Welcome to Gaia! ::

OKAY, TIME TO RESPOND TO SOME s**t.

I really like Jay's idea. I think instead of the Colour Out of Space (something similar to that, anyway), we should have a Nyarlathotep-like figure be the one to deliver the fire to humanity. I'd say the lesion that develops in the brain would be pseudo-scientific, in that it'd be a mutation, but there are certain aspects that no one really knows about. The medication could have been through years upon years of scientific and magi-science research and development - it could probably have been pushed along by a group that might know about the one realm and wants to kill off/deaden all magic users as to prevent the eventual dimensional consumption. Just an idea there, though.

Since the one realm is Warp-like, in that everything about the sentient mind influences it, I believe that a lot of traditional mage tropes would be through widespread emotional sympathy. Stuff like differing schools of magic would be emotional resonances that allow mages to manipulate diluted dimensional energy into "traditional" magic. The one realm would be all about limitless potential, so stuff like raising the dead would even be possible.

I also really like how psions would be further mutations/deviations, as I do like having them be an unknown factor. I've got a major "villain" planned that's a complete public figure but is not known to have any power by any mage communities. The larger the lesions/tumors/etc. also makes sense with the magic/psionic system, as it allows for more power, but it almost assures them having bad s**t happen to them.

Also, normal mages still being tied to the dimension will solve the issue of controlling their power. Since mages use emotional sympathy (through incantations, rituals, gestures, reagents and so on) to draw and cast energy, their methods are safer and more controlled - however, it is still drawing upon that one realm, so it's still dangerous as ******** and can lead to bad s**t happening to them. I propose that generally, it should be user decided when it comes to backlashes, with some GM-rolled stuff during big plots. If we find someone abusing stuff, then GMs can step in for some delicious intervention, hurhur.

The only tangle to this is how we wanted to have some other purely-supernatural stuff involved, like demons/demonology (which I would love, as would others), Fey (TK and others) and some other stuff. I think that they could definitely be separate, and some demons/fey/etc. would know about just how ******** the humans are and would actually be afraid of the potential they represented (which is what the entities within the dimension wish to exploit - as that will allow them to "evolve" and unite reality with their own existence).

WUT U GUYS THINK?

I am all for the ideas posted, but it brings some questions to mind.

Like, is this "one realm" the only other realm? Something along the lines of the Fade, where things like Demons and Fey are the result of the denizens in that realm coming to ours and getting stuck/corrupted. (I kind of prefer this just because of how simple it makes things, while still leaving plenty of room for as much customization as people want. Especially if we're including the "multiple planes of reality" facet, worlds like Gaia, like Dee suggested.)

Or were you thinking more like D&D with countless planes, realities, and parallels, with this "one realm" being the one that most effects and/or is effected by the "physical realm"?

If the first is true, then how would we play the more supernatural elements (like death)?

Im only posting this insanity because of late night ramblings and cog telling me too, this isn't real, its pure unadulterated RP-grade Bullshit and has nothing to do with Physics of any form.



So in a Lovecraftian canon we have to accept that things not only existed Before us, but Before our reality. Therefore our reality and our understanding of time exists between the current terminus of both Space and time, and expands to fill any sort of void. Time and Space which obviously share an origin point but expand and exist separately, creating the cradle that is our dimension.

Reality (as we can perceive it) is what falls between the expansion between the two terminus points. It exists in balance with what we cannot perceive, and rules outside of our concept of reality. V represents what lies beyond our reality and thus beyond our normal comprehension, rules, laws of physics, etc, in a 'perfect' model it forces against reality with equal force to ensure a balance. However what that doesn't mean that those rules cannot be brought over, or that beings from that region of space time cannot survive on our side of the veil or barrier between the perceivable and unpercievable.

In short 'magic' and horrible beings from beyond are not supernatural, but perfectly natural just beyond our comprehension, for they follow rules of science beyond our understanding. This is one of Lovecrafts horrible truths, that what perceive as horribly unnatural is completely natural and in truth mundane.

Now how does one access these laws beyond our comprehension?

Reality is flexible it can be bent stretched and distorted but it cannot be ripped. However as it is distorted, the boundary or veil thins allowing for rules and or beings to cross over depending on their own prominence or power in their realm, just as humans could if they were so inclined/powerful and/or crazy enough. However, Reality is flexible, and ductile but it does not just snap back as if nothing had happened, when you stretch reality it can either take awhile to return to its natural state or it may in truth never fully return, as if reality were to react immediately magic would never have the chance to exist for longer than the blink of an eye.

This expansion however alters the curve of the boundary and forces further against the unpercievable (V), which as it compresses forces against reality as well, this means that areas of thinned boundary can allow lesser laws or less prominent creatures to attempt to cross over. Casting a fireball for example may not alter the balance of reality much, but the historical use of magic by humanity over millennia can alter what is an isn't possible in our reality. This also opens up areas that are specifically thinner and less restrictive to magic such as cult temples that see regular magical practices, or the home of a powerful sorcerer might be far more forgiving to the use of magic or as a means of traveling into the void.

The consequence of this regular and historical distortion of our reality is both the increased ease of travel between the two realms (a bad thing for our sanity and civilian safety) it also as a whole begins to distort space time as we know it. Since the terminus of space and time cannot be altered by mere humans (even through millennia of use), this is a mechanical action. and since the terminus cannot change, and the void and reality are at odds with one another you literally begin to change the angle at which space and time intercept on a major scale, this means that both our reality and the void are stretched and the veil or barrier thins proportionally across all of reality. On a minor scale this isn't apocalyptic but as human population grows and the amount of magic use increases you are looking at an archimeadean style lever against the frame of space time and a complete dissolution of the boundary.

On parallel realities... oh ******** class="postcontent-align-center" style="text-align: center">

Alright, so I've been mostly actively avoiding reading most of the posts in this thread, subconsciously though. I'd begin readin, then see something shiny or realize I haven't checked my facebook/vent/DA in the past five minutes. I'm a terrible person. I finally got to reading though, because I'm really excited for this and I've begun revamping Lacey's backstory so I want to help hurry this along as much as I can.


...Then I read Jay's last post and I'm too lost to make or argue a valid point at the moment. Thanks. ]=<

I'll reread it later after I've gone to sleep and hope that helps. Lawl.

Right. Magic. Got it.
But for serious, that was far more in-depth than I expected anyone to go. (nice reality graph btw) How I failed to anticipate this, considering it's a Lovecraftian-inspired RP being orchestrated by Cog, I'm not sure. I guess that one is my bad.

Long story short, we have a limited understanding of reality while there is SUPACRAZY s**t going on in the great beyond. "Magic" as we know it is the influence of SUPER-PHYSICS (that should be a comic book) from the great beyond. Simple as that.

Almost as simple, we can say "realms" overlap. Our universe, Heaven, Hell, the Void, and Bjork's mind are worlds that sort of bump into one another. They aren't totally separate, but distantly connected.

Since "magic" can flow from one world into another in varying ways, I doubt we'll have a hard time coming up with ways to include the enigmatic into the story. What I want to ask is: "Are there things we should AVOID doing when interacting with magic? Are there no-nos? What level of reality-shaping power can we expect from individuals, and what are the exact consequences/benefits?" (to be fair, benefits should be obvious: it's magic)

Since Kat fails and sent out the announcement with no link to the Google doc, and I can't send more than one announcement in a single day, I'm posting it here.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Os7BbjrI1IgIk8hGMkmzyRHdK7Pkrf9p-_kFXHGu_vA/edit?hl=en&authkey=CLixrusL#

Howdy! World Building Goggle Docs Admin dude-guy here; two changes I wanted to let everyone know about since we already have 13 people in the 'can edit' role on the document, mostly some changes to try and keep clutter down and productivity up.

1) We are switching blue text back to at will deletion, and instead using the built in comment system. This allows for easier highlighting of topic areas, more in depth responses to comments, without interrupting writing flow. To add a comment, simply highlight the section you wish to comment on or address and right click to bring up a mini menu, select comment and write in what you want in the side box. To be honest except for the rules section, most blue comments weren't serious anyways, so I doubt this will bother too many people.

2) I'm switching access from 'anyone with link can edit' to only those invited can edit, those of you already registered with the document wont see any change, but it will remove the random influx of ANON users and hopefully keep the possibility of griefing down. We already have plenty of people involved, but I'm mostly seeing the same four or so people actually contributing anything, thats only a third of users added, which is sad.

Gino, and Moose and anyone else in guild; if you are interested in joining the world building document PM me a gmail email address and I will add you to the user base. Obviously anyone is still welcome to throw ideas up here even if they aren't interested in being directly involved the behind the scenes work going on.