Magic has always been here, deep in the world, hiding. The traditions stretch back millennia, but the otherworldly anima required to perform real magic have been dying out, and fewer magicians are born every year. A person paired with an anima is empowered to do one particular breed of magic. Although some claim Merlin had paired with a dozen anima, no one is sure they believe those stories: in living memory no one has ever had more than one.
But as the totalitarian government spread west, the set-upon tribes gathered. Their Ghost Dance tore open the ley lines of the world. The anima, suddenly free to cross once again from their reality into our own, returned in force, and magic came roaring back.
Seattle, 1902. A city still emerging from the frontier. The far-away government struggles to maintain their control, fighting the never-ending, low-simmering war against the tribes. The church calls to end the witchcraft that has taken root in the world. And a budding revolution swells from the Underground.
This is a Cortex Prime game. We find that Cortex pushes the characters into interesting places and makes them develop a complex, fun story that's always evolving. Our previous Cortex game ran for years, and we only stopped that one because we burned out our Master of Ceremonies. So this game is GMful, and using the following mods:
- Core traits are Values (with statements), Relationships (with statements), and Distinctions. We're ex-Smallville and it shows.
- Additional traits are Powers (with power sets), Extras, and Locations.
- We are using a Doom Pool, but are allowing ourselves to convert spoilers into Doom Pool dice or Complications as we feel is appropriate
- We are using the Effect Die
- Plot points carry over from session to session, but if you have fewer than 2 you get 2 to start
- We used Pathways to do chargen, using a blend of the Cortex Prime rules and the Smallville rules, because we liked the more interesting connection drawing that was available in Smallville.
- We are using Milestones for character advancement, with each character having their own 1xp/3xp/10xp goals, and with everyone having access to two "shared milestones" that encourage getting hurt and helping those who are hurt
- Scene framing is performed by whoever is first to toss a Plot Point onto the table and call the next scene. If a scene ends and no one has claimed the next one, whoever frames the next scene gets a Plot Point instead.
- If you frame a scene that you're not in, you have to spend an extra Plot Point