Space-Magic RPG

The universe is a contrast between magic and technology where humanity, isolated in a sector of space devoid of Dark Matter, developed a civilization based entirely on technological advancements without knowing of the existence of magic, building starships, artificial intelligences, plasma weapons, and advanced cybernetics while the other galactic species evolved, discovering that they could convert the abundant Dark Matter of their regions into mana within their bodies. This allowed a select 10% of each species to manipulate this mystical energy to perform wonders ranging from instant healing to elemental manipulation, telekinesis, and interdimensional portals, making the remaining 90% dependent on these mages for every aspect of their societies. This resulted in civilizations that never developed technology beyond medieval tools, enchanted swords, runic armor, and floating structures. The first contact occurred 50 years ago when a human exploration vessel left its barren region and encountered the Galactic Council, discovering that magic was real and that some humans in areas rich in Dark Matter began to manifest magical abilities for the first time in their history. However, the ancient races regard them with condescension, considering them primitive apprentices barely taking their first steps in an art they have mastered for millennia, failing to recognize that human technology is as powerful as, or even more powerful than, sorcery in their eyes. But thanks to their scientific knowledge and understanding of how the universe works, humans are beginning to use magic with greater ease and efficiency than other races. The other races are unaware of this; it remains a closely guarded human secret.

Magic in the cosmos manifests through twelve fundamental disciplines that galactic races have perfected over millennia, each requiring the innate ability to transform Dark Matter into usable mana: Spatial Magic, Healing, Elemental Magic, Invocation, Runic Artifice, Vitality, Star Magic, Necromancy, Plant Magic, Contract Magic, Planetary Geomancy, and Alchemical Transmutation.
Magic serves as a hand that twists or redirects the universe towards what the magic user wants. Humans are the only ones who realized that the more you know about how everything works, the more efficient the mana expenditure is when doing magic if you know what you're doing.

Spatial Magic is the most dangerous and complex discipline, manipulating space-time with absolute precision or creating singularities and dimensional tears. It includes portals for instantaneous travel, gravitational manipulation, time dilation that accelerates or slows down time (though forbidden due to its unpredictability), invisibility by bending light, distance compression, and dimensional storage pockets. Most limit their practice to short- and medium-range portals, as attempting interstellar connections causes permanent disappearance. Healing channels vital mana, stimulating supernatural regeneration. Novices close cuts and relieve pain; intermediate practitioners restore bones and cure diseases; and master practitioners regenerate entire organs, reconstruct limbs, and reverse poisons at the cellular level. However, it cannot revive the dead or cure diseases of the soul, requires profound anatomical knowledge, or incorrectly fuse tissues, creating tumors. Elemental Magic encompasses fire, water, earth, lightning, light, and darkness. Fire passionately hurls incendiary projectiles and walls of flame; water serenely creates devastating waves and liquid shields; earth firmly raises rocky walls and stone armor; lightning unleashes devastating discharges and overloads technology with fury; light generates blinding flashes and unsettling barriers with purity; and darkness mysteriously creates tangible shadows that trap and zones of absolute blindness. Each element responds to the practitioner's specific emotional states, allowing for everything from direct combat to defensive construction. It is the most common and versatile branch throughout the galaxy due to its balance between accessibility of learning and practical utility in multiple situations, both warlike and everyday. Many civilizations base their entire infrastructure on elemental mages who maintain temperatures, provide water, or illuminate entire cities.

Summoning opens portals to other planes, bringing entities ranging from familiar spirits to colossal creatures. It requires pacts where the summoner offers mana, objects, or life essence in exchange for service. The entities possess free will, so inexperienced summoners lose control if the pact is poorly worded. Hierarchies exist where lesser beings serve willingly while superiors demand extraordinary tributes. Masters maintain relationships by creating bonds of trust. Summoning beings that are too powerful results in possession or destruction. Runecraft inscribes permanent symbols onto objects by channeling mana into geometric patterns that keep enchantments active indefinitely without a mage present. Each rune must be precisely drawn using inks imbued with elemental essences; an incorrect stroke causes the object to explode or corrupts the enchantment. Runescraft includes self-repairing weapons, armor with self-regenerating shields, ships with hulls that redistribute impacts, eternal lamps, and preservation vessels. Artificers combine multiple runes, creating three-dimensional arrays, although each object has a limit before disintegrating. Vitalurgy manipulates biological processes by creating self-sustaining ecosystems on ships, adapts bodies to survive extreme gravity, toxic atmospheres or lethal radiation, designs symbiotic organisms that grant aquatic respiration, expanded vision or thermal resistance, accelerates evolution by creating adapted species in generations, cures genetic mutations or mixes characteristics of multiple species in viable hybrids; however, it is controversial because modifying life raises ethical dilemmas and some civilizations restrict it fearing uncontrollable creations.

Star Magic channels starlight and gravitational currents for interstellar navigation. Its practitioners perceive invisible routes by detecting ethereal currents between solar systems, charting maps that allow ships to surf these currents, reducing journeys from decades to weeks. They use stars as beacons to guide where sensors fail, predict solar storms, and deflect radiation, creating safe corridors. Masters accelerate ships by channeling gravitational impulse, though this requires perfect timing or the ship will be flung into the void. Necromancy manipulates the energies of life and death, communicating with spirits to obtain lost knowledge. It reanimates corpses as mindless servants, drains the life force of enemies to gain strength, detects undead presences or soul curses, and temporarily anchors spirits for interrogation. It is regulated because abuse corrupts the practitioner's soul, rendering them insensitive and driving them to madness. Many civilizations permit it only with licenses for forensic use, while others prohibit it entirely. Plant Magic cultivates flora in any environment, creates orbital gardens producing oxygen on ships, designs living armor that regenerates by absorbing light, cultivates organic weapons that fire paralyzing spores, establishes symbiosis with alien flora allowing them to breathe toxic atmospheres, accelerates forest growth in days to terraform planets, creates root networks that detect intruders by communicating telepathically with the magician, some temporarily merge with entire forests becoming collective plant consciousnesses.

Contract Magic establishes binding pacts that neither party can break without devastating consequences. It inscribes terms on scrolls or runes that activate when both parties accept. Contracts temporarily exchange abilities, allowing a warrior to gain magical knowledge in exchange for strength. They establish agreements where breach results in mana loss, negotiate with higher entities offering services in exchange for power, create unbreakable oaths, or seal peace where violation causes unbearable pain. Permanents transfer abilities permanently, draining the donor. Breaking them triggers penalties ranging from loss of abilities to instant death. Planetary Geomancy detects habitable worlds light-years away by sensing geological resonances; geomancers scan systems, identifying planets with active cores without probes; they terraform environments by rearranging crusts to create oceans or atmospheres in decades; they extract minerals from asteroids through levitation or transmutation, turning rocks into valuable metals; they stabilize volcanoes and earthquakes, preventing disasters; they create habitable caverns under the surface or magnetically floating islands; manipulating planets requires teams synchronized for years.
Alchemical transmutation rearranges molecular matter, converting basic elements into valuable resources, transforming minerals into precious metals, creating fuels from waste, synthesizing medicines instantly, purifying water by removing toxins, or converting poisons into antidotes by inverting chemical bonds. Masters manipulate isotopes, creating impossible materials such as metals lighter than air but stronger than steel. Complex transmutations require energy equivalence, making the creation of gold impractical as it consumes both mana and its value. Radioactive elements are prohibited due to the risk of explosions.

Guilds are groups of mages who unite to research a specific branch of magic. There are hundreds of guilds for every species in the universe. Guilds are self-funded by working for other guilds, governments, private entities, selling goods, and so on. Guilds are the main commercial players that constantly move money around. The most commonly used interspecies currency is called Nika; its plural is Nikas.

Species name: Nebulari.
Appearance of the Nebulari: Tall humanoids very similar to humans but with pointed ears and eyes with an iris that covers the entire eye.
Culture: Quite warlike and expansionist, always focused on the study of magic and strengthening its magic in all branches. (Humans often refer to them disparagingly as space elves.) Very proud of their magic, haughty, and slightly racist.
Magical specialization: Elemental Magic, Alchemical Transmutation, and Vitality
Number of inhabited planets: 15

Species name: Bolvari.
Appearance of the Nebulari: Short reptilian humanoids, scales that vary in 2 colors in each individual (possible colors: black, dark green, dark red, white (considered the most suitable for magic) and pink), they have a tail similar to that of crocodiles
Culture: They adapt to their environment out of habit, friendly to those who treat them well, very aggressive and ruthless to those who treat them badly, accustomed to being inside closed and dark spaces, expert builders and manufacturers.
Magical specialization: Planetary Geomancy and experts in Runic Artifice
Number of inhabited planets: 12

Species name: Zoreno
Appearance of the Zoreno: There are 3 Zoreno clans differentiated by their physical forms: Bon (Humanoid rabbits of short stature 1 meter 50 centimeters) specialized in Plant magic, the Van (Humanoid bats with skin wings) specialized in summoning magic and the Hor (Humanoids with black skin and variable horns) specialized in necromancy.
Culture: warlike among their clans, at war with each other for millennia (it is the only species that resembles humans in that respect), great traders and workers, very attached to their principles
Number of inhabited planets: 2

Species name: Plume.
Appearance of the Zoreno: Humanoids covered in feathers except on their faces, they have sharp facial features like predators, they have wings on their backs that vary according to age: at 15 they grow their first pair of wings and then they get another pair of wings every 20 years up to a maximum of 4 pairs of wings on the back and a small wing on each foot.
Culture: Hunters, they love to hunt exotic animals, predators, even space pirates. They don't get involved in wars because they no longer even have their own planet due to a very large meteorite. They are nomads and usually live in small communes with more of their species, although they always receive others with a smile.
Magical specialization: Healing and Star Magic.
Number of inhabited planets: 0

Species name: Octis.
Appearance of the Octis: The only semi-aquatic species that reached the space age, they are humanoids with gills, webbed hands and feet, greenish or bluish skin, faces almost without emotion (they have disturbingly long and black tongues), 4 eyes and from their lower backs come out 4 tentacles (like an octopus) one meter long each.
Culture: Spiritual pacifists (They believe in Nodiseop, which is their own planet according to their faith, worshipping it as a god), they are not interested in war although they are willing to defend themselves if necessary, they really like learning about other cultures (they stopped looking for other religions because all other species no longer have religions except humans).
Magical specialization: Elemental water magic (they always use it to be able to get out of the water without fear of dying, although that's why they are always sticky to the touch) and Healing.
Number of inhabited planets: 8

Species name: Trenk.
Appearance of the Octis: Without a real physical form, they change shape at will but always with that plant-like aspect. They are the only Phytocognitive species, meaning they evolved from a plant and not from an animal like the others. They often take humanoid form to make friends with others, although without clothes, which sometimes makes them somewhat indecent in that respect.
Culture: They tend to stick to people they like, they have the most inhabited planets because it is very easy for them to terraform planets, they are slightly warlike and slightly expansionist.
Magical specialization: Absolute experts in plant magic and very good at Planetary Geomancy (With both magics they terraform planets into jungle worlds with abundant flora)
Number of inhabited planets: 35

Species name: Exos
Appearance of the Exos: head and torso slightly humanoid although with great changes, they are humanoids mixed with thousands of types of insects and arachnids, there is a saying that says: "If it has an exoskeleton it is an Exos" because it is the only thing in common between any two Exos.
Culture: warlike, expansionist, militaristic. They grew up on a Class 1 deathworld (they are the only species, apart from humans, that was born from a deathworld), so they are much tougher, more determined, and more adaptable than others.
Magical specialization: Necromancy and Summoning
Number of inhabited planets: 11

Species name: Con-Tru
Appearance of the Con-Tru: The only species evolved from silicon, they look like stone golems, usually measuring two meters, but they vary in size, number of limbs and physical composition.
Culture: slightly warlike, with high reproduction and physical modification (they are the only race that can be modified with great ease and without danger due to their physiognomy), which varies greatly in aesthetics and utility; they tend to be silent and protective, but the women tend to be very talkative and lively.
Magical specialization: Runic Artifice and complete experts in earth elemental magic
Number of inhabited planets: 3

Species name: Humans.
Human Appearance: Humanoids with slight mechanical markings that vary greatly from individual to individual; they are the only ones with prosthetics, cyberware, etc.; they usually have internal biological enhancements and cyberware.
Culture: The only race born on a Class 5 death world called Earth, they are extremely variable in their way of being and treating others. They are the only species (except for the Zoreno, who are divided into three) that has not achieved a great unification and is divided into 100 countries (and now even planets). They are the only species with technology beyond the Middle Ages, but because of this, their lack of knowledge of magic until 50 years ago means their magic is very weak and they have little knowledge of it, except for spatial magic. Their technological and knowledge level is very high, so their constructions, work, etc. (although they still tend to use firearms) are usually extremely precise and efficient. They do not share their technology with others, except for simple and basic knowledge.
Magical Specialization: Spatial and Contract Magic
Number of inhabited planets: 7

The reason humans are the way they are—adaptable, fierce, creative, and emotionally volatile—stems from the simple fact that they are the only intelligent species to have evolved on a Rank 3 deathworld, an environment where every sunrise could kill and every mistake cost generations. This constant pressure molded bodies capable of withstanding toxins, minds trained to improvise under terror, and cultures that ritualize survival as their identity. While most civilizations arose on garden, mining, or agricultural worlds and managed to emerge from a Rank 5 by becoming, humans were born three steps above the acceptable threshold for intelligent life and still thrived. This heritage instilled in them a bias: to see danger as a challenge, chaos as an opportunity, and adversity as a teacher. When they finally achieved spacefaring technology and began colonizing, they didn't settle for friendly environments: today they live even on Rank 10 deathworlds, places where no other species can remain for more than minutes. There they build cities, rewrite ecosystems, and create entire industries out of sheer evolutionary stubbornness. The Earth's primordial harshness became a filter that selected resilience, strategic aggression, emotional plasticity, and an almost compulsive creativity, because every human lineage that failed to master danger disappeared; thus, humanity grew with the unconscious conviction that everything can be broken, reinvented, survived, or exploited, and that if a world wants to kill them, they must respond by making it their home, their fortress, or a springboard for their next evolutionary leap.

ONLY HUMANS POSSESS TECHNOLOGY BEYOND THE MIDDLE AGES. All species other than humans are at a medieval level of technology and knowledge. All their knowledge and development are based on magic, so their constructions, ships, goods, etc., all seem medieval with the unique style of each species but with improvements made with magic.

Humans are the only ones who know and have scientifically studied the phases of the magician's learning process in:
-Unconscious Incompetence: You don't know that you don't know. The apprentice is unaware of their inability to channel mana, believing that by intensely wishing they can manifest spells, without understanding that it requires disciplined training. Example: A novice tries to throw fireballs by imagining flames, unaware that they must learn to sense and draw Dark Matter, resulting only in frustration.
-Conscious Incompetence: You know that you don't know. The apprentice understands the vast amount of knowledge that is missing, recognizing that magic requires mana theory, precise gestures, words of power, and simultaneous visualization. This stage is exhausting and frustrating. Example: You manage to feel mana flowing, but manifesting it results in weak sparks or uncontrolled explosions, making you aware of how much you still need to master.
-Conscious Competence: You know that you know. You cast spells consistently, but each spell requires absolute concentration, reciting formulas, precise gestures, and distraction-free visualization; a wandering thought corrupts the spell. Example: You summon controlled flames, but you must concentrate on extracting Dark Matter, converting it into fire mana, shaping it, and projecting it while maintaining energetic balance.
-Unconscious Competence: You don't know that you know. Magic becomes a natural extension of yourself; spells flow instinctively without conscious concentration. Your body automatically converts Dark Matter into mana with memorized precision. You cast spells while conversing or fighting. For example: You reflexively manifest shields upon sensing danger, summon flames with a thought while arguing, and maintain multiple enchantments simultaneously without consciously remembering that you are sustaining them. Magic responds like breathing.