Quinn Angstrom
I'm struggling with witch knights because I may have accidentally made it morally absolutist
Quinn Angstrom
necromancy isn't evil because it's unchecked capitalism it's evil because the basis for the setting was random neurons firing while i was asleep and necromancy seems evil just based on cultural vibes
Quinn Angstrom
necromancers and witches don't make any inherent sense as opposing forces
Villain
Do you want to tear it down and rebuild it or just dump it?
Quinn Angstrom
I'm not sure
Quinn Angstrom
honestly I'm not sure necromancy even needs to be a thing in the story, it mightmake more sense if magic is just witchcraft
Villain
I wasn’t super happy with my character concept so I’d be fine with that
Dragomorph
i do have a suggestion: lean into the marxism.
Dragomorph
Instead of making it a single school of magic versus all the other schools of magic, think of it more as aims of magic. One that's symbiotic and focused on creation, one that's parasitic and focused solely on what someone can get for themselves.
Dragomorph
Basically "exchanging labor for services" versus "exchanging labor for capital."
Dragomorph
So it's not necessarily necromancy in itself that's an issue, it's the utilization of it in a way that deprives others morally, materially, or spirituallly.
Dragomorph
And also may include other magical forms.
Dragomorph
(Enchantment, destruction, etc.)
Dragomorph
In other words, see magic by itself as a sort of representation of capitalism and patriarchy, in which it is a tool whose aims get altered and distorted.
Quinn Angstrom
so by removing the witch/necromancer dichotomy, you have magic as a general force
Quinn Angstrom
one group using it to improve lives, the other using it to centralize power
Quinn Angstrom
the latter trying to prevent public knowledge of the existence of magic because that would disrupt their position as the capitalist uberfucks at the top
Dragomorph
exactly
Quinn Angstrom
there's a vibe central to the setting's core of like
Quinn Angstrom
magic can make the world a massively better place, post-magic earth will be much happier for everyone than pre-magic earth
Quinn Angstrom
but an elite class is hoarding it so obsessively that they refuse to let other people even know it exists
Quinn Angstrom
and part of the central quest of the witch knights is to break open the vault and let the world know what's been kept from them
Dragomorph
Can, yes. Whether it will or not is hard to say, but utilized in a productive manner it's more likely to than utilizing it under the current system.
Villain
Are the heroes also acting in secret or are they actively spreading the word?
Dragomorph
Like $1 versus $10 versus $1 million versus $1 billion
Quinn Angstrom
Quinn Angstrom
on one hand, they want the people to know so it wouldn't make sense for it to be secret in that sense
Dragomorph
i mean people actively spread the word of the dangers of capitalism in reality and The Man just discredits it as "lib" talk
Dragomorph
so there's no real reason to keep it secret as long as the jerks in power are deplatforming it anyway
Quinn Angstrom
but on the other hand
Quinn Angstrom
the WKs are massively outgunned and outmanned by the system they're fighting
Quinn Angstrom
so drawing more attention to themselves is very dangerous (but also very rewarding)
Quinn Angstrom
and cool heroes do risky things for good reasons, so
Quinn Angstrom
no they don't operate in secret
Villain
Maybe WKs are acting in secret at first
Quinn Angstrom
they openly use magic and their enemies spread misinformation about it
Quinn Angstrom
via "sufficently advanced technology"
Quinn Angstrom
and general information control
Quinn Angstrom
and murder
Villain
And the protagonist pulls a Hajime Gatchamancrowds
Quinn Angstrom
YES
Quinn Angstrom
"Hey what if we just go on TV"
Quinn Angstrom
"Tell everyone that magic is real and that they can have it"
Villain
They always held back out of fear that they’d be too big targets if they acted openly
Villain
Since they’re the last hope of taking down the bad guys
Quinn Angstrom
but you can't start a revolution without making a racket
Villain
Are we still calling them necropolis?
Quinn Angstrom
no
Quinn Angstrom
I'm dropping the necromancy angle
Quinn Angstrom
which means I need to rework the antagonist group
Quinn Angstrom
so still be interesting
Quinn Angstrom
still a secret society hoarding knowledge and power
Villain
They’re kinda Ribbons-esque right?
Quinn Angstrom
yeah
Quinn Angstrom
manipulating the world via plants in other organizations
Quinn Angstrom
immune to the laws of society
Quinn Angstrom
admin users
Quinn Angstrom
you don't hire one, they just show up in your records
Quinn Angstrom
what they need is a core thematic hook, a narrative aesthetic
Quinn Angstrom
otherwise they're just Magical Evil Rich Guys, which is what they are but also it's been done plenty of times
Villain
Gotta make sure to differentiate them from the Hand of Providence
Quinn Angstrom
yeah we're in very similar ground to inhand
Quinn Angstrom
which is why I'm giving this part so much thought
Villain
I’m just spitballing here but
Quinn Angstrom
our right-wing wizard illuminati
Villain
What if we go with a reincarnation angle
Villain
The same 8 people have just been getting reborn for hundreds or maybe thousands of years and ruling the world
Quinn Angstrom
there's a lot of ways that could go and all of them are upsetting
Villain
Normally when you die you lose all your memories and shit but these guys have been working together so when one of them dies the others hunt down their reincarnation and artificially install the previous personality and memory
Villain
Sure that means overwriting a person but eh
Villain
They bring STABILITY to the world and that is worth sacrifice
Villain
they bring STABITY
Quinn Angstrom
my mind goes to
Quinn Angstrom
is reincarnation real
Quinn Angstrom
or are they just picking a person and downloading some soul essence into them
Villain
The latter choice makes them much more horrifying
Villain
They’re innovates except instead of cloning new bodies they just grab people off the streets
Villain
Innovades*
Quinn Angstrom
they probably have exacting parameters that a new host needs to meet
Quinn Angstrom
they can't just steal random babies they need to find suitable hosts young and condition them until they are ready to be formatted
Quinn Angstrom
and instead of Veda the souls just float in their massive stockpile of magical energy until they can be uploaded into a body
Quinn Angstrom
their phylactery
Villain
There’s a whole process for stripping their identity away to the point that you can overwrite them
Villain
If you leave too much of the original the new mind will be fighting for control
Quinn Angstrom
I think the core difference is that the Hand of Providence were, under all their fancy rituals and powers
Quinn Angstrom
just regular greedy fuckups
Quinn Angstrom
these guys have removed themselves so far from ordinary human existence that they're like fucking aliens
Villain
(Btw Phylacteries are a real Jewish religious artifact and D&D is moving away from connecting the word to evil undead wizards to be less antisemitic)
Quinn Angstrom
oh ok
Quinn Angstrom
is there a replacement word for "immortal evil wizard's aliveness rock" or is it still in limbo
Villain
But I do like the idea of a villain group that is talking about the greater good while also constantly committing atrocities to consolidate their own power but they actually believe their own story
Villain
Quinn Angstrom : Soul Cage is the new word
Villain
They’re just like “if we died there would be CHAOS. This is for your own good.”
Villain
And they actually mean it
Villain
They truly believe they are all that stands between civilization and the end of the world
Villain
Is what I’m imagining
Quinn Angstrom
it works, at least for now
EsperBot
The etymology is a little questionable re: the lich thing, but there's zero cost to transitioning to 'reliquary' which means the same thing but more general and is also a more balling word
Dragomorph
i did a help again :|b
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