For many years, the Thelemic Order (an occult group that seeks to control magic through strict adherence to rules and rituals) has known two things: one, that there are people who are "magically resonant," with the ability to wield power; and two, that there exists another realm, a realm where strange entities abound. These are -- so says the Order -- dark and malevolent beings who seek to gain entrance to our world and to corrupt it. The realm itself is dangerous, they say, and drives those who spend too much time there mad.

The Order tried, once, to seal away this other realm, but did not completely succeed. They have spent many years seeking to close the gates they left behind. Now, only one remains, and today the stars have aligned so that they may close it.

But they are not the only ones who are interested. There are those who reject the Order's ways, and who believe the entities are in fact benevolent, and that the best hope for humanity is to create a permanent opening between the realms so that the entities may enter. They have brought together a small group of magically-resonant individuals that for whatever reason are outside the Order. Calling themselves the Gathered, they are determined to open this last gate once and for all.

The gate is unstable. If nobody does anything, in a few hours its energies will completely destabilize and it will explode, which both sides know would be devastating.

Neither side has everything they need, yet. But one side or the other must find a way, and soon.

And as they decide the fate of the gate, they will also be confronting their own histories and mysteries. There is more to most of them than meets the eye...

This game is heavy on roleplay and relatively light on mechanics; there are mechanics for magic use and some resources that need to be managed, but the focus is on character interaction and decision-making.

Content concerns: All characters are gender-neutral, and some characters have romantic relationships, so there may be same-gender relationships. Some characters have past violent experiences, including committing violence themselves and the death of family members. (No sexual violence.) 18+ preferred, mature 16+ OK.

This game was written for and won the Iron GM competition at Intercon P.

For many years, the Thelemic Order (an occult group that seeks to control magic through strict adherence to rules and rituals) has known two things: one, that there are people who are “magically resonant,” with the ability to wield power; and two, that there exists another realm, a realm where strange entities abound. These are – so says the Order – dark and malevolent beings who seek to gain entrance to our world and to corrupt it. The realm itself is dangerous, they say, and drives those who spend too much time there mad.

The Order tried, once, to seal away this other realm, but did not completely succeed. They have spent many years seeking to close the gates they left behind. Now, only one remains, and today the stars have aligned so that they may close it.

But they are not the only ones who are interested. There are those who reject the Order’s ways, and who believe the entities are in fact benevolent, and that the best hope for humanity is to create a permanent opening between the realms so that the entities may enter. They have brought together a small group of magically-resonant individuals that for whatever reason are outside the Order. Calling themselves the Gathered, they are determined to open this last gate once and for all.

The gate is unstable. If nobody does anything, in a few hours its energies will completely destabilize and it will explode, which both sides know would be devastating.

Neither side has everything they need, yet. But one side or the other must find a way, and soon.

And as they decide the fate of the gate, they will also be confronting their own histories and mysteries. There is more to most of them than meets the eye…

This game is heavy on roleplay and relatively light on mechanics; there are mechanics for magic use and some resources that need to be managed, but the focus is on character interaction and decision-making.

All characters can be played as any gender. 18+ preferred, mature 16+ OK.

This game was written for and won the Iron GM competition at Intercon P.

Participant communications
A brief casting form (should take no more than 5 minutes) will be sent to players, and characters will be distributed in advance. Character sheets are 1-4 pages, with an additional 2-4 pages of bluesheets. (Two characters will have one additional page.) Some characters will have contingency envelopes.

Content warnings
Some characters have past violent experiences, including committing violence themselves and the violent death of family members. (No sexual violence.) Some characters have complex romantic relationships.