Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, I got started with writing online on the Spore forums. Man, those were the days. We're talking like 12 years ago 2010-ish!
I've been here on and off for almost as long, and have GM'd a bunch of different things to varying success.
I don't like that honestly, because travel between spheres is supposed to be hard right? If a gods sphere is like a foot below the surface any joe with a shovel is digging into a gods sphere.
I think it should be basically impossible to physically tunnel into lower spheres or fly to upper ones. We know there are overlapping spheres so I'd almost rather double down on that than deal with the headache of spheres a foot below the ground.
This is actually a really good point. Ir's probably fine for the sky god's sphere to be the stratosphere or the ocean god's to be the Marianna Trench, but having your realm so close is a contradiction.
<Snipped quote by Cyclone>
Well, in Shinto they divide it between Heavenly Gods and Earthly Gods. The advantage of Earthly over Chocaholic is that it embraces both Land and Underworld, so there is no need to think if it the seed/root being underground or the canopy being up in the sky, it also eliminates the middle realm, as fairyland would be earthly.
We don't need to change the word Chthonic, but just give a heads up that it also includes all the surface.
Well, Chthonic does literally mean 'of or relating to the underworld'. We probably would need to rename it to be Celestial gods vs Earth Gods. The Chthonic ones would be a subset of Earth gods, I guess.
Avatars should be treated as a relic without specific rules. A god with 10 avatars is about as dangerous as a god with 10 magical swords anyway. Maybe a power debuff is in place unless it's like the one avatar of the god, which has always been seen in the underlining of MK2 and Godspeed anyway.
Avatars have yet to even come up on that Google doc, as the pertinent section for MP spending and abilities etc. has yet to even be started. I'll keep this idea in mind or when I do try to tackle that part.
Formalize the middle realms that intersect with Galbar. Right now the concept is nebulous. I think a big difference should be that they are easier for mortals to live in. Walking into the fairyland is not the same as walking into heaven or the underworld, though there is that rule about not eating fairy food. I also think you will have a lot of trouble with gods who don't follow the greek model, which left a lot of the primordial to the titans, is a god of forests Upper or Lower?
I'm interested in hearing others' opinions on this. Do we want a third group of gods, the middle ones? It might not be necessary. Right now I'm tempted to say that just as the dirt god whose Sphere is literally five feet below Galbar's surface is a 'lower' god, the forest god whose realm is the canopies of big trees a hundred feet above the ground is technically an 'upper' god. Such distinctions probably don't matter to the ones so close to Galbar nearly as much as they do for the ones that are miles underground or so far into the sky that they can barely see the planet.
You all should be able to make in-line comments. Writing OPs and organizing them into a logical flow is somewhat difficult, so any feedback is welcome be it on formatting, grammar, or the mechanics themselves being proposed.
It seemed as though the trio of Rhino Men had indeed stumbled across the corrupted and broken remnants of the obelisk that had been closest to Wulfhelm. Much to the alarm of the three packs that now stalked the strange creatures, there were only two Rhino Men wandering down the shore, not three as the scout had reported. The missing third one had no doubt left to find more of its kind. It wouldn't have been able to tell its friends about the presence of Wulfhelm or of the Lycans' new home across the river, which made it all the more important that they ambush and kill these two before they could discover as much.
The lycans crept slowly and quietly through the muddy ground and high grasses. Those Silentpaw experienced in such skulking took leading the way for the less-so Bloodfang, until they eventually came to a suitable ambush spot just a few hundred yards ahead of where the duo was walking. They waited, and slowly the two great creatures lumbered closer. There was a soft wind blowing into their faces as they peered out at the approaching giants, and the breeze helped to carry the sound of the strangers' voices. Surprisingly, between the frequent snorts and despite the beasts' guttural speech, the lycans were able to comprehend pieces of what was being said.
"Think it was...erhm...some sort of storm or somethin'? Saw the dark clouds over here for weeks."
"Storm can't break stone! No, some dark magic...erhm...defiled the sacred stones! Elder will know what to do. But we gots to find the guardian spirit. The ghost sitting under the sacred stone shoulda came out when it broke..."
The queer giants angled their faces away from one another as they spoke, staring into the grass along either side of the path that the trod, presumably searching for whatever creatures had broken the dumb rocks. Searching for them, the lycans realized. Well, their beady little eyes didn't find the lycans. It was their noses that did, in the very instant that the wind took an unfortuitous change of direction and began blowing towards the Rhino Men and carrying the scent of the lycans. The duo of giants immediately stopped dead in their tracks, took a few steps back, and eyed the tall grass suspiciously. Seizing what little chance remained to take them by surprise, the twelve Bloodfangs exploded out from the underbrush, followed a moment later by the somewhat more cowardly Silentpaws. The Rhino Men didn't take even a moment to sense the hostile intentions of the blurs charging towards them out of the grass; they lowered their heads to point their horns in the lycans' direction, stamped their feet and snorted, and then made contact. The Bloodfang had attacked from such a close range and with such little warning that the two giants hadn't had time to break into a charge, which probably spared some of the warriors from being outright trampled. But even so, as some of the Bloodfangs moved to circle around and flank, the lead ones leaped right at the Rhino Men...and met their horns.
One of the Rhinos managed to bring down his head and raise it up just in time to utterly impale a pouncing warrior through the abdomen. The lycan's throat filled with blood and bile, but even as he died he did the others some service by clawing at the neck of the Rhino and remaining stuck atop its face. Others clawed at the giant's sides and legs as it struggled to rip the hefty lycan off its horn so that it could face the other attackers unencumbered. Meanwhile, the second Rhino had tried to perform the same move but wasn't quite fast enough. Instead his head collided directly with that of the pouncing lycan warrior. The Rhino recovered faster and quickly kicked at and stomped on the dazed and fallen Bloodfang enough to maimed him, but before the Rhino could finish the job it found itself distracted by another half dozen of the savage lycans. The Rhino Men went on to bravely fight. They made a good account of themselves as they gored with their horns, stomped with their massive hooved feet, and clobbered with their fists, but even so they were badly outnumbered and surrounded and were taken down quickly enough despite their fortitude and thick hides.
Still, they were formidable and tough adversaries. Woe to any small creatures that faced such brutes; had the lycans not been as large as powerful as they were, that skirmish might have gone differently even with their advantage in numbers. In the end, the scrap lasted not even a full minute. Two lycans had been killed--there was that first Bloodfang that pounced and got impaled, and there was some inexperienced Silentpaw that was overeager for blood and far too comfortable getting close to the giant; that youth was battered down and felled with one well-aimed stomp to the head. There was another lycan with severe injuries that might cripple him forever, and two more with minor wounds. Naturally the lycans had killed both of the Rhino Men in their rage and in the heat of the moment; their ambush hadn't gone as well as had been hoped, and these creatures had been far too dangerous to take alive and bring back for questioning.
As they carried their wounded and fallen back to the pontoon bridge and to Wulfhelm's new location, they all wondered how Vlath would react. Preparations had to be made; as it was, it only going to be a short matter of time before more of those monstrous creatures came to threaten the covenant. Right now the bridge was guarded, but if the Rhino Men crossed somewhere else and then approached Wulfhelm from the south on its side of the river then their village would be vulnerable. Right now the two corpses of the Rhino Men also remained where they'd fallen; it made some sense to deal with those, but then again, the two corpses were barely a few hours' journey away from that crude outpost of Seagard. If the Rhino Men went around searching for their missing friends, even if they didn't find the bodies they were likely to stumble upon Seagard while the looked.
For all of those dire portents, there was at least one good one. As the prospectors ventured towards the mountains they discovered an entire cliff of basalt. The sturdy and hard stone was black as night, black as the bottom of the ocean, black as the Void Gods and realm in which they slumbered. Given all of that, it was surely sacred. And it would also make a good building material. Perhaps they would be able to start quarrying it sometime in the near future. In the meantime, the Goldpaw simply relayed the good news, made note of the basalt's location, and continued on closer towards the mountains.
A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other
Population: 139 men, 142 women, 67 pups. Livestock: Small number of rabbits Military: 2 void monsters. Militia able to be conscripted up to about 30% of adult population. Food level: Slightly below average Resources: Lumber (low quantity; increasing), basalt (none harvested yet; can be mined with a quarry) Wealth: Nonexistent Trade: Nonexistent Growth:Low; impacted from food level. Morale: Average; brought up by respite from rain, brought down by food level Foreign relations: Rhino Men: (???)
Attolia
"But how am I supposed to know which stupid animal we need to find and bury? I've hunted dozens! And I still think that this 'spirit' stuff is probably nonsense..." Salvdal remarked to the shaman in a tone that sounded almost entirely unapologetic. Lady Saphira, or whatever was left of her, just peered at the foolish hunter with the empty eyes of a ghost. There was a bit more fire to be seen in the shaman's baleful glare, and together the two of them stared Salvdal into a repentant silence. They treasured and kept that silence for most of the journey's remainder; they found and buried at least a score of skeletal gazelles (and for good measure a few other carcasses that they stumbled across, too) in the hopes that one of these had been the particular animal whose vengeful spirit had returned, but there was no telling whether or not that was the case, nor was there any true way for them to know if the mere act of burying the bones and offering a quick prayer would even be enough to exorcise the spirit that was guiding their enemies. Nonetheless, they continued their work for two days and then began to make camp. Then, the Spirit Vessel suddenly craned its host's head and looked to the distance.
"I sense their presence. The enemy is near."
Salvdal muttered something to himself and quickly climbed up one of the steppe's rare trees, the one that they had been meaning to camp beneath for the night. About halfway up, he let out some exclamation. "Fires!" he said.
The shaman squinted into the distance, and sure enough, there was the faint glow of two campfires. The steppe here was so flat that they could see that from miles away, but it was hard to make out any more detail. But then to their horror, the two fires became six, a dozen, more, and more...
This was no small band that was pursuing their people; it was an army!
The shaman was distraught. "We must head back to warn the others, right now! There's no time to sleep!"
"No; fleeing is the coward's way. We can strike now and sever the snake's head," the Spirit Vessel declared. The shaman looked up into the tree for the dark silhouette of Salvdal, trying to find support in that scoundrel of all people.
At their camp, it took the better part of an entire day as well as the following night to create a ritual to summon the local spirits and ask of them the great favor. It was always hard to tell whether the spirits understood what was being asked of them, because even with wisdom accumulated in death they ultimately remained animals at heart. But as they shuffled away in the morning, one could only hope that they were somehow muddying the path for the Attolians' enigmatic pursuers. Progress migrating north was much slower than they would have liked. It had grown to the point where they hadn't moved camp in years, and over time complacency had led them to accumulate more belongings, and to simply lose some of the readiness and hardiness that their people had once had. In addition to simply having more belongings, they now also had to worry about driving their substantial herd of cattle onward. It was hard to move the animals at anything that could be considered a fast pace, and impossible to cover the entire herds' tracks.
It was quickly becoming apparent that this was not a foe that they could flee from, at least not without abandoning nearly everything that they had worked so hard to earn over the past years. And with two days already wasted, time was running critically short.
A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure, and some w D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other
Population: 143 men, 144 women, 78 children. Military: 1 elite warrior (spirit vessel). Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population. Livestock: A large herd of cattle Food level: Above Average Resources: Horses (A small number) Wealth: 200 pounds of gold; some precious jewels Trade: Some internal trade, facilitated by currency Growth:Average; impacted by racial traits, good food level, and good morale. Morale: Below average (ill omens) Foreign relations: None
The Mustaqilun Tribe
Following Rukdug's decision, both the miner and the shaman set about trying to recreate the cursed weapons that they had promised. Saliva and worse things that didn't bear mentioning were mixed together by the miner until he finally managed to create some putrid black sludge. There were a few plants and mushrooms crushed into the paste as well, bu it was hard to tell if the miner was truly following some well-known formula or just tossing in whatever he could find as if this were some sort of soup. But by the end of the day, he'd created a sizable pot of the disgusting concoction. He'd then thought to coat a long spear with the stuff and prod at one of the runts from outside the cage, but the boar handlers assured him that such precaution was no longer necessary. It'd been weeks since any of the boars had gored someone, and most of the aggression had been bred out of the animals by now. As a far bit of good news, the pigs were finally docile enough to be considered domesticated.
So since the pigs weren't to be feared, they coated a small nail with the miner's ointment, since it would be a better test if they merely scratched the pig with a short nail rather than skewered it with some long spear. The thing predictably squealed and struggled, but quickly its body began to stiffen. Eventually the poor thing's sounds ceased as did most of its movements, though it was still alive and barely breathing. Over the following day the tiny scratch became swollen, and soon enough to wound turned black. The other pigs avoided that one, and it died the following day. The experiment wasn't a total waste of time; it seemed that the miner's concoction was some sort of fairly potent paralytic poison combined with enough nastiness to ensure an infection that would often prove lethal. But Rukdug and all the others still agreed that this was no curse. There were a fair few in the village that now felt vindicated about having initially called the miner an idiot. and some advocated for him to be punished for his impudence.
As in for the shaman, he stressed that he'd said one needed to use the axe to slowly chop down the tree that it was made from. He claimed to need at least several weeks in order to craft the axes, and that was pushing it; to achieve the best results would maybe require even longer. There were many that murmured about how this was a waste of time and just stalling on his part. At least he had the decency to begin crafted nearly a hundred of the axes at once rather than a single one to demonstrate his point, so there would hopefully be a sizable batch of cursed weapons ready. Still, each axe required its own tree and this meant that the shaman had reserved nearly a hundred large trees nearby. Considering the great shortage of lumber and the pressing need for charcoal to work the forges, many were especially unhappy with having to wait so long to fell said trees. There were other trees of course, but those were distant enough to make it logistically difficult to fell them and then move them through the hills and crags back to Riverforge.
Sending out Nyorgha was going to help, but the fact remained that it would be some time until she could establish a viable outpost and send the first shipments of lumber. They'd heard nothing from her expedition yet. In the meantime they would have to either do without, or risk ruining the shaman's plans.
The tengu and the goblins seemed taken aback at how Pak had essentially offered his people to be used as bait. That was how the orcs interpreted the ninja's contemplative silence, anyways; who knew what the bird and masked goblins were truly thinking. Their leader finally broke the silence. "This ploy of yours could work. He is arrogant and with an army at his back, so he will take the easiest path and not bother about being seen. There are a few ideal places along the way. We wouldn't even need to bother with filling your camp with trinkets, it can be devoid of valuables altogether; his warband would raid a camp anyways, if only to take even more slaves."
"We have...ways of going about unseen," Master Ie went on, drawing a sharp glance from Digzu. "But there is no magic with which we could make false images of your kind. You would be alone before the Dai Oni and all his brigands, and very close. In the resulting fight you would be in mortal peril even once we spring out of hiding to help you."
One of the goblins now blurted out, "It is a poor plan. Saizo said that these...orcs were tempted by the firestones. Any oni king would hypnotize and enthrall them, and this one is even more clever and snake-tongued-"
"Enough!" Ie looked down to Pak and handed him some odd piece of wood that he'd procured from his belt. "We will commit to your plan of action. You must lure as many of the bandits into the camp as possible. And you must stall them and draw out their king, looking as inconspicuous as your kind can be whilst remaining ready to strike in the blink of an eye. And when that moment comes, one of you must play this flute. Then we too shall strike, and together we may well be able to exploit the chaos and kill the majority of his men before they can react. Dealing with the Bandit King himself will be...more challenging. We will have to improvise. But if he can be felled, then I shall banish his spirit back to the nether realms before he can form a new body!"
A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other
Population: 200 men, 200 women, 99 children. Military: No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 60% of adult population. Livestock: A large group of pigs Food level: Average Resources:copper, zinc, and arsenic (decent amount; not yet being worked or smelted into alloys), charcoal (tiny amount), paralytic poison Wealth: Some semi-precious gemstones Trade: Nonexistent Growth:Average Morale: Below average (improved by sending away the worst complainers) Foreign relations: Ful's Ninjas: Neutral
Orr'gavol: The Hammersworn
Seeing as they were all southward bound to the Darr, the parties of Herim and Makkar traveled together through the snowy forest. Here and there was a great lump protruding out from the white canvas on the ground, and the learned dwarves of Phosphorus and Glass Unions would brush off the snow covering. In that way they found many boulders, a of which were identified as dolomite. The rocky outcroppings were then slowly broken down with hammers and pickaxes before being loaded onto sleds. Whilst some would then haul the sleds back to have the stone processed into lime, others went on all the way to the frozen river in search of glassand.
And along the way, they heard a strange sound--the dripping of water. That was something that few save the furnace operators had heard in the past few months; there had been no rain to fall down from above and drip off the leaves, only flurries or blizzards of snow. The only place where water had dripped had been off the tops of the fiery furnaces. But now they were seeing and hearing droplets of water falling free from a few long icicles perched upon rocks and treelimbs. It was a sight that made more than a few of them jump with joy, for it renewed a hope of spring.
As they went further south to the river, the signs became slightly more evident. The river's surface was still frozen solid, but in parts the ice was softening and had become more like slush than solid rock. That spared them most of the effort of having to break their own holes in the ice. Digging through the slush, they made holes into the frigid riverwater below. Sure enough, there were a few fish down there, and most more sizable than the minnows they'd found by the sea! The fish seemed abuzz and vibrant, as they too could no doubt sense the warming that came with a shift in seasons. They were perhaps even more desperate for spring than the dwarves, for in their starvation they were biting at all before them, even the hard and shiny shape of the bare hooks that the dwarves put at the end of their fishing lines. Makkar and his Union didn't find much, for most of the fish had likely died in the winter or swam out into the sea if they were capable of it, but their bounty was still substantial and far better than nothing.
Herim's expedition met with similar success. The sediment from the river's bottom that they dredged through the slush pits was little more than useless mud, but along the short strips of beach were a few sandy parts where they found what would pass for glassand. They dug up as much as they were willing to haul back, and then returned to the Hovel alongside the (considerably more popular, now) Earth Union fishermen. Their arrival back home was just in time to see some of the newer forges; the Hammersworn now had managed to refine quite a bit of their iron ore.
All seemed good, and spirits were high. But then there was a terrible omen: one of the miners returned from his station in the mountains without a load of ore, sprinting like a madman. Between the pants, he told them that they'd seen the Abductor fly in from the cold north and land somewhere in one of the mountains nearby. Perhaps it was already gazing south in search of prey; the runner had hid beneath the cover of trees wherever possible, but even so, he'd always been looking back over his shoulder terrified of what he might see in the sky.
Godrim had left his post in the pass by the mines to (they presumed) run a few miles down the mountain chain, scale up the peak where the beast had perched, and try to drive it away a second time, but the miner hadn't stuck around long enough to see what'd come of that. Come to think of it, the miner hadn't even realized that Godrim could leave his post.
A) Improve food B) Improve military technology C) Improve infrastructure D) Improve culture E) Explore F) Improve resources/technology G) Prospect the land H) Expand military I) Take diplomatic action X) Other
Population: 234 men, 235 women, 115 children. Military: No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population. Food level: Below average Resources: Lignite coal (low grade; large amount, increasing), iron ore (substantial quantity, increasing), iron (substantial quantity) Wealth: Nonexistent Trade: Nonexistent Growth:Average Morale: Low; influenced by finding more food, successful expeditions, and teaching the young, and another sighting of the Abductor Foreign relations: Heel's Hundred: Friendly
Ekon-Danna
Though the slaver lord approached the mat, so too did his bodyguards. Their hands hovered not far from their weapons. And even as the slaver sat down, he did not accept the trolls' food. Instead he procured a wineskin and drank from its contents without offering a share in turn, and nor did he offer his name back. At least he gave an answer that seemed earnest enough, "I can tell you that it was soldiers of Giwabi that took note of your presence and came to observe you in the weeks past. But as your band has not yet moved and Giwabi's armies are otherwise preoccupied, they have yet to take action. Though if you linger long enough, the king's men may well try to see you driven off or collect a tithe for your settlement upon his lands. But it that is between you and them; we are not involved."
"And we will not bring you to the king," the slaver declared without a second's pause, "for he is on campaign against your cousins to the north as well as the other barbarous kingdom that presses at his borders. And our business takes us away from all of that chaos and turmoil, to the burning mountains in the east. Besides, it is known that Giwabi has no love for your kind."
The man suddenly snapped a finger. One of the bodyguards came to kneel besides the slaver, and the man whispered something into his servant's ear. Then he looked back to Senwe. "But enough talk of Gwabi...Senwe of the Ekon. You ask about the prices of our wares, and I find that topic much more interesting. You must know that chattel are heterogeneous goods and there can be no one price for each head; such a thing is best negotiated on the basis of each individual or group. One of my men will bring forth an assay of our merchandise that you may inspect it with your own eyes and negotiations might begin. In the meantime, I will tell you that we transport three dozen heads, of which ten and ten again are of your kind; if you have the wealth for it, there are another four strong men that could be sold. But the remaining heads are not for sale!
Six pounds of silver, or two pounds of gold, could see those of your likeness into your possession. Make that ten, or three and then some, and you can have the human heads too. Of course, as I have said before, we are in a position to accept payment of similar worth in salt or other goods."
As they had spoken, the bodyguard that he'd whispered to had waved some sign to the convoy. One of the wagons was stopped, and the horsemen about it began dragging out the wretches within. No less than five trolls in the distance were chained to one another and then slowly marched closer to where Senwe and the slaver lord sat, though even from such a distance it was easy to tell that these were no sand trolls after all--they were taller and had skin green as moss.
The lands around Hunzuu were quite desolate. Eyes that were used to the scarcity of a desert nonetheless managed to take note of what few details and precious things of value were present, and a few children had indeed gathered strange rocks. The rocks were black, but they also shone and reflected the sun's baleful glare just as readily as water. The things were smooth along their flats but surprisingly sharp on their edges, and more than a few of the children had cut themselves or one another whilst playing with the stones. Naturally, they'd just laughed it off and regenerated over the next few hours as troll children were wont to do. More elderly and pragmatic minds had realized that since the stones were easily fractured and naturally sharp, they made for good speartips and arrowheads.
Beyond that, there hadn't been many resources that they'd simply stumbled upon. There was the occasional pile of bones from a dead animal, and all such things were gathered up and taken back to the camp. Even old and dried bones could be put to use.
Population: 172 men, 173 women, 61 children Livestock: None Military: Militia able to be conscripted up to 50% of adult population. Food level: Below Average Resources: Bone, obsidian Wealth: Nonexistent Trade: Nonexistent Growth:Average; influenced by low food and racial traits Morale: Average Foreign relations:Kingdom of Giwabi(Wary)
"Time is running short, O Great King..."
Each softly whispered left the witch's lips with a serpentine hiss.
He clenched a fist so tight that it might have shattered were he truly made of ice, but he was still of flesh and blood yet. "What will it take to rouse them from their sleep? Another fortnight? Even longer?!"
She shrugged and he grew even more furious. "Tell them to keep driving back the spring! You'll soon have more to fuel the magic."
He rose up from his gigantic throne and made for a balcony in his frozen fortress. Though he was far from cold, Tjatse clutched his eagle pelt tighter about him as he left.
I expect that portfolios will remain much the same as in this RP. Tweaks will likely be made to the exact number of MP required to claim them, but the gist will remain the same except for how we will do away with domains. So no longer will your portfolios have to be at all related!
The practical limiter on the number of foci will be the how many portfolios a god can manage to accrue, given that they cost MP and time and require that your god do things related to said portfolio. But if you take enough groups of closely related portfolios, I see no reason that you couldn't end up with two or maybe even three separate foci. Much more than that would likely push reasonable limits, as we can't let one person claim all the portfolios.
i like how fast this went from we got no idea to ironing out the details and posting everything on google docs etc... reminds me back when we first started brainstorming mk2. things went out of control real fast xP we planned to start it in the summer, but the hype got real and ended up starting it on february LOL
Got no idea?! Bro we got like 3 or 4 masterminds in here, not to mention my secret Think-Tank of monkeys locked in cages with nothing but typewriters and caffeine.
More seriously, my stance towards Divinus hasn't really changed since the last time I commented on it. I need to focus on closing what I opened here, correcting my flagged discipline (towards which... no real progress has been made), and begin developing the skills I need to start independent, long-form multimedia narrative projects.
Then I might be able to consider taking on something new. But only then.
I myself am going for a theme of travel with a focus on wandering and impermanence/passage (of time, of sights...) Really don't want to play a gatekeeper of worlds, so I have been thinking about the topic of spheres. Cyclone even talked about the possibility of tuning oneself to the sphere of Galbar itself, which was a thought that has been on my table, but depending on what other ideas people throw around and what areas lack a god, I have a few ideas of my own concerning seasons (the big one for me), or the moon, or the stars, or wilderness, or even death.
Your idea sounds interesting. Re: Attuning to Galbar itself, it was a thought that got spat out, but I'm not sure how much sense it makes. Spheres are a big deal and allowing one of the original gods to choose Galbar as their Sphere probably is illogical since that's sort of our definition of a demigod--someone trapped down there and without their own Sphere. Maybe later on there could arise some God-Emperor figure that ascends and takes on a Portfolio of (Humans) or (Mortals), and that'd be a rare situation where I feel it'd make a lot of sense for said god to have Galbar as their Sphere.
...but even then, they could just as easily go on to make some Sphere like Valhalla where they can dwell alongside the greatest of men.
I call tech god ya nerds
dork
In other news, I'm going to publicly state (so that I feel like it's now an official deadline and I get the motivation that comes with time pressure) that it's my goal to take all of this talk into consideration, fill out some Google doc with a description of Mk. 3's most important mechanics, and get that posted on here within the next 36-60 hours.
That'll make it much easier to continue these talks whilst all being on the same page, so that we can iron out the final details.
I feel much the same way as Mutton on the flat-Galbar idea.
The Mk. 3 universe’s theme is Aristotelian physics, which was quite clear about the world being spherical itself (you always hear about how the Greeks figured out that the world was round thousands of years ago, but not about how strange their model was with everything else being arranged in spheres) so it seems both thematic and appropriate to have a round world.
I don’t see much purpose to a flat world since it’s going to bring the aforementioned weirdness with horizons, break the concentric spheres theme, and not really offer any advantage beyond some measure of uniqueness.
I feel like trying to set up the world without knowing our gods will be hard, especially now that planes have such a functional role...
Right. Much of Mk. 3’s world will depend upon the gods that we get. A sun, ocean, and some islands are guaranteed but that’s about it.
Okay, I tried codifying my thoughts on innate powers and also on the concept of abilities. This is what I came up with.
What are Abilities: Abilities are aspects of a god’s existence and power usage. It represents traits, quirks and skills. Abilities should be used to customize the RP experience and define the deity beyond just his Portfolios.
Acquiring Abilities: Abilities are purchased with Might. They cannot be instantaneously developed, as they need to be justified through acts such as training or meditation to alter the god’s form, and therefore cannot be developed in the middle of battles or anything of the sort. The one exception should be the early game, where gods will need to quickly define themselves.
Abilities vs Relics and Monuments: Abilities are usually weaker than relics and monuments that do similar actions. A sword relic tends to be stronger than a sharp claw ability, a magical chariot will be faster than a speed ability, the disadvantage of relics and monuments is that they can be stolen or lost. Abilities also cannot be bought for others and only change the god, as such, one cannot pass the ability of strenght to someone else, unlike relics, which typically can be gifted.
Abilities vs Portfolio: Having a portfolio grants any baseline ability imaginable for the area involved. A god of animals does not need the ability to turn into animals, as the portfolio grants it. A god of thunder, however, must invest might into a shapeshifting ability.
Abilities and Relics vs Might Usage: The difference between a one-time great action versus a continuous ability. A Chimera created by might is greater than the sum of its parts, a legendary beast. While the ability to mix two animal together will create weaker beasts but is a permanent skill.
Form Likely the first thing anyone will want to spend in, setting up the bodily traits that define their god.
Default: The deity has their humanoid or special form. They are clearly a god.
Some examples of possible abilities:
• Humanoid Form: For deities who are gigantic, magical beasts, or just hard to comprehend and want to have a more compact form. • Special Form: Not simple animal forms, but the form of great magical beasts, colossal giants, living storms. Can be acquired multiple times.
• Shapeshifting: The ability to turn into mortal creatures at will. • Mortal-like: Can conceal godhood and turn oneself into an unassuming mortal. • Swarm Form: Can turn oneself into schools of fish, flocks of bird, swarms of insects... • Immaterial Form: Turning into smoke, water, fire, lightning…
• Blinding Sight: Mortals cannot behold the visage of the god without bleeding from their eyes. Even heroes and demi-gods struggle to focus on them. • Awe: The visage of the god is awe-inspiring, beauty to make a person mad, an aura of crushing authority, or terrors beyond imagination...
• Avatar (relic): A second body of the god. Can have a normal or special form. Can be autonomous or not. Can hide godhood.
Etc.
So, for example, both Teknall and Ilunabar would have Shapeshifting, but only Ilunabar would have Awe and Immaterial Form (she can become raw dream energy and is never mentioned as having inner organs like Tek) and only Teknall would have Mortal-like.
All assumes no might usage, no portfolio affinity and that the the deity is in Galbar, not their own Sphere.
Climatization As immortals, there is no place that will be unsurvivable by a deity. However, larger storms, the depths of a molten lava lake or the blizzards of the poles are hard to navigate without affinity to such locations.
Strength All gods are powerful by nature, they will not be harmed by most mundane threats and can do acts such as smashing large boulders with one kick no matter their domains.
Senses Gods can see in great detail up to the horizon line, able to see even in the true darkness of deep space, and can observe aspects such as heat, magnetic fields or souls. They can hear as far as they can see, are able to pinpoint the direction of sounds and are able to simultaneously understand all speakers of a large crowd. Gods have a metaphysical sense that can perceive reality as raw information. (what we call perceive in MK2)
Senses - Mind Reading All gods can read a mind and understand thoughts and memories, however, this is an act that requires some focus and a target for deities unrelated to the domains of the mind.
Travel Gods can run and jump at inhuman speeds, float on air, walk on water. They can access the realms beyond. Weather Changing the weather costs might for gods without a domain related to it.
Craftsmanship All gods can create relics with might points, but do not have a natural ability to craft mundane high-quality crafts unless it is pertinent to their portfolio or cluster. (A deity of the hunt is able to naturally craft great bows, but a deity of nature might struggle to do the same.)
Fauna and Flora All gods can create any life using might. All gods may mutate life using their essence for free, though the changes are limited to their domain. All gods are able to discern the thoughts of animals and can communicate with any animal, but plants require affinity. The innate ability to create existing animals from nothing requires a domain related to the life being created. Plants can be created from nothing but will grow at natural speed without affinity.
Materials Without might or affinity related to the material, a god will have trouble creating matter from nothing. Simple things such as sand and rocks are easier to create than metals or rare materials. All gods have the ability to control elements within their vicinity using only their minds, they may raise rocks and water from the ground, purify or mix materials, extract a particular element out the ground, or compress, melt, ignite or freeze something.
In simple words, most gods cannot just take a bar of gold from their sleeve, but if they are near a gold deposit (which they can perceive) they can reach into the ground and extract a pure bar of gold from the very soil.
I like this. Something very similar will almost certainly find its way into the rough draft of an OP that I'll construct over the next few days.
Re: Spheres
Going back to my original proposal of the idea, I did define them as being actual places that could be visited and that occupy space somewhere. That's not to say that I'm opposed to the notion of Non-Euclidean geometry where there can be parallel or overlapping Spheres (as in, a fae world that overlaps with Galbar and that can only be reached on certain nights in mushroom circles or with fairy magic) but I would like to have every Sphere have at least a vague location even if it's only in relation to the others. This is because,
Since these spheres are physical places, they aren't entirely cut off from others; it'd be much easier to trespass into others' places, and in some cases it might be necessary to travel through somebody else's sphere to get to where you need to go. The gods of the upper spheres and those of the lower spheres might also come to dislike one another.
Though a god might well take measures to keep others out like putting monstrous guardians at the entryways of the Spheres or even hiding said entryways behind barriers or illusionary magic, I do very much want Spheres to be places that can be entered by the gods and potentially even invaded. Part of the appeal of the concentric Spheres is that it necessitates travel through others' realms, which in turn leads to interaction like potential conflicts. If nothing else, handling the logistics of creating transportation networks around the universe can be something interesting to occupy the gods' attention for the early part of Mk. 3.
I agree with you completely here- methods of inter-Sphere travel should be fully customisable. My point was that inter-Sphere travel will be so not-a-problem that it is a poor measure of godhood (unlike Mk 2, where only fully fledged gods could perform at-will inter-planar travel). While only a fully fledged god would have the power to create links between the Spheres, I still think that owning a Sphere is a much better milestone for ascension (we can also consider that only the god who owns a Sphere can create links to it, which would make owning a Sphere a prerequisite to making inter-Sphere links).
Another thing that I've said from the beginning is that travel between Spheres should indeed always be possible somehow, but quite difficult. You may recall that I mentioned all objects and life being bound to their Sphere of origin, and that's the primary obstacle to a demigod simply strolling on out of Galbar and up into the heavens (or underworld). Though I think it's best to leave the specifics for each writer to determine himself, it's reasonable to assume that beyond some cheesy magical barrier that prevents a mortal bound to Galbar from stepping into the portal to another Sphere, there'd also be significant physical limitations or hurdles. For instance, the way down to the Underworld might be a massive cavern system with strange rivers and numerous obstacles, at the very end of which is Cerberus. And then once you're in the Underworld, getting to the Sphere of Tartarus involves descending down an abyssal pit that extends straight down for unfathomable distances. Likewise, while any mortal could temporarily visit (or maybe just see) the Sphere of Dreams when they sleep, there's the handicap in that they can't stick around because they eventually will wake up. And while sorcerers might derive their powers from accessing the Sphere of Magic, they'd be opening tiny rifts to it rather than stepping into it.
Additionally, if we want all the Spheres to be connected to Galbar, it doesn't make sense to have a strictly concentric model, because then only two Spheres will be in direct contact with Galbar and the other Spheres have to push through the Spheres in between.
I actually like the idea of the magic and "essence" of upper Spheres trickling all the way down, and that of the lower Spheres bubbling up. All of it would meet in the middle Sphere that's Galbar, making it even more special and important. And the "pressure" of all the Sphere pushing on it from both above and below would also provide a convenient in-universe explanation for why the mortals of Galbar would struggle very much to leave their Sphere; the barriers are stronger between the Spheres nearest the middle, and mortals are bound much tighter to Galbar than extradimensional (extraspherical? lol) beings are to their own Spheres. That's why angels coming down or demons being summoned could happen with more frequency than something as truly epic as a mortal somehow finding the magic and the secrets and the powers required to run down into the Underworld on some Orpheus adventure.
For some of the reasons outlined above I'm generally adverse to mandating a true "portal" to every Sphere be present on Galbar. I'd be happy with at a minimum just mandating that the effects of every Sphere be felt; the Solar Sphere's essence would radiate out as light and heat and would obviously affect Galbar and everything between, whilst a luck god's Sphere might occasionally have its powers leak into the Galbar to cause miraculous events. Or just make gold and rainbows appear.
In conclusion, BBeast and I seem to have similar ideas about Spheres, but I take a much more literal view on the concentric Spheres model and on them having actual locations even if said locations can still overlap. The ramifications of this difference in viewpoint are mainly that this provides yet another difficulty for gods in traveling, which is further reinforced by my dislike for the idea of making all Spheres easily accessible through portals and the like on Galbar.
That was more an attempt at me clarifying my initial conception rather than on necessarily trying to refute or demerit those posited by others; thoughts on all of the above is of course welcome. If my conceptualization of the Spheres is ultimately deemed too convoluted or if it has too many disadvantages compared to some other system, I'm happy to ultimately change it; however, perhaps we should hold off on ironing out the very specific details of Spheres until I can write out a comprehensive description of how I imagine them. It's clear that not everyone is imaging the Spheres as I do, and that's completely understandable as they're a very technical thing, and all that you all have to go off of is what you can read between the lines in all of these scattered points across various posts.
EDIT: Cyclone is talking to me on Discord to clear up some things. His reply here will probably feature that, I think.
Some of that clarification was on my notion of Spheres, which is partially covered above. I feel like I've already gotten a bit carried away on that topic, so I'll once again reiterate that perhaps it's best we simply wait until I can write down some mechanics as I envision them. Then it'll be more clear and everyone can poke holes in them.
Now, I'll address each of Mutton's colored suggestions as well as a few of his thoughts that triggering musings of my own.
- The number of FP allocated per player per turn is equal, but the amount is dictated my the GM and may fluctuate between ages according to the acts expected. For example, the 'Age of Creation' may require many mighty acts to lift continents from the seas and populate the earth. The Age of Darkness may defined by scarcity, and what little might is provided must be used to rebuild atop the ruins of previous civilisations.
This is already the general consensus. In case anybody else missed it, I've been saying that the amount of FP will vary Turn by Turn based on the current Age, and I've announced my intention to "frontload" the initial Age of Creation with quite a bit of FP.
- The theme of a new age is also directed by the overall story driven by the players. The exact theme of the next age may be discussed by the players leading up to the end of the current age, but the GM has the final say*.
This makes sense and is mostly how I imagined it. I won't plan too far ahead and will try to steer the Ages in a direction that makes sense based on IC developments, but ultimately somebody has got to decide what to call the next Age, what actions to encourage, and exactly how much FP to give. I'll try to muse on these things aloud so that others can help me figure out specifics, see them coming and either plan accordingly, and/or shout out their objections.
The 'Age of Creation' may even represent such a chaotic state of the universe that it has no time window, representing a fluctuating, pseudo-linear, time-before-time.
I actually like this quite a bit and hadn't previously considered it. This vagueness might well make more sense than either doing some Biblical few weeks of creating sprees or some more scientifically acceptable numbers that go into the millions or billions of years.
I like that each god will have their own personal plane from the beginning by default. I would propose that each may be lazily developed as needed rather than requiring a detailed pimp-out before even describing in passing. That way players can focus where they want to, either doing stuff elsewhere or detailing their plane as they wish.
I was intending to have the Spheres fleshed out organically and over time IC, with them starting as empty shells of a sort that can then be filled in and altered by the gods that claim them (or get assigned to them). Initially all the gods would be detached beings or spirits (or even stray souls, perhaps) that the Architect just brings in for this purpose.
I'd like it if a person included on their sheet at least some short and vague description of their plans for their Sphere's function, location, and effect upon Galbar. Hades can build his palace in the Underworld and divide up all the various regions and create various guardians as the RP goes on, but in the beginning all that really matters is that Hades' writer says that his dude will occupy a lower Sphere that is used to house the souls of the dead.
- You'll notice I've been saying planes instead of spheres. I think it would get confusing if both planes and portfolios/domains are called spheres. I would prefer at least one of them not be called spheres.
This was one thing I clarified for Mutton on the Discord, and one thing that perhaps bears reiterating here: Domains are gone. We aren't renaming them to Spheres; Spheres refer only to Mk. 3's conception of what we have been calling planes. The implication of Domains no longer existing is that a god can take any number of completely unrelated Portfolios over time. However, you're encouraged to take several related Portfolios because doing so creates a 'Cluster'. As I mentioned before, having a Cluster over some theme would generally increase the power level of all its pertinent Portfolios that you've already adopted in addition to implying significant prowess and powers over related things even if they don't fall under one of your portfolios.
Zephyrion starts with a Portfolio of (Wind). His Sphere is just a bit above Galbar up in the Clouds, and it's the source of all winds. This Sphere sets a general theme to him as a god and implies some powers, but it's not a Domain of Sky. Just because he lives up in the clouds and controls the wind doesn't imply he can innately drop lightning down onto the ground or do other sky-related actions without spending MP like everybody else.
However, Zeph adopts the second (completely unrelated) Portfolio of (Seasons). Then he adopts (Transmutation), in the sense of turning certain substances in others. Then (Mutation) in the sense of changing lifeforms. Now, with those three Portfolios, he could reasonably claim a Cluster of Change. This would act similarly to a Domain; it'd potentially amplify his powers of the Portfolios that he already has as well as enable him to have power over certain things related to Change that don't strictly fall under a Portfolio he's claimed, like with (Deforestation) or (Aging). Note that things like (Deforestation) and (Aging) might also be implied under Clusters of Civilization and Life, respectively. Clusters are vague and broad, like Domains (although perhaps a bit weaker), and simply having a related Cluster doesn't grant anything close to a level of claim that the Portfolio would.
So while grabbing (Masonry) (Agriculture) and (Carpentry) before going on to adopt a Cluster of Civilization would probably be enough for Teknall to be able to turn towards gaining other things and still do most of the Civilization-related things that he'd want to do, he would still have reason to eventually come back and perhaps grab some more Civilization-related Portfolios like (Blacksmithing) if he's going to be doing a lot of things related to that Portfolio.
- I would say base MP allowance should remain constant per turn. This will stunt power escalation but it will also deal with another fundamental problem we were having in MkII; artefact power inflation. Seriously, we were looking at ancient artefacts built early in the game like discarded MMORPG gear. That's a tragedy I don't want to repeat.
On the Discord, this prompted me to say, "What if artifacts grow in power over time and as they are used for various purposes, similarly to heroes? Perhaps that's just too much. But it's certainly thematic to have an item created near the beginning of the universe be quite a powerful one even by default, and for the sword of a demigod that butchered thousands to become a powerful artifact by mere virtue of all that it's done.
He responded, "I have a better idea, one that doesn't require rules accretion: If an artefact is used for something cool in a story, have the Master of the Spheres give it a permanent power increase arbitrarily. That way artefacts don't have to be made with the intention of being investments."
Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, I got started with writing online on the Spore forums. Man, those were the days. We're talking like [s]12 years ago[/s] 2010-ish!
I've been here on and off for almost as long, and have GM'd a bunch of different things to varying success.
[center]Word of my splendor:[/center]
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<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, I got started with writing online on the Spore forums. Man, those were the days. We're talking like <span class="bb-s">12 years ago</span> 2010-ish!<br><br>I've been here on and off for almost as long, and have GM'd a bunch of different things to varying success.<br><br><div class="bb-center">Word of my splendor:</div><br><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="My messenger's letter">My messenger's letter [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none"><img src="https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019b0090-4706-75b9-bfe5-fd4ef6737466.webp" /></div></div><br><div class="hider-panel"><div class="hider-heading"><button type="button" class="btn btn-default btn-xs hider-button" data-name="My fellow monarch's response">My fellow monarch's response [+]</button></div><div class="hider-body" style="display: none"><img src="https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019b0090-a418-774f-a117-1ae23ac670fd.webp" /></div></div></div>
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