Magipunk:Campaigns

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Magipunk
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Campaigns

So, great. There's this neat place called Atathorn, and it's in a world that's changing, and there are all these Alliances and gods and sorcerers and whatnot. But all that can feel a little empty, right? How do the players get involved? What do you do in Magipunk?

This section is dedicated to helping you answer those questions, and if you actually play in Magipunk, it's absolutely the section that you should contribute to, because here's the dirty secret: I haven't played it yet. So right now, we're talking theory.

The Protagonists[edit]

A first big question is, who are the PC's?

Of course, the ultimate answer to that is "whomever the group decides on." If you've got an idea for playing King Ropert V and the Royal Family, go ahead and do it! But the default answer to this question -- the thing that the game was designed for -- is that the PC's are people who are lower-class, high-potential, and good at crime. To see why, start below:

Lower Class[edit]

Why are the PC's from the lower social classes? There are two big reasons:

First, it gives them some built in motive. The state of being poor in Atathorn is a pretty unpleasant one. It's easy for the players to see that their characters are doomed to unpleasant, un-improving lives if they just sit around. There are wonders to be had in the world of Magipunk, but the poor are generally cut off from them. And it gives the GM a good way to start the group off -- they can be employed to do something.

Second, the powers-that-be in Atathorn are pretty scummy. The Alliances combine the worst features of modern corporations and old-style aristocracy, and they're the upper classes. Magipunk is a game where nobody's lily-white, in terms of morality, but the Alliances are darker than usual. So by starting off seperate from them, you give the PC's a chance to become the heroes of the game -- or sell out and join the bad guys, if that's the kind of game that appeals to you.

High-Potential[edit]

In some ways, this is a nice way of saying, "Not really all that powerful... yet."

The PC's are usually going to be people who could someday become influential, rich, and powerful, but aren't yet. That means that we aren't looking at just Joe Random off the street as a PC -- they may appear to be that to the casual observer, but they've got some kind of edge, something going for them. Maybe it's just that they're smarter, faster, stronger, or all three than most folks, or maybe it's something else.

This gives the PC's a reason to believe that they can succeed in a setting that's pretty grim, starting from a position that a lot of people have failed at.

Good At Crime[edit]

The PC's may not be criminals, but they could be pretty darned competent ones if they tried.

Swords and sorcery gaming has traditionally focused on fighting people or monsters and finding cool items. Cyberpunk gaming has traditionally focused on espionage or theft. It's no surprise that Magipunk, being a fusion of cyberpunk and swords and sorcery, goes pretty similar routes. The PC's should expect to engage in some illegal or quasi-legal activity (maybe for the nobles of causes!), and be able to excel at it. Skills like breaking and entering, roughing people up, and fencing stolen goods are likely to come in handy.

The Action[edit]

So now that we've got the idea of who the PC's are, what are they going to do?

The section on who they are alludes to the answer. Basically, the world of Magipunk is changing too rapidly for anyone to cope with in a systematic way. The Alliances have a lot of power, sure, but they're also big, creaky bureaucracies, and situations are going to arise that they need to deal with in a fast and efficient manner. Similarly for every other power faction, from the Royal Family right on down to a dockside gang/New Cult. That's where the PC's fit in -- they're the kind of capable people, maybe not adverse to breaking a few laws, that you turn to when you've got a difficult problem that you need solved.

What kind of problem?

Maybe an independent tradesman is getting pushed around by an Alliance, and wants to push back. He might hire the PC's to protect him or his store from the Roget Eagles, or to get some dirt on whatever Alliance guildmember is the one pushing him around. Or if he's less scrupulous, maybe he just wants the guildmember bumped off.

Maybe the Glassmakers and the Spinners are both starting to manufacture the latest hot good (it could be anything from a new drug to a new suspension system for heavy carts), and the Glassmakers want the Spinners production to be held up for a few months. A little sabotage would do the job, if it was done discretely...

Maybe a local crime boss is trying to bootstrap himself up into a real position of power. To do that, he needs mana, and plenty of it. What better way to get it than a daring theft of power tokens! But you don't just hire any old thugs for that, you need people with subtlety.

Maybe a young man was seduced by an Elven woman and has gone to live in the Elvish quarter. His family is convinced that he'd never do it of his own accord, but he's cut off all ties with them, and they want somebody to go and drag him back (and, incidentally, figure out why the Elves are so interested in him in the first place).

Maybe there have been a series of murders in the Slums. The City Watch doesn't have the manpower or expertise to investigate, and the Alliances don't care because it's not in their territory. The locals don't have much, but they're willing to give what they have to find the culprit and stop him before he kills again.

The Long Term[edit]

If you're just running a one-shot game, pretty much all you have to do is pick some kind of problem for the PC's to solve, hire them, and go to town. But if you're looking at a longer game, something to consider is what kind of changes the PC's are making to the world.

It's been a tradition in cyberpunk gaming to make the PC's lackeys of the Man (the Megacorps in traditional cyberpunk). That's reasonable in a bunch of ways -- the Megacorps (or the Alliances, in Magipunk) have all the money and power, so why not? But most cyberpunk games aren't so concerned with establishing a dynamic setting.

In Magipunk, the Alliances are currently at the top of the pile, sure. But that could change. And it's worth considering whether you want your characters to be all about perpetuating the current situation, or helping overturn it. Consider the possibility of having the PC's work for employers other than the Alliances, and of having a real effect on the Alliances.

One thing that Atathorn really doesn't have right now, and has a demand for, is someone to solve crimes. The Alliances don't do it, unless they're the victims of the crime. The Watch doesn't do it. The Royal Guard certainly doesn't even think about it. That's the kind of business that the PC's could easily find exciting enough to game with, suited to their talents, and yet doesn't leave them as nothing more than another tool for the Alliances.


There's not much here now, I know, but it's a start. Fee free to add onto it.