Magical Realm Cyoa/Diaspora/System

System of the World

One of the fundamental differences between Diaspora and the other realms is that its nature, physical structure and theme really create radical change in how things work. While outwardly Diaspora appears to have the same natural and physical laws as the rest of the universe, this is not actually the case.

There is no gravity in Diaspora, because if all mass was attracted to all other mass in the same physical location, then all of the dirt and water and other material in each of the 'Dyson Spheres' that make up the realm would accumulate in the center of each reality-bubble, rather than around its outer edge. Instead, there is a constant acceleration of 10 meters per second away from the center point of each bubble which provides an effect which is nearly indistinguishable from gravity, but is not gravity.

You'll note that the above effect would prevent a sun from forming to provide light and heat in Diaspora. That is true, and the shining point of light in the skies above each realm of Diaspora may be suns from the inhabitants perspectives, but scientifically they are not stars.

I'll leave the other physical differences between Diaspora and the regular universe as exercises for the imagination, and instead discuss the most important difference for the Players - the 'Character' system. Upon entering the realm of Diaspora, a person is 'assimilated' by the universe to be a 'Character'. There is no distinction between PC and NPC, and while Realm Lords and other powerful beings can actively prevent this effect, it manifests in unassimilated individuals as a continuous itching sensation over their entire body, and all creatures who have been assimilated by the realm will see an unassimilated as a horrific 'non-person' and fundamentally wrong.

Being assimilated and having a 'Character' means three things: 1) A Character Sheet complete with 'status' screen, as shown on the main page. 2) An Inventory system, again shown on the main page 3) A Skills list with descriptions of all active and passive skills

Each of these is described below in detail. Note that the only one of the above which is not purely descriptive in nature is the Inventory - which does not need to be used, but makes many things simpler. There are complete descriptions for all 3 'effects' below.

Attributes

Each Character Sheet comes with six attributes:

Short	Name	Description
str	Strength	Strength is a measure of a person's physical power. Strong people hit harder, are better at lifting, and are generally more physically able. As a Character's strength increases, they gain access to skills and powers which improve damage, melee combat, carrying capacity and may even increase the size of their inventory. Strength based special abilities also allow for alternative means of damaging creatures or items, such as the ability to crush, tear or break.
vit	Vitality	Vitality is a measure of a person's health and fitness. Vital people are tougher, can go longer without rest, and heal more quickly. As a Character's vitality increases, they gain access to skills and powers which boost stamina, reduce damage taken, improve their healing rate and may even grant regeneration. Vitality based special abilities can also prevent certain types of damage, such as broken bones or bleeding.
agi	Agility	Agility is a measure of a person's reflexes and speed. Agile people are faster, better able to dodge, and have better hand-eye coordination. As a character's agility increases, they gain access to skills and powers which boost movement, improve evasion, increase accuracy and may even grant or improve specialist skills like stealth and slight of hand. Agility based special abilities and attacks rely on coordination and timing to produce results better than what brute force alone would be capable of, such as disabling attacks and improving critical hits.
int	Intelligence	Intelligence is a measure of a person's cleverness and speed of thought. Intelligent people think faster, have higher mana capacity and find learning new skills easier. As a character's intelligence increases they gain access to skills and powers that boost mana capacity, improve initiative, make spells more powerful and may even grant 'meta-skills' that affect other skills and skill use in general. Intelligence based special abilities and attacks generally rely on mana so can be thought of as 'natural' spells, like Mana Shield (which absorbs physical blows by diverting HP damage to MP).
wis	Wisdom	Wisdom is a measure of a person's willpower and decision making ability. Wise people make better decisions, regenerate mana more quickly, and are more difficult to sway with deceptive arguments or mind-altering spells. As a character's wisdom increases they gain access to skills and powers that boost mana regeneration, grant insight into themselves and others, allow them to project confidence and may even allow them to generate a mystical aura (effects of aura vary based on individual). Wisdom based special abilities allow the user to make better choices by allowing them to pierce deceptions and illusions, or grant extreme recovery speeds for other abilities.
luk	Luck	Luck is a measure of a person's fortune. Lucky people find that the world tends to work in their favor. Luck is the most esoteric of the attributes and does not generally grant special skills and abilities when raised. However, scholars are aware that a number of secret skills and magics rely on a high level of luck - though access to these is also limited by situations and have other requirements. Because the lucky do not often find themselves being questioned extensively by scholars, little else is known about luck.

When first given a character sheet, these attributes are literally just estimated descriptions of the attributes a person already has. An average score for a normal human on earth is 20. The scores themselves range from 1 and up, with no specific upper end. Ability score increases are linear - a Character with a strength of 20 can lift twice as much as a Character with a strength of 10.

Each Level (see below) a person gains gives 5 attribute points which can be applied on their Character sheet. The Sheet itself tracks these points, as well as the attribute changes. Once applied to an attribute, the points are forever gone, and there is no 'undo' or 'cancel' which can restore them. This is because attribute points, applied to attributes, cause a fundamental change in the individual - the increased scores is not a magical effect so much as the reality of the individual changing so that they do actually have the capabilities listed on their sheet. Again, a Realm Lord or other powerful individual can resist this change - but permanent attribute increases of this type are always a net gain.

Attribute increases may also come from training, quests of special events. For example, if a man lifts weights from a long time without stopping, then their strength will increase by 1. The time required for this is proportional to their current strength, and the weight needed to cause an increase is also proportional to that strength, so as a person's strength increases it becomes more and more difficult to raise. The same applies to every other attribute. Luck is the only attribute which cannot be actively raised this way - gambling and winning do not increase luck.

Some effects can permanently decrease attributes, but those decreases are representative of the effects and not the other way around. For example, if a magical effect causes a wasting disease to reduce someone's muscles at very fast rate, their strength score would decrease proportionally. This is not the universe causing reduced muscle mass through a lower score, but rather the universe tracking a change in a persons score.

Because the attributes of a person are maintained by the realm's theme, so long as a person remains within Diaspora their Character's attributes are never reduced without direct (and generally magical) cause. That is to say, a man can get their strength up to 100 through exercise, and then lay on a couch eating potato chips and never moving for the next fifteen years. At the end of that time, in any other universe, their strength would be greatly reduced - but in Diaspora their strength score would still be 100, and they would still be able to lift as much weight as just after they had stopped exercising.

Those who leave Diaspora will change naturally based on whatever universal rules they are in, and will have their attribute scores re-evaluated when they come back to Diaspora.