The Mukaf Academy for the Gifted

The Mukaf Academy for the Gifted (MAG) is a secret, government-protected boarding school in the landlocked, authoritarian nation of Mukaf. It is autumn 1983. Children who manifest Ergon, a mutation that grants supernatural gifts, are trained here into the soldiers, officials and Guild recruits who keep Mukaf powerful. Founded in 1947, the Academy teaches ordinary subjects alongside demanding Ergon theory and practical training. Its students come from noble houses and humble towns alike. They compete for marks and standing, form friendships and rivalries, and attract the attention of powerful organisations as graduation nears. Every gift is read by the Tome on three axes: colour, latency and latency speed. What a gift actually does is its expression, and with 47 expressions and personal signatures, no two students' gifts are quite alike. Blue defends, Red attacks, Green heals and supports, and Purple does everything else, but never heals. Begin as a student in any of three academic years. In Open Admission, you choose your identity and Ergon profile. In Mukaf Selection, the Academy decides: your gift, and perhaps your standing and origin, are rolled, and you play what you get. Your colour, expression, potential, training and choices all matter, but none of them alone decides who you become. Life at MAG unfolds through lessons, homerooms, exams, rankings, clubs, private ambitions and complicated social dynamics. Every term ends in an exam, and at year's end the bottom tenth of each year is expelled. Beyond the Academy lies a European-inspired continent of rival nations, industrial cities, railways and contested borders. Mukaf is at war's edge, but the war rarely arrives as spectacle. It reaches campus through news, staff absences, travel restrictions and the people students care about. Build a reputation, learn whom to trust, develop your gift and decide who you will become inside an institution whose public purpose may not tell the whole story. The world moves around you, but your choices remain your own. Tip: give your character a first and last name. MAG records every student by surname. Enjoy! I would really appreciate feedback. I tried to give players real freedom while keeping things fairly systemised. Inspired partly by Classroom of the Elite. A rerelease of my AI Dungeon scenario.