Jemal
Adventurer
Ready to go!
Allright, I've seen several 'god' games on here in my time, but they always seem to take the whole "Your gods, the univers just started. do stuff" approach. Not that I don't enjoy that, but there ARE other angles. I have one such to propose.
This is based off of my main backstory for myhomebrew campaign settings, although I have stolen parts of it from two fellow DM's and collided the three into what I think is a very interesting setting. This Game allows us to do two things.. It lets me finaly tell the backstory to someone(!!!!), and it allows us to have a god campaign in which the gods are NOT just wandering around idly creating stuff.. The world and everything's allready here, and you're in it.
Now, the basic premise is a while ago, you (the PC's) were stuck in a demiplane with no way out, and no way to affect the rest of the universe. Time went by, new gods arose and filled in the missing pieces. Then, suddenly, you managed to free yourselves. The game would be then centering about what happens NEXT, as the old gods vie for dominance in this new universe.
If you would like to participate in such a universe, feel free to continue reading. I will be providing the complete details, as well as going on to a form of 'character creation' meant to gauge relative power levels, so there is no "that's my power, Not yours. I can do this, you can do that".
[sblock=Complete Story]
The universe is not forever, but some things are. LIke the Four Elder Gods.
They are
Anima - Godess of Creation and Purity (GOOD)
Magnus - God of Destruction and the void (EVIL)
Unknown - God of Karma and Balance (NEUTRAL)
and finally, the being known as the Focus, through whom the other three's power is channelled.
When Existance first started, and how, are unknown, even to the Elder Gods. What is known is that they have been around for a dozen incarnations of 'the Universe', and this is the 13th. The 'Gods' of this particular Universe are not all-powerful beings, but are a race highly advanced beyond mortals, yet not quite so powerful as the Elder Gods, who control All.
The first Universe was pure chaos, with Good and Evil fighting for dominance, and Neutral wanting them both gone completely, until the Focus appeared. He forced the others to see reason, and between them, they came up with a plan. They knew that their Universe would not last forever, but that they could survive it. So when it did, they started the new universe fresh. They decided that the three would rule each in turn, an age of Good, an age of Evil, and an age of balance. And then, when the universe ended, they would try something new.
This time, something went wrong. (Perhaps that old superstition about the # 13 is true?) Instead of ruling in turn and then returning to their specific domains as they were supposed to, Evil and good fell to fighting again, influenced by the vast variety of life, and the 'gods' of this 13th universe. Anima and Magnus were each imprisoned, and the imbalance caused by this sent the God of Karma off the deep end. He began correcting every little imbalance, but with the complete absence of the Elder Gods of Good and Evil, he had nothing to judge by, and ended up overcompensating. Someone would save a kitten, he'd sentence an entire city to slavery. A warlord would torture a group of innocents for information, and He would strike down an entire nation of evil doers.
Eventually, the 'gods' had enough of it. They knew that a dozen of them couldn't defeat him, so all of them managed to band together and, while not defeating him outright, trap him in a prison plane, and shut the door. They then apointed one of their own, who's entire domain had been destroyed in the strugle, to watch.
At that point, the Focus took on the duties of all three of the other gods, but not quite as well as they could have done themselves, and the Universe limped on with the aid of the 'lesser' Gods. Then, people started tapping into the powers of the trapped Elder gods, and were in danger of destroying the entire universe. The Lesser Gods were prevented from interfering directly by the power of the Focus, and when they confronted him about it, were told the story of the universes. Not wanting their reign as 'immortal' beings to end, they managed to band together, combining all of their might for one single attack, at the exact moment the universe was about to be split. They 'pushed' (for lack of a better term) the Focus into the split, sundering the Focus and MOST of the universe, while a selection of creation was spared the full brunt of it. Unfortunately, many of the deities died, and those that didn't became entrapped in a small demiplane forged of the remaining 'vengeance' of the Focus.
20,000 years have passed. New gods arose, unaware of what had come before, and thinking that this was the new universe. Life flourished, and all was well without the interference of the four Primals. Until they started breaking free.
The essensce of the primals had been split. Each had lost much of their power.. Magnus's power had been personified in The Void, and some of it had travelled to the mortal realm as an artifact known as the "Core of Destruction. Similarly, the good of Anima was forged into an entire world, which became a populated paradise. Sensing the inherent destructive power of the Void, and seeing the corresponding good of the planet, the fledgling gods implanted the Void into the planet, ending utopia, but creating a more balanced universe not in danger of destroying itself.
But this was only a stopgap measure.
The core of destruction, as well as the corresponding core of creation, were still at large.. Anima and Magnus were in danger of breaking free at anyminute, and the Void kept creeping out. Meanwhile, seeds of Karma were being sown with none being the wiser...
And amidst it all, the Gods of old (the PC's) struggled to break free.
Following is a brief timeline, leading up to now.
20,000 years ago - The new universe begins.
16,000 yrs - Utopia comes into being
11,000 yrs - The Void is opened.
10,000 yrs - The Void and Utopia are combined.
9,000 yrs - Seeds of Karma are sown, the door opens a hair.
1,000 years ago - the Void escapes temporarily, but is reimprisoned by mortal heroes. Strange happenings indicate (to those with knowledge of the previous universe) that Magnus and Anima may have been freed and are looking to resolidify their power.
100 yrs - The PC's escape, and spend a century figuring out what has happened and regaining their strength.
NOW - The Old Gods are ready to take their place in the universe, and (maybe) save it from the Elder's.
[/sblock]
Rules!
OK, here's the way I'm going to do it... Each of the PC gods has a certain number of points they can spend.. These are similar to stat points, but instead of stats, you put them into Domains to achieve domain scores. These are not necesarily the same domains as found in D&D, but can be... You could have practically anything as a domain, though the more powerful/encompassing the domain, the more it costs to put a point into it.
When you're trying to do something, you will state what you want to do. If you believe it's within your power, feel free to post it. If I happen to disagree, I will give you a DC and make you roll a check on Invisiblecastle with a modifier based off your domain. (If it's something that's highly outside your power level, I hope that would be obvious).
You may have up to 5 'domains', of your choosing. There will be 4 different power levels of domains, and when you ask for them, I'll tell you which category I think each belongs in. If you disagree, feel free to debate me.
most of the current Deities are built off of between 20-50 points.
You PC's will be built off of 60-70.
THe 'Overgods', if they were ever to be freed, would be about 200.
I will be kind of using D&D rules, but just as a 'background'. All of you Deities have all of the class abilities, spells, and feats from the PHB, usable unlimited times. For many things, this will not matter (rage, etc). That's just so you have a 'basis' for how powerful the gods are, even without their domains. As for 'other' powers.. well, anything that seems out of the power level for your average 20th level character, or more than a 9th lvl PHB spell will require an appropriate Domain score. You require at least 1 point in a domain to try something associated to that, though multiple domains could be tied to the same task, if you're imaginative and a good writer.
(Which brings up a point.. I expect that the most powerful gods will be those whos players are the most imaginative and best describe their actions, not the ones who try to pick the most powerful domains.)
Moving on. The max starting rank in a domain is 10, but with 'experience' and good writing, you can gain 'bonus' points to put into your domains down the road. And just for the record, the power of each level is much higher than the one below it.
Power Categories (And examples) ARE:
Major - the big stuff/elemental... Time, Fire, Life, Death, Dragons, Good, Evil, Magic, Nature
Greater - Main Sentient races (Humans, Orcs, Elves, etc), Humanoid concepts/emotions (Love, War, Greed, etc), Trees, Mountains, Seas...
Lesser - Lesser used/less powerful sentient races (Kobolds, pseudo dragons, Kuo-toa, etc), Animal species (cats, birds, Insects, etc), lesser-used concepts/ideas. (Dreams, Nightmares, Illusions, etc)
Minor - Anything very specific/not very powerful. Specific animal(rat, hawk, frog), specific plants(Oak, Grass)
The base Costs are as follows (You must pay for each level before you pay for the next, so costs are cumulative):
Major : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (rank 10 total=55)
Greater : 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5 (rank 10 total=30)
Lesser : 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (rank 10 total=20)
Minor : 1 for 1. (rank 10 total=10)
I'm not telling you what the relevant modifiers on each rank are, b/c I don't want number-crunching/minmaxing for maximum power. Lets just say that up to 5 it's about static, after that it's almost exponential.
6 ranks in a domain makes you a greater god of it. 9 or 10 makes you the MAIN god of it.
Only one god can have more than 8 ranks in any given domain, and I suggest if it's what you base your god around that you make it 10.
For the record, I am NOT taking first-come first serve. I would like submissions on your 'basic' god outline, including name and suggested domains, as well as usual followers, and your outlook on the Good/Evil debate.
Allright, I've seen several 'god' games on here in my time, but they always seem to take the whole "Your gods, the univers just started. do stuff" approach. Not that I don't enjoy that, but there ARE other angles. I have one such to propose.
This is based off of my main backstory for myhomebrew campaign settings, although I have stolen parts of it from two fellow DM's and collided the three into what I think is a very interesting setting. This Game allows us to do two things.. It lets me finaly tell the backstory to someone(!!!!), and it allows us to have a god campaign in which the gods are NOT just wandering around idly creating stuff.. The world and everything's allready here, and you're in it.
Now, the basic premise is a while ago, you (the PC's) were stuck in a demiplane with no way out, and no way to affect the rest of the universe. Time went by, new gods arose and filled in the missing pieces. Then, suddenly, you managed to free yourselves. The game would be then centering about what happens NEXT, as the old gods vie for dominance in this new universe.
If you would like to participate in such a universe, feel free to continue reading. I will be providing the complete details, as well as going on to a form of 'character creation' meant to gauge relative power levels, so there is no "that's my power, Not yours. I can do this, you can do that".
[sblock=Complete Story]
The universe is not forever, but some things are. LIke the Four Elder Gods.
They are
Anima - Godess of Creation and Purity (GOOD)
Magnus - God of Destruction and the void (EVIL)
Unknown - God of Karma and Balance (NEUTRAL)
and finally, the being known as the Focus, through whom the other three's power is channelled.
When Existance first started, and how, are unknown, even to the Elder Gods. What is known is that they have been around for a dozen incarnations of 'the Universe', and this is the 13th. The 'Gods' of this particular Universe are not all-powerful beings, but are a race highly advanced beyond mortals, yet not quite so powerful as the Elder Gods, who control All.
The first Universe was pure chaos, with Good and Evil fighting for dominance, and Neutral wanting them both gone completely, until the Focus appeared. He forced the others to see reason, and between them, they came up with a plan. They knew that their Universe would not last forever, but that they could survive it. So when it did, they started the new universe fresh. They decided that the three would rule each in turn, an age of Good, an age of Evil, and an age of balance. And then, when the universe ended, they would try something new.
This time, something went wrong. (Perhaps that old superstition about the # 13 is true?) Instead of ruling in turn and then returning to their specific domains as they were supposed to, Evil and good fell to fighting again, influenced by the vast variety of life, and the 'gods' of this 13th universe. Anima and Magnus were each imprisoned, and the imbalance caused by this sent the God of Karma off the deep end. He began correcting every little imbalance, but with the complete absence of the Elder Gods of Good and Evil, he had nothing to judge by, and ended up overcompensating. Someone would save a kitten, he'd sentence an entire city to slavery. A warlord would torture a group of innocents for information, and He would strike down an entire nation of evil doers.
Eventually, the 'gods' had enough of it. They knew that a dozen of them couldn't defeat him, so all of them managed to band together and, while not defeating him outright, trap him in a prison plane, and shut the door. They then apointed one of their own, who's entire domain had been destroyed in the strugle, to watch.
At that point, the Focus took on the duties of all three of the other gods, but not quite as well as they could have done themselves, and the Universe limped on with the aid of the 'lesser' Gods. Then, people started tapping into the powers of the trapped Elder gods, and were in danger of destroying the entire universe. The Lesser Gods were prevented from interfering directly by the power of the Focus, and when they confronted him about it, were told the story of the universes. Not wanting their reign as 'immortal' beings to end, they managed to band together, combining all of their might for one single attack, at the exact moment the universe was about to be split. They 'pushed' (for lack of a better term) the Focus into the split, sundering the Focus and MOST of the universe, while a selection of creation was spared the full brunt of it. Unfortunately, many of the deities died, and those that didn't became entrapped in a small demiplane forged of the remaining 'vengeance' of the Focus.
20,000 years have passed. New gods arose, unaware of what had come before, and thinking that this was the new universe. Life flourished, and all was well without the interference of the four Primals. Until they started breaking free.
The essensce of the primals had been split. Each had lost much of their power.. Magnus's power had been personified in The Void, and some of it had travelled to the mortal realm as an artifact known as the "Core of Destruction. Similarly, the good of Anima was forged into an entire world, which became a populated paradise. Sensing the inherent destructive power of the Void, and seeing the corresponding good of the planet, the fledgling gods implanted the Void into the planet, ending utopia, but creating a more balanced universe not in danger of destroying itself.
But this was only a stopgap measure.
The core of destruction, as well as the corresponding core of creation, were still at large.. Anima and Magnus were in danger of breaking free at anyminute, and the Void kept creeping out. Meanwhile, seeds of Karma were being sown with none being the wiser...
And amidst it all, the Gods of old (the PC's) struggled to break free.
Following is a brief timeline, leading up to now.
20,000 years ago - The new universe begins.
16,000 yrs - Utopia comes into being
11,000 yrs - The Void is opened.
10,000 yrs - The Void and Utopia are combined.
9,000 yrs - Seeds of Karma are sown, the door opens a hair.
1,000 years ago - the Void escapes temporarily, but is reimprisoned by mortal heroes. Strange happenings indicate (to those with knowledge of the previous universe) that Magnus and Anima may have been freed and are looking to resolidify their power.
100 yrs - The PC's escape, and spend a century figuring out what has happened and regaining their strength.
NOW - The Old Gods are ready to take their place in the universe, and (maybe) save it from the Elder's.
[/sblock]
Rules!
OK, here's the way I'm going to do it... Each of the PC gods has a certain number of points they can spend.. These are similar to stat points, but instead of stats, you put them into Domains to achieve domain scores. These are not necesarily the same domains as found in D&D, but can be... You could have practically anything as a domain, though the more powerful/encompassing the domain, the more it costs to put a point into it.
When you're trying to do something, you will state what you want to do. If you believe it's within your power, feel free to post it. If I happen to disagree, I will give you a DC and make you roll a check on Invisiblecastle with a modifier based off your domain. (If it's something that's highly outside your power level, I hope that would be obvious).
You may have up to 5 'domains', of your choosing. There will be 4 different power levels of domains, and when you ask for them, I'll tell you which category I think each belongs in. If you disagree, feel free to debate me.
most of the current Deities are built off of between 20-50 points.
You PC's will be built off of 60-70.
THe 'Overgods', if they were ever to be freed, would be about 200.
I will be kind of using D&D rules, but just as a 'background'. All of you Deities have all of the class abilities, spells, and feats from the PHB, usable unlimited times. For many things, this will not matter (rage, etc). That's just so you have a 'basis' for how powerful the gods are, even without their domains. As for 'other' powers.. well, anything that seems out of the power level for your average 20th level character, or more than a 9th lvl PHB spell will require an appropriate Domain score. You require at least 1 point in a domain to try something associated to that, though multiple domains could be tied to the same task, if you're imaginative and a good writer.
(Which brings up a point.. I expect that the most powerful gods will be those whos players are the most imaginative and best describe their actions, not the ones who try to pick the most powerful domains.)
Moving on. The max starting rank in a domain is 10, but with 'experience' and good writing, you can gain 'bonus' points to put into your domains down the road. And just for the record, the power of each level is much higher than the one below it.
Power Categories (And examples) ARE:
Major - the big stuff/elemental... Time, Fire, Life, Death, Dragons, Good, Evil, Magic, Nature
Greater - Main Sentient races (Humans, Orcs, Elves, etc), Humanoid concepts/emotions (Love, War, Greed, etc), Trees, Mountains, Seas...
Lesser - Lesser used/less powerful sentient races (Kobolds, pseudo dragons, Kuo-toa, etc), Animal species (cats, birds, Insects, etc), lesser-used concepts/ideas. (Dreams, Nightmares, Illusions, etc)
Minor - Anything very specific/not very powerful. Specific animal(rat, hawk, frog), specific plants(Oak, Grass)
The base Costs are as follows (You must pay for each level before you pay for the next, so costs are cumulative):
Major : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 (rank 10 total=55)
Greater : 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5 (rank 10 total=30)
Lesser : 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (rank 10 total=20)
Minor : 1 for 1. (rank 10 total=10)
I'm not telling you what the relevant modifiers on each rank are, b/c I don't want number-crunching/minmaxing for maximum power. Lets just say that up to 5 it's about static, after that it's almost exponential.
6 ranks in a domain makes you a greater god of it. 9 or 10 makes you the MAIN god of it.
Only one god can have more than 8 ranks in any given domain, and I suggest if it's what you base your god around that you make it 10.
For the record, I am NOT taking first-come first serve. I would like submissions on your 'basic' god outline, including name and suggested domains, as well as usual followers, and your outlook on the Good/Evil debate.
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