Nova series universe

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This is a temporary name until a better name is picked.

Summary

The "Nova" game series takes place in a universe that is quite literally a video game world. It has video game logic, tropes and mechanics, and characters within it are aware of this and incorporate it into their decision-making. They may have abilities that are oriented toward a specific genre - like Nova herself having exceptional jumping and athleticism for platforming - or they may not.

Game Logic

Much like how reality gets bent in cartoon worlds due to the Rule of Funny, the Rule of Fun has a pretty big influence on things. Someone's convoluted plan might work simply because it would be really cool and fun if it did. Something that'd otherwise be tedious and not-fun might be different on that basis.

Characters usually have inventories (of varying sizes) that they can fit items into, able to hold a specific number of items (that may be stacked according to different stacking rules). Generally the idea of "inventory slots" is important here, and it's harder to fit a lot of unique items (that'd need different slots) than a lot of the same items (that would stack). It can be possible to upgrade your inventory to a new one with more capacity. Storage devices like chests and closets also tend to use the inventory system.

Hit points and magic points exist, and many personal statistics can be represented with a number like that. When you run out of hit points, you "die" but you reappear completely fine at the last place you felt truly safe, or whatever place you view as your home. HP and MP can be replenished easily with items, or alternatively they go back up on their own if given time to.

Like in Animal Crossing, trees and fruit grow very quickly, usually exactly three days. This can provide a food source as well as an easy source of wood. Trees evidently don't need to be cut down in order to retrieve wood from them, though this only results in a small amount of daily wood each day.

Game mechanics can be exploited to create Minecraft-esque automated farms. This is the basis for Toasterland managing to become a post-scarcity society, alongside resource gathering becoming very easy.

Magic

Most characters that are native to this setting have their own innate magical potential that comes from within (measured in the "magic points" mentioned previously), meaning that they have it no matter where else in the multiverse they are. Active actions (like casting spells or choosing to use powers) tends to use up magic points, and require that there be enough remaining for them to work. Things that are more passive may draw from energy instead (like magic passively allowing flight to work with wings that should not otherwise be able to lift someone, and while you can get tired from flying too much it won't use up MP).

Magic needs to be channeled somehow, and a combination of someone's identity and their current form determine what's possible. For instance, Sherbet has ice magic, and Rosy Sky has her hearts and Stares. There are tools that direct someone's potential toward a specific purpose, like a more mundane tool that's magically good for a specific thing, or a tool that can do the equivalent of casting a specific spell. There's also more general tools for opening up the range of ways someone can channel stuff, like wands.