Recoil (meta term)

A "recoil" is a meta term for the negative consequences of being incautious with the magic of the Nephele setting. Recoils are a dangerous consequence of magic in the same way that a rifle pushing back against the person holding it is a consequence, or the same way that a momentum of a moving vehicle makes it inherently dangerous. Some players, when listing what their character's magic does, will list its potential recoil underneath as a weakness or limitation of the ability. This is optional.

Magic that goes too far and becomes uncontrollable by its user is much rarer, and is not considered a recoil - it is a flare.

In-universe, "recoil" is not a term known to the characters. It is strictly for out-of-character ease of use.

The best way to describe recoils is with examples. Here are some common kinds of effort magic that were seen among armies around Nephele at around the time of the Throne War.


 * Flight - while on Earth, the aircraft dogfight was and still remains an iconic part of warfare, in Nephele it was not uncommon for members of special forces to be trained as "aeronauts" - donning wingsuits and taking controlled parachute falls for many many years until they could self-propel through the air. Though an aeronaut is a smaller and more maneuverable target than an aircraft, they are not immune in any way to the effects of air resistance, friction, or destructive collisions with other aeronauts, objects, or the ground. A common "recoil" seen in aeronaut characters might be that their top speed is limited by how much friction and air resistance their body can take without damage, and that if they are knocked out or falter while in the air, the damage from falling from their height is exactly as deadly as it would be to a non-magical person.


 * Bulletproof Skin - known as a "bulwark," some front line soldiers train for years against small projectiles to toughen their skin until it is as hard as stone and can no longer be penetrated by bullets or blades. While this is incredibly useful for not being shot or stabbed, a common "recoil" in bulwarks is that they are not immune to concussive force, crushing force, or to any object like a poison that can enter their body without piercing their skin. In the event that a force like this damages, breaks, or sickens their organs, their hardened skin makes surgery impossible, as no scalpel can open them up to mend them or see what is wrong.


 * Invisibility - the ultimate in stealth operatives, invisible people, or "vanishers" are one of the oldest forms of effort magic in the world. Nearly every culture has independently developed techniques to train the dedicated to become so stealthy that they cannot be seen. Vanishers is a somewhat ironic term - a vanisher that dies while hidden by their magic will never be found, whether this is to illness, accidents, friendly fire, or widespread untargeted attacks like chlorine gas, land mines, or scattered machine-gun fire. In addition, combatants or creatures that rely on a sense other than sight to detect enemies have no trouble detecting a hidden vanisher regardless of their skill.