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.
I'd say that is relevant to the distance between the spheres. In Aristotlean's stuff, everything below the moon (air and fire) are more reachable than everything up in the stars. Perhaps dividing it in four areas overall, with an upper celestial (stars and sun and stuff) lower celestial (wind and thunder and maybe the moon and stuff) upper chthonic (forests and rivers and shadows and stuff) and lower chthonic (underworld and magma and Cthulhu and stuff), indicating closeness to Galbar and ease of mortal access, could work?
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.
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.
...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.
It took a little longer than I'd hoped, and it's far from complete, but at least I've got something to show!
Okay, a few suggestions.
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.
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?
Edit: Ah, and don't forget to bring some clothes, making materials is hard without might and walking around naked in late December is awkward, someone might catch a cold, I'd personally suggest christmas sweaters, though you might need some big ones if we have dragons and orbs of flesh around... I mean, probably don't need sweaters but at that point we just can't leave them behind, it would be just mean.
Huh, just noticed something in my own writing, Dzanya is loosely based on a country from a story I worked on in 2009, since I never ended it and the area only showed up later, I never had worked out the details. But the aesthetic kinda kept going.
Today I found some old notebooks and it was a bit weird, there were less similarities overall than I expected, but then there were these random little details like some of the land being swampy and only accessible by crossing a stormy badland, which I had honestly forgot yet somehow resurfaced 10 years later. It's kinda neat, makes me wonder if I could find another "new" idea I had recently already written in some decade old note.
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.
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, I myself can barely define the role of my character even if I have their theme and personality set down. Depending on what we get a flat Galbar might be interesting, with each cardinal direction leading to the sphere of a different god, or maybe a spherical galbar might work better
how many legends involve heroes going to a god's domain uninvited to challenge them or steal something or something?
I am a bit confused here, are you saying these don't exist? Or that they do? (because they really do! We haven't even decided if we are giving those pesky humans the gift of fire yet, so who knows if they will need to steal it.)
I think travel won't be as much of a problem as everyone seems to think, it's just that now everyone will devise their own methods and there will be a stronger sense of permanence.
In my view, gates to their spheres should work according to the god, their need, and the function of the gate. Say the sun is a gate as you described, it would be a pretty open gate... though mortals likely can't reach it :P. Maybe to traverse the shadowy alleyway path you need a special amulet, else you just bonk your head against a wall, maybe the magical teleport towers have fierce guardians and the portal is only open during summer solstice, maybe the path to the ocean realm will only open itself to those pure of heart while all others will fall into the depths of the sea and drown.
And that is not even accounting the possibility of abilities or relics that can make the god move into his sphere. Though in all honesty, I don't know how the spheres are situated physically around Galbar. From what Zeph told, I had this impression that by travelling up, you eventually reach a place between worlds.
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.
Scrawl Banditta
Lord Zee