User:Jniawqjinhg/sandbox

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The Unreliable Spellcasting Crackpots Game[edit]

Idea for satirical game, which would further Rational Wiki's ideas. Either computer game or tabletop RPG.

Synapsis[edit]

It started from James Randi's challenge, which was never won, which means magic is either weak or doesn't exist. And i thought: what if i made a game about such world?

Magic System[edit]

In that universe, magic is so unreliable, as to be practically useless. It never does what you want, can't be predicted, and can be distorted or shut down by enormous variety of external factors (from recording devices like high-quality cameras, to esoteric factors like weather on Mars). Most normal people don't use such rubbish kind of Magic - yet our protagonists wholly rely on it, due to being crazy lunatics.

No matter how good you roll and which magic you use, magic will backfire, each backfire in [semi-]random and/or unique way. The roll is to determine, how hilariously/horribly it backfires. It has no consistency whatsoever.

Game's balance is inversion of "Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards". That is - spellcasters are laughably weak and useless, while physical characters (scientists, soldiers, alien space marines, etc) are supremely competent and do everything as needed.

Wining the Randi's Challenge would be extremely tough challenge; the closest equivalent from normal TRPG's would be defeating some epic-level boss. Player characters managing to overcome their own incompetence and win Randi's Challenge - or otherwise presenting concrete evidence of existence of supernatural to scientific community - could be one of possible win conditions.

Other possible game goals include: earning money, getting practical results from magic, thwarting plans of equally incompetent and crazy spellcasting baddies, not being thwarted by pileup of schemes and malfunctioning spells from everyone and themselves (aka "Gambit Pileup"), acquiring more powerful yet still uncontrollable forms of magic.

Characters (all caricature-ish, cartoonish, and mostly incompetent)[edit]

  1. Player Characters are spellcasting crackpots of all kinds. Spiritualists, psionics, wizards, cultists and others. Each has his own magic variant. They try to do various things, yet fail most of the time, because their magic is rubbish.
  2. Demons. These try to tempt mortals and buy their souls - but usually fail. Yet mortals do bullshit anyways.
  3. Evil Spirits. Unlike Demons, the Evil Spirits just destroy and break things - or at least, try to do so. Instead of buying souls and tempting mortals, they try to forcibly rip souls from people without anyone's consent. About as weak and incompetent as Demons.
  4. Angels. Protect people from Demons and Evil Spirits. Usually fail or mind their own business, yet Demons and Evil Spirits end up failing even without Angel intervention.
  5. The Syndicate. Reptiloids and other malevolent aliens, who only think about their money no matter what, yet often end up loosing money. Make ridiculous complicated schemes and evil plans, which inevitably backfire.
  6. The Highest Order. Militaristic techno-zombie robotic dark electronic supremacists. Once were militaristic "green little man", before turning into something a lot worse. Constantly expand and conquer, test new wonder-weapons. Have no subtlety.
  7. The Galactic Federated Republican Coalition. Parody of every democratic beurocratic Science fiction government. Milky Way's ruling government, and rather good guys. Galactic Council, Galactic Senate, and other government parts have decided, that "magic is both useless and detrimental, and therefore should be banned". They have detrimental "First Directive", which forbids them from intervening on pre-FTL planets in ways which would result in detection of said intervention. Save Earth from Syndicate and Highest Order, while maintaining secrecy, and hiding evidence what alien baddies end up leaving left and right.
  8. Agency Against Magic: sub-fraction of GFRC. They try to keep the magic in secret from Humans, while still maintaining secret, yet often nearly compromising it in persuit of magic-users. Their antics give many headaches to members of Galactic Senate/Council/etc, as GFRC often ends up fixing the mess created by AAM.