[@Cyclone][@Double Capybara]

Re: Ages

Ah, you're right. My idea makes it more of a game of Sid Meyer's Civilisation with rather rigid technological progression rather than something to sculpt interesting histories from. Looser thematic Ages rather than technological Ages may work better (obviously, technologies can be the theme of particular Ages- I strongly suspect that the emergence of metal-working will warrant its own Age).

But we should still think about how players can direct what the next Age will be. If we go 'you can only do things within the confines of the current Age', then no in-world actions shape the course of history and we'll be stuck in the same Age forever; that or GM fiat decides the course of history, which runs against the grain of Divinus. If we go 'you can do whatever and that will decide what the next Age is', then the concept of Ages becomes meaningless. So what is the [i]mechanical[/i] effect of Ages?

Re: Portfolios

Permitting Portfolios to be traded (both willingly or under duress) seems like a good idea.

Re: Abilities

In Mk 2, we have used levels to represent the general power level of a god and the extent of their abilities. Portfolios provide dominion over particular themes for their creative powers but are generally only tangentially related to their personal abilities. As such, if we are doing away with levels, it makes sense to replace it with acquiring special abilities using Might.

We would still require a standard set of abilities for all gods. I would lean towards more power rather than less, since Divinus gods are meant to be powerful. We can take some of the most powerful standard abilities from Mk 2 and make them suggestions for purchasable abilities. We also need to consider the power level of these abilities. If we make default gods too weak, then everyone will be spending all their Might on levelling up rather than creating things. If we make the acquirable abilities too weak, then gods in general will be too weak. If we make acquirable abilities too strong, then it could get unbalanced.

Although, perhaps Godspeed's model for Hero Items and Divine Items can be extended to abilities in general, whether they be tied to an object or an innate part of an individual. The vague power outlines given for divine objects seems to work reasonably well, so we can use that system. This also removes the complexity of building a whole new system.

Over levels, this has a benefit of making power progression much more customised. As Capy pointed out, the power Xos wields for being Level 9 and the power Ilunabar wields for being Level 9 are completely different. The numbers suggest that Ilunabar should be able to beat most of the pantheon in a fight, but how the character has developed says otherwise. Progression by ability acquisition instead of abstract levels solves this paradox.