parent nodes: Weird Sun
Overview
Earth's TL11 civilization (just for simplicity, think of a more developed Transhuman Space) perishes in 2137 to a world war that triggers a so-called Ontoclysm that not only brings back magic, but turns the Solar System into a "reality well" into which are sucked components of thousands of other realities. The space colonies are left to pick up the pieces, and before long they launch a scramble For Earth similar to the 19th century scramble for Africa. The current Great Powers are:
-Venus, a so-called thaumocracy where the mages lord it over the nonmages. Their prophet, one of the most powerful witches in history, cast a spell that turned the hell-world into a garden world. Venus' mage-lords have banned all modern science and technology, creating a TL3+7 society run entirely on belief and willpower. High-class Cythereans (Venusians) generally have Magery above 10. They ride dragons and pegasi in place of spaceships, and use magic wands and "ozblades" (swords formed from pure magical energy) as personal weapons.
-Selene (formerly Earth's Moon), which can best be described as a libertarian capitalist technomagical theocracy. Mile-high diamondoid skyscrapers mingle with magical trees and beanstalks. On the streets of Selenopolis you see creatures from myth, fantasy, sci-fi, history and alternate history. Society is ruled by the Brands, corporations that achieve godhood through manipulation of "theomes", the memes of worship, from the faith of their loyal Brandies (the iPod community on crack, basically). This is the best starting place if you want to reflect the setting's diversity in your adventuring party.
-Mars, a Republic similar to the USA. The biggest party, the Social Republicans, are like Social Democrats, except they're not Democrats, they're Republicans. They are in favor of an aggressive foreign policy, gun freedom, environmental conservation and the welfare state. These are Martians' dominant values, along with extreme distrust of mages and magical beings. On Mars, it's illegal to cast a spell or use a magic item, and wizards suffer discrimination similar to blacks in the 1920s US. The Martians always try to enforce their particular blend of U.S. libertarianism, Scandinavian socialism and Spanish inquisition around the Solar System (they would say, in self-defense). Their frontline fighters are the technologically superior Martian Marine Corps, essentially superhumans in TL11 dreadnought battlesuits. Naturally, Venus is Mars' worst enemy and they currently have a nice Cold War going. The MMC campaign is the place to look if all you want from life is to put a railgun slug through the forehead of a 120ft demon or blow up a great dragon with a shoulder-launched mininuke.
-The Jovian Empire, ruled from (now melted) Europa. This is anime country, essentially. From his fortress at the bottom of the World Ocean, the Immortal God-Emperor, Son of Amaterasu, sends forth his Imperial Navy, his Robotto Samurai and his Imperial Ninja. Mostly an excuse to have giant robots and cyborg space-ninjas.
-The Cybernetic Communion of Titan, dominating Saturn orbit. A grim pseudo-Stalinist dictatorship where humans are treated like cattle and forced to worship a paranoid-psychotic spellcasting AI, all in their "best interest".
-The Kuiperian Confederation, with its capital on Neptune's moon Triton. They idealize (do not worship) Santur, the Black Sun, also known as Nemesis. They are quite skeptical of magic, moreso than the Martians. Some critics call it a techno-fundamentalist society, others have far less complimentary designations.
The main battleground between these powers is Earth, where they are busily carving out spheres of influence while fending off each other as well as a bewildering variety of weird creatures.
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