Science, Technology, and Magic - adanter/PetroviaWorldbuilding GitHub Wiki
In the world of Petrovia, magic can be measured, monsters can be engineered, and the fate of nations relies not on the strength of their heroes but on the secrets they wield.
A century ago, the great powers of the world wielded their technology to destroy each other, leaving nothing to mark their passing but
Today, College scholars like to say nothing happens "just by magic." Dig deep enough and you'll find traces of intentional - if not malevolent - design wrought in the enchantments of every Fallen Empire relic and swimming in the blood of every monster.
The human society of Petrovia operates on science that can be derived, measured, diagrammed, and proven. Principles of physics and engineering drive Petrovia's industrial renaissance, and the College is even using mathematics and hard science to build a new system of spellcasting from first principles.
Keywords:
- The College
- Light Science
- Industrial renaissance
- Thaumatic batteries
- College spellcraft
- Mechs
- Mech knights
- Firearms
//Biopunk. Theory goes that all the various types of night creatures that stalk Petrovia share a common origin. Some think they're a Fallen Empire bioweapon, some think they predate even the war. Whatever the case, the powerful night creatures dubbed "Lords of the Night" each pursue their own kind of dark science, creating more minions and even successor night lords to carry on their crafts.
//Oh, and in case it's not clear, these are the things that resemble movie monsters: lycanthropes, vampires, batkin, ghouls, killer plants, you name it.
Keywords:
- Lords of the Night
- Night Creatures
- Dark Science
- Lords of the Night as patrons
//Not hard, mathematically-defined sciences like the College prefers.
//Not quite Night-Lord-level dark science either.
//Mostly humans studying things that the College either barely tolerates or actively hunts down.
Keywords:
- Medicine
- Monster hunting
- Sylvan religion
- Fallen Empire relics
- Dabbling in night creature science
//Simply put, traditional D&D arcane and divine spellcasting. Increasingly rare, but still passed down in a few semi-secretive family lines. Both arcane and divine magic easily overlaps with night creature patrons or the more-humanoid night creature bloodlines.
//Generally pretty rare, in either case.
Keywords:
- Traditional arcana
- Divine magic sources
- Spell types considered unethical and/or illegal
- Lost/less-functional spells (e.g. Raise Dead, Plane Shift)