[hider=World Setting Primer] The world of Divinus Mk. 8 is notably different than the ones that have come before it. This is all due to the greater influence the Khodex of Creation has had on the creation of the Universe. As a result, a World Primer is a great tool for people to have as a reference when it comes to exploring some of the new, magical, super cool features that MK8 offers. Following is a list of additions to the world that are present in every Realm. [hider=General Additions] - [b]The Curse Effect:[/b] Hate, cruelty and spite are now a source of power. Mostly in relation but not restricted to the magical arts, any action taken by someone that harbors a deep, heartfelt, instinctive will to harm, despoil or kill will have more [i]oomph[/i] behind it than spells that do not. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oZ8X6qht9OMrwRqn4u4eNl3pU2JI4x4678SG0KUgUp8/edit?usp=sharing]Doc here[/url]. - [b]The Veins of the Cosmos:[/b] An endlessly sprawling spiderweb-like system of veins of pure Arcane energy. These Veins infuse the world itself with arcane potential, even going so far as to, over time, infuse existing materials into becoming magical, more extreme versions of themselves. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aEzDFfQxWyr91x7uxukExVhuaZU-Jg_kvhSd5QdRKgE/edit]Doc here[/url]. - [b]The Veins of Chaos:[/b] One of the Veins of the Cosmos, corrupted by Yumash's chaotic essence. Unlike the other Veins, this one moves around the universe, bringing great chaos along with it and leaving just as quickly. It is also the source of power for all Chaos-based magicks. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hblje_87Yiz7xS84EQqRzXmxZC13Ddc5cK8Q1hhv5WU/edit#heading=h.3alfr3v6056y]Doc here[/url]. - [b]Asheel’s Cycle of Reincarnation:[/b] Any soul that consciously decides to linger in the material world and enter the body of a conceived life before its birth will reincarnate. This soul, even though it will become a brand new self with every reincarnation, can then learn how to speak to its old selves. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-bj7FcOCvKBQy7jo3167IZHicM86nOxgL90Js2fR2PA/edit]Doc here[/url]. - [b]Uncertainty of Creation:[/b] There is no true Omniscience. No entity within our Universe shall ever know everything there is to know or be skilled in every skill there is. Even the Gods’ Omniscience is limited to their Domains. - [b]Substance of meaning:[/b] Information can be made tangible and manipulated. - [b]Magic of Secrets:[/b] Secrets can be used to fuel powerful magical effects. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a7mooly8jTBixl8D9aXft5AM709XDLGXbB2IFJNNLvY/edit#heading=h.6jj8zc1zmyce]Doc here[/url]. - [b]Rune Magic:[/b] through the use of runes learned from either a master or from runestones that naturally crop up in areas of high magical activity, one may enchant equipment to be more useful than its mundane counterparts. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qn6Im-sic1MJFRO8lSewQ8CUZ7kQ9RHkSn2bzqIg96E/edit?usp=sharing]Doc here[/url]. - [b]Sloth is Dead:[/b] The God of Sloth has been killed by the God of Toil. Anything that sits idle without maintenance will crumble to ruin, be their origin mundane or divine. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x_xNFDy14NuTtPMC-A4YqGl0uyVA5zivoEk0lIaVedk/edit]Doc here[/url]. - [b]Galaxor's Tenets:[/b] Mortals may become Heroes on their own by proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have what it takes to be one. Heroes may also band together into small parties of 2-3 and enhance each others' abilities, and at certain intervals trouble will find Heroes no matter where they may be. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EKa-IEQJAXcvwy4JYUPOzKrgVKW3pve17dvWu94WvhE/edit]Doc Here[/url]. - [b]R'kava:[/b] A liquid created by Vak'thuum. Everything not born from it mutates whenever they touch it, and all planets touched by R'kava will naturally start to evolve life and complex ecosystems, potentially terraforming barren planets over time. It is also highly magical in nature and can be manipulated by those trained to do so. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xY3fG49vID2WLDXjrxrl2XWHHQ-i0-Ci_b6AMQ6ZEmU/edit#heading=h.hmt3x6623xw6]Doc here[/url]. [/hider] Following is a list of additions that are only present in certain Realms. [hider=Material Realm]The Material Realm is the Realm where the bulk of the story takes place. This is where the vast majority of Mortals will live and die, and where most Gods will operate. The Material Realm consists of an entire universe, near-endless in scale up until one reaches the Edge, an infinite-1 number of light years away from Galbar. - [b]The God Metal:[/b] Divinium is a metal that has been seeded throughout the material cosmos by Sylia’s addition to the Khodex. It is a naturally superior metal to its mundane and even arcane counterparts, but its true value lies in its transmutability. The physical and magical properties of Divinium change in accordance to how it is processed or harvested, making it adopt the properties of certain gods’ Domains if it is handled in a way that aligns with said gods’ themes. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/15A2AkyVXzLsVXmVxbNjXvgbgBiQDHLsLKej5UK_Gorw/edit]Doc here[/url].[/hider] [hider=Astral Realm] The Astral Realm is a loose metaphysical reflection of the Material Realm, created as a result of Ull’Yang’s writings into the Codex. It is the source of all Astral Energy in the Universe And the home of countless kinds of Astral life. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SbmzD6qwcbssdASzJGy1KHOo_AEcAKCNtyz66ra7jy0/edit#heading=h.ygxh8gb3snv3]Doc here.[/url][/hider] [hider=Afterlife]The Afterlife is the place where most of the souls of the deceased go to if they’re unaware of or not a fan of Asheel’s Cycle of Reincarnation. It consists of three distinct levels, all inhabited by souls that have been judged by the God of Death. [url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qiAAbsQOsHe7A_qZxlxX-jhhpbZ01N5WuwnyogJ2RhM/edit]Doc here[/url].[/hider] [/hider] [hider=Holy Sites] Holy Sites are extremely important locations and/or structures located in the World that have been blessed by some kind of Divine power. They’re resistant to erosion and intentionally inflicted damage and may either be created by Gods themselves or given as Quest rewards. Each Holy Site you create, defend, and maintain boosts your Might income per turn by 1MP, up to a maximum of a 4MP boost, bringing your max MP income per turn up to 9MP. This means that any Holy Site you create after your first four will [b]not[/b] boost your income further… Instead, any extra Holy Sites created provide redundancy to your Holy Site network, meaning that if you had 5 Holy Sites and one of them got destroyed or defiled, you’d still receive the maximum boost of 4MP. In the same vein of thought, should you have 4 Holy Sites and find one of them has been destroyed or defiled, your Might income Boost would be immediately lowered to 3MP. On top of offering a Might Income Boost, Holy Sites can also be granted Blessings. As such, a Temple of Life might be blessed with an aura of Healing which boosts the natural regeneration of anyone within its sphere of influence; while a Blood Colosseum might send people who self-identify as warriors into a bloodthirsty rage. [/hider] [hider=Artefacts] Artefacts are simple – They are tools that have been imbued with Divine Essence through one way or another, granting them one (or several, depending on the Might invested) special ability capable of outclassing the vast majority of mundane Magical Tools/Weapons in their specific niche. For example, an Artefact could be as simple as a Divinely Sharp Sword capable of cutting through a 2-meter thick Stone Gate, or it could be as complex as an unbreakable Fishing Net capable of capturing a person’s soul and making them forget how to make tacos. Keep in mind that Artefacts are powerful, but even they struggle to damage Gods. In order to cause real damage to a God you will need a Godbane Artefact, which are extremely expensive and dangerous pieces of equipment. Godbane Artefacts may, as with everything else in the game, be created by the Gods themselves or given out as Quest Rewards. [/hider] [hider=Might] Might Points (MP for short) are the currency one must spend in order to perform particularly godly acts. In this Iteration of Divinus all Gods have access to all actions, with Domains granting a multiplier on top of the base cost of an Action. On top of this, Actions in this iteration are separated into two categories, Regular and Transcendental. [hider=Regular Actions][b][h3]Regular Actions[/h3][/b] The following is a short, non-exhaustive catalogue of regular actions one may take in the game.: - 1 Might: Creating a large island, flooding a valley, calling down a fire tornado on a major settlement, etc. - 1 Might: Create a Hero. Infuse some Divine Essence into a Mortal and turn them into a Hero, giving them increased physical abilities and a lengthened lifespan in exchange for always knowing where they are and what they’re doing. - 1 Might: Tap into divine power to heal all permanent and temporary injuries, diseases and low-level curses from a Hero or a group of mortals. - 1 Might: Grant a Blessing. Blessings can be described as [b]passive[/b] abilities that are granted to an individual or group. They may be given to a Hero, group of Heroes, Holy Order, mundane order/guild, or a mortal civilization/species. As a rule of thumb, the lesser the amount of targets for a blessing or ability, the stronger it will be. Some examples of blessings are increased fertility, increased strength, instinctive anatomical knowledge, general good fortune, golden ages, etc. - 1 Might: Cast a Curse. Curses can vary and the limit is your imagination, and they may be cast at the same targets as Blessings. Some examples are infertility, plagues, phobias, strange or unhealthy behaviours, etc. - 2 Might: Creating barely-sapient species such as wild goblins, politicians, etc. - 3 Might: Creating a fully sapient species on the more mundane side such as humans, elves, orcs, intelligent goblins, plant people, cat girls, etc. - 1 Might: Teaching an important technology/skill/ability to a mortal population. E.g. Fire, Tool making, Architecture, Metal working, Divination, Dragon taming, Chi Regulation, etc - 1 Might: Creating a Holy Site, maximum of 1 per turn. Effects explained below. - 1 Might: Create an Artefact with a single Special Ability. - 1 Might: Adding another Special Ability to an existing Artefact, up to 3 abilities total. [/hider] [hider=Transcendental Actions][b][h3]Transcendental Actions[/h3][/b] Transcendental Actions are the height of what a God can ever achieve and as such Gods will only be able to pull off Transcendental Actions if they fall within their Domains. In this way, a God of Plants may not be able to create a continent-spanning mountain range but may be able to create a nation-sized tree. Keep in mind these examples represent the threshold upon which a Regular Action become Transcendental, so no Regular Action can be more powerful than the examples below: - 8-?? Might: Transcendental Destruction. An Earth God may be able to sink a continent into the ocean. A Water God may be able to sweep away a continent with a divine tsunami. A Fire God may be able to ignite the atmosphere and burn away everything on a continent. A God of Dreams may tie a continent’s existence to a sleeping being and then wake that person up, making it disappear. These actions are extremely expensive, are supposed to take more than one post to come to pass, and can be locally counteracted. Used a continent as an example, but if you spend more Might you could do Planetary or even Solar System destruction. - 4 Might: Granting of Immortality. A God of Life may simply make any mortal or Hero they like both biologically and/or conceptually immortal. A God of Death may grant the mortal or Hero the knowledge on how to construct phylacteries. A God of War may give his Hero the ability to absorb the life force and strength of his vanquished foes, lengthening his lifespan. - 4-?? Might: Godbane Artefact. The creation of an Artefact that can influence or injure unprepared Gods as if they were mere mortals. A God of Love may create a bracelet that makes everyone fall in love with him. A God of Disease may create the first Divine Disease. A God of Conquest may create a mace that forces everyone else to kneel in his presence. - 6-?? Might: Superstructure. A God of Architecture may create a metropolis the size of a country, complete with caretakers and some form of public transport. A God of Space may create a solar-system-spanning series of portals. A God of Adventure may fill the world with an endless amount of ruins filled with valuable items and ancient technologies. A God of Earth may raise a brand new continent complete with mountain ranges and all manner of geographical features of their choice. These are merely examples, meaning that you could choose to spend more on the actions mentioned above for stronger effects - Hopefully you can understand more or less what the scale of Transcendental Actions is. These actions are pretty much guaranteed to earn you in-game enemies and will bring heavy consequences… but hey, at least the stories will be amazing. Do not be afraid to be creative, and please do reach out to me if you feel unsure about anything. This is my first time being the main GM for a Divinus Iteration so this will be a learning process for all of us. Keep in mind that these catalogues are being left vague on purpose and feature only the smallest action you can take that’ll cost any Might – This is done to provide your creativity as few roadblocks as possible by granting you a greater degree of control over your budgeting and the intended strength of your actions.[/hider][/hider] [hider=Tᴜʀɴs] Turns are a game mechanism used alongside Might Points (MP for short) with the objective of bringing order to the game by limiting the number of things that a deity may be able to do in any given period of time. They’re purely an OOC mechanic and therefore turns will always progress on the 1st and 15th of every month. All Divines will receive a base 4 MP per turn, and MP accumulates over time if unused. Due to Mae-Alari’s contribution to the Codex of Creation, everyone gets a permanent 1MP boost to their income. As such, the base income is now 5MP per turn. [/hider]