BBeast

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@KabenSaal I have a list of options above. If all else fails, Vestec will probably help (pending approval from @Rtron, of course).

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@KabenSaal It's not in the OP. The Gap is the gaps in the design of the Universe and Reality, filled with eldritch horrors even more eldritch and horrific than Jvan. Not even Gods go there, it's that nasty. Fortunately, it is normally safely sealed away where it can't break Reality. Unless someone meddles in it, that is.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@KabenSaal No one knows how the Relics of Perfectus works, or what they do, or why Vowzra scattered these Gap-infused artefacts across the universe. We only know that one was able to turn Lazarus from a mortal to a deranged demigod (although the derangement was likely caused by other factors), that they typically have very strong traces of the Gap on them, and that there is statistically about one per planet. Each Relic likely behaves somewhat differently. The details of their functioning is highly subject to Plot, although generally there is some association with the Gap.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@KabenSaal Regarding Amestris:

The ex-capital city of the Amestrian city states, Xerxes, was indeed erased from the face of Galbar. However, the old site of Xerxes has been claimed by Farxus to create a city for the undead and forsaken (link). Although this does not stop you from teaming up with him to create some buildings there.

The rest of the Amestrians don't seem to care much about Xerxes any more. They are out to care for their own cities. There is war and conflict between them and with other tribes. This might still be a good environment for Legio to do things in.


Something which might also be of interest is that the elementals of Galbar are currently waging a civil war, and there is significant collateral damage to mortals. The greatest casualty so far is Dundee, the capital city of the dwarves, which has just been conquered by a bunch of fire/lava elementals.


Regarding origins:

We have a few sources of appreciable divine essence which might be found as just 'lying around'.

Relics of Perfectus, scattered across the universe by Vowzra, can contain enough divine essence to create a Demigod. This was, in fact, exactly how Lazarus became a demigod. Normally, you wouldn't find more than one Relic per planet, but we can make exceptions to that without any trouble. This is probably the most likely 'divine shard'.

The Winds of Change, which permeate Galbar, are straight up Zephyrion's divine essence. They couple strongly to elementals, which is a favourable property. Urtelem know how to capture the Winds of Change, although they would be adamantly opposed to any plan involving the sacrifice of sentient beings, but others could probably figure it out. The catch is you would need an enormous amount of the Winds to have any chance of producing a divine being.

Arksynth is, in a sense, the flesh of the luck god Vakarlon. Normally, the divine essence associated with Arksynth is far, far too dilute to have any divine effect. However, Vakarlon also favours underdogs, which it sounds like your mortals are. It's a million to one chance, but when you have Vakarlon's favour million to one odds happen nine times out of ten.

Alternative to mortal-driven endeavours, I can think of a couple of other candidate gods who might help possibly, if their players consent.

Belruarc-Vowzra-Gadar (@Kho) is currently in the business of righting divine injustices. Whether creating Legio aligns with that, that might require a bit of readjusting. (Perhaps if, instead of a mass sacrifice, all these people had been slaughtered by some divine cause, then Belru could gather up their souls and put them into a new being. Maybe.)

Astarte (@Frettzo) is the goddess of Soul Manipulation, which sounds suitable for the task at hand. However, she might not be supportive of a mass sacrifice, although she's so whimsical it's hard to tell.

Vestec the god of Chaos (@Rtron) is always looking for ways to get more children. Cramming a couple hundred souls into one body and adding a bunch of fire magic sounds like a suitably chaotic thing for him to do. And if these mortals are sufficiently desperate, they could conceivably pray to Vestec, and Vestec has the highest prayer answer rate of any of the pantheon.

We have no shortage of ways to jury-rig together Legio's creation.

(Also, you aren't actually required to start by saying 'wow'. That appears to be some outdated meme from Divinus versions past. But don't let Kho know I told you that.)

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@KabenSaal

Looks okay so far. The composite consciousness has precedent here (see Vestec to a lesser degree, and Gadar-Belruarc-Vowzra for the greatest extreme), which works in your favour. Having some more actual elemental gods around would also be nice, since we lack those (we have Zephyrion, and I think that's it).

As for your origin, one idea that comes to mind for the source of divinity is Aihtiraq, the wish-granting djinni of magic who is also one third of Zephyrion. This, I feel, is perhaps the most plausible and least contrived divine 'parent' (although not set in stone. If Aihtiraq doesn't work, we can find another way).

Otherwise, my main question for now is the same as Mutton's: what are your initial plans once Legio is created?

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

I was making sure the origin story was finished before doing anything else about her. For divine Influence, I guess you could have some of that in the ritual. They found some divine stuff and inserted it into the host girl. In a very crude and unsavoury fashion, she was probably going to die without the rest of it.

@KabenSaal

I made a post three months back summarising the demigods in the game at the moment. I'll copy it here for your convenience, reference and inspiration.

Demigods

• Belvast - Space (Portals). Son of Belruarc and Vowzra. Only demigod to be conceived by a physical union and born via ordinary biological means (pregnancy included). Belvast is basically an anthropomorphic cat. He went through a childhood. Current status: Original player inactive, but Belvast is still alive and doing background things.
• Lifprasil - Emotions (Sentience). Child of Vulamera and Vestec. Appears as an androgynous human. Accidentally conceived while Vulamera was poking around in Vestec's mind, and born when Vulamera attempted an abortion by ripping the coalescing essences from her womb. Began life as an adult. Current status: Lifprasil's player has retired, with Lifprasil crippled
• The Bard - Arts (Music) (I think. I can't find the sheet). Son of Vowzra and Ilunabar. Vowzra came into Ilunabar's dream realm. Ilunabar made a musical instrument with some twigs from Vowzra. The instrument is played and the Bard pops into being as an adult. Appears as a human. Current status: alive.
• Keriss - Chance (Suffering, The Forgotten). Daughter of Vulamera and Vakarlon. Is a big lizard person. The process of her birth was started in Vakarlon's mind (which Vulamera was inside at the time) by some essence-melding, and was finished when she materialised from ash near their physical bodies. Started as an adult. Current status: alive at present
• Amartia - Chaos (Sin). The closest he has to a parent is Vestec. Vestec found a god-soul dredged up by Slough (as she does), fused it with a mortal human, and let it have a bit of his chaos essence. In such a manner Amartia was born, as an adult. He is often a human or humanoid, although his form varies somewhat. Current status: Amartia has been stripped of divinity.
• Conata - Toil (Metalworking). Daughter of Teknall and Ilunabar (but mainly Teknall). Conata was designed then manufactured, cast from metal infused with Teknall's own blood. Appears as a human made from solid metal. Began life as a young child, and has been growing. Current status: alive.
• Kinesis - Crafting (Machinery). Daughter of Teknall and Ilunabar. Conata's older sister. Kinesis was also designed and manufactured. A mechanical skeleton was given a heart of Ilunabar's design imbued with Teknall's blood, at which point it conjured flesh to cover itself. Kinesis was born as a slightly older child, although she can change apparent age at will. She appears human, mostly. Current status: Original player is inactive, but Kinesis is still alive and doing things.
• Lazarus - Knowledge (Secrets,Divinity,Arcana). Has no definite godly parents. Lazarus was once a mortal, who found a Relic of Perfectus, taken from the Gap and planted on Galbar by Vowzra. He drank from it, and was transformed into a demigod. His original form was humanoid, although he has been through several other forms. Current status: alive, although at this instant he is imprisoned within a pocket dimension.
• Maeus - Hedonism (Drinking). Son of Ilunabar and Vestec. Ilunabar had created some powerful alcohol including a little bit of her own blood. Vestec chugged the lot, although it wasn't intended for him. A demigod grew inside him over a couple of minutes and he gave birth (somehow, I don't remember exactly how) to Maeus, who I believe started as an adult. Maeus appears as a human. Current status: inactive
• Farxus - Death (Undeath). Son of Reathos and Lazarus (in a sense). Lazarus simply pulled Farxus out from a wall filled with Reathos' essence (or something like that. My memory of it is hazy) (Reathos was dead, and this wall was part of his Holy Site). Farxus looks like a skeleton. Current status: alive
• Helvana - Darkness (Hexes,Nurture). Daughter of Vestec and Julkofyr. Julkofyr struck Vestec with a claw and wounded him, with the wound infected by Julkofyr's darkness. Vestec purged the foreign essence, which manifested into Helvana. Began as an adult. Appears human. Current status: alive
• Thacel - War (Strategy). Son of Ilunabar and Toun. Ilunabar and Toun, in attempting to resurrect Kyre (using written words and stuff), ended up conjuring Thacel instead. Started as an adult. Appears human. Current status: inactive
• Osveril - Purity (Void). Child of Jvan. Accidentally created by Jvan when she was experimenting with Voids. Has some weird geometric vaguely humanoid body of solid grey stuff. Current status: alive
• Anthanasios - Life (Healing). Son of Slough. Grew from some of the rot which dripped off Slough. Is part stag part human. Started as an adult. Current status: inactive.
• Jydshi - Motion (Animation). Daughter of Teknall, Aihtiraq and Kinesis (in a sense). Jydshi started as a robot built by Teknall and Kinesis. Kinesis then made a wish and Aihtiraq brought Jydshi alive. Is a giant millipede-like being. Current status: alive.

From experience, the origin story is the least important part about a demigod. It can generally be constructed around the other details. The origin story will cover you for one post. We want to know what you might do in all the posts following that.

On a more seriosu note, we could make an informal rule about not making more 10+ MP items. Maybe then I'd actually adopt a second portfolio.

@Cyclone

This is actually a reasonable plan. At present one can dump a ridiculous amount of Might into a single item. An informal cap of 10 MP could help reduce inflation (and it is more creative if someone finds a way to make three 10 MP items rather than a single 30 MP item), while not totally embargoing powerful artefacts.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Proposal: Give demi-gods double the might, or at least some extra might, so they are not affected by these really long turns.

Of course, that only applying to the demis who are played as main characters, not to the ones god players have.

@Double Capybara

<Snipped quote by Double Capybara>

With how long the turns are, I can see this being an issue. I would be willing to give the base might of main PC demis a boost depending on what they want to do with it.

@BBeast, @Antarctic Termite? Thoughts?

@Muttonhawk

This sounds like a reasonable measure to improve their activity over the very long turns.

While we're at it, I think the Acts of Creation level-up system has worked very well so far in Godspeed. I propose incorporating it into Mk.II as of next Turn.

@Kho

While there is the fact that the Godspeed system is indirect and pretty much 'free', the asking price is really in 'creativity' (literally, in-game, but also on part of the player). For a level 9 god like Gadar/Belru-Vowzra, actually coming up with things to spend 18 Might on to get to level 10 is going to be difficult.
In order to avoid Cyclone's 'hurrdurr I dump all on byg webin hurrdurr' we can also incorporate the 1-Might 'Hero Weapon' and 2-Might 'Divine Weapon' dichotomy Godspeed establishes. Weapons created before now can continue to exist as very powerful legendary weapons (in fact, stopping their production will ensure their value is not saturated further).

@Kho

While I agree that the Acts of Creation level-up system is a very good system, it is also completely different to the existing system. The change is not minor; it will change the way the game is played. I am reluctant to authorise such a radical change to the system half way through the game.

Also, imposing a hard limit on the strength of single items at this point would be unbalanced, as those who already have powerful legendary weapons will receive no further competition.

I did. But I will post for you as well. Fluffy dog person.

A large group of Shaman want more, for their people. Dealing and binding with Djinn does not cut it anymore, and so they all gathered around a ritually prepared girl and sacrificed themselves so their essence was siphoned into the woman. Some Shaman had Djinn, some had just dealt with Djinn for a long time. the large number of Djinn-touched souls mingled inside her and condensed into a strange spirit of great power, making the woman host a Demi-God.

@KabenSaal

This is an origin story (one which might need some adjusting, since we require some divine influence to create a Demigod). Tell us more about the character. Who is this woman? What is her Domain and Portfolio? What will she do?

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@KabenSaal My goodness it's been a while since I've seen you. I hope you're well.

Just for your information, we have developed a Divinus spin-off called Godspeed which is some weird fusion of a Free and Advanced roleplay, designed to have a significantly lower barrier to entry than Divinus but retaining all the godly fun.

Existing magic systems from memory:
Shamanism (elementals): Covered by Cyclone.
Shamanism (nature): Basically druids. Native to Mesathallassa. Talk to Capy.
Spiral Script: Wizardly magic used extensively by urtelem (stone people). Works through the written word (except their written word is super complicated and geometrical). Details here.
Tounic Calligraphy: Used extensively by the Rovaick. Carefully written symbols from the language from which the Codex of Creation was written manipulate reality.
Winds of Change: Zephyrion's essence which leaked across Galbar at some point. Currently only used by urtelem to supplement their own magic.
Astartean magic: Occasionally we get mortals who are naturally proficient in magic due to the very dilute essence of Astarte distributed to the mortals of Galbar long ago. Their magic is generally quite personalised. Ogre sorcerers are one such example, although we get the occasional weak spellcaster in the other races (it was once mentioned that some hain shamans had the power to attack elementals with magic, although not necessarily effectively). Destruction magic falls under this category.
Azibo magic: The Azibos of the Rovaick have a tendency towards magic.
Grotling slave magic: Grotling Overseers are able to dominate the minds of slaves.
Alchemy: This is what happens when you attempt to perform chemistry in a universe where magic and the occult is actually a thing. Not only do you get chemistry, but all those alchemy things which us Earthlings would call superstitious or fanciful actually work here on Galbar. Can make magic potions. The art of alchemy is used primarily by Sculptors.
The Occult: Some places have developed knowledge of occult rituals which provide some magical effects, although typically at some sacrificial cost.

I plan to explore magic with one of my characters.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Kho it makes sense.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Is it possible to invest Might in into a Domain without a Portfolio?

And regarding the Eyes of Reathos, since it's a curse can Helvana study and learn it for free?

@Slime

Normally, one would obtain a Domain before filling it with Portfolios (although, of course, the investment in obtaining that Domain likely involves some overlapping Portfolios). Portfolios do not have to be associated with Domains. There is no issue there.

As for the Eyes of Reathos, it depends what you want to do with them. Given your Portfolio and the crow theme, Helvana would definitely have an affinity for them and should be able to figure out how they work and possibly how to make more for free. You could probably attune yourself to the Eyes of your crows. However, if you want to do something big (eg. hack into any Eye anywhere and see through it, like Gadar does with ants), that might take a Might to acquire such an ability.