nicely because a good pun is always going to be funny if it’s military themed and somewhat magic-y. Your GM will appreciate this.You don’t have to be funny, but so long as it’s a summary of it in three words, I’ll know what I’m managing in a fashion totally not stolen from Dungeons and Dragons.
For example:
“Rogue Storm Witch”
“Elemental Breacher”
“Druid Assassin”
And some others I brainstormed:
“Bloodmage Medic”
“Wardbreaking Specialist”
“Witch Sniper”
“Illusionist Trickster”
“Engineer Warlock”
“Fire Support Mage”
It also means how your character looks or might be stems out of it. A “Navy Seer” is of course, decked out in Tier One operator fashion, digital camo robes, yet keeps a Wizard’s hat, because remember- we’re still playing in a reality that means it should….well, your character isn’t cosplaying a magician, they’re playing a mercenary that happens to be able to bolt people to floor and so therefore, seems to have bits of a magician to them. So your ability, history, and look should feel like it all fits together, perhaps three or four influences max rather than say, six or more influences. It means you get to be cool with your character and if you can’t find the art, just describe it or combine influences until you get there. Choose a pyromancer to make homebrew napalm? A gas mask, and other fire-retardant gear might be a good idea, as well as packing in armour if you really want to go all out on terror. An illusionist who thrives on stealth? Well fitting, low profile kit, night vision goggles, a few feathers of a bird of paradise for good measure. A witch who can fling kinetic shocks? Probably a classic witch’s hat, tactical cloaks, and a broom.
There aren’t any classes, but broadly, you’ll have heavier, more tactical fighting characters and lighter, more agile and cloak and dagger-style characters. Try not to make a character someone is making- declare it in OOC and it’s yours. I don’t want too many snipers, too many pyromancers, too many bog-standard wizards, but a range to provide a flavour to this RP. We can’t all be eating onions here.
The only restrictions is there are no other “races”, as broadly, your character is human (unless you’re shapeshifting, and I’m afraid as the GM I have stolen that one!). They don’t even have to be a de-facto wizard or witch (as above). The only thing I ask is that it makes sense that when bullets start flying, they can fight back. Within that realm though, go mad. A druid, a necromancer, a mage, a warlock, even just a typical Wizard with a staff and a hat or a Witch with a cat and a tactical broom. Mix and match, but I’d say keep to two to three “subclasses” at a max. Sort of like DnD, but also, not really I guess
The rule of cool truly applies, because while the Arcane is explained below, I’m not asking you any questions why a Druid has a questionable amount of houseplants that make noises, or a Witch has a broom. I mean, come on. You don’t ask a guy his salary, you don’t ask a woman her age, you don’t ask a wizard why he has a staff. You’ll have it, and I won’t ask any more questions because there’s *probably* a reason.
The only other aspect to mention is that, they’re likely proficient in firearms (to at least a moderate level), and as mentioned- they worked in Reactor, so they will know loosely of each other, or know each other already. This will help fuel the RP to begin with, and give your characters the best chance of surviving what is likely to be a long, windy adventure that will test them across Polavia and against a whole range of characters.
I’m not creative enough at current, but here’s some more ideas:
Chronomancers and Seers
Pyromancers and Alchemists
Illusionists and Mages
Druids and Diviners
The funnier, the better. For example, “Navy Seer” works nicely because a good pun is always going to be funny if it’s military themed and somewhat magic-y. Your GM will appreciate this.You don’t have to be funny, but so long as it’s a summary of it in three words, I’ll know what I’m managing in a fashion totally not stolen from Dungeons and Dragons.
For example:
“Rogue Storm Witch”
“Elemental Breacher”
“Druid Assassin”
And some others I brainstormed:
“Bloodmage Medic”
“Wardbreaking Specialist”
“Witch Sniper”
“Illusionist Trickster”
“Engineer Warlock”
“Fire Support Mage”
It also means how your character looks or might be stems out of it. A “Navy Seer” is of course, decked out in Tier One operator fashion, digital camo robes, yet keeps a Wizard’s hat, because remember- we’re still playing in a reality that means it should….well, your character isn’t cosplaying a magician, they’re playing a mercenary that happens to be able to bolt people to floor and so therefore, seems to have bits of a magician to them. So your ability, history, and look should feel like it all fits together, perhaps three or four influences max rather than say, six or more influences. It means you get to be cool with your character and if you can’t find the art, just describe it or combine influences until you get there. Choose a pyromancer to make homebrew napalm? A gas mask, and other fire-retardant gear might be a good idea, as well as packing in armour if you really want to go all out on terror. An illusionist who thrives on stealth? Well fitting, low profile kit, night vision goggles, a few feathers of a bird of paradise for good measure. A witch who can fling kinetic shocks? Probably a classic witch’s hat, tactical cloaks, and a broom.
There aren’t any classes, but broadly, you’ll have heavier, more tactical fighting characters and lighter, more agile and cloak and dagger-style characters. Try not to make a character someone is making- declare it in OOC and it’s yours. I don’t want too many snipers, too many pyromancers, too many bog-standard wizards, but a range to provide a flavour to this RP. We can’t all be eating onions here.
The only restrictions is there are no other “races”, as broadly, your character is human (unless you’re shapeshifting, and I’m afraid as the GM I have stolen that one!). They don’t even have to be a de-facto wizard or witch (as above). The only thing I ask is that it makes sense that when bullets start flying, they can fight back. Within that realm though, go mad. A druid, a necromancer, a mage, a warlock, even just a typical Wizard with a staff and a hat or a Witch with a cat and a tactical broom. Mix and match, but I’d say keep to two to three “subclasses” at a max. Sort of like DnD, but also, not really I guess
The rule of cool truly applies, because while the Arcane is explained below, I’m not asking you any questions why a Druid has a questionable amount of houseplants that make noises, or a Witch has a broom. I mean, come on. You don’t ask a guy his salary, you don’t ask a woman her age, you don’t ask a wizard why he has a staff. You’ll have it, and I won’t ask any more questions because there’s *probably* a reason.
The only other aspect to mention is that, they’re likely proficient in firearms (to at least a moderate level), and as mentioned- they worked in Reactor, so they will know loosely of each other, or know each other already. This will help fuel the RP to begin with, and give your characters the best chance of surviving what is likely to be a long, windy adventure that will test them across Polavia and against a whole range of characters.
I’m not creative enough at current, but here’s some more ideas:
Chronomancers and Seers
Pyromancers and Alchemists
Illusionists and Mages
Druids and Diviners
While this RP doesn't take itself seriously, we're gonna need a little here to make sure we're all on the same page. We do this, we all get to have wacky, fun characters and go for a thrill ride. If not, it sucks for everyone. Courtesy of SilverwindBlade's common rule set, please follow the following:
This is a modern to near-future fantasy setting. However, this ISN’T, and a setting hard and fast rule I have- a universe where everything else runs riot. Modern Fantasy like TBW’s setting relies on the grit of the world, and due to my want to control scope creep, given just how cool the lore of the world is, the rules of the world are generally focussed on humans and animals that I’d say are in our world. This means no dragons, unicorns, or fantastical animals, or other races including elves, dwarves (if you’re brave enough to make a joke about short people, holy hell that would be something) - it’s limiting but it’s by design to focus on specifically one type and how silly that is, rather than anything else which would distract. It’s not super futuristic either- while characters will come up against some bosses and elite characters with more fanciful and fantastical modern gear, they typically won’t do so. Treat it like the real world, and keep in mind there’s magic fluttered atop it that for now, I'll let you peek at.
Post length is expected to be Casual to Advanced- no one or two line posts, please. This means at minimum two paragraphs in a post- four or so being optimum to really flesh out your character's response and furthering of the plot. I don't prescribe a top end limit, but use your imagination on how much you can write in a single segment- if it's longer, feel free to write longer! I usually do, you do not have to!
Follow Wheaton's Law at all times. Don't be a dick- GM is God, and while this RP is very fast and loose, if you're asked to bring something into line, expect there might be good reason for it.
This RP will have adult themes, and romance is a part of that if you want it to be- however, nothing that the Gods of RPG wouldn't want on the public side when smut is concerned. If you want to go beyond, that shit goes off this RP into 1x1 if it is 18+ in any manner. Before that though, be my guest.
Equally, I have no bloody problem with a bit of fucking swearing, you bunch of cunts, but don't take it to excess, all right, fuckers?
A sense of humour is not optional. Please be good-natured and good-humoured to one another in the OOC.
Minimum post of one per week, per person. If you can't post, please mention in the OOC or drop me a PM. If it's unexpected - i.e. family emergency, your internet goes out, etc - then just let me know when you come back, and I'll catch you up. These things happen. It is not my job to chase you to post! If you're interested enough to be here in the first place, then it's up to you to post. If you're 'too lazy' to keep up, then I'm too lazy to chase your arse to get you to do it. It's a matter of manners and etiquette.
Don't talk down to people. I don't care how much knowledge of real-world weapons and systems you might have, or how much of an encyclopedia on legs you are about such things. If you're trying to be a smartarse because you've found a 'loophole', then you're not playing in the spirit of things, and you should probably leave. That's even with an admittedly loose playbook. Be kind, and the sort of person you would want to write with if you get something wrong, because nobody is perfect.
If I don't know about it, then it doesn't exist. You may have this amazing secret plot worked out for your character - but if you don't tell me about it, then it ain't happening. Because I've already got a storyline worked out, and if it doesn't fit, then it's not going in. Same with technology and whatever you 'think' it should be like- I am open to ideas, but tell me if you think it's something that makes you say "That might be too far out there".
No aliens, no anime, no high-school dramas either. Please respect the setting and keep it in mind- there's plenty of ridiculous and cool shit on offer, so play with that here- keep the other material to other RPs.
What you give, is what you get. Put in a lot into this RP, work with me in the lore, and I will make this pay off. Engage, play fair, and get to banter with your party-mates, because a great party relies on good vibes, and is for everyone, but to do that, you need to be real, be honest, not judge, and give yourself into the idea. This means if you really want to run riot, run riot and I'll basically give you the keys to do that, in that environment, with the detail you have. Within the line of the story, you have freedom to execute, react, interact, and play into the game how you want best, and I will always react to it, forcing you to change plans, and adapt. I'm investing a lot into this RP- I expect the same from players and while life gets in the way, I expect that if you're finding it hard to be interested, I prefer honesty over quiet, I really prefer being told if I'm doing something wrong than losing / tapering interest. Engagement for me is key because I will give it back for you!
That said, if you fob off the GM and other players, you will not enjoy it. If you repeatedly, refuse to engage, and want to do your own thing- go write your own thing. My RPs are self selecting, and I have a no assholes rule for that reason- I'm happy to listen to your ideas but also, don't be offended when I balance the RP for other players who also have theirs too. If you harm the fun of other players, I will also ask you to leave.
GM's word is final. I appreciate people wanting to help, but final approval for plot, lore, and characters comes from me. Though, by all means, please feel free to make suggestions and help others with ideas and information where possible, and point out if something isn't there or working when it should be, because that helps us all.
Lastly, and most critically- AI is fine for use in posts, but DO NOT post anything AI-generated that has not been flagged / marked up as such. This RP is meant to be a creative endeavour- and I don't want to see something put to generative AI tool if you can’t be bothered to write, as this hollows my reaction as a GM and will ruin yours, and other player experiences unless you make that clear that it was used in an assistive or responsible manner. Do not use generative AI text in creating your character, or writing without significant personalisation, modification and/or flagging where used. Use it for inspiration, lift stuff from it to help you describe something, use images (and tell me if so), but if it is found without reference, you will breach this rule. If this isn’t a rule you like, you can use AI to build you this RP in any generative tool, with all the detail copied into it, and you are welcome to play with it in your own time. Don’t make me, or other people who enjoy originally produced content read what you produce if it isn't your own.
This is a modern to near-future fantasy setting. However, this ISN’T, and a setting hard and fast rule I have- a universe where everything else runs riot. Modern Fantasy like TBW’s setting relies on the grit of the world, and due to my want to control scope creep, given just how cool the lore of the world is, the rules of the world are generally focussed on humans and animals that I’d say are in our world. This means no dragons, unicorns, or fantastical animals, or other races including elves, dwarves (if you’re brave enough to make a joke about short people, holy hell that would be something) - it’s limiting but it’s by design to focus on specifically one type and how silly that is, rather than anything else which would distract. It’s not super futuristic either- while characters will come up against some bosses and elite characters with more fanciful and fantastical modern gear, they typically won’t do so. Treat it like the real world, and keep in mind there’s magic fluttered atop it that for now, I'll let you peek at.
Post length is expected to be Casual to Advanced- no one or two line posts, please. This means at minimum two paragraphs in a post- four or so being optimum to really flesh out your character's response and furthering of the plot. I don't prescribe a top end limit, but use your imagination on how much you can write in a single segment- if it's longer, feel free to write longer! I usually do, you do not have to!
Follow Wheaton's Law at all times. Don't be a dick- GM is God, and while this RP is very fast and loose, if you're asked to bring something into line, expect there might be good reason for it.
This RP will have adult themes, and romance is a part of that if you want it to be- however, nothing that the Gods of RPG wouldn't want on the public side when smut is concerned. If you want to go beyond, that shit goes off this RP into 1x1 if it is 18+ in any manner. Before that though, be my guest.
Equally, I have no bloody problem with a bit of fucking swearing, you bunch of cunts, but don't take it to excess, all right, fuckers?
A sense of humour is not optional. Please be good-natured and good-humoured to one another in the OOC.
Minimum post of one per week, per person. If you can't post, please mention in the OOC or drop me a PM. If it's unexpected - i.e. family emergency, your internet goes out, etc - then just let me know when you come back, and I'll catch you up. These things happen. It is not my job to chase you to post! If you're interested enough to be here in the first place, then it's up to you to post. If you're 'too lazy' to keep up, then I'm too lazy to chase your arse to get you to do it. It's a matter of manners and etiquette.
Don't talk down to people. I don't care how much knowledge of real-world weapons and systems you might have, or how much of an encyclopedia on legs you are about such things. If you're trying to be a smartarse because you've found a 'loophole', then you're not playing in the spirit of things, and you should probably leave. That's even with an admittedly loose playbook. Be kind, and the sort of person you would want to write with if you get something wrong, because nobody is perfect.
If I don't know about it, then it doesn't exist. You may have this amazing secret plot worked out for your character - but if you don't tell me about it, then it ain't happening. Because I've already got a storyline worked out, and if it doesn't fit, then it's not going in. Same with technology and whatever you 'think' it should be like- I am open to ideas, but tell me if you think it's something that makes you say "That might be too far out there".
No aliens, no anime, no high-school dramas either. Please respect the setting and keep it in mind- there's plenty of ridiculous and cool shit on offer, so play with that here- keep the other material to other RPs.
What you give, is what you get. Put in a lot into this RP, work with me in the lore, and I will make this pay off. Engage, play fair, and get to banter with your party-mates, because a great party relies on good vibes, and is for everyone, but to do that, you need to be real, be honest, not judge, and give yourself into the idea. This means if you really want to run riot, run riot and I'll basically give you the keys to do that, in that environment, with the detail you have. Within the line of the story, you have freedom to execute, react, interact, and play into the game how you want best, and I will always react to it, forcing you to change plans, and adapt. I'm investing a lot into this RP- I expect the same from players and while life gets in the way, I expect that if you're finding it hard to be interested, I prefer honesty over quiet, I really prefer being told if I'm doing something wrong than losing / tapering interest. Engagement for me is key because I will give it back for you!
That said, if you fob off the GM and other players, you will not enjoy it. If you repeatedly, refuse to engage, and want to do your own thing- go write your own thing. My RPs are self selecting, and I have a no assholes rule for that reason- I'm happy to listen to your ideas but also, don't be offended when I balance the RP for other players who also have theirs too. If you harm the fun of other players, I will also ask you to leave.
GM's word is final. I appreciate people wanting to help, but final approval for plot, lore, and characters comes from me. Though, by all means, please feel free to make suggestions and help others with ideas and information where possible, and point out if something isn't there or working when it should be, because that helps us all.
Lastly, and most critically- AI is fine for use in posts, but DO NOT post anything AI-generated that has not been flagged / marked up as such. This RP is meant to be a creative endeavour- and I don't want to see something put to generative AI tool if you can’t be bothered to write, as this hollows my reaction as a GM and will ruin yours, and other player experiences unless you make that clear that it was used in an assistive or responsible manner. Do not use generative AI text in creating your character, or writing without significant personalisation, modification and/or flagging where used. Use it for inspiration, lift stuff from it to help you describe something, use images (and tell me if so), but if it is found without reference, you will breach this rule. If this isn’t a rule you like, you can use AI to build you this RP in any generative tool, with all the detail copied into it, and you are welcome to play with it in your own time. Don’t make me, or other people who enjoy originally produced content read what you produce if it isn't your own.
One last thing- my RPs speak for themselves- I've got nearly two completed RPGs on the guild with over 15+ years of experience of RPG in the Guild, so you are getting a long term, highly-invested GM that will do the lore, hours, setup and plot that will provide you with a military-wizard-thriller-action-squatting-slav RP that exists like no other produced so far.
This an RP with at least 2.5 years + of content, and will be one that I hope that like Raven Squad, my headline military RPG before it, will provide you with many hours of entertainment. What you give, is what you will get- and as others who have written with me have seen, I will push your characters and the laughs up. There will be a Discord, so you can ping ideas across whenever you want to me and others. If you want a flavour if what that means, check these out for longevity and the flavour of such RPs:
Raven Squad (A Military, Near-Future, Over-the-Top RPG)
Delta Hyper (A Sci-Fi, Solarpunk, Semi-Random Racing RPG)
Interested? This RP hasn't got a cap on spots, but I'd like to launch it with a party of three, minimum. Post your interest in a particular character, and once I have a bit of interest, we'll launch this.
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