MEM 2, Electromagica

Mana. It is in inherent in all things and serves as the building block for all technology and magic. Over the centuries civilizations have learned how to harness the incredible forces it provides and developed civilization, ships that sail the night sky, aircraft that fly faster than sound and magic that can decimate whole cities.

Even the vast distances between planets could be easily conquered. Natural passages exist between systems, allowing vessels to navigate through the vast voids and sargossas of interstellar space easily.

Unfortunately, two thousand years ago, an even occurred which almost ended this age old system forever. A pair of powerful soul machines, the Closer and Opener of Ways, arrived from deep space, settling in many out system bodies and asteroids and began to grow. Any that entered the Closer's realm where attacked by its many battle aspects and attack forms and harvested for their resources.

Only the most heavily guarded military convoys could pass the Closer, and even that was often difficult to achieve. Worse whole areas of space where cut off as the Closer's devices chopped and respun the routes.

In some ways the Opener was even worse. It's aspects raided systems for resources and opened gates between many worlds. Sadistically, it seemed they would almost always be between areas where the cultures would be hostile to one another, or where the gate would only spread disasters like plague or magical chaos. In some cases whole worlds were rendered into jibsaws as the Openers magic ripped and recombined them.

Finally, after two millennia a group of heroes from a doomed world managed to journey to the central aspect of the Closer and Opener and destroy them. Without their central soul, the Soul Machine's other aspects began to break down, failing to self replicate or developing strange dysfunctions. Battles raged in interstellar space as the two machine's aspects fell upon one another.

Recently a new power has risen in the East. The power the of the newly emerged Mahogany Dynasty on Danaetia and the Celestial Empire it gave birth too allowed them to force open many routes long shut down by the now weakening closer forces. Vast treasure fleets pushed out from the Danaetia system, opening many worlds to the first interstellar commerce they'd seen in thousands of years.

The rich mana of Danaetia allowed those areas where the Closer was still strong to be bypassed by long lasting gate spells, and soon the Imperial power ran from one end of the ancient silk routes to the other.

That was ten years ago. The Closer and Opener of Ways seems fully dormant and even more worlds are opening up. What will the universe have in store for these new arrivals? And what will the older powers make of them?

Basic World concepts

Closed World

Closed worlds were cut off by the depredations of the closer. They have developed separately for up to two millennia. Closed worlds may have several PCs on the planet or in system. Contact was re-established with closed worlds just before the game begun.

Open World

Open worlds are ones that had at least sporadic contact with others before the game starts. They may never have dropped out of contact with other worlds at all, or contact may have been restored a decade ago, either way however they have long term relations with the outside. Open worlds may have one PC on planet or in system.

Land

Size

The size of a state plays may play a large roll in shaping it, but is very much a mixed blessing.

Pick one (no cost):

Tiny Your nation is really small. Probably an Island in fact

On Earth Britain, Eritrea or Taiwan fit this category.

Small Your nation is extremely packed together, making transport links very easy, but meaning you have little space to trade for time.

On Earth France, Germany or Japan fit this category.

Normal You are a fairly normal midsized state, neither particularly large nor particularly small.

On earth Indonesia, Argentina or Iran fit here.

Large You are a very large state, with massive amounts of land between each city, and likely a considerable amount of remaining wilderness

On earth Russia, Canada or China fit this category.

Terrain

Terrain is bought in blocks, each representing 10 percent of the state's total land area.

Defence

Minus two points: Very Hard to Defend: Valleys overlooked by high ground held by a foreign power.

Minus one points: Hard to Defend: Trackless jungle inhabited by natives hostile to you

Zero points: Normal Plains or Deserts.

One point: Forests and hills

Two points: Rolling hills and downs with limited sight lines

Three Points: Bocage and Hedgerow country

Four Points: Steep hills and valleys you dominate, riverine systems

Five Points: Trackless Jungles and Mountains, under dark caverns

Economic Value

Minus two points: Sandworm infested desert or undead infested marsh 1.5 times development cost

Minus one points: Marshes or deserts without monsters 1.2 times development cost

Zero points: Normal wilderness 1.0 time development cost

One point: Land crossed by an ancient road system 0.9 times development costs

Two points: On a minor river, costal 0.8 times development costs

Three Points: On a Major river, blessed by the spirits 0.7 times development costs

Four Points: Major river mouth or delta 0.6 times development costs

Five Points: Ancient megacity ruins with still standing buildings and functional infrastructure 0.5 times development costs

Land Advantages

Unclaimed Land -10 points
You have a large amount of unclaimed land near your country that you can claim as the game goes on.

Major Terrain Feature -1 points for the first -2 for the second etc.
You have something very large and impressive in one of your provinces. Provides a bonus to defence or a -0.1 bonus to development costs

Climate

Normal (0 points)

A standard earth style climate

Good (X points)

Your Climate is perfect for development and also for people who want to attack you. -0.1 development costs

Bad (+X points or X points)

Your Climate is horrible. Constant storms or something more exotic. Gives a defensive bonus. The flaw gives a +0.2 on all development costs as well as the defense bonus.

Advancement

According to ancient sages there are two forms a civilization may take. Arcane and Emergent. An Arcane civilization bases its power on the personal. An Emergent bases its power on the group, the mass, the machine.

It is also said that the most advanced civilizations have combined these two elements together, creating machines with souls that carry with them the raw power of the Arcane.

All technology is granular. A TL2.0 steam ship will be at a considerable disadvantage to a TL2.9 dreadnought, and an emergent tech 2.0 Difference Engine won't give anywhere near the processing power of a tech 2.9 desktop. Technology levels are not bound together. You can have any combination of advancement levels. However Emergent tech will be more effective with higher core tech while Arcane works well at all levels.

Core Advancement

All powers have a certain core advancement. This represents their basic core sophistication in technological and magical ability. Without Arcane or Emergent techniques however it cannot train powerful mages or create complex, autonomous technologies. Core advancement maybe freely enchanted and may in fact be the product of either technology or magic. Core advancements allows the building of Simple Units

Level zero: Power of Nature: Mechanical movement through wind, water, animals and natural mana sources or sacrifices. Wind and water mills and steel weapons are used. Larger ships can be constructed, primary moved by sails rather than oars. (High Middle Ages or earlier)

Level one: Power of Knowledge: Gunpowder, Alchemy, Mathematics, clockwork. Firearms make wide appearence for the first time, growing to replace all other arms by the end of the tech level. Cannon replace catapults as the primary artillery weapon. Towards the end of the tech level balloons and gliders are experimented with (Renaissance)

Level two: Power of Industry: Mana coal mining, high explosives, mass production enchantments or machines. Engines replace muscles completely at this level, from steam driven devices to internal combustion engines. Chemical engineering allows the creation of large scale explosives such as refined firedust, dynamite, elemental mixture and TNT. Powered aircraft become common by the middle of this tech level, as to civilian motor vehicles. Ships lose their sails here and replace them with engines. (industrial revolution)

Level three: Power of Artifice: Synthetic materials, atomic power. At this level mana can be extracted from unstable material as it splits, or enmass from natural mana producing regions. Both of these processes can have serious consequences for the region involved however. Synthetic materials are less destructive, at least initially, but can have a widespread impact. Precision machines are easy to make at this level, replacing the clunky industrial age devices. (modern day)

Level four: Knowledge of the Universe: Fusion power, energy weapons, macro and microshrines. At this level smaller, more efficient and safer fusion reactors tend to replace the older extraction and atomic reactors. While they still require mana rich gas to operate, they cause no permanent radiation damage if they do. Personal space craft are fairly common at this level, as are energy weapons and non-chemical projectile throwers like rail guns or elemental driven bows. For the first time at level four the precise wants of spirits maybe asserted, giving rise to both smaller and larger shrines which give vastly more efficient congress than the older cathedrals. (near future)

Level five: Power of the Universe: Soul generators, energy shields, spirit modification, anti-gravity. At this level the primal forces of the universe maybe tapped. Soul generators tap into local mana and suck it into themselves the way that spirits do, tapping any local mana source for fuel. Energy shields and anti-gravity allow flying castles or buildings made of solid light, while spirit modification allows the creation of spirits on demand to power new devices and items. (Far future)

Emergent Advancement

Emergent Advancement is the depersonalization of technology. With simple technology a person is always required, and objects tend to be large and somewhat clumsy. Complex technology allows for smaller and finer parts to be created, eventually including machines smaller than the eye can see.

Unfortunately the alienating nature of Emergent Technology hinders the use of Arcane technology, and beyond a certain level outright prevents it. . . unless the technology to build machine souls is created.

It allows the creation of Complex Units

Level One: Precision Engineering: computers, small finely machined parts, wireless battlefield communications.

Level two: Information Networks: machines talking to machines, internets, micromachines, remote piloted vehicles.

Level three: Autonomous Computers: machines that possess their own judgement nanotech, mobile fabricators, cyberware, biotech.

Level four: Sapient Computers, prefix tech, uploads, computronium

Arcane Advancement

Arcane Advancement is more particulate than the other two, with mages mastering all manner of different techniques. It is however more powerful together than separately. Many spells require more than one sphere to be effective. Larger effects require more mana.

Almost all powers have some level of arcane magic. Those without gain +x points to partly make up for the shortfall.

Mind

Level one: empathy As well as the above, the mage can read the emotions of those nearby.

Level two: telepathy as well as the above the mage can read the thoughts of those nearby.

Level three: Thought manipulation As well as the above the mage can manipulate the thoughts and emotions of those nearby

Level four: Domination/Mind construction The mage may completely rewrite personalities with their magic or construct animal intelligence minds for non-living constructs. This level also allows animal intelligence beings to be upgraded to human level intelligence.

Level five: Mind birth At this level the mage may create fully sapient minds using enchantment, or upload themselves into objects. This is a common way to become immortal.

Life

Level one: minor manipulation A mage can return patterns to normal, healing injuries, or inflicting them. At this level injuries that are not immediately fatal may be healed instantly, or given to an unwilling target. Disease can similarly be cured, and plants maybe made to grow more quickly.

Level two: major manipulation A mage may heal even immediately fatal injuries (or kill a subject directly). Major things about a person may be changed (height, race, etc.)

Level three: Shape Shifting A mage may change their or another target's shape in a major way, turning into animals or the like. This maybe used to create new life forms from existing ones.

Level four: Shaping: Life may be created from nothing, and the dead returned to life. At this level only simple life forms (such as magical plagues) maybe directly created.

Level five: Creation: New life may be created from nothing at this level, including new creatures with wholly new characteristics. The creation of new life is a mana intensive process though, and most mages do it sparingly.

Matter

Level one:

Level two:

Level three:

Level four:

Level five:

Forces

Level one:

Level two:

Level three:

Level four:

Level five:

Void

Level one:

Level two:

Level three:

Level four:

Level five:

Military

Simple Units

Simple Units are created with core advancement. They represent uncomplicated units, usually without much minaturization or the like, but are cheap to build and avaliable in large numbers. The most notable trait of simple units is their specialization. They tend to do one and only one thing well, compared to complex units which become increasingly multipurpose as technology advances.

Some simple units do require a level of complex technology to be most effective, notably cavalry.

Simple Unit added capacities

Simple Ground Units
Simple Air Units
Simple Naval Units

Complex Units

Complex Units are the product of emergent advancement. They represent units equipped with the fruits of an emergent civilization and its precision engineering. Most modern units would be considered complex. Complex units tend to be much more multipurpose than their simple equivalents, and capable of large numbers of different roles with the right added capacities.

Complex units are difficult or impossible to enchant. See the rules for Arcane magic for details.

Complex Unit Added capacities

Complex Ground Units
Complex Air Units
Complex Naval Units