Hello, Readers!

Hoo boy! What a week! One of my largest and last “hands on” projects completed this last week, and I spent my days in Philadelphia, PA (US) working long days and nights to get it completed. A satisfying, but exhaustive week later, and I’m back in action! Thanks for your patience, and THANK YOU to Graham, who stepped in and pulled my lack of writing out of the fire! Having a writing partner who has your back when you drop the ball, such a great thing. I’ll pay him back!

So, to the setting. Hoo boy. So much of it is a collection of little gems that make Graham and I smile. Visuals of “Slyphes,” hovering carts powered by sci-fi repulsor technology, being pulled by horses or other beasts of burden, because the carts have no propulsion of their own, were early sketches that gave us things to anchor into our scenes. Mages and city guards, armed with a blend of swords and blaster pistols, gave us striking inspiration for background characters for our MCs to talk about. But my two favorite setting devices continue to give me endless joy.

Graham talked about the wreckage of the starships falling to our planet in his last post. The image of a starship, broken into two parts, became the anchor of our main city of Highston, and one of my favorite backdrops. One portion of the ship fell flat, and the other struck into the ground like a lance. Picturing the gashed earth between the two developing into a park, like a national mall, and districts (all those guild controlled halls, and merchant building) growing up around were a joy to discover. Thinking about how the buildings of stone and wood, would be built around the wreckage, turning them into cultural and government hubs, gave us insight to how Highston politics would evolve because of the influx of alien technology. Our world became a true blend of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

Now, my favorite, favorite part of our setting might be considered by Graham a bit of cheating in our posts plan. We will have a WHOLE post on our favorite magic of our world… but the magic system itself is my favorite child. I know as a parent, that I shouldn’t have a favorite… but I do and magic is it’s name. I’ll certainly go deeper into that in our future post, but for now I’ll talk about the setting aspect that made it’s impact on me.

In our fantasy world, magic is common. Like VERY common. For a few gold, anyone can go in pick up a spell recipe, the components, and an instructional sheet on how to cast the spell. This idea sparked a cascade of other setting pieces. If so many spells are common, what spells are uncommon? Who makes that decision? Suddenly, our political entity of Highston, and the Federation, had government oversight of the magic. Magi would have rules that they must obey to be able to learn under the Academy. With the introduction of “approved” magic, came the idea of “non-approved.” Bright Guilds (gangs of thieves and criminals) could provide a black market of spells that would not be under the purview of Federation control. Layers of magic, magic items, common and rare, approved or not, gave our world texture.

Fantasy became fantastic. Sci-fi held a mystery. A magic system that fuels our story, but isn’t a solely a plot device. The backdrop of a world with a blend of sci-fi technology and magic let us tell a story that used both without sacrificing the integrity of either. Both have moments where they pull the plot along, but each are more than just a plot device. They seep into our characters, our locations, and fuel the narrative. Our simple idea of a roleplaying world became a rich tapestry hanging behind our characters. That was the stage our story needed.

We will lead into the next conversation about our favorite races next. Until then…

Be kind.

-Clevenger