So to start we are working from principles of the setting that will inform the play of the games itself:
- The digital and physical worlds have effects on each other even if direct contact is hard
- In general transportation of people and goods is one way. Living things can go into the digital world and inanimate material can enter the physical world.
- Communication between the two worlds is possible if not always reliable.
- Players are primarily focused on what happens in the digital world.
- The PCs are in the digital, they can and will have effects on the physical but they (the player's characters) will be getting that information from other sources and cannot see what the consequences of their actions are for the physical world directly.
- The polities of the digital world are much more fluid than those in the physical.
- Space is not fixed or reliable in the digital world especially after the ritual broke things.
- Reliable communication nodes are one of the more sought-after resources on the digital side.
- Magic is a real and tangible force in both worlds. It just has been supercharged.
- This has led to revolutions in multiple fields, but especially in science and religious organizations as people work to understand what changed.
So this is where my starting point. This will absolutely have parts change as development continues but I think this is a decent starting point.