Not Lords Of Ether

Making a Nation

All nations get 1000 points to spend

Advancement

Core Advancement

Core Advancement is a holistic measure of how sophisticated are a nation's fundamental technology and magic abilities. It represents the national ability in fields as diverse as alchemy, psychology, engineering, architecture, biology and hedgewizardry, to name a few. It is broad in application, but nonspecific; it represents the use of technology, magic or some combination of the two.
Core Advancement does not, however, give a nation the ability to construct sophisticated and technologically advanced space battleships, or train mages of great puissance. Core Advancement only allows for the construction of Simple Units. Top-tier core advancement can build lightning wands and laser muskets, but cannot build guided missiles or autonomous robots.
Finally, Core Advancement is the limit to how many Added Capabilities a unit may have.

Core 1 (Automatic): Muscle power is the dominant form of energy at the lowest level of Core Advancement.

Core 2 (100 CP): Ironmongery and gunpowder are the defining traits of Core 2, with minor magics making an appearance.

Core 3 (200 CP): Loosely comparable to the 20th and 21st century, with steel and mass-produced enchantments replacing cruder materials and magics.

core 4(300 CP): At this point chemistry begins to give way to physics, with even technologically-created items starting to feature energized elements.

Core 5 (400 CP): Sophisticated understanding of ether allows for exceptionally potent items and magics, though practice begins to slide behind theory.

Complex Technology

One of the main routes taken to improve the versatility and effectiveness of core advancement, complex technology builds upon core advancement once the latter has achieved rank 3. Complex technology is generally characterized by the adoption of sophisticated techniques and precision manufacturing; the computer is perhaps the most iconic example of a Complex technology, but hardly the only one. Many of the familiar objects of the 21st century are Complex.
The Complex Technology option unlocks Complex Units, which are more expensive but more flexible and capable than their Simple equivalents. The downside is that Complex units cannot be affected by enchantments as the magics interfere with their delicate electronics and vice-versa. As such nations with complex technology tend to have a core advancement style that neglects magic in favor of technological solutions.
As complex technology is strongly reliant on its core advancement, the rank in complex technology (if bought) must be the same as for core advancement.

Complex 3 (100 CP): Electronics and precision manufacturing have revolutionized society. Many things familiar to someone of 2012.

Complex 4 (200 CP): Typical 'science fiction' technologies become common, including force fields, gravity-control and sentient robotics.

Complex 5 (300 CP): Extremely sophisticated technologies are the norm, with such wonders as nanotechnology and ubiquitous utility forcefields.

Arcane Magic

Arcane Magic is the other main route to power, focussing on practitioners of magic as opposed to machines and manufacturing. With an emphasis on personal power it is the path to achieving the rarified heights of arcane magery, the most powerful individuals in the galaxy. These individuals can wield staggering power comparable to the most powerful weapons technology can make, all by controlling ether.
The Arcane Magic option unlocks Arcane Units and Arcane Upgrades. The former are primarily spellcasters of much greater individual power than the hedge wizards of Core advancement, while the latter are arcanely-built added capabilities that can be added to simple units only. Arcane upgrades are things such as adamantium armor, pyrite firelaunchers, etc.
As Arcane Magic is personal power as opposed to something innate to the nation as a whole, it is independent of Core Advancement. Thus a nation can have Arcane 5 and only Core 1; in this case it would have supremely powerful mages and mage-guards surrounded by a vast unwashed horde of spear-carriers.
Finally and most importantly, Arcane Magic is bought in any one of five categories; each represents one of the five Spheres of historic magical philosophy.

Arcane 2 (10 CP):

Arcane 3 (20 CP):

Arcane 4 (40 CP):

Arcane 5 (60 CP):

The five Spheres are as follows.

Life:

Destruction:

Matter:

Mind:

Movement: