Falling through the Cracks (WIP, PEACH)

[Rogthnor]

So I had an idea for a setting the other day, and I'm posting it here for help fleshing it out. It's also a fairly free-form setting, so feel free to add to it if you like.

It's a modern fantasy setting, based on two-fisted tales, pulp fiction, and Noir films. Not setting specific, though I use a highly modified FATE core system when running it.

[Rogthnor]

Slipping through the Cracks:

Have you ever walked through Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November?You're not sure when it happened, but at some point things changed. The wind is just a touch colder than usual, it's howl just a little eerier.
But you keep walking, it's late, and you want to get home, go to bed, and put this whole miserable day behind you.
As you walk, things get worse and worse, the buildings crowd closer together, and seem to loom drunkenly over you, until their tops almost meet in the center. The air gets colder and colder, and fewer people can be seen on the streets. You've fallen through the cracks.

"The Fairy Realm", "The Unknown", "The Dreaming", "The Neverwhere and Neverwas", "Wonderland", their are as many names as their are people who have visited it, but the most common one is simply "Backstage".

"Backstage" is a part of our world, as real as sewer gators and the moon landing; but it is also a part from it. It's an expansion and a reflection, existing in the deep jungles, the dark alleys, the tropical islands and at the tops of skyscrapers in Dubai. It exists at the fringes of our world, a distorted, fun house reflection of our world.

Backstage exists in places of extremes, and places of magic, for they are one and the same. It exists on the fringes of the world, and anyone can go there. The closer sections of the Backstage are indistinguishable from the ordinary world, but the further in you go, the weirder and more extreme things get. This is because the distinction between the two worlds is purely academic. They aren't two worlds. The Backstage of the Jungle is just a deeper, more magical section of the Jungle, as much a part of it as anything else.

[Rogthnor]

Shaping Backstage

The Backstage is a place of magic, full of fey, and vampires, and demons and gods, and these beings shape it's existence. The Backstage reflects it's inhabitants as much as it reflects the real world. If the Backstage represents a dark area of the world, it draws those creatures to it, and the take up residence there. The very presence of such creatures further warping the area to match their nature.

Peoples effect on the Backstage
The Nature of it's inhabitants effects the Nature of the Place, this is one of the primary laws of the Universe. The homes of Angels are places of light, and beauty, and peace. Vampires live in decadent cities or mansions, dark and foreboding, and tempting as only evil and power can be. Sauron lives in a blasted hellscape.
These things are not coincidences, but rather examples of cause and effect. As the concentration of magic in an area rises, it becomes more mutable, reflecting the nature of it's inhabitants.

The speed and severity of this process depends on the concentration of magic in the area. For example, Vampires are relatively weak, magically speaking. Barely more than human plus. Even a dozen Vampires in one place won't cause it to warp in a noticeable manner. Over the period of several years, the area might become more decadent and wealthy, even as basic repairs are neglected, but nothing outside human norms.
In contrast Sauron's presence causes immediate changes. The sky becomes overcast, the buildings no longer cut stone, but great basalt slabs, roughly carved into basic shapes. Guns become jagged swords shot through with red. Fear grips the populace as the full weight of his malevolence is made known to them. It's possible to reduce, or even eliminate these effects, but any overt use of power will cause them to manifest.

Law of Inertia
It is important to note that this is a constant, building effect. A large source of magic, or several small sources, embeds itself in an area causing a gradual change. Any new sources that attempt a change must fight against the current creation.

One of the most important aspects of the Backstage is this, creatures of power bring it with them. The Backstage exists anywhere vast magic exists, and the more magic is in an area, the deeper into the backstage that area is. This is what makes it so hard for creatures of vast power to interact with the world, as their very presence changes it.
It is possible to change where a given section of the Backstage connects to by changing it's nature, but this is a long process involving creatures living in a hostile environment, and so rarely happens.

It's worth noting that humans create this effect as well, though very weakly. However, their are a lot of us, and so our weak effect adds up. This is why, for instance, places of worship are so comforting, as the belief in the area serves to actually make it more holy.

The Effect of the Backstage on it's Inhabitants
The Nature of the Place effects the Nature of it's Inhabitants. Like calls to like, and similar areas of the backstage call to similar inhabitants. Vampires are drawn to old, decrepit mansions, and angels are drawn to churches. Their is no magical compulsion in effect, rather these places just feel like home. As more creatures take up residence in an area, the concentration of similar beings causes it to take on more extreme form, drawing in more, and more powerful, creatures.

[Rogthnor]

The Masquerade
Three ensure that most people aren't aware of supernatural goings on.

The Fringe
The simple fact of the matter is that the really supernatural things don't happen where people can see them. Even the most mundane aspects of Backstage exists on the fringes of society, the deep forests, the really bad section of town. Most people who accidentally wander Backstage tend to wander back out. It's obvious that they are moving deeper into the desert, or that this isn't the section of town they wanted to go to, that sort of thing. And the parts that are close to the world aren't blatantly supernatural. Vampires are just weird ritual murderers, that werewolf is just some dog they gave 'roids for dogfighting. The kind of stuff that is easily explained. E Which leads us to the second reason.

The Change
The really blatantly supernatural stuff? Balrogs, Fairy Armies, Nazi Vampires attacking London with a Zeppelin Fleet. That much magic in the world makes it the backstage, and the infrastructure changes to match. Take the Fairy Armies for example. When they make an appearance, the city world changes. Small towns houses become thatched roof cottages, the road is know a dirt one, cars are horse and buggy, cops are knights that sort of thing. Cameras, become paint and easel, which isn't very good proof. Now it's possible to get proof, the objects change back once thing are done, but you still have to perform the right action. You want a picture of what just happened, you better start painting on that easel, and if it's crap, then so is your picture. It's hard to prove something happened when all you have is one blurry photo.

The Coverup
That's right, there's a coverup. The government doesn't want you to know that Backstage exists, and they have a very good reason. The more people who believe in it, the more likely it is to enter our world. The Nature of the Place reflects the Nature of the Inhabitants, remember? So if enough people know about Backstage, they are liable to go there. It's happened before. Whole neighborhoods learn about Backstage in a way they just can't rationalize. Enough of them are gathered in a small enough area, and then boom, the whole place disappears. What do you think happened to Roanoke? They ended up somewhere deep backstage, and never made it back out. Sometimes people get rescued, a task force manages to save them before they go to deep, and them disperses them over a wide area, preventing their belief from concentrating. Sometimes they're eaten by ghouls. So yeah, the Government covers it up, and I couldn't be gladder.

[Rogthnor]

Mortals in the Backstage

Entrance
Mortals who enter into the backstage often change to match the setting. Gangsters might become pirates, or bandits or prohibition era mobsters. All skill and abilities become the nearest equivalent. This change is unnoticed. Resisting such a change requires skill, will, or a whole lot of luck. Most people are capable of resisting this effect, once they know about it's existence. Gradual changes, such as that caused by venturing deeper and deeper in, are easier to resist than more immediate ones. Don't dive into the deep end and expect not to get wet. It's worth noting that when this change occurs, the person affected doesn't notice.
The most likely people to go Backstage are those who exist at the fringes of society, as they live in, and experience, the most extreme places. The poorest of the poor, the richest of the rich, mages, that sort of thing. There's a reason celebrities are so weird after all.
But there are exceptions. While rare, it's possible for people to be born with the ability to sense entrances to Backstage, and even open ways to them in locations that normally aren't there. Once, I saw a kid who was able to create an Exit from his closet, and another under his bed. Hired monsters to live there and protect him from intruders.

Changes
Mortals who spend too much time Backstage tend to change, but it is always by choice. The very world around them seeking to wear them down or build them up. Mortals who spend time Backstage may choose to sacrifice their humanity for power, allowing the ambient magic of the world to fill the holes in their being. Even if they don't choose to do so , their are plenty of creatures willing to give power, at a price.
Rules

Spoiler

Show

These rules are FATE core specific.
Characters may spend refresh while Backstage to gain supernatural powers. These powers should reflect the nature of the area they are in.
Whenever the player takes a consequence they may spend a Fate point to heal the damage. Doing so replaces the consequence with another of the same severity, and which fits the nature of the surrounding area. It does not have to have a negative bent, but it should fit in with the nature of the area the character is in. The difficulty for recovering from this consequence is 2 shifts higher than normal (Mild is +4 and so on). Characters who spend Refresh to buy powers which make use of the new consequence may choose to remove it or change it to an aspect. If they choose to remove it, they must change their high concept to reflect their new, not entirely human nature. The High Concept change only needs to occur the first time this is done. Afterwards the characters High Concept should only change when appropriate.

[Rogthnor]

Trade
Trade between the real world and Backstage is scarce, the fluid nature of the connections between the two, as well as general apathy to the idea, means that most inter-world trade is done on an individual basis. Shops selling things from our world are as common Backstage as New age mystic shops are in our world.

Generally, the further Backstage you go, the less real world trade you see.

[Rogthnor]

Places

Wanton
The hottest club in town, though which town varies, Wanton is a modern day Fairy Tale. Run by a group of Seelie Fey their parties last for days at time, though to the mortals involved it seems far shorter. At the end of the party, the mortals memories are harvested for later enjoyment, and the subsequent several day black out is attributed to a very hard binge.

[Rogthnor]

Flavor Quotes and Fun Facts

"Second star to the right and straight on till morning"-Peter Pan

"We're talking about a higher order of reality... The world they come from, the world I come from, has... more of everything. I don't think you understand yet; the light of Heaven would slash open your corneas. The music of Heaven would puncture your eardrums and drive you insane. The air of heaven would burst your lungs and boil your blood. Only spirit can bear Heaven's touch."
-Zauriel JLA

On average, 750,000 people go missing each year in the United States alone.

[Rogthnor]

Inspirations:
Over the Garden Wall
Narnia
NIfflas: Where Librarians mean business
Alice in Wonderland
Neil Gaiman
Various Folktales
Hellboy
Pulp Fiction stories
Lovecraft
Robert E. Howard
Dresden Files
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Miyazaki
Lord of the Rings
Pact by Wildbow (null in particular is a fantastic example)
Power Puff Girls ( The episode were the boogie man lives under their bed)
Castlevania
Peter Pan
Bioshock
Devil May Cry
Fate/Stay Night
Pirates of the Caribbean
Planescape
MC Escher
Gravity Falls
Adventure Time (The pillow kingdom and nightosphere are good examples)
That one creepy area in your neighborhood that everyone told scary stories about

[Rogthnor]

Reserved for later

[Rogthnor]

Reserved for later

[Rogthnor]

Reserved for later

[Rogthnor]

Reserved for later