The Circuitry of Magic aka All About Magitech by John Josten is a free role playing game supplement published by Board Enterprises. This is part of the Small Bites series and is the “World Walker” version. The full version, which is available to Patreon subscribers, is about another two thirds longer.
The supplement is available as a 36-page PDF for free from DriveThruRPG. One page is the front cover.
On Magical Matters is the introductory text and it states it pre-empts the normal introduction. First, magitech needs to be defined, and in this case, it’s combining magic and technology. Three styles of magitech are being considered; dwarven, titan and everything else.
The Introduction is the normal introduction and it talks about how world builders often want to duplicate technological items with magic. It then mentions the result of doing so, because magitech can then start taking over.
A Discussion of Medieval Europe states that no RPG is going to be like a historical setting. For one thing, introducing wizards and dragons pretty much gets rid of that. There are also too many differences and, although not explicitly explained, it wouldn’t be fun. This is gone into because magic changes a society but things in the book can’t be wrong simply because they don’t resemble medieval Earth.
Fletnern Wiki has extracts from the wiki connected to magitech, with information on continents, families, cultures, regions, legends, slavery, races, individuals and cities. For once there is a player-relevant article on why Fletnern is at the level of technology it is; basically, titans go around and kill everyone who delves too deeply into certain technologies.
The Sounding Board is a collection of blog posts. Fantasy Zeppelins explains that Fletnern does not have them as yet – mostly; All About Sea Ports is referenced. It explains why, why technology of that level is not necessarily an anachronism and that the main reasons for lacking them are the titans killing people developing technology and people seeking magical solutions.
High Fantasy Cities considers what would happen in a high fantasy setting. Essentially, it would have many similarities to a high-tech one, at least when it comes to understanding the magitech and owning it.
High Tech, Low Tech, What’s your Fantasy Tech? explains why, in Grain Into Gold, beef is the same price as wheat flour. Fletnern has things medieval England did not, such as large plains to raise cattle. It considers that you need to know why technology hasn’t advanced, and gives Fletnern’s reasons.
The Priorities of Magic considers why certain types of magic are created. For one thing, a country will want lots of low-powered shields for soldiers rather than one very powerful one for a hero.
Lifestyles of the Magic and Mundane starts by asking who magitech is being created for, and the main answer is, for the people with money. Travel considers the value of instant transportation for the wealthy, under the old adage that time is money and travelling another way can cost more money. Industry is on using magitech for manufacturing, but this is unlikely in a fantasy setting. Golems, as covered in All About Golems and Halflings, are made to perform similar tasks to people and tend to be designed the same way and size. Assembly lines, or even the concept of interchangeable parts between different artisans, will not happen.
Health & Beauty are briefly covered, but will apparently be covered in more detail in the future. War is on the use of magitech in war and what would be created. Construction notes that the colossuses of Fletnern are closer to the golems of other settings than the golems are, and are used in construction. Magic considers how magitech can be used with magic, by using it with magical crafts, namely the crafting of items. Cartage is why magitech has no great use in that, given the expense, although the creation of magical ice is useful for transporting perishables. What Not To Do is what should be avoided with magitech. Life Underground explains how an underground city functions through the use of various devices. Wet Behind the Ears briefly explains that the section is being skipped, as starting characters shouldn’t have access to magitech.
How to Play a… Magical Cyborg is on using magical limbs and body parts to replace lost and damaged ones.
News of Fletnern starts with a timeline related to the titans. History of Rock Cove appears to be a wiki extract and gives the history of the dwarven settlement.
The Good Life starts with Titan Enchanting, explaining how that worked – essentially, magic circuit boards made from precious items – and that no-one currently knows how to recreate them. Dwarven Enchanting covers how dwarves create enchanted items. Necromancy as Mechanical is on using such as zombies as power sources. Magitech Power Sources is on creating such. Alphabets covers the titan alphabet, which has more similarities to a periodic table than an alphabet. Spells vs. Items explains that items do not require a mage to be present.
Optional Rules covers Substances, specifically a diamond-strong glass created by the titans. Mixing Magics covers things such as pure flavour, which tastes better than anything else, addictively so, and creating such as fire eggs.
Monsters & Other Menaces is on The Titans of Fletnern and also Characters with Character, which has an avian humanoid race that act on behalf of the remaining titans.
What’s Missing covers what’s in the full version and In Conclusion wraps it up and has various links.
The Circuitry of Magic aka All About Magitech in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked, although the bookmarks are duplicated which confuses things slightly. The Table of Contents is not quite as thorough, but is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and a few minor errors were noticed. There are a number of black and white illustrations
The supplement examines some of the possibilities as to how everyday life might be affected in a high magic setting by magic being more prevalent. One thing it does note is that, even though magic might be more common, it would still not benefit everyone. In many cases, it would simply benefit those with enough money. This sort of theorising is quite useful for those considering the effect that plentiful magic has when world building, as well as some traps to avoid that would result in magitech becoming far too commonplace. As usual, the supplement is a collection of related articles, rather than a coherent whole, but it does tend to stay more on the central theme than others in the series. The Circuitry of Magic aka All About Magitech can be downloaded for free by clicking here.
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