Xorvintaal IC Link: IC (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=179694.msg8364603#msg8364603)
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The Great Game of the Gods, Xorvintaal, has been played across many realms. Throughout the ages, many have risen to heights unimaginable to mortal hearts. Others have failed and drifted into obscurity. Now glory lay before you. A world, unclaimed by holy dominion, deep within the celestial hinterlands, a new bastion of existence has been born from the rivers of light amongst the endless void. Here, another entry into the ledgers of fate will be written. ###
Xorvintaal was originally a small piece of Dungeons and Dragons lore, a proxy war designed by dragons to prevent direct conflict and the decline of their species, Xorvintaal is a game of obscure rules and procedures, taking decades to learn and longer to play. Here too, the principle is the same. Players will use their wits and power to advance their goals through use of proxies, minions, and no small measure of both subterfuge and wit. It would be safe to say that this game will follow many of the same themes, though of course the setting and mechanisms will be quite different.
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Game Mechanics
Xorvintaal takes place in turns, with each player acting in the turn fairly simultaneously. Each turn, each player is dealt a hand of five cards. Each card has an effect, and a mana cost. By default, players have a maximum of five mana, which is replenished upon the start of the turn. At the end of the turn, all unused cards are discarded (unless otherwise specified). The cards are dealt in secret via discord PM, however, if players so choose to reveal or trade their cards, they may do so.
Terms and Definitions:
Specified: A specified creation is one that is designed and described in detail by the player.
Unspecified: An unspecified creation is one that is designed by the GM taking into account the circumstances into which it is created.
Present: This indicates that another card is currently active in the same location.
Transform/Upgrade: Replaces a card with another card and activates the new card at no additional cost.
Played in Conjunction: Playing cards in conjunction plays them as a pair to combine their effects. Some cards have Conjunction effects by default, but most cards can be played in conjunction for additional effects.
Elemental and Modifier Cards:
Elemental Cards: Elemental cards are cards which can be played in conjunction with another card. This infuses the effect of the card with the same element.
Modifier Cards: These cards can add traits to creations, increase power levels of units, or otherwise effect another card in a specified way.
Score:
Xorvinataal is a game, and in this game the rank of the players is determined by their score. The easiest way to increase your score is simply to play cards. For each card played, your score increases by the mana cost spent on the card. In addition, several cards may increase your score if certain conditions are met. Lastly, on occasion, the GM may award points for exceptional feats or impressively clever tactics.
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Character Sheet
God Name:
Major Sphere:
Minor Sphere:
Physical Description:
Personality/Mentality Description:
Starting Region: (Choose one: Mountain, Forest, Plains, Badlands, Swamp, Desert)
Starting Card: (Choose one: Create Specified Mortals, Create Specified Settlement, Create Specified Ruin, Create Specified Artifact.)
God Name: Garmathis, Querent of Desire
Major Sphere: Gratification
Minor Sphere: Dedication
Physical Description: Garmathis is an amorphous being whose shape and appearance change with the situation. They alter themself to best fit the wants of their supplicants - they appear as a stalwart soldier to those begging protection, and a shapely delight before one wishing to find love. The more intense the desire they aim to fulfill, the more drastic their appearance will shift, and the more unusual it can become.
What could be described as Garmathis’ true or original form is as follows: a humanoid shape, but flat and glossy, as that of a mirror. Within this shape, a sea of golden hues churns with a slow undulating rhythm, and flecks of silvery light like that of the stars peer out at random from its depths. This vast maelstrom that they show (or perhaps reflect) is never quite the same each time you look upon it, and viewing them from different angles will show different parts of the thing as if their body was no more than a window to some alien land.
Personality/Mentality Description: Garmathis is giving and devoted by nature. Their existence is to grant the wants of other beings, bringing themself the happiness that they thrive upon in the process. What exactly these wants may be is less than relevant, so long as the will to achieve them is strong enough to interest Garmathis - or you happen to catch their ear at the right time - and as such they are capable equally of feats both resplendently grand and deathly grim.
Their drive only to satisfy others makes them a strong ally, and yet dangerously unpredictable once one’s own goals have been accomplished.
Starting Region: Plains
Starting Card: Create Specified Artifact
God Name: Sa-bal
Major Sphere: Sky
Minor Sphere: Medicine
Physical Description: A floating red skinned elephant head entangled with a mass of snakes of varied colour and temperament sprouting from its stump. Their tusks are heavily decorated with metal rings and their eyes release a slow yet constant stream of muddy tears.
Personality/Mentality Description: A solemn and steadfast being that, for better or worse, never forgets.
Starting Region: Plains
Starting Card: Create Specified Artifact