Ramsgate

Supernatural and metaphysical concepts, the thermodynamics of spirit.

Major deity generation. How would this work? Maybe it works in different ways and we pick one randomly.

• Good vs. Evil w/ optional Neutral?
• racial deities?
• conceptual deities? God of Death, God of War, etc? Pseudo-Greek pantheon? Nature?
• pseudo-Catholic, like the Seven?
• no actual deities?
• monotheistic?
• powers and limitations
  • lifecycle

Minor deities:

• of the place or thing, forest, etc
• as a sort of "patron saint" system
• racial minor deities
• regional deities, like the ancient Israelite conception
• as the remnants of an ancient race of superhuman beings
• as children of the major deities
• daedra-like beings
• powers and limitations

  • lifecycle

Magic system: (general "wizard" stuff)

• source of power
  • specific moons, like in Dragonlance
  • fundamental power in the universe
  • something heritable
  • something species
  • some items
  • secrets, controlled by individuals or guilds
  • linguistic
  • nature (see Dark Sun)
• complications
  • relative power to faith
  • political attitudes
  • social attitudes toward magic-users
  • racial attitudes
  • magic-using organizations and their characteristics
• schools
  • abjuration
  • incantation
  • evocation/invocation
  • illusion
  • enchantment
  • chronomancy
  • conjuration
  • divination
  • summoning
  • necromancy
  • transmutation/alteration
  • etc
• specifics
  • interaction with astrology, etc
  • actual spells and effects
  • mana recharge is moderate, advancement is slow
  • tend toward prescriptivist practice, "scientism".
  • spellbooks are like textbooks?

Faith system: (general "priest" stuff)

• source of power
  • major deities
  • minor deities
• complications
  • relative power to magic
  • heresies, schisms, personal revelation
  • cenobites, anchorites, eremites
  • sects
  • how is this restricted/controlled by the deity
  • what actions on the part of the player are limited
• specifics
  • interaction with undead
  • interaction with morality
  • actual prayers and rituals
  • what is exhaustible?

Druidic system: (nature magic)

• source of power: nature, vitality
  • might differ based on how nature is perceived in that region/world

Shamanic system: (ecstatic magic)

• source of power: psychosexual energy, planar energy? regional deities?
  • mana is exhaustible, needs to be recharged with spiritual travel
  • light shaman vs. dark shaman / skinwalker
  • divine madness?
  • background could be that character is an apprentice going on a journey seeking knowledge before becoming the full shaman

Psionic system:

• source of power
  • inner life force, the will
• mind bullets, obviously

Other planes:

• astral plane
• ethereal plane
• shadow plane
• elemental planes?
• para-elemental?
• quasi-elemental?
• outer planes?
• demiplanes?
• chaos plane?

I think we can view these as sources of energy that we can use to create engines.
Those engines would be magic, whether arcane, divine, psionic, etc. This energy is accessible through various engines, which have different associated skills, power, characteristics, restrictions, etc. As will be the case with other forms of energy (power, money, etc), we need to figure out how to generate systems in such a way that they consume and control this energy in interesting ways.