Which Mythologies/Pantheons do you want?

[Upper_Krust]

Howdy Alzrius matey!

I wonder if that personifies the idea of Amatsu-Mikaboshi too much to call it an "elder evil," per se. The idea that it's a non-sentient, inherently corruptive force is pretty cool because it can't really be defeated or destroyed. It's like, in Star Wars, trying to "kill" or "defeat" the Dark Side.

That said, it's cool that this myth also sort of has its cake and eats it too, with Ama-no-Kagaseo. Though it doesn't discuss that very much, he strikes me as sort of being the avatar of Mikaboshi, which is ironic since you don't consider an unthinking force to have a sentient avatar.

Of course, in the Krustiverse, this is all something of a moot point, as every force has a personification at some level.

Exactly, and certainly its easier to interact with something tangible. That said I will be looking to mix up the 'formula' as much as possible, exploring new options and so forth. Mikaboshi may indeed be embodied by 'something' but the destruction of that something may not destroy Mikaboshi. I'm still of the opinion that destroying Sidereals may not be technically possible.

Yet another reason to "go copyright," as they say. By the by, any reaction to the news that Goodman Games is apparently producing adventures using the 4E rules under the OGL, prior to their adoption of the GSL?

I was just reading that thread funny you mentioned it. It will be interestin to see what happens at Gencon. I am also still waiting for WotC to reply to the general lack of enthusiasm about the GSL (they said they would a few weeks after the launch, I assume we'll get whatever answers at Gencon).

I'll decide what to do after that.

It does just reek of awesomeness.

Been thinking about the following breakdown of the Pantheons:

Book 1 (c. 1250 B.C. or thereabouts)
Canaanite: pdf 32 pgs
Chinese: pdf 32 pgs
Egyptian: pdf 64 pgs
Mesopotamian: pdf 32 pgs

Book 2 (c. 250 B.C. or thereabouts, Alexander the Great type era)
African: pdf 32 pgs
Greek: pdf 64 pgs
Hindu: pdf 32 pgs
Persian: pdf 32 pgs

I'll save the others for now, but you get the idea.

D'oh! You even put that right there, and I still bungled it up.

Nevermind what I said then.

 

[Alzrius]

So all this has got me thinking about conquering Pantheons and Slave Pantheons. I'm thinking that a defeated Pantheon would have its members:

4E: Drop 10 Levels
3E: Levels Halved with Divine Status dropping two Places.

Effectively, defeated Pantheon Members are reduced to effective Avatar status.

Bumping this because the topic is too freakin' awesome to let die.

U_K, how about writing something on this as a webpage update? Something small and only a few pages long - that way, you get something new out there to mollify the readers, and you get a nice sense of accomplishment (since I imagine it must be frustrating that your current projects always take so long). Everybody wins!

Besides, other than noting how much a defeated pantheon is reduced in strength, surely there's only a few other rules in place regarding defeated pantheons, right? E.g. something about how they can't gain more power as a slave pantheon, the number of slave pantheons a conquering pantheon can have, etc.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hey Alzrius mate!

Bumping this because the topic is too freakin' awesome to let die.

U_K, how about writing something on this as a webpage update? Something small and only a few pages long - that way, you get something new out there to mollify the readers, and you get a nice sense of accomplishment (since I imagine it must be frustrating that your current projects always take so long). Everybody wins!

Good idea - I'll do it tomorrow. I am now on a much better schedule.

Besides, other than noting how much a defeated pantheon is reduced in strength, surely there's only a few other rules in place regarding defeated pantheons, right? E.g. something about how they can't gain more power as a slave pantheon, the number of slave pantheons a conquering pantheon can have, etc.

Absolutely. I'll do some brainstorming before I go to bed tonight and see what I can come up with.

Thanks for the suggestion - I was meaning to do a web update in the next few days and now you have given me a topic to focus on.

If anyone else has any further ideas on this or otehr topics for future web updates feel free to suggest them. I am now completely free every other week, so an article update every fortnight is hardly too taxing*

*...well fingers crossed anyway.

 

[Alzrius]

Hey, U_K, I just looked over the initial page for slave pantheons. It's great to see you get that up so fast! Kudos to you! I had a few things I wanted to go over, however.

Remember when one immortal slays another it gains 10% of the slain god's quintessence. If the immortal binds the other to slavery, it gains 90% of the slave god's quintessence (spread throughout the conquering pantheon), with the other 10% remaining with the slave god themselves - who drop in power.

3rd Edition Rules for Slave Gods

• The defeated god drops to 10% quintessence (effectively to Avatar status).
• The victorious gods divide the remaining 20% quintessence between them (not necessarily evenly between them).

On the first point, avatar status is two divine levels lower, which is two orders of magnitude down - that's a reduction to 1% of their former power, not 10% (which'd be only one divine strata lower). A greater deity (with 100,000,000 QP) has an avatar that's a lesser deity (1,000,000 QP). True, the deity expends only 10% of its quintessence to create an avatar, but only 10% of that makes it through to actually create it - the rest is lost in the transfer.

Hence, shouldn't a slave deity be reduced to 1% quintessence, as that's two divine strata?

Likewise, the first quote says 90% remains, whereas the second says 20% goes to the victors. The former seems more correct. Also, is there no amount of quintessence lost in the transfer there?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi Alzrius matey!

Hey, U_K, I just looked over the initial page for slave pantheons. It's great to see you get that up so fast! Kudos to you!

I dunno - as articles go I am not happy with it at all. I think it needs something extra. I'll maybe add some new stuff when I update the website in a few days time.

I had a few things I wanted to go over, however.

Fire away.

On the first point, avatar status is two divine levels lower, which is two orders of magnitude down - that's a reduction to 1% of their former power, not 10% (which'd be only one divine strata lower). A greater deity (with 100,000,000 QP) has an avatar that's a lesser deity (1,000,000 QP). True, the deity expends only 10% of its quintessence to create an avatar, but only 10% of that makes it through to actually create it - the rest is lost in the transfer.

Hence, shouldn't a slave deity be reduced to 1% quintessence, as that's two divine strata?

Likewise, the first quote says 90% remains, whereas the second says 20% goes to the victors. The former seems more correct. Also, is there no amount of quintessence lost in the transfer there?

Slight mistake - yes I was caught in two minds.

Basically I was trying to work out some benefit to Slave Gods without making them so useful they become a must have.

If a victor gets 10% quintessence from slaying a deity, then I definately think a maximum of 20% is good for keeping them alive.

Basically how this would work is that the deity would drop one divine status (you were right it should be one, not two) basically they'd have their QP drop to 20% (after the negative event effects).

I'll correct these errors when I make the update.

So in a nutshell, the victor would 'possess' all the Slave's QP, but it would sort of be on loan as it were.

I think an interesting parallel here exists between the Hindu takeover of the Vedic Pantheon. With former greater gods becoming Intermediate (3E) or Lesser (4E) deities.

With 4E, the Slave God would drop 5 levels, with the Victor gaining double the EXP, but the stipulation is that you need to keep the slave god alive otherwise all the EXP is lost.

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hi all!

Just updated the website article, so hopefully that makes a bit more sense now. If not, let me know.

 

[Alzrius]

19th August 2010 Galactic Gods & Planar Pantheons!

Actually, I'll post this article on ENWorld (Eternity Publishing Forums naturally) over the next few days, then see what the feedback is and then post it on the website.

So, has ten days been enough time?

 

[Upper_Krust]

Hiya mate!

So, has ten days been enough time?

Terribly sorry, I have actually been on holiday for the past 11 days. I didn't advertise the fact since the last time I mentioned it was when I seemed to get hacked.

I had hoped to post the article while I was on holiday, but I just didn't have the opportunity. I will sort that out within the next 24 hours (still haven't unpacked yet).

I'm also in the process of probably changing my website, moving to something like Wordpress and adding Twitter, Facebook and things like that.

In so doing, as well as updating far more often (now that I have the free time) I'll also be revisiting old articles and revising them for both 3E and 4E.

Interestingly, in fleshing out the Galactic Gods article it seems to conflict with the previous Slave Gods idea.

EDIT: Just spent the past 5-6 hours familiarising myself with wordpress. I have the bare bones basic stuff down, but it still needs a bit of work done before I'll be happy. Completely lost track of time today, but I'll make updating the article a priority for tomorrow - promise.