Flesh Markets: The Biomancy Economy
Body Modification as Consumer Goods, the Form Rights Movement, and Biological Black Markets
Biomancy - the magical reshaping of living tissue - industrialized in the 2130s when Forma Corp discovered a repeatable process for licensed biological modification. You can purchase wings (flight capability requires Forma-certified Wing Package, warranty 2 years, extended care plan available), gill sets, enhanced musculature, secondary eyes, and over 3,000 other modifications through licensed Forma Body Shops in every district. The modifications are safe, the market is enormous, and the inequality is visible: the wealthy have extraordinary custom forms; the poor have access to knockoff modifications sold in unlicensed back-alley shops with variable safety records. The Form Rights Movement argues that the body should not be a consumer product. Forma Corp argues that the market agrees with them. Neither side is wrong. A black market biomancer has developed modifications outside Forma's patent portfolio - modifications that Forma says are illegal and that the movement says are the first truly free biological acts in the market era.
“The Wing Package is our most popular premium modification. Certified for altitudes up to 800 meters. Extended warranty covers structural rejection events in years one through three. Customer satisfaction rating: 94%. We are very proud of the Wing Package.”
- Forma Corp quarterly investor presentation
1. Setting Overview
The Flesh Markets made biological modification normal in a single generation. Parents who remember an unmodified world are the minority. Their children grew up surrounded by peers with enhanced forms, and the modifications are so common in upper-income districts that an unmodified body reads as poverty.
This is not an accident. Forma Corp’s pricing model targets aspirational consumption: the base modifications are affordable, the upgrades are not, and the extended care plans are necessary because unlicensed modifications have poor safety records that Forma regularly publicizes. The system produces permanent customers.
The black market biomancer - working name “Scaffold” - is doing something Forma has not done: developing modifications that are not on Forma’s patent list, meaning they cannot be legally suppressed as patent infringement. The modifications are experimental. They are also free.
Tone: Consumer culture horror with biological stakes. The shopping center is the setting. The products are bodies.
2. The Modification Economy
Forma Body Shops operate in every district. Clean, professional, licensed, and expensive. Their modifications are medically safe, under patent, and require ongoing maintenance contracts for complex forms.
The Back-Alley Market runs knockoff modifications using techniques that approximate Forma’s processes without Forma’s quality controls. The mods work. They also reject at higher rates, occasionally catastrophically.
Scaffold works out of a location that changes weekly. Offers modifications at cost. Has a waitlist of 300 people. Forma has filed 14 injunctions and is currently working on a criminal referral.
3. Factions
Forma Corp - The dominant biomancy firm. Has fought off three antitrust investigations through lobbying. Genuinely believes its modifications are superior products.
The Form Rights Movement - Political organization arguing for public biomancy access, modification safety regulations, and legal protection against modification-based discrimination.
Scaffold’s Network - The black market biomancer and their growing community of clients. Currently facing criminal charges while also having a waiting list.
4. Unique Mechanic
Modification Stability (1-6):
- Licensed mods start at Stability 5.
- Back-alley mods start at Stability 2.
- Stability 1: causes Deterioration Condition each scene used.
- Stability 6: permanent and stable.
- Biomancer improvement: 1 scene + Mind roll (difficulty = 6 - current Stability) raises by 1.
5. Character Archetypes
The Forma Technician
Licensed biomancer who works in a Body Shop. Has excellent technical skills. Has been quietly referring clients to Scaffold when their needs are outside Forma’s patent portfolio and they cannot afford the custom modification price.
- Drive: “Keep the referral network running until the Form Rights Movement gets regulatory protection in place.”
- Approach Distribution: Force 1 | Finesse 2 | Mind 3 | Presence 2
The Modification Journalist
Has a back-alley gill set (Stability 3, ongoing) and is documenting the modification economy from inside. Currently investigating Forma’s suppression of a modification that would improve Stability for existing back-alley mods - reducing the market for licensed replacements.
- Drive: “Publish the suppression story before the gill set rejects and requires a Forma replacement she cannot afford.”
- Approach Distribution: Force 1 | Finesse 3 | Mind 2 | Presence 2
6. Starter Scenario
The Stability Suppression: Scaffold has developed a topical biomantic treatment that raises Stability in any existing modification by 2 points. It costs almost nothing to produce. If distributed, it would stabilize hundreds of thousands of back-alley mods and eliminate Forma’s most reliable revenue stream: the replacement market for rejected modifications. Forma has learned about the treatment. Their legal team is 48 hours from filing criminal charges. Scaffold needs to distribute the formula widely enough that suppressing it becomes impossible. The characters are the distribution network.