Magic in Warp Shell

question
#1

Very new to ICRPG, but I have become so very enthralled…
Currently running a Warp Shell campaign, and was curious how magic played into it.
In Alfheim, you have spell casters, as well as a list of spells.
In the Warp Shell world entry, is speaks of technology and magic both being relevant. However, I found Warp Shell’s content to be lacking in the magic department.
I was wondering how others had incorporated magic into Warp Shell? What if someone wanted to play a caster type? Or just learn a few spells? Do the Alfheim spells really fit in that well in the Warp Shell scene? What are your guy’s solutions?

Thanks!

#2

I just play with fantasy magic in my Warp Shell game, keeping it simple. It is a big universe after all, there is place for a lot of stuff!

#3

Welcome to ICRPG!

In the pre-master editions of ICRPG, there was a Warp Shell magic using class called the Fragment. Unfortunately, the Fragment class (as well as a few other Warp Shell classes) didn’t make it to Master Edition, and that’s a dirty shame. Here’s the 2nd Edition description text for the Fragment:

The same red crystals of power that are found on Alfheim are a magical force throughout the cosmos. The Fragment makes herself one with these splinters of pure energy and channels that power to incredible effect. "The crystal presence is eternal.”

Interestingly enough, the fragment and some of the other MIA classes get a mention in Master Edition on page 203 under the “Crew 1: Explorers” section:

Examples could include a Xill Fragment, Psyker Ghost, or Mecha Outsider. This crew searches not only for “the truth of the cosmos, but their place in it.”

As far as the spells are concerned, use the Alfheim spells as-is or reskin them as you see fit to give them a more “cosmic” theme.

Now, incorporating magic into your Warp Shell game is the best part, because you get to determine how it works! Do spells and sorcery exist right alongside technology a la “Masters of the Universe”? Do you interweave magic and technology like in the 2016 - 2018 “Voltron: Legendary Defender” series? Do you place them sometimes at odds like in the 2011 “ThunderCats” series? Even in more traditional live-action sci-fi series we find examples of beings or races with extraordinary power. Not everything has to have a neat and tidy explanation. Truly, the sky, er… the stars are the limit!

Strength and honor!

#4

If you look at the hero roll tables in the back of the book, you can find equipment load outs from the 2nd edition of the game which have a much stronger fantasy element to them to give you an idea of what casters look like in the game. Sadly, the ME equipment lists don’t include everything in those tables. I posted updates to those tables earlier this week, but basically make an Alfheim wizard, and let 'em pick from the Warp Shell starting gear, and you’ve got a Warp Shell wizard. In my own Sci-fi game, I’ve just got a bunch of quantum devices which essentially operate like spells.

#5

I like the idea of technology just being magic made easy. Like a Laser Rifle just uses “energy cells” to cast “Laser”. You could cast “Laser” yourself if you know how, have the energy, have the time, that the patience, whathaveyou. Most people think its just easier to use the tech-version.

I imagine a setting where characters view casting the way people view skill of driving manual. Some people are like “You get such a better FEEL for the spell” while others are like “Yeah, I’ll just let the machine do the work.”

#6

When the Magic book came out, I furiously worked on notes and ideas for Space Mages. Imagine…standing proud on the outside of a battle-cruiser, maintaining an oxygen bubble and flinging asteroids at pirate fighters…

Shame life got in the way.

#7

That sounds awesome! I just picked up Solar Blades and Cosmic Spells which is really feeding my sci fantasy imagination.

#8

A few people have pointed out that you can just take the Alfheim magic and use it in Warp Shell with no worries or compatibility issues. In fact, I took this a step farther in my old 2E game and allowed all classes, races, and themes from any ICRPG setting (and even a few homebrewed ones) into my Warp Shell game.

The “lore” behind it was that the galaxy is a big place with lots of planets ranging in technological and magical powers, all of which were valid in the Warp Shell universe. I went beyond that and said when created, Warp Shells already had a quantum bond to their crews in that would allow them to beam the player aboard with a mysterious power that could bend space and time. So in one game we ended up with a cave man from a primitive non-magic/non-tech world that became a Tank, a living suite of armor from a medieval fantasy world that gained sentience after its evil creator was destroyed becoming a Guardian, and a speed-demon mecha Blip from a cyberpunk dystopian world all on the same ship and crew without any problems. NPCs on the ship had similar varied backstories: some were priests, wizards, or druids from high-fantasy worlds, others were soldiers or navigators from hyper-advanced civilizations and space-faring empires, and yet others were oddballs from across known and unknown reaches of the galaxy.

Mechanically speaking, 2E has a bit more gear, loot, and flavor that seems to match what your looking for than ME; the Fragment, for example, is a techno-crystal mage class that was cut in the transition to ME that uses Alfheim Crystals to do more futuristic-themed spells, like Control Machine. However, there is no limitation against learning Alfheim spells, and the 2E rule book actually puts all the INT and WIS spells apart from the class milestones into a big list all together, agnostic of setting. ME does keep the magic separated to the Alfheim sections, for the most part, but 2E does not.

There isn’t really a balancing problem pulling the stuff from 2E and adding them to an ME game from what I’ve seen. Anyways, it’s up to you how you want to run magic in your setting, so take the ideas you like from this thread and tweak or leave out the ones you don’t. That’s the great thing about ICRPG: you can easily run the game however you like, and it’s actually hard to break it!