Pre-Modern World

The year is somewhere between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. The world is entering a new era after the long shadow of the Cold War. Old alliances have shifted, new nations have emerged, and the global balance of power is still finding its footing. Technology is advancing rapidly. Personal computers are becoming common, the internet is beginning to connect the world, and satellite communications allow information to travel faster than ever before. Yet much of life still operates in an analog space—paper files, physical cash, face-to-face meetings, and human networks remain essential. Across the globe, governments attempt to maintain stability while adapting to a changing international order. Economic growth, political ambition, and cultural change shape the decisions of nations large and small. Beyond the reach of official institutions, other forces operate in the shadows. Powerful criminal organizations move money and goods across borders. Intelligence services compete quietly for influence and information. Corporations expand their reach into new markets and industries. Local conflicts, economic struggles, and political rivalries create a world that is far from stable. In cities, villages, ports, deserts, and mountains across the planet, opportunities and dangers exist side by side. Individuals can rise through ambition, skill, or luck—or disappear into the machinery of larger powers.

The world is divided into dozens of independent nations spread across vast continents and oceans. Major global powers—including the United States, Russia, China, and the nations of Western Europe—shape international politics and economics, while regional powers in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America influence events within their spheres. Large global cities such as New York, London, Moscow, Beijing, Dubai, and Tokyo act as centers of finance, diplomacy, and culture, while ports, border towns, and remote regions often become crossroads for trade, conflict, and underground activity. Geographically the planet ranges from sprawling deserts and dense jungles to mountain ranges, fertile plains, and massive coastlines. Strategic locations—oil fields, shipping lanes, border crossings, and major trade routes—often become the focal points of political tension, economic competition, and covert operations.

The world is inhabited entirely by humans, divided not by race but by culture, nationality, language, and political identity. Hundreds of cultures exist across the globe, shaped by geography, history, religion, and economic development. Relationships between cultures range from cooperation and trade to rivalry and conflict. Nations maintain alliances, compete for resources and influence, and sometimes clash over territory, ideology, or historical grievances. Despite these divisions, globalization is steadily connecting societies through trade, travel, and communication, creating a world where cultures mix, interact, and influence one another more than ever before.

The end of the Cold War has left a fragile and shifting global order. Former superpowers struggle to maintain influence, new nations seek stability, and regional conflicts simmer in parts of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Governments and international organizations attempt to maintain peace, but political rivalries, territorial disputes, and economic competition frequently create instability. Beyond official politics, powerful criminal networks operate across borders, trafficking weapons, drugs, and people through complex global routes. Intelligence agencies, private military groups, corporations, and underground organizations all compete quietly for influence, resources, and information. In this uncertain world, wars, covert operations, criminal enterprises, political intrigue, and humanitarian crises constantly create situations where individuals may become involved in events far larger than themselves. Outside of literal conflict drama and intrigue exists in all walks of life. From business moves and acquisitions to a pop star or actor making their first million dollar debut.

There is no confirmed existence of magic or supernatural forces in this world. Events are driven by human decisions, technological advancement, political power, and economic influence rather than mystical forces. Religions and spiritual beliefs are practiced across many cultures, with billions of people worshipping various gods or following philosophical traditions. However, no deity has been proven to directly intervene in the affairs of the world. As far as anyone can tell, humanity stands alone—responsible for both the progress and the chaos that shape the modern age.

They do not.

The modern world is shaped by several defining eras: the age of empires and colonial expansion, the industrial revolution, and the devastating global conflicts of the 20th century that culminated in the Cold War. The collapse of old empires and the fall of the Soviet Union reshaped borders, created new nations, and left many regions politically fragile. Across the world, remnants of these eras remain—abandoned military installations, Cold War bunkers, former industrial complexes, decaying colonial infrastructure, and cities still marked by past wars. These legacies continue to influence politics, economies, and the balance of power in the modern age.

The global economy is sustained by national currencies such as the U.S. dollar, euro, ruble, yuan, and many others, with international trade linking nearly every nation through complex financial systems and markets. Major shipping routes cross the world’s oceans, connecting industrial centers, resource-rich regions, and major ports that serve as hubs of global commerce. Oil, manufactured goods, technology, agriculture, and raw materials move constantly along these trade networks by sea, air, rail, and highway. While governments regulate much of this activity, informal markets, smuggling routes, and underground economies also operate alongside legitimate trade in many parts of the world.

Justice is administered through national legal systems that include police forces, courts, and correctional institutions. Laws vary widely between nations, but most societies rely on formal legal processes to investigate crimes, enforce regulations, and maintain public order, though corruption or weak governance can undermine these systems in some regions. Individuals who operate outside traditional institutions—mercenaries, private investigators, journalists, contractors, and others who take on dangerous or unconventional work—are often viewed with mixed attitudes. Some see them as professionals filling gaps that governments cannot, while others view them with suspicion, especially when their actions intersect with politics, crime, or international affairs.

The world faces no confirmed supernatural creatures, but many powerful and dangerous organizations operate in the shadows. International crime syndicates, drug cartels, human trafficking networks, extremist groups, and corrupt political or corporate interests can wield enormous influence and destabilize entire regions. Secretive cults and ideological movements also exist, some driven by radical political beliefs, apocalyptic religions, or conspiracy-driven worldviews. While most remain fringe groups, a few possess resources, followers, and determination enough to become serious threats.