Forged for Justice! is a Play-by-Post Game, hosted on TVtropes and created by Kkutwar. The plot centers around the player characters' evolution into certified heroes- Or potentially villains. Whatever the ultimate outcome is, the adventures they have in this Fantasy Kitchen Sink reality is meant to get them there. To that end each of the players start out as students of the Justice Forgers, either learning at their academy directly or getting into adventures their own to prove themselves.
However, the world is far from perfect: With the existence of magic and advanced science, comes conflicts of all forms- Threats too varied to consistently stop, racial and cultural conflicts anytime a new species becomes known to Earth, and enigmatic mysteries that could turn the world on top of its head. Yet the Justice Forgers stand out, as a beacon of hope- Maintaining the safety of this world as they work to make it better.
Though, what threats will have their day? The destructive Authority Breakers, seeking to tear the world down as they stand on top? Bizarre evolutions of humanity's lost colonies, seeing the world as theirs? Rogue individuals and organizations, possessing no clue or care of the forces they toy with? Or perhaps, worst of all... The return of the Suppression Gods?
Yet whatever comes their way, will the heroes of tomorrow stand victorious? Will they resort to whatever means necessary? Shall they escape into a life of normalcy? Or will they become threats to the world as well? Much as it is a place for forging justice, these answers too must be found & created.
Tropes applying to Forged for Justice!:
- Alchemy Is Magic: To the point Alchemy is just the process of weaving magical effects into a physical medium to be used whenever- Thus constructing items & preparing food whilst infusing them with magic is just as valid as drawing runes or concocting potions. However, the fact Alchemy puts magic into a physical medium heightens the inherent dangers of magic, which somehow draws individuals who want to 'cheat' at magic to get better results.
- All Myths Are True: To an extent, as many ancient stories from the past turn out to be either distorted remembrance of actual historical events- Or turn out to really be just stories. The exact difference between story & reality varies extremely, and whether some were mistakenly applied to other real individuals or not is also up in the air. Of course, the fact some individuals decide to create their own version of people or things from these stories further gets in the way.
- All There in the Manual: Lots of the setting information is provided on the Signups, most of it on the very opening post though more scattered about in response to questions or Kkutwar feeling compelled to offer additional information. The Discussion also provides some information on the classes and facilities of the Adyta academy.
- Anatomy of the Soul: The Mind & The Heart are the two generalized halves, the Mind governing all action whilst the Heart governs all emotion. Life Energy is specifically the "fuel" for the soul, with too little or too much having consequences. Dreams in and of themselves are merely a byproduct of the soul's ability to grow, whereas the True Name is one's ability to recognize their identity. Finally, the Body is the soul's natural physical medium, which'll reject any foreign souls if it isn't prevented from doing so.
- Animorphism:
- The 2nd Magic Inducing Pulse produced the Homo Sapiens Animalia, the potential result of any human conception since 1960. The exact appearance of each Homo Animalia varies wildly, and some even possess traits from multiple different non-human creatures. Furthermore, they may possess abilities in direct relation to the animalistic traits that they possess.
- There are, of course, numerous other examples of humanoid individuals possessing beastly traits- Many of which are admittedly Homunculi and Fantasticals outright, though hardly the only ones.
- Anti-Magic:
- Downplayed, as most individuals resort to specific counterspells than attempting an all-purpose means of magical nullification. Add in the fact magic is the process of defying reality, means it is impossible to prevent without using more magic- Thus one can't truly eliminate magic, only suppress it at best.
- The Absolution of Zero Degree can deactivate the usage of other Absolutions, though not anything affected or produced by them. Still, given the common belief magic was created by Absolutes, it has been hypothesized a sufficiently advanced Zero Degree could be used to negate any work of magic.
- Dawn of an Era: While the presence of Absolutes had been well known, magic proper didn't exist for the longest time- Until someone with the Absolution of Creation constructed that spiritual medium. Thus humanity prospered into an advanced civilization, existing beyond Earth, and even creating brand new species as their equals- Whilst humanity itself quickly became something more than they ever could have dreamed. However, it wouldn't last...
- Defictionalization: An In-Universe occurrence, it really kicked off once human & mysterian civilization met, though there were cases in the past. Whilst the initial Defictionalizers were mostly hardcore fans, they've since been overtaken by more "casual" individuals doing this for fun or people actively making a profit off of Defictionalization. Thus the "purists" are regularly at odds with them, but are currently stuck as a minority overall.
- De-power: Serum Purgers were explicitly created for such, being used to strip biological enhancements away from individuals. Though Serum Purgers are only effective until the Bio-Augmentation has fully stabilized within a person, at which point it can't take their powers away- But it'll still hurt like hell.
- Differently Powered Individual:
- Absolutes are those who possessed the fortune to be born with an Absolution (or the audacity to steal one), mysterious abilities of all kinds that existed before magic itself did. Whilst the usefulness and potency varies extremely, all Absolutes have a natural advantage weaving magical energy- Though it doesn't help if they're unable to first perform magic.
- Magicyst are the individuals who specifically gained their abilities from the Magic Inducing Pulses, with their bodies being infused with magic. Though some Magicyst may have experienced physical mutation, they're usually normal humans. Wave One Magicyst are specifically those affected by the original Pulse or their descendants, whilst Wave 2 is the same regarding the third & latest Pulse.
- End of an Age: ...As be it the creator of magic itself or any other explanation, beings more powerful than ever before took magic away from humanity and put an end to their empire. Deprived of that power, humanity was cruelly thrust back into a mundane world, the threat of these "Suppression Gods" eventually leaving their descendants unaware of magic and the true history of their world. Though the one positive is that, desperate to have their glory back, humanity became obsessed with developing scientifically.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Almost literally when it comes to Fantasticals, the catch-all term for beings who exist that way because of magic such as Elves & Harpies. Exact opinions vary greatly on the Fantastical species, and the humans themselves- Such as early humans wanting to make Slave Race fantasticals or them dismissing the fantasticals' rights because of their created existence. Whilst modern opinions are still highly varied, they're more positive in tone since the fantasticals of Mysteria were able to develop their own cultures.
- Modern artificially created entities, on the other hand, are subject to many of the same early racist opinions humans had of Fantasticals- Their rights being dismissed, treated as property, and used as slaves by their creators. Whilst Artificials are technically treated mostly like Humans & Fantasticals, they've become the primary victims of non-personal crimes ("Can't commit a crime if it ain't a person") and if made too powerfully by an unlicensed creator may even be legally executed.
- Homunculi, and to a lesser extent Golems, can get this the worst- Lacking a soul as humans and fantasticals understand it, means people will dismiss them as merely complexly designed constructs. Even those artificially given a soul aren't treated much better, these bigots deciding that's just admitting they're lesser beings without it.
- Homo Animalia, surprisingly enough, are mainly only discriminated against because people mistake them for a Fantastical/Artificial or assume they're Half-Human Hybrid born from adultery. The most they get to genuine large-scale discrimination are people fearful of whatever caused the Magic Inducing Pulses to begin with, meaning Animalia and Magicyst are frequently discriminated together.
- Freak Lab Accident: Invoked by people who want to obtain greater magic than they could normally perform. Naturally, the regular outcomes are explosions, things having Gone Horribly Wrong, or nothing occurring whatsoever. However, the rare occurrences of this succeeding keeps drawing people to the practice, as those who succeed or surpass their expectations are often capable of extremely difficult if not nigh-impossible magical feats.
- Functional Magic: Though it is more of a medium for the soul than a power unto itself, with the use of magic one can bend reality to their will- However, most people lack such freakishly powerful souls, meaning they have to take whatever measures they can to ease the process. Thus it isn't uncommon to see a mage study the science behind an effect they're wanting to perform, or utilizing a medium that resonates strongly with them personally. Nonetheless, the applications of magic have allowed people to craft scientifically impossible things, or at the least simplify the process.
- Future Imperfect: Through a combination of factors such as lost knowledge or information becoming distorted, nobody has a good understanding of pre-Suppression society. Even the more well known information, like magic having been created or the existence of the Suppression Gods, can end up wildly debated. Not helping matters is how it seems to become progressively more difficult the further one tries to go back in time, preventing historian mages from just conjuring up the answers.
- Golem: Essentially the magical version of robots, Golems are any constructs put together by magic- With a Core that maintains an individual golem's existence. The exact nature of a Golem varies based on their creator's will, and thus technically means a Golem can be made from anything. Much like Homunculi though, they appear to lack a soul no matter how intelligent and emotional they are- Though being specifically constructs, Golems are more likely to be found being employed in mundane ways.
- Mass Super-Empowering Event:
- The three Magic Inducing Pulses are the most well-known modern examples in-universe, creating both the Magicysts and Homo Animalia. Though whilst the 1st MIP empowered mostly inanimate objects and produced (comparatively) Weak, but Skilled Magicyst, the 3rd seems to have affected anything it could and gifted them with incredibly more potent abilities.
- There have also been other incidents where people gained powers, many of which were either inspired by the Magic Inducing Pulses or were outbreaks of Wild Magic- Such as player character Conchobar Coolidge.
- Mundane Utility: For a given definition, as the various forms of magic and advanced science are regularly employed for commercial applications & societal reasons.
- Never Was This Universe: Prior to 1940 human civilization (seems to) resembles ours pretty well, with the drastic changes only beginning to happen afterwards. However, prior to the Suppression of Magic humanity was an advanced civilization spanning beyond Earth itself, having even explicitly created magic. Add in the various lost colonies, Mysteria, and whatever groups went into hiding and you get a really different world. To top it all off, if it wasn't for the Suppression Gods, humanity would barely if at all resemble our reality.
- Our Elves Are Different: They're certainly either more beautiful or longer lived than the average human, anyways. Like other beings "Elf" is more of a title that qualifying individuals are labelled under, and other than beauty & longevity/agelessness the original elves weren't really better than humans. Following the spread of magic & post-Suppression cultural evolution though, there's now numerous different races or even just individuals calling themselves elves.
- Our Gods Are Different: Every known account seems to be a created or exalted natural being for starters. Whilst many higher tier individuals may claim the title, there are multiple factors into truly being labelled one: Possessing something "more" than the average being (such as Complete Immortality or effortless command of magic), enough sheer power to at least destroy cities, and optionally being tied to magic itself in some manner (like being willed into existence from it, their existence affected by it, or being created from spellcraft). The truest example known to all would be the Suppression Gods, not a single entity able to resist or overcome these beings.
- Our Homunculi Are Different: Being specifically any being made from magic, Homunculi are essentially intelligent spells in that regard- Capable of effortlessly performing feats of magic without consequence. However, the specific nature and abilities of a Homunculus is completely dependent on their creator. Furthermore, being constructs of magic, means the normal Homunculus lacks the ability to manipulate magic- As well as appear soulless no matter how intelligent and emotional they are. Both these traits, however, can be overcome if their creator puts in the effort- Though most Homunculi are able to work magical items just fine.
- Our Liches Are Different: Liches are, strictly speaking, any individual who has dragged their soul into the physical realm in an effort to make them better spellcasters. If done poorly or even not perfectly a lich's body will suffer in some manner, be that decay or technical death status. However, skilled enough individuals are able to remain indistinguishable from those who left their soul alone. Thus, many liches just straight up fuse their body and soul together since it requires the least effort. Though, all liches are therefore more vulnerable to soul-affecting magics, and have to carefully protect their physical medium if they want to avoid Cessation of Existence.
- Our Vampires Are Different: In that it is more of a generic term than anything, specifically meaning any individual that needs, benefits from, or is forced to feed on something essential to others. Whilst that includes the standard "bloodsucker", the precise abilities and nature of anything labelled "Vampire" varies extremely.
- Our Wights Are Different: They're specifically anything that should be impossible by the ways of science and magic as they're known. Thus places and items can be wights as well. Many Wights are products of reckless use of magic, though the fact some Wights aren't even a little magical complicates things.
- The Dreaded: The Suppression Gods, singlehandedly responsible for suppressing the usage of magic and breaking up the connections of humanity's cross-planetary empire. Their sheer unstoppable nature and raw power alone was sufficient for the remaining individuals aware of magic to hide, as Mysteria (amongst other examples) didn't dare return to human lands despite the Suppression Gods having seemingly vanished. Even the fact Earth's magical presence has so far gone unhindered doesn't stop some individuals, certain the Suppression Gods will return or more idealistically think they're just waiting for humans & fantasticals alike to cross some forbidden line.
- The Magic Comes Back:
- Zigzagged, as magic itself didn't go away, but humanity was denied its power so long most of them prior to 1940 didn't believe in it. Thus the original Magic Inducing Pulse and Mysteria making contact with them merely made them aware of it again. Mysteria themselves retained their usage of magic just fine, merely too paranoid to return prior.
- It is also Inverted, as in the beginning magic didn't even exist- Thus resulting in "The Birth of Magic" when an Absolute of Creation or other Absolutes creatively worked together to invent it.
