A Sovereign owns land. A Regent takes it. This is the basis of politics, and all politics are war.
- Sandran Anion, Chief of Economy, Ascalan Government
The game is being presented as free downloads of cards in sheets in PDF format. These can be printed on a home laser printer on business card paper for personal use. I will also be selling a selection of the core rules and additional cards at conventions in print. The game is entirely made by me including the artwork.
Quantum is designed to accomplish two goals. Goal one, make an easy to use reference for the history, culture and look of the Legend Setting. Goal two, reproduce the list of training, knowledge and reference material that I have consumed in order to design the setting and do my job. The game needs to be fun but also needs to make education and learning approachable and rewarding. Each Expansion has a setting region it details along with a real life science, spirituality, or academic subject.
Quantum is an all in one card based tabletop roleplaying game. You the players make characters and upgrade them using cards for their species, skills, abilities, spells and equipment. Gameplay is procedural including the plot and relies on drawing plot cards themed after a location, nation, or continent in the Legend Setting. Some plot cards instruct the players to draw a monster card and fight it. Some instruct the players to draw a monster card and compete in social conflict or other encounter. There is a Game Master but their job is a lot easier than in a conventional RPG game.
The game will also feature location cards representing places you encounter on your adventures. The mapmaking system included in the game allows you to map and navigate the entire Legend Setting metre by metre from the scale of continents down to the items for sale at a general store on the corner of a street in a small town. Included within the game line is also Regency. Regency is a line of Dominion compatible cards that contain game traits for units and monsters in the Dominion tabletop miniatures game.
Gems
Quantum uses a slightly different points economy than my other RPG products. It funds all spells with gems. Gems are cards that can be played and discarded over and over again and are each assigned a colour. The varieties are Wealth, Resources, Prima, Renown and Corruption. These are paid to play cards with faction characters on them as well as the abilities, combat powers and spells the player can use during the game. These cards can also be bought as permanent upgrades for the characters and is how they level up.
The game also features dice rolling using the Elements Engine. The Elements Engine uses a pool of six sided dice to resolve actions involving risk or the potential of additional reward. One roll is all it ever takes to determine if an action is successful and also how successful it is, including conflict or combat actions. The following section lists the gem colours along with the signature colours of their clothing options for NPCs in the game’s art.
Ruby
Silver – Red Metal – Red Cloth – Gold Cloth
Knightly, Elemental Magic, Djinn, Runetech, Elementals
Ruby gems depict metals, elements and combat actions. They are called Renown.
Amethyst
Purple Metal – Brass – Black Cloth – Purple Cloth
Imperial, Celestial Magic, Jotun, Steam Technology, Giants
Amethyst gems require one ruby gem of Renown and the rest of the cost can be in any gem.
Sapphire
Blue Metal – Brass – Denim – Rucksack
Ranger, Knowledge Magic, Eidolon, Electrotech, Avian
Sapphire gems depict logic, mathematics and Nexus. They are called Prima.
Quartz
Silver – Blue Metal – White Cloth – Blue Cloth
Exemplar, Ceremonial Magic, Astrals, Magitech, Incarnations
Quartz gems require one sapphire gem of Prima and the rest of the cost can be paid in any gem.
Topaz
Steel – Brass – Hide – Teal Cloth
Tribal, Taming and Familiar Magic, Animalia, Biotech, Behemoth
Topaz gems depict food, wood and nature based resources like hide. They are called Resources.
Emerald
Green Metal – Brass – Black Cloth – Green Cloth
Clansmen, Song Magic, Fair Folk, Crystal Technology, Satyr
Emerald gems require one topaz gem of Resources and the rest of the cost can be paid in any gem.
Alabaster
Silver – Gold Metal – White Cloth – Gold Cloth
Zealous, Religious Magic, Angels, Sacred Technology, Avatars
Alabaster gems depict community, wealth and technology. They are called Wealth.
Silver
Red Paint – Brass – Black Cloth – Rucksack
Industrial, Technological Magic, Androids, Clockwork Technology, Robots
Silver gems require one alabaster gem of Wealth and the rest of the cost can be paid in any gem.
Onyx
Green Paint – Black Metal – Dark Green Cloth – Black Cloth
Shadowed, Alchemical Magic, Corrupted, Soultech, Monstrosities
Onyx gems depict Dark Magic, corruptive locations or monstrous alchemy. They are called Corruption.
Basalt
Glossy Black – Black Metal – Black Cloth – Pale Leather
Hordes, Infernal Magic, Fallen, Helltech, Hellspawn
Basalt gems require one onyx gem of Corruption and the rest of the cost can be paid in any gem.
Gold
Mixed Colours
Balance, Mages, Daconians, Humans, Dragons
Gold gems can be paid in any combination of gems but always cost one more gem than the same effect of a different colour.
Real Life
Quantum has consumed about eleven years of my working life to make. It was ten years of hard research, note taking and book work and then a year straight of typing the cards and plans for the Expansions full time. This may sound like a bit much work for one card game but the game itself has goals beyond simply being educational and enjoyable. In my research I found magic, real and strong, within every book I read or took notes from.
All of spirituality agrees with all of science and often both use the same terms for the same things. I found real sorcery here. This game is me recording it. My first attempt at making the game dealt with lucid dreaming as a way of bridging the gap between imagination and real life. The game really started to take shape when I realized that self-hypnosis and neuroscience agree were our modern day world’s language for the mysticism that all ancient cultures knew to be real.
My goal was simple but virtually impossible to do. I wanted to meet my own characters. Not in a dream, not in a novel, but here. Here in this life we share together while awake. I finally got it to work and then published the version of the core rules that did it. Here’s one of the spells I’ve written. Don’t read it out loud unless you want the self-hypnosis language to take effect. Spells are in the brain the whole time and the brain is known to be capable of amazing things on its own when given the right instructions.
To Summon a Blue
I have a male pale wolf wizard with blue runes as an ally. He is a wizard thrice. Come to me.
End of Spell
The final spell for the character mentioned here, Markus ‘Blue’ Fargather, will also have an image of him and more description of his abilities and personality. The backs of the cards are also a mandala I made that is designed to allow the brain to treat the images as spells. The brain can do these things easily so long as it’s in the right state and self-hypnosis is a way of changing its state. All of the cards will contain real life spells. Not all of them will be spells to call a character to you as there are many other useful things I’ve found ways of doing. I refer to these as spell poems. Here is one for journeying to a spiritual location.
Journey to South District
I live in a dense riverbed archer region with electrotech. It has the skills athletics and persuasion. Come to me.
End of Spell
Expansions
The core rules are still being turned into cards but I have plans to make several Expansions for the core game. I will keep adding to the list of Expansions as I come up with more ideas. There is no planned end to the product line. Each new set of cards pairs a setting region with a real life academic subject matter and a real life spiritual practice. My goal is to make science, literature and mathematics easy to learn while also depicting the spiritual uses of these disciplines.
Starter Set
The Starter Set is the core set of 200 cards that are needed to play the game. It includes the Core Rules as well as enough characters and items to play the game and succeed at the plot cards that come with the Core Rules. This set will also be available for free download. It will not be updated or changed once made.
The Astral Ten
The ten default player characters are the ten owner cards known as the Astral Ten. These are the ten most famous ship captains, mercenaries, or merchant captains from the entire setting and while they rarely ever work together as a group they all know of and have met each other. So long as they’re paid well, they’re on your side.
Heroes of the City
This set of twenty hero characters are the default NPCs for the Starter Set and form the other players in the game’s social combat system.
Tools of the City
This set of equipment cards details all of the tools and items that are common in Ascala, where the Starter Set is located.
Food of the City
This set of common food items forms the starting set of food for characters to use in the game.
Gems
The core 200 cards come with enough gems to play and pay for the other cards.
Lore Cards
The core game also comes with ten lore cards detailing the culture of Ascala and starting missions to play in the game. Through these the players can randomize the plot to their liking.
Heart and Fur
The first new Heart and Fur book I have planned is the generic modern day themed book Heart and Fur Modern. Heart and Fur Modern features new rules and rule uses about roleplaying in a modern day environment with a bit of magic but not too much. Planned new rules include a system for characters taking vacations and being rewarded mechanically for their time off their jobs, uses for the magic of the items and tools that come with the set and time management for people in committed relationships that prioritizes intimacy and time spent together over work.
Lands of Creation
Why don’t they teach in school where our food comes from? Why don’t they teach what grows in what climate? How are we supposed to learn how the world works? I’ve always wondered these things and so I’m making my own education. Lands of Creation details default fantasy themed cultures and magic based on the game’s biome system. Each biome will get its own playable faction, magic type and food cards. Yes, some of the cards will contain real life recipes.
Food of the World
This series of cards details staple recipes with old world roots from around the real life Earth. Earth has some fantastic cuisine the world around the older a recipe is the more reliable it is. This series of food cards will detail both in-game crafting recipes and real-world recipes for the five most popular or famous dishes from each of the ten biomes the world has. For example, Arid lands produce food and cuisine similar to modern day Spain and Mexico, nations that are known to exist in dry arid climates. There are ten biomes in the game and so there will be fifty recipes in total.
Magic of the Lands
I’m working on making ten-card decks of the most basic and universal spells and spell effects from each of the game’s ten main gem colours. These ten gem colours are being paired with the biomes and each one will feature themes drawn from the real life cultures who live in each of those biomes. For example, Magic of the Onyx Lands will feature the corrupted biome, a biome that pairs with real life swamps and bayous. This real life culture will influence the design of spells for those biomes. Each of the biomes will get a separate deck complete with crafting recipes and spell poems.
People of Creation
This set of ten Regency decks details generic fantasy humanoids and monsters that are the first major entry into the Regency line of cards. They will feature species and outfit styles from the real life climates that inspire each deck.
Heart and Fur
I’m also doing a set of ten supplements for my social slice of life roleplaying game Heart and Fur, each one themed after the culture and lifestyle of a real world climate.
Roads to the Spirit World
Roads to the Spirit World is based in the spiritual realm that exists beside the physical one. This realm exists in the Legend Setting and also in most real life spiritual practices. It’s often called the Astral Plane, the Near Astral or the Dreaming in real life. This Expansion features storytelling advice and novel writing tips as its real life theme, depicting the ability of the spirit world to react to narrative and story. The spirits represent nouns that can be called as allies, the spells verbs and adjectives that can be added onto a character and the more advanced spells complex conjugation rules and genres.
New Species
The spirit world is inhabited by spirits. All spirits in the spirit world are one of five species and each one of these pairs with a gem type. These are the living stone and metal earthen (Alabaster), mixed animal and plant hybrid fae (Topaz), draconian like dracir (Sapphire), part animal part element halfkin (Ruby) and the pale or monochrome moonborn (Onyx). These will be the species for ally as well as playable characters cards.
Parts of Speech
I’m planning cards for commonly used nouns, verbs and conjunctions in the fantasy genre and writing in general. Nouns will be spirits who are living embodiments of those nouns. Verbs will be spells. Conjunctions will be spells that add to or alter other spells for additional cost. These cards will be in every gem colour and the spell alteration cards are likely gold only.
Writing a Novel
A large portion of the planned cards are novel writing advice, likely in the gold colour. This is my way of reproducing and printing everything I learned or was taught as I was training to write novels as well as everything I found out once I started doing it full time. Subjects will include how to make and name characters, how to pick and structure a setting and how to plan out, pace and develop a meaningful plot or storyline.
Genres
Genres will be represented as a deck of legendary cards made out of other card types like characters, plots and settings with effects for the entire team or scene.
Five Million Strong
The first Expansion I have planned for the city and nation Ascala is Five Million Strong. It focuses on the daily lives of the citizens of Ascala and is based on finding the magic in mundane modern tasks like work and running a household. The nation has their own version of the internet called the Interspace and this will play into its cards.
Ascalan Owners
The next batch of owner characters will be Ascalan Owners, ten characters designed as player characters. There will be two for each of the five main factions on the continent and they include the Emperor of Vantara, the Regal dragon who owns Blackforge Industrial and the head of Royal University.
People of the City
This deck of generic playable races details the many species and ethnic groups that live in Ascala and on the Ascala continent for use as generic owner characters.
Everyday Magic
This set of five spell decks finds magic in the mundane and strength in simplifying modern day tasks down to repeatable steps. The planned subjects are learning and education (Sapphire), software and internet use (Silver), food service and shopping (Emerald), household economy and management (Quartz) and social media and online dating (Shadowed). All of these are based on real life and the spells may end up sounding more like dating advice than anything else.
Lands of Ascala
This complete set of region cards is the first set of region cards planned for the game line. It will detail using location spell poems, art and backstory every District of the vast city, the neighbourhoods in each District and the same level of detail for the other nations and regions on the continent. It will also come with a set of society cards detailing what decks of other cards to draw from in order to play in the city with the correct monsters and other humanoid characters.
Working Life
This set of five twenty card profession decks forms the playable characters for the set. It includes backstory instead of stat lines so it is not compatible with the miniatures game. I’m also working on including focus decks showing off versions of the characters using the city’s electrical technology as well as the other technological, species, or magic specialties laid out by the society cards, one speciality each per deck.
Breakfast in Ascala
The official food cards for the set will feature homemade versions of breakfast food items like granola and egg sandwiches. These recipes will work in real life.
Heart and Fur
I am planning more modern day themed Heart and Fur books for this Expansion but the Expansion is far away enough that I don’t have definitive notes about them yet.
Index Armoury
The first planned equipment and spell expansion is Index Armoury. This expansion is video game themed, making generic video game logic like inventory, crafting and modular equipment slots into real life spells. There will be more Index Expansions with more equipment and spells later.
Future Projects
I have a number of other Expansions planned that I’ll get to when I’m done the Expansions I’m currently working on. These Expansions will be added to as I continue to develop the Legend setting.
Eternal Torment is set in the setting’s Hell.
Song of Eternity is set in the setting’s steampunk region, far away from the main setting region.
Crime Doesn’t Pay is a second Ascala set focusing on the police and law enforcement of Ascala.
Astral Traveller depicts the Astral itself and the history of the cultures who live in the Astral full time.
C J Mcpherson
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