Ok, I'm going to continue this a bit. Because it's a fantastic idea, and I need something more engaging to write than the very depressing short story I'm currently working on. The thing is, I have some various interesting plans that will perhaps be more effective if posted on the forum rather than in the google doc (and Sakat knows we could use the post count
). That said, for now I'll keep it to the google doc, and bring in the forum-related stuff when I get to that point.
I don't know how many of you are able to contribute at this point, but if I end up playing all your characters, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, seeing as there's really only four or five of us now. Not so much a daunting task anymore. But I gratefully welcome contributions.
But first, we need to be on the same page with some of this. This story is, by nature, going to be very sciency in its outset. Not in the sense that it's going to contain lots of science, but in the sense that there is a lot of absolutes that everybody needs to understand in order to keep continuity. It's going to be very different from previous stories we've done where magic was perhaps used more as an excuse for what happens. In this story, magic is no longer the excuse, because as we'll find, magic has limits. So some quick points before we continue:
1. Most mages can go day-to-day on their own bodily energy. In fact, only a very small portion of magic users are even able to tap into other energy sources.
2. Of those who can tap into other energy sources, only a few of them (read, PCs) are able to draw energy at the nuclear level, or create enchantments that can do so.
3. Drawing energy at the nuclear level releases a sort of radiation that is difficult to detect because it is inherently magical as well as physical.
4. Prolonged or repeated exposure to this radiation causes a sort of radiation sickness that is very similar to mundane radiation sickness but is more difficult to treat.
5. At the outset of this story, nobody is aware of points 2-4. Powerful mages are aware that they are able to tap into some sort of larger power source, but nobody has ever figured out what that source is, and few have even bothered to try. Most magic users are aware of point 1 (it's part of their training: don't over-exert yourself or you'll die), but only the more learned segment of the general population is as well.
The sickness, however, is not limited to only powerful mages (though they are the most likely to contract it, given their repeated exposure from their own magic), it can also come about from residing in areas with powerful enchantments, like academies and such. I'll be bringing a bit of this idea in at some point, and you're all welcome to bring it up, too, but just remember the above guidelines.