I have an idea I'd like to test.

One recurring problem I find in the RP scene is posts containing multiple interactable hooks for other players to respond and react to. Doubtless you've encountered circumstances where your partner's character is doing a half-dozen different things in a single post, and you're left scrambling to respond to every single interactable and somehow tie it all together into a cohesive story beat. It makes things messy and, ultimately, exhausting. I got ADHD, fam. Ain't nobody got spoons for that.

So here's what we're gonna do. If your character is doing solo stuff that nobody else wants or needs to react to, go ham. Do as much as you want. But the minute you expect another person's character will want to get involved, stop. One hook at a time, please.

On that note, let's get down to actual story stuff.

Today, we're going to start with something simple. The Dark Dragon has been resurrected, and all the kingdoms of the world sent ambassadors to him, whether to appease him, negotiate deals, or plot his demise. Ours is one of the larger nations on the continent, but our queen has opted for a peaceful approach and sent her daughter, Princess Prim, to probe the dragon's intentions and hopefully negotiate with him. Unfortunately, upon learning her country was a leading power in the region, arrogance welled up within him, and he decided to kidnap the princess in order to begin seizing control.

Distraught, the queen reached out to her old comrades-in-arms, men and women who helped her tear down the old regime and ascend the throne, and asked for their help to discreetly rescue her daughter before the public finds out anything is amiss.

That would be you.

You would probably be nobles, frankly, since helping the reigning queen ascend the throne tends to come with perks, but it's not inconceivable someone might reject such things. Either way, the promised rewards are substantial: land, titles of nobility, exclusive contracts, and possibly even her daughter's hand in marriage. Or the queen's, if you have the guts to ask for it. The dragon is strong, cruel, and devious, so this will not be an easy quest, but you have chosen to take it on, fully aware of what you are signing up for. The only question is:

Can you all work together?

Very interested! I like the simplicity and immediate connection to the queen herself (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)

Huzzah! Someone's interested! :D

I like the simplicity too. Simplicity lets me focus. And the connection to the queen should help give the player characters a stake in the conflict and a reason to be there, if I have the right of it. I'll be looking for additional opportunities to connect the PCs to the plot as their sheets are submitted.

I do in fact have ADHD. So… how much Fantasy are we going for? Is there magic involved?

I don't think I have ADHD but I do have a whole ton of fantasy character designs lying around that I really need to actually use in something at least so I guess that's tentative interest I guess?

There is magic involved! Ours will be mana-based. Mana is a bit sparse in the world, so the people here have adapted to that reality. A typical mage will usually spend the better part of their day collecting mana from diverse sources and imbuing it into various objects, usually tokens or coins, so they can access large quantities of it when the need arises. Their staff serves as a gathering instrument for the mana, and their wand serves to direct the mana into actual spells. You can technically do without any tools, but casting will be very slow and arduous. Identifying leylines will be a useful skill to develop.

In battle, magic is a tad visceral. You get a standard-issue steel wand and mana collector staff, and when battle starts, you'll impale the butt of your staff into, ideally, a mana-rich source like a leyline, and use your wand to direct where you want your spells to go. Your wand has a magazine for your mana tokens, and you reload it like a gun when it runs out of charges.

Magic itself works simply. Describe in plain English what you want your spell to do, and the universe will do it, provided you have enough mana to pay for it. You can also use somatic (hand) signs if you want to be quiet.

Why isn't everyone a mage? That's where mana's other function comes into play: leveling up your Authority Ranking. To even get started as a mage, one has to spend several years meditating and attuning to the spirits of mana. Then, you start collecting it. Gather enough, and you can choose to either hold onto it (bad idea; requires focus and effort), imbue it somewhere, or level up with it. If you choose to level, the variety and power of spells which the universe authorizes you to cast increases, and all collected mana returns to where you got it.

That's a rough outline of the magic system I'm working with.