Fantasy Everyday Will Be Sunday: Fantasy Prohibition

[smallnscrappy]

Smokes!

You kids tell me if this has been done before and I shall move on to the next thing! Otherwise...This is something I have had kicking around for a while but have not had the opportunity to present to anyone.


“Sometimes young minds overflow.”



The year is 1920, across the Great Territories the Territorial Assembly has declared a ban on the importation, distribution, and manufacturing of alcoholic beverages, including any beverages containing magical elements intended for recreational purposes.

The Great Territories have become an economic boom town. Following a terrible global war, immigration to the fledgling nation is at an all time high. Cities are expanding at an astounding rate, factories churn out goods and products to be distributed worldwide however this wealth and prosperity comes at a cost. Social and racial tension rise, especially against the Germanic (nationality alternative pending) losers with a strong heritage of spirits and brewing. The Great Territories are center stage for economic development, however seeking to cure the ills of an overworked and overtired society seeking escape, the Revivalists, an eclectic religious group preached Dry Morality pushed the Prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

The moral crusade of the Revivalists was soon Championed by pietistic leaders of all faiths, political alignments and gained further traction with a national grassroots movement that carried Dry ideology from the crowded cities, into the agrarian heartlands.


World Building:

The setting is essentially 1920 America, the Great Territories is what I came up with but you are welcome to come up with something better. Feel free to think up names for other nations or regions, but to avoid confusion it may be easier to stick with nationalities we are familiar with. We can discuss!
Every nation has its own version of the fantasy races, as well as some that are unique.

For example, Germany will have German Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Halflings, maybe some Goblins, Giants, etc.,
Ireland will have Irish Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Halflings, and maybe Gnomes...

Think about the people immigrating before and during the roaring 20's. What brought them there? What challenges would they have faced? Were they escaping economic hardship? Were they seeking the promise of a brighter future? Are they wealthy socialites seeking the Territorial spotlight?

Magic
Yes! Of course there is magic, however its use will not be wide spread or very advanced. Most magical expertise is limited to artisans, craftsmen, physicians, military, officials of religious orders, or highly trained professionals. Higher magic is mystifying to the common person. As technology has caught up with magic, its just become more convenient to use a match than enchant an Ever Burning Ember to carry in a tin in your pocket. However! 'Household Magic' 'Kitchen Magic', and 'Gutter Magic' are all available to the common person and have been passed down from generation to generation. Mom's spell for banishing ghosts, grandma's incantation for patching the roof, dad's kick ass strength enhancing chant (super useful for fixing tractors), need to see in the dark? Uncle Larry has that written down somewhere. Additionally, characters of lineage or with certain backstory can have access to something called a Knack...an inherent ability.


The story? I am chipping away at that as we read, but let's talk about some of YOUR ideas. I want to hear your thoughts! Does any of this appeal to you?

This is potentially an in depth world building....mooky mook..ultra fun party.

 

[Stickdom]

Very interesting, I especially like the aspect of meshing the magic fantasy with the industrial revolution type of setting, I can see a lot of interesting story plot coming out of this. I'm game if you'll have me, I can already see the magical mafia and sorceror moonshiners lining up to get into this story. I've already got a few character ideas in mind, of the partially-magic variety, no grand warlocks or anything, just a few everyday wizards XD Something that comes to mind is what direction are you planning on taking the story? Are you looking more for characters for or against the prohibition? And if magic is a thing, why is alcohol still the focus of the prohibition? Surely there must be some enchanted alternatives that don't require alcohol, so it seems like the banning of just drink kinda doesn't fit with the setting as a whole, ya know? I could see there being an "anti-magic" prohibition, where the practice of magic itself is being limited and frowned upon, as cliche and commonplace as that plot has become over the years, in this setting it could be something pretty interesting to play around with. Especially if technology is on the rise, the industiral revolutionists may be in competition with the older-fashioned mages and wizards of the day, seeing magic itself as "intoxicating" or "addictive", which could create a pro- vs. non-magical tension, which I would find to be a very interesting story idea personally.

If you still want alcohol, magical or otherwise, to be the subject of the prohibition, the one thing I can think of is having a compelling reason why it has to be limited and restricted. The real life prohibition protests was actually more of a political/social experiment to clean up the streets and see if the effects of alcohol on society and especially the immigrant ethnic minorities were the cause for the bad economy and rampant poverty (an experiment which eventually failed as alcohol was reinstated) so maybe something similar with magic? Maybe they're trying to see if reducing/removing magic will improve society as technology is on the rise? Not saying you have to really change anything, just some thoughts on what direction you want to take the story and how you want to implement the premise Maybe not all magic is bad, but neither was all drinking alcohol and they still tried to ban it, so this story really has some potential to go any which way you'd like to take it

 

[smallnscrappy]

Fair points all, here is the thing, during the Prohibition there were still alternatives to alcohol. Opium, marijuana, cocaine, pain pills, hell we used all sorts of insane mind altering narcotics to chase away simple headaches and sprains. The idea of a magical Prohibition has been done before. I would like to stay away from that. There are of course, magical alternatives to alcohol, but how readily available are expensive magical items going to be to the average Joe working at the textile factory? After all, only the highly educated, highly trained, professionals/experts have access to that kind of arcane/magical know how. Sure, granny might know how to put together a halfway decent healing potion to patch up that skinned knee, but it would take an actual medical surgeon with access to valuable materials and knowledge to cast a resurrection spell or pull that bullet out of your buddy's spine. Magic is a technical skill, a craft, and a trade, it requires years of dedicated study and practice. Kitchen Magic, or Gutter Magic however might be the remnant of the old world magic...family spells or incantations might have been passed down from generation to generation. So, if you have a very strong family heritage, like gypsies, maybe you have better Kitchen Magic than most. Then there would be inherent magic, or Knacks. Certain races might have natural abilities that have survived modernization. Maybe you can light a flame in your palm, shatter a bottle from across a room, throw a small object...superficial weird stuff. Nothing crazy.

Over the counter 'remedies' were not the target of Prohibition because they served greater purpose. Yeah, you are totally right about cleaning up the streets. If you look into the Prohibition itself, people were traumatized by war, overworked, overtired, and looking for a cheap escape. Alcohol was rampantly abused. I am not an expert by any means, but just browsing the Wiki page and taking a history course on the topic, there is plenty of material to work with without 'banning magic'.

 

[smallnscrappy]

As far as which way the story goes, I am still working on the overall plot, but I have a few quick ideas I can share that maybe you can muddle over. Ideally I'd like to see if we could build or tear down an empire. You can be Pro-Dry, or Pro-Wet! Work as a police officer, a politician, some sort of religious figure, or even a local shop keeper who is happy to have some peace and quiet. Or on the flip side you could be a German dwarf with post war trauma and a score to settle, alcohol is your only friend.

Maybe you are a young upstart, you want to make a name for yourself in this town. You hear there is good money to be made smuggling liquor. There are limitless character backstories to choose from. I could see a group of characters banding together to build and underground bar, united by the loss of something important...a factory burning down, a crackdown on a slum, the destruction of an ethnic neighborhood, racial tension...

Maybe someone is in love, they want to impress the person they are in love with, some socialite, so they convince their friends to create the hottest club in town. Its more difficult than they ever expected.

The bank is going to take the family farm. Its all your family has or has ever had. You take a job as a smuggler and build the biggest distribution chain on the east coast, until the competition shows up....

Just a few ideas! I can go on.

 

[Stickdom]

Yeah, I figured all of that at first glance, and I’ve been browsing the Wikipedia for inspiration too. I was really more curious if you were looking to aim towards the more generic “Magic Prohibition” or the “Prohibition, But there’s magic”, if that makes sense XD I can totally vibe with he direction you’re going and I still want in on it, keep me posted with details and plotification stuff as you churn it out, I’ll be more than happy to give my input to make this a really cool story, not that it already isn’t a unique and fascinating angle to take take already

 

[smallnscrappy]

A cookie for you!

Yes, I want to stay away from Magic Prohibition. That ship has set sail!

This is "Prohibition! But there is magic!" Which I find incredibly entertaining. So far you are the only taker. I may set this on the shelf and develop it further. Alternatively, now that the post has been boosted? maybe it will attract additional input.

I loved Lawless, 1931 backwoods bootlegging.

Small town, country bumpkin half elves brewing illegal moonshine is just...awesome. Malybe there are very special and very rare magically infused liquors that are worth just stupid amounts of money. Akvavit spiced with sacred herbs, used in rituals for forgotten gods etc...

 

[Stickdom]

I think one of the aspects I'm most interesting in myself is the different facets of society at that time and how they would function differently if magic was on the market. Sweatshops are now picking up a handful of talented magic users and basically squeezing their magic sponge to keep their rundown factory in production. Mobsters running enchantment hustles and playing numbers on the magic stock market. Immigrants into the country bringing their little mom-and-pop spells with them and trying to make a living with their "Old World magic" in a "New World society". How having access to magic may have influenced/caused the future Great Depression at the end of the 20s and what would have lead up to that.

Plus, the 1920s America sense of fashion is bar none one of my favorites, you've got suave hats and sharp jackets, flappers and swing dancing, the birth and rise of jazz culture, the opression of factory jobs and post-war society recovering itself. Ugh, it's all so tantalizing that I don't know where to start building a character, I have so many good ideas, I can't pick one, but I don't want to make fifty! XD

 

[smallnscrappy]

Haha! You and me both. I have one, he is pretty cool. Worst case scenario (shoot or best) if no one else is interested, we could attempt a 1x1. We would have to be very invested in the world building.

I had toyed with the idea of players vs. DM/GM, but I am not entirely sure how that would work. Like bootleggers and brewers versus DM controlled law enforcement and rivals.

 

[Stickdom]

Well, I’m always 100% invested in world building, so I’m down for a 1x1 if you’d like and we can even add more players in as they become interested. I’m not so sure about “Vs. GM”, more like “GM oversight in a player-guided world”, where you present choices for different story directions and the characters themselves choose how to go about it. I play VERRRRRY in character, even if I know something’s an obvious set up or it could turn out badly, I still write the actions as my character would do at that moment, so it might be interesting to see how that would play out.

If you want to play out a 1x1, I have a handful of characters I could bring out and play them together but indepentantly, I have one character in mind who would probably be my “main” character and then one or two side characters that might make things interesting and offer some more opportunities for different choices to be made, even against each other if the occasion arises :3

 

[Stickdom]

And the main character I have in mind is kind of both sides of the coin, basic synopsis is a down-on-his-luck supernatural detective, so he is still a man of the law, but the liquor makes it easier to do his job XD The other characters I have in mind would be people around him who know him, his Chinese immigrant assistant, perhaps also an old police officer buddy or a childhood friend.

I especially like the idea of the detective because he could have come from pretty much any background, he’s on both sides of the law, he believes in justice but also feels like he knows when something is small enough to let it slide. He could have friends in high and low places, clients of all shapes and stories, and plus the opportunity to Play out 1920s magic investigations sounds really fun to me XD Thoughts?

 

[smallnscrappy]

Whoa...these are really good. I like where this is headed.

I have an Austro-Hungarian half-elf veteran who immigrated from his homeland in search of a future outside of farming. Traumatized, but also hardened by the warfront, he found plenty of opportunity in the city working as an enforcer, security, or any other job in need of hired muscle. Still chewing over any inherent abilities or family magic and fleshing out additional details.

Want to chat tonight over private message?

 

[Stickdom]

Yeah, we can do that, or even chat it out here so any future potential players can get in on the action too

 

[smallnscrappy]

This is a good plan.

Magic investigations! "The mistress was murdered! His wife summoned a demon with a forbidden spell stolen from a historical archive!"
E-gads!
"The butler sacrificed a ram with a ceremonial knife! The blood is all over the persian carpet."

 

[Stickdom]

Or even more mundane stuff like “I can’t find my family’s heirloom locket, it’s enchanted with memories of my home country.” “Well, let me just cast a seeking spell and we’ll see what comes up.” XD I want to give him some kind of magic that has precognition or... crap, I can’t think of the word XD The thing where by being in a certain place or touching an object, you can “read” things about it or see a little into its future/past.

 

[smallnscrappy]

Ohhhh, I know what you are talking about. Perception or intuition or something like that! He has an inside or maybe even supernatural glimpse of an objects history or aura. That is a really cool idea.

I am still doing resesrch on this. This half elf has an odd knack for survival or a kind of "Luck". He is from a minority group of Austro-Hungarian mystics (Jewish, Romani?) steeped in closely guarded secrets and traditions based on the laws of an old world god. They speak a hybridized dialect, a blend of a largely dead language spoken by their forefathers and the current common language of the country. They are not a well liked minority in any country, often percieved as liars, cowards, tricksters, thieves, and evil wizards.

He knows generations of spells and incantations, some of them possibly undocumented, though he lacks quality materials to execute the most powerful.

 

[blqkmoon]

Interested!​

 

[smallnscrappy]

Hey! We hooked another one in. Alright! Have you read through everything? Any thoughts?

 

[Derpy Dev]

I'm going to join, I'm going to play a ghost, she will be a bartender, and yes, she will lift your spirits

Quick question though, how hard would it be for her to be in possession of a fake human body/homunculus that she can use as a vessel?

 

[blqkmoon]

Hey! We hooked another one in. Alright! Have you read through everything? Any thoughts?

It sounds absolutely amazing, and I'm really excited to be a part of it! I'm thinking of playing as a young girl who is trying to take up witchcraft, but maybe isn't the greeeaaaatest at it. Is that a possibility?​

 

[Stickdom]

I'm going to join, I'm going to play a ghost, she will be a bartender, and yes, she will lift your spirits

Quick question though, how hard would it be for her to be in possession of a fake human body/homunculus that she can use as a vessel?

Well, I’m not sure how a ghost character would work out, there’d have to be some reason she’s still active(?). I mean, it might be kinda cool If there was some kind of accident or something where she’s just a spirit because something happened to her body, so she has to “borrow” someone else’s. Considering it’s the ‘20s, she could come across some mobster murder victim or something, or maybe a road-killed cat, something interesting like that XD

 

[smallnscrappy]

Great idea! However I would prefer to keep characters within the realm of the living. Elves, dwarves, half elves, humans, gnomes, halflings. Call me traditional, but if we throw too many wacky characters into this it can get confusing and out of control. Id like to keep a consistent aesthetic across the board.

As stated before:

Different races from different countries. Think of the cultural differences between Example: French Dwarves and English Dwarves

Other things to consider;

How has industrial revolution changed your character's culture or race? Job? What hardships are they facing?

How were they affected by WWI? The worst lost of life ever experienced in modern history. Historically speaking, we are still feeling the psychological aftershock. Shellshocked men return home with PTSD, turn to alcohol, drug abuse...etc

What does your character stand to gain or lose now that the Volstead Act has passed?(Prohibition)

 

[smallnscrappy]

It sounds absolutely amazing, and I'm really excited to be a part of it! I'm thinking of playing as a young girl who is trying to take up witchcraft, but maybe isn't the greeeaaaatest at it. Is that a possibility?​

This is absolutely a possibility. She would be a student with one of the universities or an apprentice under a physician, artisan, or specialist, alternatively she could join a religious order.

 

[Derpy Dev]

Great idea! However I would prefer to keep characters within the realm of the living. Elves, dwarves, half elves, humans, gnomes, halflings. Call me traditional, but if we throw too many wacky characters into this it can get confusing and out of control. Id like to keep a consistent aesthetic across the board.

As stated before:

Different races from different countries. Think of the cultural differences between Example: French Dwarves and English Dwarves

Other things to consider;

How has industrial revolution changed your character's culture or race? Job? What hardships are they facing?

How were they affected by WWI? The worst lost of life ever experienced in modern history. Historically speaking, we are still feeling the psychological aftershock. Shellshocked men return home with PTSD, turn to alcohol, drug abuse...etc

What does your character stand to gain or lose now that the Volstead Act has passed?(Prohibition)

Ah well okay. I'll think of something else. Mostly just wanted her to be a ghost because of the pun, but I still like the character I have in my head so...

 

[smallnscrappy]

Ah well okay. I'll think of something else. Mostly just wanted her to be a ghost because of the pun, but I still like the character I have in my head so...

Alright, given that liquor and alcohol are illegal, where is the bartender working? Who do they work for? Why?

Saloons and bars still entertain and serve food, historically speaking.

We will need a backstory with some contextual accuracy.

 

[Derpy Dev]

Alright, given that liquor and alcohol are illegal, where is the bartender working? Who do they work for? Why?

Saloons and bars still entertain and serve food, historically speaking.

We will need a backstory with some contextual accuracy.

Presumably a speakeasy. Banning something does not make it inaccessible, which the prohibition kinda stands as proof of.

Why? I bet just because it's a fun job that lets you meet a lot of people and pays well. I imagine this character being a fairly talkative one that likes to hear stories, so she'd mostly be a supportive character. One that doesn't get involved in other's plot lines directly.