[quote=@BBeast]
I have a mechanical effect to suggest: bonus Might which is specifically to be spent on things pertaining to the Age. We still give out enough Might for players to do what they want to do, but they have extra to do what the GMs want them to do too. In-game, it is easier to make things which fit in with the current state of the world, which is mechanically reflected by not consuming the Might you would use for other tasks.[/quote]

I'd teased the idea of certain restrictions (e.g. my proposed Ages of Monsters/Myth opening the possibility of heroes, implying those wouldn't have been a thing in the prior Age of Creation) but perhaps it's better to use this softer approach of backing the Age's thematic recommendation by setting aside a certain amount of MP that is only usable for the Age's broad topics. At least for some of the earlier Ages, anyways. If there comes to be something like an Age of Conquest or Age of Steel, perhaps we can expand the range of what this extra MP can go towards so as to be inclusive to the gods that don't directly hand out metalworking and better weapons.


[quote]
As for the Age of Creation, I'd suggest that this Age is a perfect time for populating the world with (mundane) flora and fauna, under the caveat that the terrain would likely still shift around (so it would indeed be safest to wait until the end of that Age to create life if they rely on particular habitats). We want there to be a full global ecosystem before we start trying to add monsters and civilisations.[/quote]

Seems reasonable, but that does considerably widen the scope of what's going to be happening on the first few turns. With everyone's immediate focus split between spending MP on doing things to their Spheres, sculpting Galbar, and now making basic life, I'd expect that we'd get a wide but shallow series of actions. Significant fractions of Galbar might remain empty and untouched. *

Perhaps this could be solved by extending the Age of Creation or frontloading even more MP into it, but part of me still thinks that it's a good idea to devote at least the first turn solely to sculpting Galbar and the Spheres.

* On the topic of empty space, I think it was probably a mistake to have Mk. 2's Galbar start as entirely land and then have some inland seas added. Godspeed sorta had Galbar start with some amount of predefined oceans and landmasses, IIRC, but that seemed like a simplification that takes out some of the uniqueness and interaction that could've come. This time I'm thinking that Galbar should start as mostly ocean with perhaps a few small rocky islands, more in line with Divinus Mk. 1. This also brings up the question of whether basic things like a sun, moon, and atmosphere should be initially present. Of course, perhaps it makes sense to see what sort of gods we're dealing with before making such a decision; if we something like a god of stone or earth then it makes sense to let that guy flex his powers by raising a bunch of continents. But if there's no fire god or sun god to make the sun, we should probably start with a sun anyways and just say that the Architect had the foresight to make such a thing.


Re: Re: Power level

[quote]I would caution against restricting gods to only be able to make things pertaining to their Portfolios, as this would remove this freedom and make it difficult to diversify to new Portfolios.[/quote]

Perhaps you're right. Heavy portfolio restriction also contributes to 'monopolies' which become problematic should the monopolizing god be inactive, and which people seem to very much dislike OOC. Maybe we should once again look to a softer approach. Portfolio-related actions could perhaps be made free in nearly all situations, Cluster-related actions treated similarly to how we currently evaluate MP costs, and the baseline for the MP cost of all actions significantly raised. This would provide a soft monopoly, as you would be very much encouraged to ask for help from a god with a relevant Portfolio since the alternative might be to spend 3 or 4MP on doing something that's rather basic by our Mk. 2 standards. 

In general your three points have captured the broad strokes of it, as I imagine things. [u][b]This is a really important topic so I'd be interested in hearing others' thoughts on all of this, though.[/b]
[/u]
Ideas for specific limitations would also be nice to toss about. Capy sort of got the ball rolling a while ago with this, [quote]Gods can see pretty well up to the horizon line, like an eagle.[/quote]

So if we accept that gods can see all the way to the horizon and perceive their surroundings in great detail, exist independent of any worship or worshipers, are immune to the effects of mundane diseases and aging and hunger, are all but immune to the sort of physical and magical harm that could be inflicted by mortals, can travel through the Spheres, and can create nearly anything given sufficient time/energy (MP) and motivation, what sort of limits should we actually impose?

I think a good start would be to remove the innate ability for all gods to manipulate and control the weather in their vicinity for free. That seems like something best relegated to gods with the pertinent portfolios, or gods willing to crack open their wallets bigtime for some one-time magical effects.

It seems we also are all in favor of removing the teleportation and rapid travel capacities of most demigods and gods.

What else?