The Worship Points System

[Upper_Krust]

Re: Re: Portfolios in the WPS

Hi kkoie mate!

Quite an impressive list,

Thanks!

I do have some questions though.

Sure, fire away!

What would be the advantage of the same portfolio twice?

You gain access to even more powerful capabilities, others are augmented and you get the ability to 'trump' single portfolios in most cases.

eg. One of the aspects of the fire portfolio is immunity to fire, but fire cast from a 'double' Fire Portfolio deity would 'trump' a single Fire Portfolio deity.

Remember pg. 40 of the 1st Ed. Manual of the Planes; Regarding Kossuths abode: "...The heat here is so intense even creatures totally immune to flame, such as fire elementals, take 1d2 points of damage per turn unless protected by Kossuth."

What exactly is Entropy? If you go by the dictionary Entropy is just another word for Chaos, and I saw chaos already in the list.

Entropy is essentially nothingness. It pretty much opposes everything, even, ultimately chaos.

I have philosophically grouped undeath in here as well, for none are surely more qualified to be the agents of Entropy.

Wait til you see the 'Entropy' True Dweomer Nullifier; makes that Final Word* business of Tenebrous (Orcus) look like Power Word Sneeze!

*Of course I might have something like that too!?

Isn't understanding covered under Knowledge? (or vis versa) or is Understanding the "wisdom" portfolio?

Correct. Understanding is the (in effect) "wisdom" portfolio.

Also, I didn't see Earth included, or is that covered under Mountain?

Yes.

I found Mountain Gods to be more prevailant than Earth Gods, so in most cases I use the key aspect.

And if we are doing gods portfolio's, ya gotta have Firtility somewhere in there my man Firtility Goddesses are some of the oldest known to man. Unless you are lumping Firtility in with Love or Life or both?

I have Fertility under Life, yes.

 

[Mark]

Re: Re: Portfolios in the WPS

What exactly is Entropy?

Definitively- (Webster) Main Entry: en·tro·py
Pronunciation: 'en-tr&-pE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -pies
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary 2en- + Greek tropE change, literally, turn, from trepein to turn
Date: 1875
1 : a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder and that is a property of the system's state and is related to it in such a manner that a reversible change in heat in the system produces a change in the measure which varies directly with the heat change and inversely with the absolute temperature at which the change takes place; broadly : the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system
2 a : the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity b : a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder

Formulaically-

http://www.cape.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/ENCH252/Entropy/Entropy.htm

Artistically (more or less) -

http://www.cape.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/ENCH252/Entropy/Entropypoem.htm

Looks like it is going well, Krusty!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Re: Portfolios in the WPS

Hi Mark mate!

(I just sent you an email, I take it you got it!?)

Formulaically-

http://www.cape.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/ENCH252/Entropy/Entropy.htm

Ea will love this one!

Artistically (more or less) -

http://www.cape.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/ENCH252/Entropy/Entropypoem.htm

Thanks! This link is going to help more than you could know...I'll tell you more about it next email!

Looks like it is going well, Krusty!

Its all starting to shape up nicely mate!

 

[Mark]

Glad I could help out a bit. I'll follow up that Email in a short while...

 

[S'mon]

Re: Re: Portfolios in the WPS

Entropy is decay, the tendency of things to get worse. Normally associated with evil.

Chaos is randomness, disorder in that sense. Chaos is associated with vitality and random creation & destruction.

The heat death of the Universe is the ultimate triumph of entropy; but is not a Chaotic state since nothing is happening.

In D&D Hades/Grey Waste embodies Entropy, it's very different from Limbo, which embodies Chaos.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Epic Level Handbook FAQ

Hi all,

for those of you that haven't read it (or read the update), the Epic Level Handbook FAQ has been updated.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/er/er20020210a

One point of note stands out:

Q: How powerful are epic-level characters compared to deities? Is there a point at which an epic-level character could expect to win a battle against a deity?

A: Strictly speaking, a deity is more powerful than an epic-level character of similar level/HD. That said, since there's no real limit to an epic-level character's power (except that which a DM may place in his campaign), then yes, eventually an epic-level character can expect to win battles against deities.

The above answer tells us that WotC will also be using Templates to determine divinity - something I have been advocating for over a year now!

 

[Gez]

Re: Epic Level Handbook FAQ

Hello Krusty !

Been a long time, heh ? I just didn't found much to say.

The above answer tells us that WotC will also be using Templates to determine divinity - something I have been advocating for over a year now!

Don't you think they are not ripping you off a little, here ? I sometimes wonder if you were not *gasp* a bit liberal in the "sneak peeks" (to use the Wizards term) you gave us of your system. :|

That said, it may only be my natural paranoia rearing up.

 

[S'mon]

Re: Re: Epic Level Handbook FAQ

Hello Krusty !

Been a long time, heh ? I just didn't found much to say.



Don't you think they are not ripping you off a little, here ? I sometimes wonder if you were not *gasp* a bit liberal in the "sneak peeks" (to use the Wizards term) you gave us of your system. :|

That said, it may only be my natural paranoia rearing up.

I don't think that's necessarily a problem, if WoTC are using a similar approach to that of the WPS it will help ensure that the WPS is not too dramatic a break from 3e D&D norms. If you think about the mess TSR made of 2e and imagine the WPS coming out then, you can see it would have been a much bigger wrench to convert over. The 3e Epic approach seems to draw much more from the 1e approach of stats for gods, high-level characters challenging gods (although without the 66 hp deities - eg Lolth). Remote, impersonal deities suit some games - Runequest, Pendragon for instance. Statting deities fits much better into the D&D ethos. If you don't want PCs squelching gods, don't run a high-level game, D&D 3e is perfectly playable with nobody over 6th level if you like, although XP awards may need to be reduced if your game is combat-heavy. If you have 20th+ level PCs, arbitrarily banning them from fighting deities is pointless. You can always make the gods 200th level if you don't want them to win!

 

[Upper_Krust]

Re: Re: Epic Level Handbook FAQ

Hello Krusty !

Hey Gez mate!

Been a long time, heh ? I just didn't found much to say.

I take comfort in knowing that you (and others) are nevertheless there in spirit! I appreciate it mate!

Don't you think they are not ripping you off a little, here ? I sometimes wonder if you were not *gasp* a bit liberal in the "sneak peeks" (to use the Wizards term) you gave us of your system. :|

I don't think they are ripping me off at all! (although one point I do hope they copy from me is Challenge Ratings above 20)

I am more relieved they got things right (if thats not a bit pretentious).

In such a comparative both myself and WotC should arrive at pretty much all of the same objective conclusions! I will be very surprised if that isn't the case.

- Character advancement should progress similar to Core Rule progression - WotC have already confirmed that it will

- The power of divinity should be staggered - WotC have already confirmed that it will

- Divinity should be applied through templates - WotC have already confirmed that it will

So the fundamentals are already falling into place.

That said, it may only be my natural paranoia rearing up.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Re: Epic Level Handbook FAQ

Hey Simon

I don't think that's necessarily a problem, if WoTC are using a similar approach to that of the WPS it will help ensure that the WPS is not too dramatic a break from 3e D&D norms.

As I predicted (hoped) all along!

If you think about the mess TSR made of 2e and imagine the WPS coming out then, you can see it would have been a much bigger wrench to convert over.

Fortunately the 2nd Ed. 'Dark Ages' are over!

The 3e Epic approach seems to draw much more from the 1e approach of stats for gods, high-level characters challenging gods (although without the 66 hp deities - eg Lolth).

As it should be!

Statting deities fits much better into the D&D ethos. If you don't want PCs squelching gods, don't run a high-level game,

If your going to run an Epic (20th+) Campaign you really need to add deities into the mix, otherwise the whole thing is just going to fall flat.

D&D 3e is perfectly playable with nobody over 6th level if you like, although XP awards may need to be reduced if your game is combat-heavy.

As we have grown to see over the years Simon, it is the mix of all levels (low-medium-high-epic-immortal) and covering a variety of settings and ideas (all as advocated within the WPS) that means our campaign never grows stagnant.

So you can have the best of all worlds: gritty (relatively) low powered mortal endeavours; weighty heroic high powered servant escapades and epic divine machinations where anything goes!

By adding the Worship Points System into the mix all the above become intertwined and amplified - even the endeavours of the lowliest cleric can be crucial in a deities plans and the events that require a deities personal attention can shake the foundation of the campaign world or beyond. So you've really got this whole campaign synergy going on!

If you have 20th+ level PCs, arbitrarily banning them from fighting deities is pointless. You can always make the gods 200th level if you don't want them to win!

Although technically that would be the same as not statting them anyway - since you would arbitrarily determining the outcome.