Magic & Technology

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
— Arthur C. Clarke

Virtually Real attempts to remove ethnocentric and cultural bias from how it sees the world. To say that the technology that another world uses is "just fantasy" so doesn't have to make sense, leaves you with two possibilities. Either the technology is too advanced for you to understand, or your world doesn't make sense at all! The idea of a setting where things don't make sense just leads to arguments and frustrations.

I want worlds that make sense, so let's assume that all all the tales about magic are made by people who didn't understand what they were seeing! This still leave us with a hole in our own understanding, so how to do we make rules about technology we don't understand? Thus, a new terminology is required so we can define how this stuff works, and then define it! I have grouped effects into 6 technologies.

The following is just my notes on this for now. It will be flushed out soon and then it will go in the other section. Sometimes it helps to write it all down before you try and solidify the mechanics. This is the goals, not the implementation. However, the capacity system can handle anything!

Technologies

• MechanoStructural - Our modern world began in this technology from simple tools, levers, gears, and wheels. It is about the basic laws of motion and leverage that make our world work. Usually not powered, except by Body/Endurance (you pick it up and swing it or move a lever). These are usually real-time physical manipulations.
• ElectroChemical - This technology is based on moving electrons around to either change the state of matter, change chemical bonds, produce a voltage, or electromagnetic force. Chemistry is just changing the elctrochemical bonds between the molecules. This began when we found that friction could be used to release enough heat to produce fire (oxidation), producing electromagnetic radiation (heat and light) as well as ionization. Heat, Light, and electricity are easy to make electrochemically, but often slower because you have to break bonds and alter things physically and chemically. Electrochemical processes can produce power for other effects. Eletrochemical affects are usually slow to set up, although they can be released fairly quickly (think C4).
• QuantaDimensional - Our modern world is just exploring this force. We mainly use it to generate heat which we use to power an electrochemical generator. We also found that we can release quantadimensional energy really fast and cause a critical failure - a nuclear explosion! Quantum technologies are used to create most of the "fast magic" effects, including time manipulations and physical dimensional travel. Quantum forces can create light (photons), illusions (arranging photons), or invisibility (blocking photons). This will include fantasy fireballs and electricity bolts because these effects are instantly phased into our own dimension from astral creativity, making them more difficult than eletrochemical means, but capable of being used in combat. This form of technology is preferred by most fantasy Wizards as well as futuristic worlds. It is always conjured at the caster and then projected as a physical energy form (fire, light, electricity, acid, etc). Usually powered by ki energies. Geometry or Music theory is often a prerequisite to quantadimensional sciences while more advanced forms require calculus and other advanced math. These sciences are usually LOG based.
• EntroEthereal - These are the ethereal forces of spiritual reality. These forces affect entropy through emotion and vice versa. Most banes and boons, blessings, curses, and similar are all found here. Summoning is ethereal in that it calls living creatures to you through emotional energies of the ethereal. Seeing the invisible might be done through EntroEthereal magic, allowing you to see the ethereal form through the ethereal plane. This can also be emotional calming, charms, rage passions, emotional/leadership passions, willpower, ardor, etc. Effects related to the soul's journey, reincarnation, etc. Healing works by channeling ethereal energy. Usually powered from Ki, or Materials. Typically these saves use Spirit.
• BioGenetic - Biogenetic effects such as healing, species manipulations, changing attribute capacities, appearance transformations, photosythesis, chameleon effects, sleep effects, curing disease, etc. Most nature magic including weather effects, all fall under BioGenetics. This is the physical side of life energy rather than the emotional side, such as drugs and medicines up through genetic engineering. Starting with an a similar creature is easier than building one from scracth. BioGenetic effects are usually powered from Endurance or Materials, not Ki. Saves are often Body.
• AstroMental - Astromental effects involve the mind, mental powers, mental travel to other dimensions, astral travel, telekinesis, suggestion, and the like. Healing is available at much higher DLs. Conjuring something from nothing creates the object on the astral plane and then moves it into our world through the mind (temporarily). Conjuring a living being is harder than summoning one (see EntroEthereal). Astromental powers can easily create illusions, but only the target sees them as these are mental illusions, not moving photons that everyone can see. Astromental electricity and fire effects do not shoot out from the caster and get dodged like with QuantaDimensional magic, but form around the target, usually requiring mental saves, grounding the energy back into the astral plane from which it came as it forms. Saves are usually Logic even though the technology is Mind/Astral based.

Terms

Technology - One of 6 methods of producing effects. A technology tells us how an effect works. A technology has a list of sample effects that it can produce, and the difficulty of producing a particular effect. Each technology must be powered by something, even if just ki or endurance. Each technology lists the effects it can produce. Any unknowns, such as exact saves, are determined between the GM and player when the effect is learned. Many sciences allow changing range and duration at the time the effect is "released" as opposed to when it was "learned".

Technology Level - Every culture has a technology rating in each of the 6 technologies. The difficulty of learning a new effect is based on both the difficulty of that effect as well as the difference between the technology level of the culture and the difficulty of the effect. This let's you scale how powerful a particular technology is to meet the needs of your campaign setting. Your own abilities are based on the technology level where you are from.

Ki - Ki energy is the basic life energy of the universe that is transformed through mental and emotion means (by your life force), into the type of energy required. Your ki is pulled from the world around you and so the more you know about geomancy and ley lines (lines of ki force that web the world), the more of this energy you will be able to pull in and use. In most cases, you can transform endurance (a BioGenetic energy) if all of your ki energy has been depleted. If the effect requires Endurance, you may not substitute Ki. Once Winded, you can not spend endurance or ki anymore.

Meditation - This skill is a ki skill with swappable styles based on Mind. When it becomes advanced, you can use it as an astromental science. One of the passions that most meditation styles provide is extra ki, enhanced concentration, etc.

Yoga - This is a ki skill with a specific style, based on Body. One of the Yoga passions allows you to convert ki into endurance. When it becomes advanced, it switches to a creative BioGenetic skill that can be used for a variety of effects on yourself.

Effect - An effect is particular action, change, or modifier that you wish to create. An effect generally has a related science, a difficulty, a side-effect, and a counter-effect. A side-effect determines what happens when you make a close-enough skill check or critical failure. A counter-effect lists special interactions when two effects are both on an object (such as overlapping secondary damage). The related science makes it easy to learn effects when you know the science behind it and hard to learn when you don't. This gates effects within a technology by the scientific knowledge you have.

Critical Fails - A critical failure of any technology roll to produce an effect means that you will roll the check again, this time with no critical fail results. The roll is indexed on the critical fail table for that technology. The GM may modify the result description as required for immersive purposes, but the higher your roll and the harder you push it, the more catastrophic and dangerous your failure! The critical failure reroll table never uses combination rolls.

Mystic Circles - Mystic circles are imbuded with runes and geometric forms, introducing certain safeguards and failsafes against critical failure. Geometry is required to learn the science. Linked circles elliminate penalties for a lack of familiarity with the destination and can be activated like an invention for continued re-use. You usually must have a source of ki to activate the circle and pass a technology check to know how to activate it. Other worlds may have their own safety technology rather than using circles.

Wards - Wards are a form of writing used to protect an object or area. Wards let you set a condition upon an effect where a trigger is set to activate another effect.

Science - A science is can be a knowledge or a way of creating effects. Each setting has its own sciences that define how you mold a particular technology using that skill in this world. Often, these are separate skills for theory and creation, or the creation portion might be an advanced training. A science may produce a wide range of effects or a limited number of effects. A science has a certain time for creating the effect, which may be anything from a short evocation (quick casting of a spell), a short ritual/performance, a longer scene, or complex multistage task. Evocation uses fast focus casting while Summoning uses circles and slower actions for better control over volatile technologies, but both are using quantadimensional technology, just different science. A bowyer could be defined as a MechanoStructural science that converts Body strength into a missile weapon. It requires some basic aerodynamics to create this effect. A gunsmith is doing something similar, but uses an ElectroChemical technology to power the projectile.

Time - Faster skills are more volatile and dangerous compared to slow effects. Fast skills may get very swingy and are prone to more drastic failure. If your casting time is done in combat actions or less, a critical failure is rerolled with any disadvantages converted to advantages when finding how badly you failed! Slower effects from a non-combat action to 1 or more events is a plain unmodified skill check with no situational modifiers at all. Effects that take a scene or longer to cast gain an extra disadvantage to the reroll to find your critical failure results. Since circles take a scene or longer to create, they use the rules for slow effects even though the activation time is much smaller.

Power - Most sciences have a way of increasing power output by increasing the fuel. More charges, more ammo, more gas, more fluid, more battery power, divert auxillary power to shields, etc. Faster, more volatile sciences, have volatile ways to build energy (like the wild swing mechanic except you spend ki or endurance and spend a whole spell action) while slower skills have safer method with a slower build.

Invention - Inventions are created by skills. It allows an effect to be created (such as a weapon effect), powered by some component (battery or ammo), and easily activated in a standard way (trigger mechanism, codeword, whatever). More complex items might be piloted or atuned to (atunement creates a skill tree of passions).

Passions - The technology behind the passion determines how to activate the passion and its cost. Some effects may want an endurance point while others might use ki or something else. Creating different passions affects the difficulty of the passion and the cost of the tree it can go in. Ki skills are normally based on a specific technology and involve "magical" effects to create the passion. For example, a leadership tree with a high powered passion might likely be EntroEthereal, meaning you can activate it with ki points.

Darkness - Every science skill that allows you to learn effects will name a "Darkness" style. This is a style and you can earn XP in it by using the passions in the style. As it gains levels, you will eventually start taking penalties to social interaction rolls due to abnormal and anti-social behaviors. If you have multiple styles from different sciences then you get the base passion of each style and can choose from any tree as you gain levels of Darkness.

Virtual Reality - A server imposes it's technology levels on avatars. It defines reality. However, if you are jacked in without an avatar, you use the rules for an astral body because virtual reality is a shared collective fantasy, and so it exists as part of the astral plane. Jacking in without an avatar means you are yourself and your technology works exactly the way you think it will. Cyberware such as guns and knives is installed into you real body and avatar separately cyberdeck (and you can have one implanted if you like, even wireless if you can handle the lag). Cyberware that influences mental effects, such as enhanced reflexes, would still function up to the limit of your CPU.

Magic Items - Magic Items follow the rules for making any other technology item, but with different sciences involved. Most magic items fall into 3 catagories. You can have items powered by the wearers/weilders ki or endurance, depending on the technology. You can have items that are powered by a ki storage crystal (basically a battery) - and crystals can be charged at ley line nexus points. The final one is truly powerful items that have their own will and personality, making them incredibly taxing to build. These have their own Atunement skill that slowly grants abilities to the weilder. Items with their own Reflexes attribute can act on their own and get their own combat time and actions, usually using the weilder's Atunement skill as their weapon proficiency.

Web

Every culture with have a web chart with the 6 technologies. Neighboring cultures should not differ by much! Each technology is rated from 0-12 creating a web chart who's total area is the overall technology of the region. The shape will determine the types of technologies available. Every hexagonal web chart uniquely defines the technology of a culture while also drawing questions as to the origins of the technology. Also remember that a species with a high attribute capacity is more likely to discover technologies where that capacity is most useful.

Music

Music creates passions using EntroEthereal technology, but the usual "darkness ki" does not apply. This is a "safe" (and slow) method of doing entroethereal technology because the listener must agree to the effect and you are limited in scope. Music uses the "Collective Check" rules and is considered a performance technology involving you and the listener. We are now finding that music can have amazing healing properties, interacting with our brains in ways we never imagined. Check out Oliver Sacks book, Musicophila: Tales of Music & The Brain.

Ley Lines, Nexus Points, and Ki Energy

Ki energy is the primal force of everything. It runs through everything at various frequencies and harmonics, similar to "brown noise". By applying new frequencies to the pool of ki energy, using sacred tones, verbs, and chants, you create "beat frequencies" that transform the ki energy into other forms, even matter itself! Different technologies resonate at different frequencies.

A beat frequency is what happens when two different frequencies combine. As the peaks and valleys of each frequency interact, they will sometimes reinforce each other and sometimes cancel each other. The result is the sum and difference of both tones. This is often used to tune musical instruments. You play a known tone, such as A (440Hz) and the instrument to be tuned, perhaps currently at 444Hz, and you will hear 884Hz and also 4Hz. While your ear doesn't hear 4Hz, you will hear the volume of the other tones fade in and out at 4Hz, 4 times per second! Now you just tune the instrument, which slows the rate by which the volume comes and goes, until it stops completely. Perfect tuning!

The earth has a resonant frequency called Schumann Resonances that have a fundamental frequency of 7.83Hz because the space between the Earth and the ionosphere acts as a waveguide. The Schumann Resonances include harmonics of 7.83Hz as well, including 14.1Hz, 20.3Hz, and so on. These resonances can be used to track lightning storms across the globe! Different planets will have have different diameters and different ionosphere's with different patterns of interference, suppressing different technologies.

As these waves travel the globe, they will meet delayed versions of themselves. This creates an effect called comb-filtering. It is a very similar effect, causing interference patterns that emanate across the world in lines. Some of these lines can be incredibly powerful (constructive interference) while other lines cause low-magic lines (destructive interference). Click Here for an article about how all this works, with pictures.

Because ki energy has multiple frequencies, these powers intersect in different places. Sometimes ley lines only affect certain types of technology. In other times, you have multiple lines that intersect at a specific point. This is called a ley line nexus, places of great power often worshipped as being a sacred place, like Stonehenge. The reverse is also true. You can have a nexus that creates dead-magic zones where one or more technologies are rendered useless. This could explain the Bermuda Triangle.

Skills like Geomancy study how these lines work, where they are, and how to harvest energy from them.

Understanding Foreign Tech

You use a Logic check to understand technology, combining Logic and any skill that uses the same technology, even if it's a secondary skill. Finding an item of an unknown technology uses this basic check. This is the equivalent of the D&D Identify mechanic.

The first check is free. After that you can attempt to use an action from the skill used to try again, at +1 critical. Careful study is possible to avoid the chances of making a mistake and doing something wrong that could cause misfires or damage to yourself or the item. If this check still fails, you can study the item more and try again, another +1 critical. Each retry means you need to bump the skill duration up one 1 level on the duration chart. Once you roll a critical failure, you'll need to put it aside for awhile and come back to it later, after having earned another level in the skill and at least another chapter has passed.