Modernstomia Story

## Chapter 0:

One upon a time there was a place called Oustomia. A place of fantastical heroes and villains. Knights who wielded holy power, astute mages who crafted something out of nothing. With emerging technologies made out of steam accomplishing amazing feats we had to wait for. It was a place of strife, whether it was caused by a country of evil orcs, an Eastern-themed land ruled by a imperialistic Oni, a powerful lich and his army of undead led by his lieutenants of sin, or a chaotic swarm of insect-like aliens hellbent on consuming everything in their way.

And one day it all vanished. Not just the magic that made up this place. Not just the magical beasts that prowled the lands. All of it. Every piece of history that made up this world was gone in an instant. Historians don't know what happened, they don't even know there was even a hint of something happening, they're not even looking.

And the place that was once upon a time called Oustomia came to an end. And our Earth came afterwards.

**So what does this mean for Modernstomia's history? It means that the history of this setting is almost the same as the real world's except for the fact that there is a new label along with A.D. and B.C. called B.O.T. which is short for "Before Original Timeline" which spans all of the history of Oustomia up until what could be considered B.C.**

## Chapter 0.5:

**Oho, did you think we were finally getting to Chapter 1? Well, we still have to cover the slightly alternate history of Modernstomia.**

1950s - Magic begins to make a comeback. Artifacts of B.O.T. are starting to spring up. Magical items with only just enough magic to ping as so, scratches of writings featuring arcane text, and children are being born with non-human blood, though other racial features are not showing up yet. Some seem to just have a better eye for stonework, be more lucky, or have better eyesight. The most advanced researchers are deciphering the texts and begin to figure out cantrips.

1954 - Secret government agencies being appearing in the world in order to record the advancement of magic while keeping it a secret. This includes America's Section 13.

1960 - A researcher of magic finishes researching a spell that allows you to break small objects. He learns that some spells may only be used a certain amount of times a day and will sometimes fail for an unknown reason. He spreads this knowledge with some close friends before disappearing.

1961 - It is discovered that by consuming magical creatures and users of magic, magical power is enhanced greatly for a short period of time.

1963, December 1st - Section 13 becomes a hidden agency unknown to much of the government. It gains a much larger budget, more power, and less restrictions on what it can do. Section 13 begins actively hunting down and containing the magical.

Mid 1960s - The first non-human babies are born showing outwardly non-human traits. This is quickly covered up. Old magical items that have somehow survived the cataclysm and were passed down as heirlooms for centuries begin to have real magical power. Cult-like religions of the B.O.T. gods begin to form, even if they do not know them. Especially powerful bloodlines begin to feel their awakening powers.

Early 1970s - Magical creatures begin to be seen in the wild. Those that can be explained away by scientific oddities are. Those that aren't are captured and records of their existence are wiped. Section 13 grows in power and begins acting without much Government oversight.

Mid 1990s to now - Magical research explodes due to a combination of the Internet for ease of access and the Deep Web for anonymity.

## Chapter 1:

The main story takes place in New York City, NY. At the current moment, characters are dealing with the consequences of a world with magic where magic users and fantastical beings are persecuted. Although many are going around looking for broken leylines to repair them, allowing magic for those areas to be able to be cast without the usual universal spell failure.

Two factions in particular are in a secret war with each other. The Nightmares and Section 13. The latter being the secret Government agency that hunts down and kills or contains magical beings. The Nightmares are a domestic terrorist group with unclear goals other than to hurt the Government and Section 13 and spread the knowledge of magic to the public. They've hardly been successful with the former and have been even less so with the latter. These are the main antagonists of Chapter 1.

The group of interest, People for the Ethical Treatment of Magical Beasts, shortened to PETMB, acts much like the organization it has taken it's name from and moves to protect and free magical creatures in captivity. They are a very loosely connected organization with branches that span from activists to anarchists in their activities. They prefer to be peaceful but more militants groups do exist within it. While their main goal is the protection of magical beasts, they are also sympathetic to magic users.

The School for Talented Youth is a group of interest which moves to seek out, protect, and teach young people who were born with magical powers that they can not control. Their basic philosophy is that these children didn't choose to have these powers and due to not being able to control them, can't hide them. And thusly, must be protected. They are currently on their second generation of students.

And then there's Leyline Hunters. Adventuring isn't exactly a proper occupation anymore. So in its stead there is a general term for folks who want to bring magic back. They range from mercnaries hired by shadowy groups to hobbyist spellcasters that just want to spread the fantasy. And you're probably one of them.

Chapter 1 will mostly surround the players trying to bring back magic by reviving leystones around New York while trying to escape Section 13 and whoever else would stop them.

**And this is where we are at on June 10, 2019. The world sucks, you're probably being hunted down for one reason or another, magic has a 50% spell failure chance, and guns crit for x4. Good luck!**