I only mentioned military in passing, I have no interest to go anywhere near politics or fighting with nations, I just assume for the background sake of everything, at least establishing whatever conflicts are going on be them internal or global would be useful. As far characters go, back to the basics here, what sort of character(s) would you be interested in playing? I assume the dynamic of a non-magic user and a magic user would be ideal. And as far as modern settings go, we could pick a city or country and start there, while traveling elsewhere. Or have a non-native of the country in the mix as well, as far as bringing in other branches of magical talent. I'd probably like something with a mix of slice of life, action, drama and mystery. I think as far as plot go, we could do something like character "on the run" as some people put it. Or do some sort of modern day quest to fulfill some mystery or problem. Or something more intricate?