New Fantasy Setting Seeds.

[David Johnston2]

I once argued that mages using Gurp's spell-based magic weren't going to automatically gravitate to positions of rulership because learning and practicing magic was so time consuming that that the master magicians with the power take over would have more to gain by accepting the patronage of a ruler. They would reliably outgun any magician of comparable age who wasted time on actually administering a country.

Since then I have realized that I was overlooking a variable because it was my habit to assume that magic items were not that common and mostly oriented to arming and armoring warriors or providing wizards with power stones.

Hence

Encantada

Encantada is an elective constiutional monarchy with a legislature made up of representatives of each of the top two ranks of noble families. The commoners have no representation. The average noble has a magic aptitude of 0 or 1. In this setting magic aptitude is mostly heritable. So much so than when magic aptitude turns up among commoners it is usually overlooked since only known noble bastards will be tested. Any commoner who somehow gets an actual spell will be assumed to be a bastard and yes illegitimacy is a social stigma. Acknowledged bastards have -2 off of the social status of their mage parent, plus the social stigma. Unacknowledged bastards have a social status of 1 (the same as that as of acknowledged bastards of the lowest rank of nobility) and the stigma. Still better off than a -2 social status serf but they don't get a lot of respect in the cities which has commoners who range from -1 to +1. Anyone identified as magic resistant is treated as valuable property of one noble house or another and trained to be what is effectively a ninja. Among the nobility there is no difference in social status between men and women and women can inherit titles. However there is no set order of succession. The successor is the member of the family deemed most worthy to inherit by the previous house leader at the moment that leader died. Or the survivor.

Most nobles have minimal education in actually casting spells. It's a lot of effort for a IQ 10 noble with Magic Aptitude 1- to learn a significant amount of magic. Instead they take advantage of their wealth and their parents to acquire magic items that only be used by mages...even those who barely qualify as such. The favoured children of wealthy noble houses tend to be rather gaudy sights, festooned as they are with glittering baubles.

On the other hand those noble children who have higher level magic aptitudes, and/or a scholarly bent are encouraged to become Enchanters, a position in life that gives them the Respected advantage, and a life of luxury and being barred from heirdom means they are protected from what can be a cutthroat competition to win inheritance of the title. Bastard children often aim at Enchanter status because that wipes out the stigma of their bastardy.

At the same time however some members of the noble houses will lose the lottery and be born with no magic aptitude or resistance. Such nobles are relegated to the knightly orders where their family ties give them immediate military rank and usually superior enchanted gear crafted for non-mages Knights constitute a distinct social class, below nobles but above commoners, but occasionally a commoner is elevated to the status of knight. It provides an alternative for illegitimate children who find themselves unsuited to become Enchanters and unlikely to be in the running for heirdom. Most knights are, however, the children of other knights. Knights can marry nobles although usually only the lowest ranked nobles.