I made a post about this idea a few weeks ago but I didn’t have any specifics. Now I have a somewhat more detailed idea of what I want to do. Let me know what you think.
What I want to do is write a new setting for Shadowrun 4e, one that takes the conceit of the default Shadowrun setting and flips it upside down, laying the foundation for a whole new setting for the system. The conceit I’m referring to is that Shadowrun is set in a near future Sci-Fi Earth which undergoes a metaphysical transformation that brings magic back into the world and causes all kinds of catastrophe. The technology came first and magic came second. What I want to do is reverse that; I want to create a setting where the magic came first and the technology came second.
I had this idea; A colony ship sailing through space crash lands on a fantasy world, just the sort you’d read about in a D&D supplement. The colonists aren’t able to repair their ship and can’t communicate with home. They’re forced to stay and live in this new place with these magic-using people. One one side you have all the fantasy stuff: magic, elves, orks and trolls, spirits, etc. On the other side you’ve got all the tech: AI’s, drones, cyberware and bioware, vehicles and so on.
Over time the two groups mingle. I’d set the game somewhat early in that time. I’m imagining the old west as an analog. Wagon trains, the first railroads, Native Americans wielding rifles, taking English names, etc. I mean I’m not trying to create an old west feel, just the motif. The culture clash. I want a setting where you could have a battle like the one in Avatar, with Jake flying a pterodactyl while talking on a commlink and shooting a machine gun.
Stay with me, I think I can make it make sense.
So first I’ll be creating a fantasy world with a dark ages level of technology. Not sure if I want things like crossbows and full plate mail, but I don’t have to decide yet. What I do know is that in this world there will be no Humans. There will be Elves, Dwarves, Orks, Trolls and all the metavariants and Changelings, but no Humans.
The spacefaring colonists will be all Human. They get to be the aliens this time. They will come in a kind of "generation ship" that's been sailing through space for a long time. AI's govern their whole society. Think Wall-E.
Spirits will have their own hierarchy and will work the way they do in SR4e. They will be the pantheon of this fantasy setting, they’ll be all the major and minor deities worshipped by the magical traditions. I'm imagining an Astral world sort of reminiscent of Yu-Shan from Exalted. A big celestial bureacracy riddled with corrupt gods competing with each other for mortals' prayer. Not sure about this idea yet. Might re-work it a few times to get away from the Exalted thing.
Magic will be prevalent in all parts of the world. Just like SR4e, there will be Traditions that focus on different kinds of magic. I’m thinking of making the Summoner a new and separate kind of caster, maybe fleshing them out with some special rules. Then I’d end up with three basic magic-using character types: Mage, Summoner, Adept. I like that idea.
As for the cosmology of this magic system, I was thinking of giving this world two moons, a red one and a blue one. With a sun, that’s three celestial bodies in the sky. That also happens to be the original three primary colors, red, yellow and blue. So instead of having a simple good/evil axis to base the mythos on I’ll have a trinity.
That's all I've got for now. Feel free to poke holes, ask questions, give ideas.