Info or random tables for Magic Zone Communities

[SolCannibal]

I'm in a mood to play a bit with the Federation of Magic & environs, populate the place with a few more places beside Dweomer, Brass and Stormspire above the village level. Something like the Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms tables and

Yeah, one might say Psyscape would technically count, but not really considering it's secret and seen as mostly legend even for natives of the region. That said i'm certainly going to pilfer bits & pieces from the book anyway even if not treating Psyscape as an active participant in local trade and politics.

So i'm looking for any books, Rifters or random tables that might give some materials or inspiration to play and toy with beside the FoM worldbook.
Something like the tables and samples in the Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms topic, but for the Magic Zone and Federation, i guess.
Any little nudge can help with getting the juices flowing.

[taalismn]

I'm in a mood to play a bit with the Federation of Magic & environs, populate the place with a few more places beside Dweomer, Brass and Stormspire above the village level. Something like the Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms tables and

Yeah, one might say Psyscape would technically count, but not really considering it's secret and seen as mostly legend even for natives of the region. That said i'm certainly going to pilfer bits & pieces from the book anyway even if not treating Psyscape as an active participant in local trade and politics.

So i'm looking for any books, Rifters or random tables that might give some materials or inspiration to play and toy with beside the FoM worldbook.
Something like the tables and samples in the Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms topic, but for the Magic Zone and Federation, i guess.
Any little nudge can help with getting the juices flowing.

Ow....
And Do'uh!
I'm doing everything BUT magic communities because it never occurred to me! Given enough time, I imagine I could whip something up, but let's toss out a few ideas...

You can pretty much go with the Community builders in books like the Adventure Guide, but let's see what's unique to magic communities:

Dominant Magic---Does any one school/philosophy/study of magic dominate the community? Mystics, technowizards, Elementalists, diabolists?

Alignment---Alignment of the majority of the community is important, especially with regards to how they treat outsiders....A Diabolical town leadership would have nothing wrong with sacrificing strangers or even town members to gain the favor of Zule.

Reliance on Magic---How reliant is the community on magic for doing day to day things? How tolerant or prepared are they to deal with technology? If the local Earth Warlock or Stone Mae who's been building the town infrastructure dies, do the community fathers have a backup plan like a gasoline-powered excavator in a garage somewhere?

Power Source....Blends with Reliance on Magic....What's the town's main source of magic? How tied into everything else is it? Do they rely on a local ley line, a giant Atlantean crystal tied into a magic power grid? A dimensional portal feeding them magic? Or do they sacrifice a hundred meebits a day to magically heat their homes?

Magic Artifacts---How many articles of power do they possess? A few sacred relics? Mass-produced TW goods? Do they horde them? Do they sell them to outsiders?

Openness---How open are they to outsiders? Open about being magic users and willing to share? Secretive? Ambush-predators?


That's just off the top of my head.

[SolCannibal]

I'm in a mood to play a bit with the Federation of Magic & environs, populate the place with a few more places beside Dweomer, Brass and Stormspire above the village level. Something like the Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms tables and

Yeah, one might say Psyscape would technically count, but not really considering it's secret and seen as mostly legend even for natives of the region. That said i'm certainly going to pilfer bits & pieces from the book anyway even if not treating Psyscape as an active participant in local trade and politics.

So i'm looking for any books, Rifters or random tables that might give some materials or inspiration to play and toy with beside the FoM worldbook.
Something like the tables and samples in the Random Interstellar Empires/Star Kingdoms topic, but for the Magic Zone and Federation, i guess.
Any little nudge can help with getting the juices flowing.

Ow....
And Do'uh!
I'm doing everything BUT magic communities because it never occurred to me! Given enough time, I imagine I could whip something up, but let's toss out a few ideas...

Chill, i cited your work as a good example, it's not like people expect your tables to cover everything state/society-related.
(Ok, some might, but they are entitled and lazy )

You can pretty much go with the Community builders in books like the Adventure Guide, but let's see what's unique to magic communities:

Dominant Magic---Does any one school/philosophy/study of magic dominate the community? Mystics, technowizards, Elementalists, diabolists?

Alignment---Alignment of the majority of the community is important, especially with regards to how they treat outsiders....A Diabolical town leadership would have nothing wrong with sacrificing strangers or even town members to gain the favor of Zule.

Reliance on Magic---How reliant is the community on magic for doing day to day things? How tolerant or prepared are they to deal with technology? If the local Earth Warlock or Stone Mae who's been building the town infrastructure dies, do the community fathers have a backup plan like a gasoline-powered excavator in a garage somewhere?

Power Source....Blends with Reliance on Magic....What's the town's main source of magic? How tied into everything else is it? Do they rely on a local ley line, a giant Atlantean crystal tied into a magic power grid? A dimensional portal feeding them magic? Or do they sacrifice a hundred meebits a day to magically heat their homes?

Magic Artifacts---How many articles of power do they possess? A few sacred relics? Mass-produced TW goods? Do they horde them? Do they sell them to outsiders?

Openness---How open are they to outsiders? Open about being magic users and willing to share? Secretive? Ambush-predators?


That's just off the top of my head.

Just helping me remember the right books to check is help aplenty. Those traits you listed help to spin the gears beforehand.

Incidentally, diabolists are the one magic style i know i won't give to any state anytime soon, because the O.C.C. already figures proeminently in the Graffitos, a major gang/magic guild/street art club that controls the Garatuja (Scrawl) district in the PCs' base city. In fact many of the city districts have an O.C.C. or R.C.C. as dominant gang/ghetto culture, like the Zoolanders from the Animal Farm suburbs.

[taalismn]

Okay...lemme formalize what I've already come up with, and if I can, maybe I can come up with something in installments and then pull it all together later...
Maybe release in parts will get some ideas out there going...


Random Magic Communities:(Part ? of ?)

Number of Magicks Practiced
“As Master of the Temple of the Living Waves I object to FireDay being declared a local holiday, when it serves only Pyrosauron’s ego, and not our community as a whole. The nearest volcano is hundreds of miles away, whereas our fair community of Faircove is, I should not have to remind you, located on the coast, where the mighty power of Triton’s Realm laps at our waterfront. We owe more of our prosperity to the Water than to Fire, yet we do not make provision to celebrate it? Shame on our community leaders who have caved to Pyrosauron’s bullying! Shame!”
“...outside, Hydrocephus. I’ll dry out your swelled head outside. Hope you know some burn treatment spells, because you’re going to need them.”

How many magic philosophies/schools/themes are prevalent in the community? This may give some indication of how the community is run, by the tenets of its dominant magic culture.

01-25% One---One type of magic dominates the community, and may exercise considerably influence over community policies
26-50% Two---Two magic schools prevail in the community. They may be related schools, or completely different, and may be complimentary or bitter rivals wrangling for control.
51-75% Many----2d4 schools of magic exist in the community, and all carry equal respect/weight. This can lead to some interesting politics or cross-pollination.
76-00% Multiple----The community plays host to a large number of magic practices, all of whom are respected and given their due.

Reliance on Magic

“Warlock Donovan’s calling in sick; his wife sez it’s serious and needs treatment in Lazlo, so he can’t finish the canal excavation, just as we were halfway through digging the drainage basin-cave.”
“Well, send a get-well card for him around the work teams. I’ll go get the robots out of storage.”

How reliant on magic is the community? How is the community going to respond to disruptions in their magic?

01-20% Not at All---Despite being a ‘magic’ community, the locals treat magic more as a hobby or art form, and do not rely on it for everyday living. Some may even regard the use of magic for mundane purposes to be profane, or the community may be reserving its magicks for important things, and to preserve the element of surprise.

21-60% Workaday---Magic is regularly applied to everyday problems, but is not considered appropriate for everything. Indeed, using magic excessively may be seen as wasteful of the energy used. Locals rely just as much on mundane means to accomplish things as they do magic. Town works is likely to have as large a motorpool of conventional bulldozers and backhoes in reserve as they have golems.

61-85% Invested---The community is heavily reliant on magic to keep things going. More often than not, they have scant mundane backup if magic doesn’t work. They are more likely to seek another mage or form of magic to address a problem than to reach for a technological solution. If Cure Illness doesn’t work on a malady, they consult a mystic herbalist or a psi-healer, not a pathologist or genetic medicine physician. In the event of a disruption of magic, they’re likely to fumble about for longer than is comfortable as they remember or relearn old backup methods.

86-00% Dependent---The community is wholly reliant on magic for power, heat, transportation, defense, medicine, and other essentials. Magic power distribution is likely very well organized and regulated. Magic is regarded as the basis of virtually everything, the end-all and essential ingredient of advanced civilization, like electricity in the modern age. Anybody using non-magical techniques or purely technological means is regarded as backwards or vulgar. These folk have made little provision for emergencies if their magic fails and have a hard time conceiving of either magic failure or what they’ll do in such an improbable event.

Primary Magic Source
“That’s one BIG Power Crystal...”
“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg...or geode as it is in this case.”

What is the main source of magic for the community? This may limit the amount of magic the mages can bring to bear on problems, may be a vulnerability that enemies may exploit, or it may dictate the layout of the community and its society.

01-15% Self---Mages in the community must rely on their own initiative to supply themselves. They may, for instance, solicit volunteers to donate PPE, or perform small sacrifices on their own. As a whole, the community may be dependent on certain astrological events to conduct specific rituals at times of peak ambient PPE.
16-20% Communal Battery---Sam as above, but the community has found the means to pool small amounts of PPE in long term suspension until needed. This PPE ‘bank’ may be an artifact, a geological formation(like a large deposit of psychically-receptive quartz underlying the town), a holy tree, or a living person who cannot make use of the magic themselves. Access to the communal PPE bank is likely very closely controlled.
21-55% Ley Line---The community sits near a leyline from which it draws power. This tends to provide a reliable, steady, source of PPE, though prone to fluctuations in the leyline network.
56-75% Dimensional Rift---The community sits near a ley line nexus with a regularly occurring dimensional Rift that provides the locale with large spikes of PPE. The danger is, of course, that it’s a Rift, and may spew out unwelcome visitors, or draw others seeking to tap it.
76-85% Magic Generator/Accumulator---The community draws PPE from an articial artifact of power that seems to be capable of mindlessly drawing in and storing, or creating, PPE. Such an artifact is likely to be kept secret and/or heavily guarded, as others will covet it.
86-95% Living Power Source----The community gets its PPE from a living power source, such a Millennium Tree, a dragon, a god, or a captive population of beings regularly milked for their PPE.
96-00% Living Sacrifice---The community’s PPE needs are supplied by the regular sacrifice of living beings. The more evil communities are likely to kill intelligent beings for their life-energies. while more Good-leaning magic users substitute animal or plant sources(the high end Light mages forbid life sacrifices except under the most dire situations of volunteer martyrdom).