This post revisits an idea I had several years ago for a science fiction/science fantasy setting that I was actually developing to use the Star Wars Saga Edition rules that ended up getting scrapped for whatever reason. This particular idea from the setting resurfaced unbidden the other day while watching a Nova special on black holes of all things. The Weave was designed to be very much a stand-in and corollary for The Force with “threads” and “snarls” representing the powers that could be wrought upon reality as these practitioners tugged on the strings of reality to assert their will over the universe. Whether this has further legs or not (I do feel that it could get a second life as a “magic” system in a Genesys game), I wanted to share with you the idea as a way to show a system of special power for a science fiction game that isn’t just psychic abilities. If someone gets some inspiration for their own settings or games, so much the better.
Within the universe there exist certain energies and patterns that are invisible to the human experience. While invisible and unknowable, they exist and inform reality at a quantum level just the same. Humanity discovered this force by accident. The results forced them into a much larger universe than they had ever expected through faster than light quantum warp travel literally shunting an object through time and space to appear elsewhere. This discovery immediately ushered in a new era of space travel and space exploration as governments, corporations, and even religions tried to capitalize on the new technology. It began as a mostly organized venture, but before long humanity had spread to the stars in such a way that centralized rule of the far-flung planets and colonies became impossible – a fact that would come back to haunt them.
After their exposure to this form of travel and the strange energies that permeate the quantum realms, a small percentage of humans developed a sense for these various patterns, discovering that they could even interact with and manipulate them through sufficient application of personal will. These manipulations caused brief changes within reality before the universal laws reasserted themselves. While powerful, humans quickly discovered that playing with reality like this placed great personal strain on them. The lucky ones simply died form overuse of this power. Others burned out large portions of their brains or had their very beings warped from the strange space-time energies they were playing with.
Never a race to let well enough alone, humans attempted to master this power for their own benefit. But even through decades of research, experimentation, trial and error, and encounters with alien races they have barely scratched the surface of their knowledge of this field of study. However, a basic understanding has developed as a number of common patterns that produced predictable results have been identified. The language of understanding and using this power revolved around these patterns and pulling on various threads of reality to cause effects and so the power gained the name of “The Weave” among humankind. Groups banded together over the years to share research as well as to protect those with the ability from governments and other organizations that would seek to exploit the power for nefarious purposes or amoral research, eventually forming a centralized power for education and safety known as The Weaver’s Guild. They continue to promote understanding and further research of the power, but rumors persist that the leadership of the Guild is caught up in dangerous machinations in an attempt to rewrite reality and make themselves the uncontested rulers of space and time. Is that true? Most likely not – the strain would wipe them out of existence or simply cause the complete collapse of reality long before they accomplished that goal, but try telling that to those that believe the story…
Weavers that join the Guild are tasked with helping to further the aims of the Guild in exchange for education, training, and living arrangements. Often this means tracking down rogue practitioners and either bringing them into the Guild or stopping them before they cause too much damage to reality or to the innocent and as such, Weavers are typically both respected and feared by the common people. Over the years the organization has developed from a human -s-only club into a multi-species affair that draws upon the knowledge and tradition of no less than a dozen alien species that all have the same capacity to manipulate the Weave, though leadership remains firmly in the hands of humanity. Each species brings a particular outlook into the energies and patterns, deepening the understanding that the Guild has of these powers and their ultimate place in the universe.
Ben Erickson
