Maximum Recursion Depth Vol. 2, or If the Game isn't Fair you just have to Break the Rules: The Tikkunpunk RPG

After taking a long break on MRD Vol.2, I've had time to rethink some things. The game isn't radically changing, but I'm trying to hone in on the themes and mechanics, and it's hopefully much better for it.

There's a new name: If the Game isn't Fair you just have to Break the Rules: The Tikkunpunk RPG. This is, I hope, more in line with the themes of the game, and a bit punchier.

The below rules and world lore will likely be rewritten or reworked for the book if I ever write it, but for this blog post they're more integrated. Also, these new big changes have not been tested yet so will likely undergo continued revision.

See list of previous posts in Lowdown at the end of the post.

Nazarites (The PCs)

Nazarites are empowered to enact Tikkun Olam, The Mending of the World. Extracted from the Karmic Cycle; their Sisyphean struggle resides instead within Gilgul Neshamot. Like two cogs in a gear, Nazarite engagement in Gilgul Neshamot serves as a much needed corrective force on Karma after one thousand years of The Monkey King's Celestial Bureaucracy and the ensuing Karmic dysfunction. When the Nazarite Contract is signed, the Nazarite is bound to the owner of the contract, and to a Wyrm Shamir symbiont.

Wyrm Shamir symbionts

Wyrm Shamir symbionts are spirits of creation in larval form, bound to the soul of their Nazarite. In their larval form they lack agency to consent to the Nazarite Contract. It is the burden of the Nazarite to recognize this asymmetry and honor their Wyrm Shamir.

Wyrm Shamir symbionts create and summon the massive vessels known as Golem that the Nazarites use to traverse The Cosmic Ocean Tehom, the mindscape at the outer edges of creation. They also create the physical vessels, the bodies that grant Nazarites their supernatural abilities, and resurrection via Gilgul Neshamot.

Nazarite Contracts and The Cyblessed

The Cyblessed are advanced beings recently arriving in the material world from The Cosmic Ocean Tehom. The Cyblessed Liaisons work with Corporations, the superorganisms they see as the closest thing to peers humanity has to offer. The Cyblessed own the Nazarite Contracts, but the managing of Nazarites is delegated to the Corporations.

Gilgulim (The Gameplay Loop)

The terms of the Nazarite Contract are known as Nazarite Vows. Although most are transient, there are three Immutable Vows, listed in order of priority.

1. The Nazarite Vows to always serve Tikkun Olam, the Mending of the World.
2. The Nazarite Vows to nurture the Metamorphosis of their Wyrm Shamir symbiont.
3. The Nazarite Vows to always serve the owner of the Nazarite Contract.

Often the Immutable Vows create troubling contradictions, such as when a Nazarite Vow in service to The Corporation (on behalf of The Cyblessed who own the Nazarite Contracts) would go against Tikkun Olam (See Resolving Nazarite Vows).

Gilgulim is the ecstatic communion with the Oneness of Creation. Though empowering, the temptation of Gilgulim can be like a moth to a flame; one must be sufficiently Ascended in Gilgul Neshamot, or else be burned by the Flame of Creation.

Gilgulim is like the Karma Score from MRD Vol. 1. Save Rolls have degrees of success. Rolling d20 under an Ability Score determines Success or Failure, and rolling d6 under Gilgulim determines whether the result is Full or Partial. However, in Conflict, if an Ability Score is reduced to 0, additional Damage is accrued as Gilgulim, and if Gilgulim is greater than 6, dire consequences ensue (see Cries of the Shamir and Dybbuk Mutation).

Resolving Nazarite Vows

Nazarites balance their Gilgulim and Ascend Gilgul Neshamot through Nazarite Vows, which may either be Fulfilled or Subverted.

Fulfillment is when the Nazarite Vow is enacted exactly as intended. Upon Fulfillment, the Nazarite divests Gilgulim (usually -1).

Subversion is when the Nazarite Vow is enacted in a way consistent with the letter of the Vow, but not its intention. Upon Subversion, the Nazarite accrues Gilgulim (usually +1).

Subversion is often key to addressing contradictions between the Immutable Vows. A lower-priority Immutable Vow may be Subverted for one of higher priority, but not the other way around. The Immutable Vow towards Tikkun Olam may never be Subverted.

Example: The Nazarite Vow is to extract resources from a Vessel of Tehom. However, upon arrival, the Nazarite Team finds the Vessel to be populated with intelligent life, and extracting the resources as intended would cause them harm and be in violation of Tikkun Olam. As the negotiations and attempt at fair trade reach a standstill, the Nazarite Team learns incidentally that the Celestial Predator, a cosmic kaiju, is on a vector towards the Vessel, and towards other areas of interest to the Corporation. The extraction of this information is reported, and the Nazarite Vow is Subverted.

This Subversion was true to the letter of the Nazarite Vow, extracting resources, but the resources were of a more abstract and immaterial nature than what was originally intended.

The nature of Nazarite Vow Fulfillment and Subversion changes the gameplay loop as compared to the Karmic Attachments of MRD Vol. 1, but mechanically it is very similar. In MRD Vol. 1 Karma is accrued when a Karmic Attachment is acquired, and divested when Resolved, so the gameplay loop is primarily in the balance of Karma. In MRD Vol. 2, Gilgulim is not accrued when a Nazarite Vow is acquired, but whether Gilgulim is accrued or divested is dependent on whether it is Resolved through Fulfillment or Subversion. 

Nazarite Vows which would require Subversion in order to avoid contradiction often require more ingenuity, but Resolving them empowers the Nazarite with more Gilgulim. Nazarite Vows which do not risk contradiction are often easier to Fulfill, and while doing so decreases Gilgulim, this buffers against the need for reincarnation and the consequences which ensue (see Cries of the Shamir and Dybbuk Mutation).

Ascension and Ibbur Metamorphosis

Ascending the Levels of Gilgul Neshamot unlocks new Nazarite Features and brings the Wyrm Shamir symbiont closer to Metamorphosis. Each Ascension unlocks Nazarite Features and Metamorphoses, and when the maximum level is reached, the Wyrm Shamir symbiont is birthed from the Nazarite's soul as an Ibbur, a divine spirit in service of Tikkun Olam.

A Nazarite may Ascend after Resolving three Nazarite Vows and accruing Gilgulim to 6 (after which it resets to 1). At least one Nazarite Vow must be Resolved through Fulfillment, and at least one Resolved through Subversion.

This is mechanically mostly the same as MRD Vol. 1, except instead of divesting Karma to 1 as a requirement, instead accruing Gilgulim to 6. This is mostly for thematic reasons. The Ascension of Gilgul Neshamot and birthing the Metamorphosed Wyrm Shamir as an Ibbur at max level is equivalent to, although thematically distinct from, Advancement of the Recurser to Bodhisattva-hood at max level in MRD Vol 1.

The requirement for at least one Nazarite Vow to be resolved through Fulfillment and at least one through Subversion encourages a gameplay loop of seeking Nazarite Vows to directly Fulfill Tikkun Olam, while also finding ways to Subvert The Corporation empowering you.

Cries of the Shamir and Dybbuk Mutation

If a Nazarite accrues more than 6 Gilgulim, or would violate a Nazarite Vow, their Wyrm Shamir symbiont will be agitated, activating one of the Cries of the Shamir listed in the Nazarite Contract, destroying the Nazarite's current vessel and reincarnating them through Gilgul Neshamot at a lower level.

If a Nazarite is already at the lowest level, they reach Maximum Recursion Depth. The Flame of Creation irradiates the Wyrm Shamir symbiont, prematurely aborting the Metamorphosis, erupting as the cancerous mutant Dybbuk.

Like with Ascension, this is mostly equivalent to MRD Vol. 1. While there is no Gilgulim limit on the number of Nazarite Vows you can acquire as opposed to Karmic Attachments in MRD Vol. 1, more Nazarite Vows means a higher likelihood of having to violate one of them, a unique cause of regression. The aborting of the Wyrm Shamir Metamorphosis into the Mutant Dybbuk at Maximum Recursion Depth is equivalent to an MRD Vol. 1 Recurser being overwhelmed by their Karma and transforming into an Ashura, a Karmic Devil.

Lowdown

Previous Posts of Interest

MRD Vol.2 PR 7: MRD is Sacrifice (Most recent Play Report of Campaign on hiatus with index to previous PRs)

MRD Vol.2 Campaign Setup

MRD Vol.2 Nazarite Contracts (Outdated relative to this post)

Mecha Gear with Tarsos Theorem Concept Crafting

Jewish American Identity and Jewish Philosophy in Maximum Recursion Depth Volume 2

The Ability Scores are not changing since previous posts, nor the Golem mechanics and Concept Crafting stuff. This isn't a full set of the rules, just an explanation of some of the bigger changes.

This will require me to completely rewrite the Starting Nazarite Vows and the Reincarnation stuff for the Nazarite Contracts, but I was never particularly satisfied with that anyway, and given this framework I already know how I'll make them way more interesting and gameable.

I'm hoping these gameplay loop changes emphasize what I'm trying to do.

I tried to incorporate elements of Jewish philosophy and Jewish mysticism without overloading on terminology, similar to how I avoided using terms like Samsara and Dharma in MRD Vol. 1. Jewish concepts like Dveikut, Mitsvot, Ein Sof, and more certainly influenced the gameplay loop and mechanics, but I wanted to reduce terms.

I also tried to keep the game mostly cross-compatible and also philosophically consistent with MRD Vol. 1, while not totally conflating concepts from Buddhism and Judaism. I genuinely believe I am being true to myself and my own worldview, this interplay may not be perfect, but I hope it succeeds in what I set out to do with it. While certain concepts like Karma and Gilgulim, The Karmic Cycle and Gilgul Neshamot, and Ibbur/Dybbuk and Boddhisatva/Ashura serve similar roles, I hope the subtle differences in the mechanics and gameplay loop sufficiently reflect the nuances between these ideas, even through the lens of my personal worldview consolidating them to some extent.

The "Karmapunk" of MRD Vol. 1 had PCs actively fighting against the status quo and trying to better the world, while being mindful that they not be consumed by their own Karma.

In MRD Vol. 2, the PCs are deeply embedded within a status quo most of us recognize well, but the "Tikkunpunk" is in trying to leverage the power of the system against itself through ingenuity and wit, knowing the system is flawed, but minimizing harm. Even as the game tells you all the things you can and cannot do, it begs you to break the rules.

MRD Vol. 1 was more so about caring for oneself, not in a selfish way, more like "make sure your mask is safely secured before assisting others". In MRD Vol. 2, whether you're ready for it or not, you're bound to a Wyrm Shamir Symbiont, and your actions don't damn you, they damn this unwitting source of your power bound to your soul.

These are some of the themes I hope to explore with Maximum Recursion Depth Vol. 2, or If the Game isn't Fair you just have to Break the Rules: The Tikkunpunk RPG

Gematria (Jewish Mysticism) Concept Crafting and Divination Mechanics

Gematria is a kind of Numerology in Jewish Mysticism. It's basically just an interpretive thing not unlike I Ching or Tarot, but what I find uniquely interesting about it is that there is an actual algorithm you can work with.

Of course any meaning you derive is going to be of an interpretive, personal, symbolic, etc. nature, but it can be operationalized quantitatively and used to produce reliable results, and I just find that really interesting; it's like divinatory math poetry.

I wrote a Gematria calculator in python that does some unique things compared to some of the other Gematria calculators available online, but real Gematria is a little too complicated as a game mechanic, so here's a much simpler Gematria Cipher, which I will use for Gematria Concept Crafting and Gematria Divination, bolt-on mechanics for any game using Concept Crafting (which can already be bolted-on to any rules-light game basically), but in particular for MRD Vol.2 (for a deeper discussion on Concept Crafting in MRD Vol.2 see Mecha Gear for Maximum Recursion Depth Vol. 2).

Maximum Recursion Depth Vol.2 incorporates elements of Judaism into the setting and mechanics in the first place, so Gematria is uniquely suited, but this could be a really cool and unique magical or occult framework for any game.

EDIT: Of course I immediately caught some bugs, then introduced some new bugs, then fixed those (I am not good at javascript...), but now it should all be working as expected but if you see bad results please let me know!

Gematria Concept Crafting Cipher

(SUM(c for c in W) % 6) + 1

Where W is a word and c is each character in the word.

% means modulo:

a % b = r

Think of it like division, where:

a = numerator
b = denominator
r = remainder

So for "max":

m=13
a=1
x=24

13+1+24=38

(38%6)+1=3

38/6=6.33

or in terms of integer division:
38//6=6

meaning, 6 goes into 38 6 times with remainder 2:
6*6=36
38-36=2

And then we add 1, so that any word could have a value between 1 through 7
(rather than 0 through 6).

Excuse any weird formatting, I only just added this CSS template for code blocks to my blog and still figuring out all the weird side-effects with blogger...

This hopefully doesn't sound too complicated, it's a fairly simple cipher and way easier to automate as embedded javascript than the Mispar gadol cipher I pushed to github. The calculator below automates the whole thing.

Gematria Calculator for Gematria Concept Crafting and Divination

Calculate Gematria for Word:

Gematria Concept Crafting

This is a bolt-on mechanic that could be added to any game with Concept Crafting, and MRD Vol. 2 in particular. Any two Words with the same Gematria Value can be combined to make any new Word with the same Gematria Value.

This differs from normal Concept Crafting in that the new Word isn't necessarily related to the preceding Words, but instead the shared Gematria Value.

Example: WOOD and METAL both have a Gematria Value of 4, but AXE has a Gematria Value of 1, so you couldn't craft WOOD+METAL=AXE like you might normally with Concept Crafting. However, DEMON does have a Gematria Value of 4, so you could summon a DEMON from WOOD+METAL using the awesome occult powers of Gematria! What does it mean to summon a WOOD+METAL=DEMON? Perhaps it's a mechanical monstrosity, a metaphor for deforestation and the effect of humanity on ecosystems?

Obviously this requires some refereeing, like maybe don't let PCs continue to use the same Words all the time, or they need to elaborate on it sort of like I did with DEMON above, but I'm not putting hard rules on it at the moment.

Gematria Divination

Another mechanic using the same Gematria Cipher.

Each Gematria value (1 through 7) has some tarot-like prophetic meaning, where I'm defining these meanings loosely from the numbers' significance in Judaism:

1. One is all, all is One.
2. Two is the line dividing One; The Knowledge of Good and Evil (and everything in between).
3. Three is a priestly blessing; the laying of hands (two) on the individual (one). Holy, Holy, Holy!
4. Four is the perception of spacetime; the cardinal directions, the three dimensions of space, and one dimension of time.
5. Five are the grains and the abundance they provide, civilization, and growth.
6. Six are the days of work and also of creation.
7. Seven is the day of rest, the completeness of the world, luck, and love.

A Gematria Divination entails using two Words with the same Gematria Value, but instead of creating a new Word, one creates a prophecy interpreted by the combination of the Gematria Value's meaning as described above and the two Words.

A WIS Save (or whatever other resolution mechanic) might determine degree of success, unexpected positive/negative externalities, etc., but it's a way for a PC to affect the world in a more metaphysical way by divining things.

Example: A Gematria Divination for the Words TRAIN and TEA have the Gematria Value 3. Three is a priestly blessing; bring a green tea on your next commute and offer it to a stranger. This stranger will provide you with the knowledge you were looking for.

This is all still untested/WIP, but I also want to create a new Nazarite Contract for MRD Vol. 2 leveraging these mechanics in some unique ways, so that might be a future blog post.

Weird Colors

1. Halla: Like the elation of dancing to exhaustion and the warmth of close bodies on a crisp night.
   
   
2. Dimenoir: Like the fading memory of a dream and bittersweet reminiscences.
   
   
3. Inflaur: Like the compulsion to pick at blisters and the guilty pleasures found in an unjust world.
   
   
4. Psinreka: Like novel sensations and the fleeting satisfaction of solutions.
   
   
5. Gallentia: Like an uncanny presence and unshakable thoughts of unanswered questions.
   
   
6. Iskandalia: Like the awe of collective greatness and the validation in unexpected gestures of love.

Wrote these on the flight home from San Francisco, inspired by the colors in A Voyage to Arcturus which I started reading on the flight. The names were free associated and I tried not to overthink them.

And here are several more contributed by Rook, of Beneath Foreign Planets:

7. Pinznot: A writhing, squamous colour that stings the eyes. Like struggling to sleep only to find your pillow is filled with screeching, glowing worms.

8. Ablanense: A neutral tone like a slow, smokey exhale after waking at sunset. Some call it pastel dimenoir.

9. Prostklint: A hard, inscrutable and disquieting colour. Like waiting for your turn on the dentist's chair or the operating table. Like tight fitting braces, a coffin opening by itself, a pill just too large to swallow.

10. Krinderblesse: Like throwing a book onto a bonfire, the thrill of a toppling statue, the feel of a party just before a fight breaks out.

BONUS: On Vacation in San Francisco (Not a Real Post)

I'm on vacation in San Francisco and it's lovely here. I was piggybacking off a trip to the Bay Area to visit my brother who ironically works for a major tech company but is not a technical person like me, and I figured if I came all this way, I should get an airbnb and spend a few days in SF as well.

I don't intend to leave NYC, but if I ever did, it might be for SF. Planning on heading out in 30min or so to start my day, no time to say anything too substantive about it, but this has been very refreshing and validating and I really needed this for various personal reasons I may or may not elaborate on in the comments or on the server after I'm home.

I had intended to set MRD Vol.2 in SF in much the same way that MRD Vol.1 was set in NYC, and at least now I have a little more context for the physicality and noosphere of the place.

In part because my MRD Vol.2 Campaign got put on pause due to scheduling reasons, and in part because I was getting burnt out, I had kind of given up on ever publishing MRD Vol.2, despite the fact that I genuinely believe (and received some trustworthy feedback) that it has the potential to be a better game, and I'm a better game designer now than I was when I wrote the first book.

I've been feeling a little creatively burnt out and ambivalent about RPG stuff. I had a little burst with the "Superhero Project" and with some of that Elements stuff, but just have not been feeling connected or engaged creatively or with writing or RPGs, and maybe this is just the vacation talking, but I really hope to turn that around.

The second printing of MRD Vol.1 on Exalted Funeral is coming out soon. I don't want to overcommit myself, but I hope I can make MRD Vol.2, or maybe I should kill my darling and focus on the "Superhero Project" or something else? I don't know, but being here makes me want to do MRD Vol.2 properly for the first time in a long time, so at least for now there's that.

PS I generally don't take photos almost as a rule, but my airbnb has a really awesome view of the city from the roof so I will take photos later just from there and update this post with them so keep an eye out ;)! If I take photos of the city, you can see someone else's photos of the same thing and they will be better, but the only photos you'll see from this roof are from me or the guy who lives here (he's a really nice guy, if you ever want to airbnb in SF I'd recommend him!) so at least even if I take bad photos there, they'll be unique.

EDIT: Here are those photos

Mythic Beings of the Weird Elements (Pt.1)

I've always been inspired by the Saint Beasts found in East and South East Asian mythologies. Not the vapid, meaningless, predictable elementals often found in traditional fantasy, but primal mythic beings, with both intentionality and idiosyncratic features.

These mythic beings correspond to the four generated elements found here, and maybe I'll do another post for the other four here.

Was going to add some specific adventure hooks or flesh these out further... but then I didn't, but hopefully the adventure hooks are at least implied.

I was also going to give them names, but at this time haven't found a naming convention that feels right.

Song-glass Elemental

Domain: Information, Communication, Music, Patterns

Like a chicken if it kept its down and other adolescent features into adulthood. Mostly invisible except for a puff of down, or when dancing to the sounds of song-glass which it nips from its coat and munches on for fun. A deceptively wise and powerful being whose wisdom must be inferred slowly and patiently by those who care for it.

Popstone Elemental

Domain: Energy, Movement, Transience, Cacophony

A fitfully lucid-dreaming cocooned antlion-dragon, its minute myoclonic jerks setting off chain reactions of popstone explosions. Irritable and impatient, prone to fits of rage, yet full of wisdom and good intent. It will grant wishes to those who remove disturbances interrupting its sleep, or even frivolously to those creating disturbances if it will make them go away. While the latter approach may be easier, tread lightly.

Godrend Elemental

Domain: Sustenance, Cuisine, Social Clubs, Wellness

A shriveled bullfrog melting unxiously in an indigo stew of its own fat, from which it is inseparable. It communicates through the consumption of its stew or the absorption of its fat through skin. Wealthy beyond measure and endlessly giving to those who enter its exclusive grace, demanding in return only the illusion of mutual respect and friendship in the face of its graceless self-centeredness. Nonetheless, it means well, in its own way.

Shadowbrine Elemental

Domain: The Unknown, Engineering, Science, Creative Inspiration

Slick and silky bits of marine snow, glowing pickled pieces of fish, eel, whale, and cephalopod, in an inky swirl of shadowbrine. Left alone, it creates powerful constructs like cosmic dams, destructively and without purpose, or beautiful useless things always just beyond the ken of mortal understanding. Under careful supervision it can produce benevolent wonders, but it is demanding and difficult in its communications.

A World of Many Elements (More Generated Elements)

Four more elements from the Elements Generator. Intentionally avoiding redundancies with the elements in the first post, otherwise fully randomized. I wrote these and the previous four as if they were all part of the same micro-setting, but they don't depend on each other or the setting.

Element 5: Memoria

Color: Green

State: Vaporizing

Additional Quality 1: Iridescent

Additional Quality 2: Fibrous

An elusive pattern in a pea soup fog, reflecting yesterday's light. Thick enough to be cut with a machete, but beware, snapped fibers don't repair easily. The source of the oracles' visions and the wisdom of elders; the species now believes it to be a dilation of cultural consciousness as it evolves; a magnified moment of complexity between an enthalpic and entropic state of awareness. The first generalized artificial intelligence was trained on a data stream of memoria.

Element 6: Liminalium

Color: Rainbow

State: Gas

Additional Quality 1: Incandescent

Additional Quality 2: Semi-translucent

A common origin myth of the species is that all of space and time has always existed all at once, undifferentiated, until the world sneezed into existence. Globular gaseous particles permeate, hot waves slicing reality into holographic categories of Truth. All things have a spectral signature under liminalium, and many unfortunate deeds have been committed upon those based on their visible liminalium signature. Scientists now know that what liminalium reflects visibly only loosely correlates with the spectroscopy. Nonetheless, it was crucial for the development of the natural sciences, and continues to be a source of scientific and philosophical inquiry today.

Element 7: Heartstar

Color: Magenta

State: Plasma

Additional Quality 1: Metallic

Additional Quality 2: Splash of Pale

A silky, oily magma of a metal never seen in solid state, brilliant, yet marred with pale flecks. Painfully hot to the touch, yet provocative like a blister, or a sexual taboo. The oldest novel of the species and the majority since have been tales of romance and conquest, inspired by or in pursuit of heartstar. The most popular commercial formulation today is sold under the brand name Mineral Love.

Element 8: Paradoxicon

Color: Electromagnetic (X-Ray)

State: Solid

Additional Quality 1: Gelatinous

Additional Quality 2: Splash of Teal

Vessels of impossible shapes like borromean rings and penrose triangles, no two exactly alike, barely visible except for a teal mesh, like an engineering schematic diagram. Something not quite life but life-like, like a macro-virus, a mystery of the universe even today. Each paradoxicon is like a complex puzzle, containing otherwise inconceivable wisdom. Those few in history who have cracked a paradoxicon are remembered as saints who went on to change the world with their well-earned wisdom. A common koan of the species is to ask: did civilization begin with the cracking of a paradoxicon, or with the solution that cracked it?

Speculative Fantasy

Another old unfinished draft from 2019. Tbh these are a little half-baked and I wanted to have more of them, but it's a kernel of something. I'm sure people could run with this; any suggestions, recommendations, etc. appreciated

Inspired by Speculative Fiction such as Neal Stephenson, Charles Stross, and Adrian Tchaikovsky, and TTRPG works such as Lichjammer, Cryptomancer, and Magical Industrial Revolution. Exploring the implications of magic or other fantastical concepts not so much in a hard scifi sense, but extrapolating as if they were real.

1. The nobility are ancient and powerful Warrior-Wizards, immortal Liches, who are worshiped by their subjects as God-Kings. They are not necessarily evil, in fact many are quite wise, but they are ruthless and cunning.
   
   
2. The peasant and warrior classes have been largely replaced by undead labor. These workers that have no needs or wants, that can persist in any environment, and that follow orders instantly and without question, have made human labor obsolete. This is how the Dwarven Mines, the Underdark, and the Deep Oceans were conquered. Most humans live simple and easy lives of sheltered ignorance and luxury, at the expense of other peoples and the natural order.
   
   
3. Magic doors and teleportation spells have made traditional geopolitics obsolete. "Kingdoms" no longer exist in a literal sense, but are distributed across the world, by ideals or interests. This affects everything from architecture, transit, art and culture, and commerce. Small or self-sustaining villages far along the abandoned roads may as well be another world from the "kingdoms".
   
   
4. Communication and information storage has been made near-perfect and near-instant across a complex network of message spells and other similar magics. The security of this information is the lynchpin of all social, governmental, and military influence, and so while warrior-mages still exist, most magic-users are effectively cryptoanalysts and cryptosecurity administrators. Basically Cryptomancer bc I never fleshed this idea out further than that...
   
   
5. Uber-powerful magics such as wish spells have been so thoroughly exploited, that reality has exceeded a threshold of acceptable paradox, and has fractured into a non-linear, mega-dimensional multiverse. World-breaking magics have as a result become almost completely devalued, like magical inflation. Instead, various factions use more subtle magics and espionage in synchrony across the multiverse to manipulate reality in their favor. It's a magical multiversal super-spy cold war.
   
   
6. The discovery of divine magic, irrefutable proof of (at least one) Divinity, a True Metaphysic and True Ethic, changed everything.