Maesters of Magia

Ether - magical power and knowledge

Force - magical application

Life - trade/diplomacy and personal development

Matter - order/bureaucracy

Void - exploration and seamanship

The World

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Magia: Threads of Religions
Magia: Schools of Magic
Magia: The Hesperian Empire

The Continents of Magia

The Continents of the world do not conform in part to what you might consider normal behaviours of climate or geography. The World is seemingly endless, surrounded by some distant point by a world ocean, or so the Hesperians claim.

Mesa

Mesa or Mesadaios, the central land of the hundred kings. Mesadaios is dominated by no single climate or terrain. The north has a brooding cold climate, of snow, boreal forests and cold misty hills. The north is bordered by the Shattered Mountains, beyond which are the untamed lands of the white forest, where the sapphire eyed wights hold dominion. The Northern region is bordered to the south by the powerful confluence of riverlands, which cut across the western mountains that border the Unknown ocean to flow into the large eastern sea. Here, the geographically is dominated by floodplains, lakes and wetlands. Further south the climate continues to warm, temperature grasslands and forests sweep across the central arc of the continent while to the deep south, a mediterran climate begins to take hold as you approach the coast, especially on the coasts of the Narrow sea to the west.

Mesa is surrounded by a impententrable barrier of magic, which was until a decade ago, entirely unbreached by man. The discovery of Crosstone has allowed travel and trade across the barrier, though it is limited in scope, as powerful Merchant Cartels control the ships capable of crossing, while the only land crossing is controlled by a paranoid city that allows no trade.

The civilization of Mesa is fractious, yet prosperous. Elsewhere in the world, magic is just as strong and magic materials just as common but far more difficult to control, leaving it only in the hands of the very few who are able to master it. Mesan's have profited by a unique ability to control and use magic, importing raw magical materials and exporting magical devices.

Greater Hesperia

Greater Hesperia is a large continent to the west, dominated by a chain of mountains that stand almost impossibly tall, creating a huge shadow for most of the day. This frigid region is known as the shadowlands, devoid entirely of vegetation or moisture. Further east the climate is mild, temperature forests long were the main biome of the region, until Hesperians cleared them out as they expanded east. The southern regions of Hesperia are savannahlike, though enroached by thick and deadly chaotic jungle, which seems to echo into the distance as far as the eye can see.

Greater Hesperia is owned entirely by the Hesperian Empire, known as the Eastern Provinces by the Hesperians. The Expansionist Empire has radically altered the continent, building roads, dams and cities of marble and stone. The TechnoMaesters of Hesperia rule from the Mountain Citadel of Akroura in the shadowlands, within which lies the famed tunnel to the Western Empire, the only source of reinforcements for the Hesperian forces in the East.

Lesser Hesperia

Lesser Hesperia is basically, your typical varied European continent cut with parts of central america in the south. There's a eastern european slant to some things.

Lesser Hesperia is home to the Hesperian client states and rebellious provinces. While some are content to reap the benefits of Imperial rule, others are not so keen to pay the price extracted in slaves and raw materials for the enlightmented of the Maesters. The rebellions once nothing more than quiet fringe groups on the edges of Imperial authority have in recent years been fueled in by magical weaponry from Mesa, infuriating the Hesperians unused to anybody but themselves having access to such power.

Anatolikos

Anatolikos is unusual land, the northeast is dominated by unusual geography, the land is perfectly flat and the coastlines are perfect in their angular precision. Consider it northern africa, cut with some far eastern influences, cut with a bit of nordic dwarfism to the north.

Anatolikos has been spared outside influences for much of it's existance, the Hesperians have made few inroads and the Mesans seem content for now to profit from trade. Anatolikos benefits from a plentiful supply of magical materials, which have long enriched the land with life, but with which few are able to directly profit. The rarity of magical talent has long concentrated power in the hands of the few Maesters of Magic, who wield considerable influence from behind the scenes under the guise of religion.

The Rules

To start, all nations have a total of 200 points to spend exclusively on Domains and a further 200 points to be spent on any area of their choosing, such as races, extra domains and military forces. Military forces are purchased at 1 point = 250 Gold. For this purpose consider 1 Mana or 1 Adamantium to be equal to 1 gold, 1 Books to be 5 gold, 1 Horses or Beasts to be 10 Gold and 1 Levistone to be equal to 25 Gold.

Races of Magia

The cost in points is to unlock a given race; normally one per nation. Additional races cost +10 points per race. They may then be assigned to any domain as desired.

Races

Humans

Humans are fun.

Racial Alignment: None

Orks

Generally as civilised as humans, but with a more nomadic culture.

Racial Alignment: Matter

Infantry units are tougher

Mage units are weaker

Goblins

Diminutive creatures, they are the ugly cousins of Halflings.

Racial Alignment: Void

+1 to all Drafts

Infantry units are weaker

Dwarves

Short guys that like beer and live in underground halls.

Cost: 20

Underdark Race

Racial Alignment: Force

Infantry units are tougher

+25% to all Mine output

-1 Common draft

Elves

Tall slim humanoids with a affinity for nature.

Cost: 20

Racial Alignment: Ether

Ranged and Mage units are more powerful

Wilds generate +1 Food and +10 Mana

May buy Elven Wilds

All Common draft halved

Moogles

Diminutive cute creatures.

Racial Alignment: Ether

Infantry units are weaker

Mages units are stronger

Dark Elves

Underground Elves

Cost: 20

Underdark Race

Racial Alignment: Ether

Ranged and Mage units are more powerful

All Noble and Mage units reduce Mana upkeep by 5

All Common draft halved

Supernaturals

Vampires, Werepeople, Minotaurs etc

Cost: 5-20

Racial Alignment: Void

May chose one Supernatural ability at 5 points, 2 at 12 or 3 at 20.

God-Blooded or God-Touched

Human descendants of Gods or demi-gods.

Cost: 25

Racial Alignment: Life

Infantry and Mage units are stronger and tougher

All Noble and Mage units reduce Mana upkeep by 10

All Common draft halved

Monster Races

Monster races require GM approval to play. All Monster races cost double to raise and upkeep (discounting equipment)

Trolls

Big green regenerating guys.

Cost: 40

Racial Alignment: Void

All non-mechanical units are much stronger and tougher

All non-mechanical units regenerate

May not buy Cities

All drafts halved

Nymph

Half-plant, half-human physical nature spirits. Insular.

Cost: 40

Racial Alignment: Life

All non-mechanical units are much stronger and tougher

All mechanical units are grown at Wood Nodes, not built (see below)

Wilds generate +1 Food and +20 Mana

May buy Elven Wilds

May not buy Countryside

All drafts halved

Iron Nymph

What happens when you put a Nymph grove in an iron smelter

Cost: 40

Racial Alignment: Force

All non-mechanical units are much stronger and tougher

All mechanical units are grown at Fire Nodes, not built (see below)

All units reduce Mana upkeep by 5

Wilds generate +25 Mana

May not buy Countryside

All drafts halved

Iron Men

Self-willed Magical Armour.

Cost: 25

Racial Alignment: Force

All non-mechanical units are tougher

All units built?!

Dryad growth rules: As almost everything Nymphs make is grown and sculped from living plants, they do not need the raw materiels or manufacturing sites that other races do. They may pay Adamantium costs in Mana and can construct mechanical devices at the appropriate node - normally Life-aligned, but Iron Nymphs use a Force-Essence permutation.

Domains

Magia Domain Customization

Domains are what make up your nation, the real estate so to speak. They are where your people live and work and have a very real effect on your national character.

Domain Limits
A nation may have up to 14 domains without any problem, however past that there is a surcharge of +10 points per additional domain. A Domain can have at maximum two mines/quarries and one of every other type of site. As such a Mountain domain can have a Keep, a Town and two Gold Mines, but not a Keep, a Town, a Gold Mine, a Levistone Quarry and an Adamantium Mine.

Countryside

Cultivated fields interspersed with small forests, creeks, etc.

10 points

Produces 2 Food and 100 Gold

3 Common Draft

Horses

Wilds

Deeper forests of virgin oaks and old-growth cedar.

5 points

Produces 50 Gold

1 Common Draft

Somewhat defensible

Beasts

Hills

Rolling hills, often with small woodcutting or ranching operations. A popular site for gold mines, both collapsed and non-collapsed.

10 points

Produces 150 Gold

1 Common Draft

Defensible

Adamantium, Gold

Mountains

Tall, snow-capped peaks with the occasional high pass and raging river.

5 points

Produces 50 Gold

Very defensible

Adamantium, Crosstone, Gold

Wastes

Deserts, swamps or tundras. Not nice places to be, but they make great borders.

1 point

Attritionary

Beasts

Demesne

20 points

Produces 1 Food, 100 Gold and 250 Mana

Adamantium, Crosstone

Underdark

15 points

Produces 1 Food, 50 Gold and 125 Mana

1 Common Draft

Adamantium, Gold

Very Defensible

Beasts

Is associated with another Domain

Underdark Lightfield

20 points

Produces 3 Food, 50 Gold and 125 Mana

2 Common Draft

Adamantium, Gold

Defensible

Beasts

Is associated with another Domain

Underhaven

25 points

Produces 50 Gold and 375 Mana

Adamantium, Gold

Very Defensible

Beasts

Is associated with another Domain

Sites

Sites are geographical entities that are relatively small; cities, castles, nodes, etc. They must be placed in a Domain.

Fortifications

Many militarized borders have large walls, or else frontier fortifications. The practice has waxed and waned over the millenia, but dates back to the early expansion of the Alfar Empire.

10 points

Must be seized and captured before the associated Domain can be conquered.

Keep

Large fortified castles, complete with forges, smithies, bowyers, enchanters, ridiculously giant cannons, early-warning scrying pools and a rickety wizard's castle.

30 points

Requires 1 Food and 100 gold

Produces 250 Mana and 10 Books

2 Noble Draft

Must be seized and captured before the associated Domain can be conquered.

Maintains 25 gold/month of units free of charge, so long as they remain in the Domain.

Town

Vital cogs in a nation's economy, Towns are home to thousands of people. Like Keeps, they are home to various craftspeople and specialists.

10 points

Requires 1 Food

Produces 200 Gold and 10 Books

2 Common Draft

City

Much larger than Towns, Cities are centers of commerce and production. It is in Cities that the most powerful and amazing weapons and magics are crafted.

50 points

Requires 5 Food

Produces 1000 Gold, 250 Mana and 30 Books

6 Common Draft, 1 Noble Draft

Production sites for all Mechanical units.

Underhold

Even the denizens of the Underdark build cities, vast halls full of the myriad different tasks of civilization.

50 points

Requires 4 Food

Produces 700 Gold, 500 Mana and 30 Books

5 Common Draft, 1 Noble Draft

Production sites for all Mechanical units.

Must be sited in an Underdark Domain.

Paddocks

A proper site for rearing and keeping horses that typically includes stable buildings and fenced-in lands. Also tends to be a hub for experts in matters of training and equipment.

10 points

Requires 1 Food

Produces 30 Horses

Stockades

A fortress-like site with well-built walls and enclosures intended to keep dangerous or simply huge creatures which are brought in from the wilds to be trained or otherwise conditioned. Naturally it is a focal point for hunters, trackers and woodsmen. The occasional escape tends to motivate average folks to keep well away, though.

10 points

Requires 1 Food, -1 Common Draft to the domain it is in

Produces 25 Beasts

Wizard's Tower

Large, tall, possibly crooked and glows a faint greenish-yellow-purple at night.

10 points

Produces 50 Books

Gold Mine

Gold (or other similar precious materiels like silver and gems) need to be laboriously extracted from the earth to enrich the local lord.

10 points

Produces 250 Gold

Adamantium Mine

The reddish, incredibly tough metal known as Adamantium is prized across Arcana. While it makes excellent armor and weapons, it is one of the few substances (and by far the most available) that can be used to construct the frames of Guymelefs.

10 points

Produces 250 Adamantium

Crosstone Quarry

Crosstones is a magical ore that produces a field capable of piercing the Boundary. They are usually affixed to a ships mast, allowing the vessel to cross beyond.

10 points

Produces 10 Crosstone

Nodes

Air Node

Often the sites of continual lightning, rain, snow and other more unusual atmospheric phenomenon. A flare at an Air Node can send storms across a continent, providing much-needed rain - or ruining crops.

50 points

Ether-Aligned

Each Air Node provides 1250 Mana

Increases non-Node mana by 5%

Fire Node

Archetypically a bubbling volcano, though vast fields of bubbling mud or geysers is not uncommon. More rarely, Fire Nodes can be twisted spires of rocks, dispersing raw energy into the air - or those venturing unwisely close.

50 points

Force-Aligned

Each Fire Node provides 1250 Mana

Reduces Mana cost of Constructs by 10%

Wood Node

The vibrant energy of a Wood Node imbues the local forests with unnatural vitality, turning them into vegetative battlegrounds of constantly-growing trees, creepers and other flora.

50 points

Life-Aligned

Each Wood Node provides 1250 Mana

Increases Wilds and Marshy Wastes draft by +1

Earth Node

Often taking the form of ridiculously rugged mountains that are fairly bursting with precious gems and ores, Earth Nodes are the foci of the geomantic forces of Earth magic.

50 points

Matter-Aligned

Each Earth Node provides 1250 Mana

Increase Gold income by 5%

Water Node

Endless fonts of crystal-clear water that fades to the deepest indigo above their unknown depths, Water Nodes are sources of pure water, even when they are found in an ocean.

50 points

Void-Aligned

Each Water Node provides 1250 Mana

Increases City and Keep drafts by +1 each

Spirit Node

It is difficult to define a Spirit Node with any certainty, save that those who unknowingly travel through them will find fires not shedding heat, no animals to hunt and enigmatic dreams that can never be properly recalled.

50 points

Spirit-Aligned

Each Spirit Node provides 1250 Mana

Unique Nodes

The Sun

Ether/Force aligned

The Clouds

Force/Life aligned

Yggdrasil

Life/Matter aligned

The Core

Matter/Void aligned

The Skies

Void/Ether aligned

The Sea of Chaos

Ether/Life aligned

The Heartsforge

Force/Matter aligned

World's End

Life/Void aligned

The Font of Creation

Matter/Ether aligned

The Grand Flow

Void/Force aligned

Resources

Horses

Warbred Horses. Required for equipping any unit with Warhorses.

Adamantium

A crucual component in making Guymelefs.

Crosstone

Let's you cross the Barrier.

Levistone

Airships >:(

Books

Mages need books.

Common Draft

Commoners are the bulk of any military, coming from various lower classes.

Noble Draft

The nobles are the privileged few of titled birth, typically forming the hard core of a Lord's military.

Military Units

Magia: Unit Design

Magic

Arcana: Mages and Magic