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Topics - Kilojoule Proton

Pages: [1] 2 3 4
1
OOC || IC || Discord

The Void Era

A tempestuous onslaught of roaring Creatia ravages the ontosphere, leaving fleeting images of worlds that cannot or can no longer be. Whether bounteous twin worlds lovingly populated by a vast throng of gods or a great plain of black sand soon flooded and filled with life, and whether a vast mountain filled with uncountable horrors and delights or a recently flooded subcontinent bounded by the lands of pantheons friendly and hostile, the raw potential in this pocket of void is clear. Indeed, nine brilliant Sparks aglow with creative power soon arise from these shifting images raring to fill the emptiness with substance. Fittingly, the first to resolve is swift Yalini, seemingly a Trick of the Light but in actuality a great and tricksy bird, who is soon balanced by A-0 the Beast Builder, a vast Bird of Night, and shadow of the great IS-NOT, CANNOT-BE, and SHALL-NEVER-BE. A great stony beetle soon emerges as well, oddly unbothered by the birds whether thanks to their likely rivalry or its own impenetrable stony exoskeleton. ANTHEM-314, Rock of Ages and Ghost in the Machine, immediately sets out to prepare for something.

The gathering of inorganic Sparks is soon interrupted by the arrival of Luka, a godsflesh-filled hat dancing about the heads of the Divine Birds and the Rock of Ages seeking to find purchase on a suitable skull to protect. The Emperor of Flesh follows closely behind, further balancing the composition of the Sparks. Continuing the theme, a fermenting cluster of uval pustules manifests haughtily with a regal bearing that identifies it as Neobel Eka, the Wine of Life.

The great powers of empty heaven and unmade earth also make their appearance. First of this triad of divinity is the wayward moon-centipede and Usurper of Heavens Sornlun, banished by the very Weaver of Heavens whose love it sought to a place that is not a place in a time that is not a time. Next, perhaps brought to existence by the latent rivalries and grudges that will have always existed amongst the Sparks and their children and those who call the Sparks their antecedents), Calamos Gladius, a chariot and driver with conquest in his heart, rolls in to subjugate everything its frightful wheels trample. Last but certainly not least, a strange rabbit with head of whale, leg of dragon, eye of bee, and tail of dragon arrives. Known as Gregory, the One Who Defies Chaos, perhaps his presence will serve as the ordering principle of this chaotic world.

Last? No, not last, for with a sickening, ironically unforgettable sputter, a writhing maggot regurgitates the memory of its own existence back into the ontosphere. Woe and behold! Gongon, Devourer of Sanity, is manifest!

There is much work to be done, and many wonders to be made. It is the Cosmogonic Eon.



Cosmogonic Eon

Required
  • Shape (Grand): (None)
  • Continents/oceans (Greater): (0/3)
  • Connection to the heavens (Greater-Grand): (None)
  • Death handling (Grand): (None)
  • 3-5 seasons (Grand): (0/3-5)
  • Sun/parent (Grand): (None)

Optional
  • Moon(s) (Grand): (None)
  • World guardians (Grand): (None)
  • Extra planes (1 Grand each, 1+ continent/ocean needed for each): (None)
  • Start an additional World (next: 2 Grand): (No)
  • Oracle (Grand, sensory gody part, downside): (None)
  • Magic system (Grand, organ): (None)

Grand Pieces cost 3+ Aligned+ acts, and Greater Pieces cost 2+ Aligned+ acts. Contradictory Grand Pieces will fight amongst themselves until consistency is reached; supply additional acts to tilt the odds in favor of a specific Piece or fight them directly.



The Cosmos

Creatia storms
Materia drought

The Cosmogonic Eon is not due to end.



Gods
  • Yalini, Trick of the Light and Bird of Light
    • Class: Spark
    • 2 Light acts
  • ANTHEM-314, Rock of Ages, Ghost in the Machine
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 (aligned) act
  • Luka, Divine Hatter, Protector of the Skulls
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 Hat act, 1 Skull act
  • Yitterbium, Star of Chaos, Emperor of Flesh
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 Chaos act, 1 Flesh act
  • A-0, Bird of Night, Beast Builder
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 Night act, 1 Beast act
  • Neobel Eka, Noble Heritage, Wine of Life
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 Noble act, 1 Life act
  • Sornlun, Usurper of Heavens, Voice of Flame
    • Class: Spark
    • (None)
  • Calamos Gladius, Puissant, Bae Victis
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 (aligned) act
  • Gregory the Dire Rabbit, Celestial Pope of Civilization, The One Who Defies Chaos
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 Civilization act, 1 Order act
  • Gongon, Devourer of Sanity, Writhing Mass of Ignorance
    • Class: Spark
    • 1 Sanity act, 1 Ignorance act

2
Forum Games and Roleplaying / Sparks of Divinity OOC (10/??)
« on: February 04, 2024, 10:08:41 pm »
Build a world! Burn a world! Both are the jobs of responsible

Sparks of Divinity

OOC || IC || Discord

Acts

Direct actions

Acts are spent to make things happen and don't generally carry over between turns. All gods receive an income of two aligned acts in the beginning.

Acts come in several tiers:
  • Aligned: Aligned to one's sphere (and most strongly influenced by action alignment/antialignment). Generally tradeable
  • Unaligned: Unaligned divine acts modestly influenced by action alignment. Generally tradeable
  • Faulty: Worse unaligned divine acts modestly influenced by action alignment. Generally tradeable
  • Feeble: Barely divine acts influenced by action alignment. Generally tradeable

3 lower tier acts can be merged to generate one act of the next highest tier, and 1 act of a higher tier can be split to generate two acts of the next lowest tier.

Differences in act tiers turn up when certain actions require acts with a minimum/maximum tier and when acts are opposed, the latter of which triggers dice rolls. In general, acts are considered to be opposed under these conditions:
  • Direct opposition by anyone else, especially a peer-level antagonist
  • Environmental difficulties, e.g. world actions after world creation or mortal actions during periods of instability
  • Defying celestial policy, prophecies, and similar things
  • Acting against one's own titles/spheres
Each act spent on an opposed action adds another die to the pool which is balanced to be generally beneficial with aligned acts used for aligned actions or unaligned acts for most actions and detrimental with feeble acts or aligned acts used for anti-aligned actions.

Bureaucratic actions

By filling out the requisite forms and paperwork, supplying the necessary bribes fees, and going through proper channels, bureaucratic machinery can take care of any action no matter the cost. This is somewhat offset by its generally slow pace in most circumstances. Here are a few of the factors affecting bureau/department productivity:
  • Office space: One department typically wants one province of space
  • Funding: Supplying requested acts prevents productivity drops
  • Staffing: One department typically wants one entire angelic host
  • Corruption: Much like sacrificing gody parts, corruption can damage any organizational attribute at most any time, but sometimes it's worth it in the short run.

Combat/Smiting

Bur✑❞✷➅ ➠✨❬❴➏➱➽❦

✓➸✙✑❒➺ ❜✧✈❌➎ ❏❍❫➟❷✏➲❻ ✸❐➛❏✈ ✫✟❺

Godly brawls

Fights between gods or god-level opponents like world Pieces use godly brawl rules. Defense is generally easier than offense, and in addition to selecting a defensive stance listed below, a god may elect to (privately) invest one or more standing acts into defending against attacks. Acts spent on defense persist until a god attacks (which wastes the standing act) or is attacked (which uses up the standing act).

Defensive stances:
  • Counterattack: Smite the aggressor! Likely to inflict significant damage against opponents adopting Hit and Run but weak against Careful
  • Fortified: Present a stone wall! Likely to negate damage against foes adopting Aggressive but will almost certainly be outmaneuvered by Hit and Run
  • Disengage: Tactical retreat! Most likely to work against Careful attackers, but won't deter Aggressive enemies

Offensive stances:
  • Aggressive: Attack attack attack! Will most likely catch up to cowards adopting Disengage but unlikely to do anything against Fortified targets
  • Careful: Cautious attack! Avoids Counterattack, but nothing interesting happens with targets adopting Disengage
  • Hit and Run: Opportunistic attack! Can bypass Fortified opponents but will be swatted down by enemies adopting Counterattack


Social combat

✷✦✥✳➅➛➹ ✦➙❋➸❤ ➨✸✉❧❿❗➸❟ ✴❟✟➺❚❲❱ ➦✥✘✢✎❿❺➉❝

Creations/Destructions

The World

Creating the world is accomplished by putting together a number of Grand Pieces costing 5+ aligned+ acts each and Greater Pieces costing 3+ aligned+ acts each. Grand Pieces include suns, moons, the overall shape of the world, and additional planes beyond the material plane, and certain features may have limited slots available. Contradictory Grand Pieces will fight amongst themselves until stability is reached. Greater Pieces include features in/on the aforementioned creations such as continents/oceans/regions in addition to sphere-aligned constellations/comets and the like.

The minimum number of Grand/Greater Pieces required to create the world will be based on the number of gods present. As the number of Grand/Greater Pieces increases beyond the minimum, so will the price/difficulty of adding more Pieces.

Reliably destroying Pieces of the world costs at least as much as was invested into the Pieces, although partial success can still demote or alter the target.

Quote from: Current Piece costs
Piece costs:
TierCost


Grand5+ Aligned
Greater3+ Aligned
Common2+ Aligned or 3+ Unaligned
Lesser1+ Aligned or 2+ Unaligned
Petty1+ Unaligned or 2+ Faulty
Below-Petty1+ Faulty

Spoiler: Cosmogonic Pieces (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Eozoic Pieces (click to show/hide)

Destructions/Alterations
Fighting: Carries the risk of injury and depends heavily on health status or artifacts.
Alteration: Generally costs as much as the next lowest tier, although luck can be used to substitute for part of the cost. Penalties apply for opposed alterations.
Blessings/curses: Temporary bonuses/penalties to various entities. Faulty/Unaligned Acts should be enough for most mortal-scale problems; angels and above probably need Aligned acts.
Smiting: Full smiting generally requires the next lowest tier for decent reliability, but lower amounts can achieve partial smiting.

Divine attributes

Titles and spheres

Gods almost invariably have two titles governing their spheres of interest, although these can be altered or switched under some circumstances. Titles/spheres determine the extent to which an action is aligned, neutral, or anti-aligned. Here are a few examples to convey what's going on:
  • Destroyer of Fire: Aligned for acts involving destroying fire or involving destroying with fire, anti-aligned for creative acts mediated by fire or destructive acts not involving fire that could involve fire
  • Spawn of Sorrow: Aligned for acts involving sorrow or spawning things more loosely related to sorrow, anti-aligned for joyful acts or acts not involving spawning that could involve spawning
  • Feather Sword: Aligned for acts involving birds or warfare, anti-aligned for acts involving peace and the opposite of birds (dribs?)

Should checking titles and spheres end up being too tedious/restrictive, the system may revert to just checking spheres.

Infringing on another god's titles/spheres without their explicit permission flags an action as opposed and will alert said god to the action (even for secret actions!), at which point the god whose titles/spheres are being infringed may elect to react to the action with an action of their own or at least denounce the infringing deity. Allowing infringement to go unchallenged long enough may result in spheres/titles changing hands.

Classes of divinity

Spoiler: Classes of divinity (click to show/hide)

Divine anatomy

Spoiler: Divine anatomy (click to show/hide)



Public sheet:
Code: [Select]
Name: e.g. Vaarsa
Class: Unquenched / Tempered
Specialization: See relevant listing
Titles/spheres (2): e.g. Mother Ocean, Devourer of Coasts
Form: e.g. A gigantic kraken
Description/background: e.g. Vaarsa is a fickle great octopus whose long-standing grudge against the Dry will see many coasts and ships ravaged by her thousand arms, the waves.

Also PM me:
Code: [Select]
Offensive stance: Aggressive/Careful/Hit and run
Defensive stance: Counterattack/Fortified/Disengage













3
General Discussion / Have you ever used the :kiss: emoticon?
« on: April 23, 2022, 06:07:22 pm »
This one: :-*

4
Forum Games and Roleplaying / UNSTABLE, or: Godly Musical Chairs (0/8)
« on: April 20, 2022, 12:52:52 am »
UNSTABLE, or: Godly Musical Chairs







Sheets

Quote from: Gods
Name:
Sphere:
Antisphere:
Seat: ba/ve/gi/du/pa/fe/ki/tu (Select an unoccupied seat if there are any left. Otherwise, leave this placeholder in. Note that initial Link states are exactly as depicted on the diagram (orange: hostile, teal: friendly).)
Description (optional):

Spoiler: Preview (click to show/hide)

5
Current payoff matrix:
Bob cooperatesBob defects
Alice cooperatesA: -1, B: -1A: -3, B: 0
Alice defectsA: 0, B: -3A: -2, B: -2

Joining:
PM me up to 5 turns' worth of cooperate/defect actions. You may specify conditional actions provided they depend only on your or your opponent's actions or the turn number (e.g. "if my opponent defects on turn 2, defect on round 3 and cooperate on round 4"). Any turn without an unambiguous action during action resolution will be treated as a cooperate action.

Update speed:
When I've received at least 4-ish responses or 48 hours have passed with at least 2-ish responses, I'll post an update.

Scoring:
All participants' action scripts will be tried against all other participants' action scripts. The exact actions performed will be posted in-thread along with anonymized pseudonyms.

6
Forum Games and Roleplaying / Panopticotheon IC: Turn 8 [10/10]
« on: December 19, 2021, 10:00:51 pm »
<< First update | < Previous update | o Current update | > Next update | >> Last update
OOC thread: First page | Last page

Turn 0: Astronomical Age

Eight gods materialize (for a given value of materialize) high up above a disc and an Eye that has slept for eons. Awash in the strange energies of the Noise outside, a celestial sphere enclosing the otherwEyese featureless disc and home to the gods is buzzing with unlimited potential; indeed, potential enough to alter the shape of the disc should they prefer a different form (even that of a disc with two faces instead of one if necessary).

The first to adopt a fixed form is naturally Twi, who claims dominion over Gods and Mortals alike. Nevertheless, the next god to appear does so without their intervention, already casting the first sphere into question. They are the Faceless Prince, wrapped in fine silks, unquestioned keeper of Knowledge and master of Trade, perhaps already assessing the value of this as yet desolate world. Right on their proverbial heels comes one who oversees Travel and Messengers. The Wanderer, builder of roads and messenger among the gods, is no doubt eager to begin paving great highways of commerce and communications. Continuing the emphasis on civilization, Harvey Harvest swoops in, governor over the Harvest and over Agriculture, and finds a great fallow that should probably be tilled and must be seeded at once.

Next comes a set of gods to test the mortals' resolve. The first to arrive among them is C'thun, the Thing from Beyond the Stars, font of Madness and yet also Creation who is incidentally the most likely god to be a Noise infiltrator and seeks a link to the Great Old Ones. Shinka soon follows, a harbinger of primal Competition and the Wilderness, who will bring the fire that renews lest mortals begin showing overt signs of weakness. Gibeele, an ever-changing mothlike mass of roiling limbs and wings, is the next to arrive. A champion of Transformation and Freedom, mothron of barbers, and liberator of mortals from the prison of form, the sheer emptiness of the world possibly causes the Moth no small distress. Qwitzikottle, paragon of Courage and Brutality, is the last but certainly not the least to appear this cycle, and perhaps their twenty mouths have already begun to dispense the precepts of their code of honor.

It is currently the Astronomical Age, and the invigorating pulse of dynamism that so suffuses the heavens has yet to reach the world-disc. As it stands, the crystal sphere is perfect and unwounded, but some imperfection may well be in order for the future mortals' sakes as much as for the gods. Host to a grand shared plane and the gods' home planes, there are currently no portals through which the light of the gods or harsher places can leak onto the undefined world. As well, the forms of the common plane and the gods' individual planes remain undetermined, but they'll always be changeable to suit their owners' needs.



Astronomical Age
  • Creating suns, large moons, comets, stars, "planets," and constellations is possible only in this age.
  • Creating equipment and artifacts is possible in this age.
  • Destroying various astronomical bodies (i.e. repairing the crystal sphere :P ) is possible only in this age.
  • Assigning mechanical significance to astronomical bodies as a god is possible only in this age. Using suitable spheres is encouraged but not strictly required.
  • If more gods support than oppose a change to the shape of the world, it will be enacted.
  • If more gods support than oppose a change to the form or function of the common plane, it will be enacted.
  • It is not possible to create or terraform land/sea in this age.
  • Only the Archangel and War Form Incarna chasses are available in this age.
  • Only the Angel and Outsider servant chasses are available in this age.
  • When more gods support than oppose progression to the next age, it will be done.
Spoiler: Relevant costs (click to show/hide)

Cosmic entities
  • The Eye is fast asleep.
  • The Noise is silent.

Status

Spoiler: Gods (click to show/hide)

7
Forum Games and Roleplaying / Panopticotheon OOC [10/10]
« on: December 18, 2021, 10:19:24 am »
    Panopticotheon

    IC thread: First page | Last page

    Not enough discord? Visit the Discord!

    Various mechanics stolen from Dominions, Between the Rivers, Exalted, Unknown Armies, Black and White, and past Bay12 god games


    Spoiler: Acts and costs (click to show/hide)

    Spoiler: Ages (click to show/hide)

    Spoiler: Combat (click to show/hide)


    Spoiler: The Eye and Suspicion (click to show/hide)

    Spoiler: Incarnae and servants (click to show/hide)



    Spoiler: Planes (click to show/hide)

    Spoiler: A skeletal 3d6 system (click to show/hide)


    God Sheet: [/list]
    Code: [Select]
    Name(s): What you are called
    Core sphere 1:
    Core sphere 2:

    Passions:
     - Obsession:
     - Rage:
     - Fear:
     - Noble:

    Actributes: Assign +2, +1, and -1
     - Light: 3
     - Might: 3
     - Night: 3
     - Sight: 3

    Further description (optional):
    Text color (optional, optionally include glow for War Form dialog):

    8
    Forum Games and Roleplaying / Somethingmancer [SG]
    « on: June 25, 2021, 10:35:08 pm »
    You are a freshly minted oracle from the illustrious College of Whatevermancy. What is your name and specialty? Where have you set up shop?

    Name:
    Specialty:
    (A) Pyromancy
    (B) Necromancy
    (C) Arachnomancy
    (D) Hepatomancy, or some say haruspicy
    (E) Aeromancy
    (F) Something else
    Location:
    (A) A stinky mountain cave
    (B) An imperious royal's court
    (C) A little shop that wasn't there yesterday
    (D) Somewhere else

    9
      Stewards of an Ailing Sun: Arrival


      Turn 0: Council turn

      A new home! The SUN gently approaches its intended companion, a barren rock filled with endless possibilities. An infernal screeching issues as ancient, tarnished machinery along the solar barque's hull unfolds to reveal a great tower. The SUN slowly dims and hums ominously before the spire explodes in a blinding jet of plasma, delivering a terrific knock to its passengers and sending clouds of debris tumbling into the void. At last, after the jets fade and the SUN returns to its normal brightness, the SUN eases into its new orbit.

      Instrument discovered: THE SHATTERED SPIRE (unmapped)!



      SUNshine meter:
      ████████████████████

      Now gathered in the central Council Chamber are the most attentive Stewards, i.e. those who didn't end up choosing the wrong corridors. Present in one side of the Chamber are the gods made up of fiery, cleansing Flaming essence:
         The Smith-God and great craftsman Alkam, who, though born of the substance of stony Kakuk, is perfectly at home in the more mechanized reaches in the SUN. Perhaps as a result of his origin, ores are easier to refine and work but scattered more thinly.
         The Missing God Obultrox CDIV, latest of a prestigious line of message gods (not to be confused with the messenger gods) who absolutely had nothing to do with his predecessor's suspicious demise. Regardless, many things that were once forbidden now thrive even in the SUN's light.

      Standing in another side of the Chamber is a pantheon born of cool, tempering Frosted essence.
         The Crystal Goddess Elina, succeeding a terrestrial goddess of love and war who was ruthlessly disfigured for seizing the tail of the Great Comet. Her accession will help damp the fiery passions of mortals.
         Verne the Moon, a strange companion to the SUN whose rise may be connected to its fading...or not.
         The Other One, architect of fate and not responsible for the disappearance of Lady Luck. Whether their tireless crusade against frayed threads will bring misfortune or predictability is a mystery to all.

      Still another side of the Chamber is occupied by the brilliant gods of Fulgent essence:
         Hyth'mr the Sleeper, bringer of restful sleep and simple comforts and successor of Graccus Top of the Morning. Their firing may have unforeseen effects on the fabric of spacetime.
         Candescence, Sultan of the Shifting Sands, a radiance second only to the SUN itself. Their triumph over the Steward of Crime, Chaos, and Jay-walking will surely be a blessing to those who heed the SUN's LAW.
         Trata-Trata the Dreamer, who is water. Unfortunately, disquieting traces of the former Steward of Water remain; will what seas may form ever fully submit to the LAW?

      To help them with their work, each pantheon, Flaming, Frosted, and Fulgent, has been granted a Continent Act (61 hexes) and a Mortals Act worth 8 powerful pops, 12 regular pops, or 16 feeble pops. Deploying them won't consume any personal acts but can only be done with approval from a majority of their Fellows.



      The Agenda

      Now that all known gods are present and accounted for, let the stuffy proceedings and Council business begin! Each god has two Council acts to spend on proposals answering any number of questions on the agenda (or absent from it). Council deliberations will last until the most pressing questions are answered. Folding multiple points into one proposal is acceptable as a way of saving Council acts, although it will likely be harder to pass.

      1. The SUN is clearly not in any condition to be shining at full strength continuously for extended periods. What, if anything, should be done about this? (SUNlight impact: Variable)

      2. Little is known about the SUN's Instruments other than that they are all exceedingly powerful and irreplaceable. Granting a nominal research stipend and/or restricting access to the most devoted Stewards may be helpful to understanding them in depth. What, if anything, should be done about them? (SUNlight impact: Low)

      3. Should additional Continent Acts or Mortals Acts be distributed? (SUNlight impact: Moderate-High)

      4. The LAW
      • What does the world REQUIRE? (A world satisfying all REQUIREments will be easier to manage, but a world in contravention will gradually suffer under the strain of lacking them.)
      • What would you like to FORBID? (This will be enforced by the SUN's light.)
      • What would you like to PERMIT? (This generally takes precedence over laws FORBIDding things. Horrors of the void can never be PERMITted.)

      5. Should this Council session be adjourned? (Locked: Resolve points 1-3 first)



      Status

      Spoiler: Instruments (click to show/hide)

      Spoiler: Stewards (click to show/hide)
      [/list]

      10
      Godsquare the Plains of Sand

      Are god games getting overly complex these days? Do you like frequent updates? Do you just want to make everything crabs? This may be the one for you!

      Rules

      Actions
      • Everyone gets one action per turn.
      • Actions don't carry over.
      • Actions can be used to create, destroy, or modify things.
      • 1 act produces up to 1000 mortals.

      Ambrosia
      • 1 lump of ambrosia is awarded for every 1000 worshipers.
      • Alternatively, 500 souls can be distilled into a lump of ambrosia. You monster.
      • 20 lumps of ambrosia can be exchanged for an extra action for someone else.
      • 30 lumps of ambrosia can be exchanged for an extra action for oneself.

      Meta
      • Changing the rules only requires approval from a simple majority of active players, i.e. those who have posted as of the last update.
      • The next GM has considerable leeway as far as rules changes go which is to say the next GM can change most anything at all.

      Sheet

      Code: [Select]
      Name:
      Spheres (limit 2):
      Description:

      Interested in being on GM rotation (optional):

      11
      Forum Games and Roleplaying / Stewards of an Ailing SUN OOC
      « on: May 18, 2021, 06:34:31 am »
      Stewards of an Ailing SUN: Arrival

      IC thread: First page | Last page

      For more discord, visit the Discord

      For years, the SUN has been declining. It's been declining for far longer than that, the wags will say; anyone who's ever witnessed a sunset can attest to that. Unfortunately, it isn't quite so simple here, and it's becoming clear that the SUN's birth-sojourn through the hungry void has taken a heavy toll on its magnificent carriage. Where once it burned bright and seared and sealed away all impossibilities, it now has barely enough vigor to shine half of the time. But now, for the first time in its unending journey, there is hope. The SUN's rays have revealed a featureless ball of rock floating in the void. Both a sanctuary and a playground for the SUN's attendants, it is finally time for something suitably interesting to happen.



      Acts

      Divine acts

      Acts are needed for most actions that don't boil down to talking with messengers or other Stewards on the SUN. They don't generally carry over to the next turn unless otherwise specified, and it generally takes more to destroy something than it does to create it. Some actions can be gradually completed over several turns, and some must be completed on the turn they're started; check the costs for details. Certain large actions like large-scale worldscaping or life creation will get harder over time. Many actions are cheaper or more effective if performed within one's THRONE's dominion.

      Faulty acts can be used for essentially anything a normal act would be used for, but the results may fall somewhat short of the intent or even backfire. This chance is reduced when faulty acts are diluted with normal acts.

      Sources:
      • Stipend for having placed a THRONE: 1 act
      • Paths: 0-2 acts
        • 0-1 criteria satisfied*: 0 acts
        • 2 criteria satisfied: 1 faulty act
        • 3 criteria satisfied: 1 act
        • 4+ criteria satisfied: 2 acts
      • Essence act: 1 collective act per flavor of essence

      * Only one Path can contribute acts at any given time.

      Council proposals and counterproposals

      Council proposals/counterproposals are (untested, experimental) used when making proposals or counterproposals on Council turns. Each Steward gets 2 of each on each Council turn, and as with divine acts, they don't carry over. Talking or voting on Council resolutions doesn't consume any Council acts. Leaving a Council meeting costs a proposal, not that that generally matters if the intent is to avoid having to deal with it in the first place. Because leaving a meeting is an option at all, those who stay in a meeting but aren't explicitly in favor of a given resolution are assumed to be against it to hurry things along and simplify vote tallying.

      Council resolutions can change most any rule (including Council rules or the SUN's LAWs), but for now, here is what a proposal needs to pass:
      • Someone present to spend a Council act on proposing the resolution.
      • An active Council turn, i.e. at least half of the Stewards are currently in attendance.
      • Support from a majority of present Stewards, i.e. more than half of the present Stewards support the resolution.

      As with divine acts, each flavor of essence with at least two present members receives one collective Council act. It can be spent to propose a resolution backed by a majority of the flavor's members or to have all of the flavor's members exit the current Council meeting. Two essence actions can be spent to end a Council meeting early. Three essence actions are theoretically indistinguishable from a normal majority and don't do anything particularly special.



      Turns

      By default, there will be up to one Council turn for every five normal turns. Divine acts are unusable (and not awarded anyway) during a Council turn. If fewer than half of all active Stewards are present on a Council turn, it'll be outright skipped in favor of another five normal turns. The first turn will be a mandatory Council turn and a Session 0 of sorts.



      Costs (very much under construction)

      Creation

      Spoiler: Animal? (click to show/hide)

      Spoiler: Vegetable? (click to show/hide)

      Spoiler: Mineral? (click to show/hide)


      Alteration

      Temporary rule: Altering creations requires 2 acts in addition to the difference in costs (min. 1), and there is a price floor of 3 acts total.



      The SUN

      Lantern. Lawgiver. Locomotion. The SUN is many things, but the SUN is also the abode of the gods themselves. Its sprawling halls contain its Instruments, numerous wonders ranging from blinding lattices of mirrors and lenses to ticking arrays of countless gears. Such is the scale of the SUN's labyrinthine corridors that it's thought that there are other gods (some lazily imprisoned, perhaps?) stuck wandering the endless rooms looking for a way out. Precious little is known about most of the rooms' purpose or function, and only two have been mapped out and characterized so far:
      • THE BAT-RIDDEN BELFRY: Its jolly ringing marked the passage of hours. Indeed, the very sound of its bells seemed to fill things with a certain clarity. Why, then, was it so crudely disconnected by some previous batch of Stewards?
      • THE ULTIMATE LENSES: The SUN's outermost lenses and last safe stop for outbound light. Despite their apparent fragility, they've survived the trek with only minor scratches, and even for the SUN's Stewards, standing in front of them while the SUN is active is extremely inadvisable.

      THE LAW

      The laws inscribed on the SUN are many and onerous, a sure sign that your predecessors had too much Council time on their appendages. Here are a few of the less unimportant ones:

      SUN ABOVE, GODS BETWEEN, EARTH BELOW.
      • Interpretation: So long as the SUN shines true, no living mortals are permitted to visit the SUN just as no Steward is permitted to visit the ball of earth.
      GOD SHALL NEVER KILL GOD.TIME IS.
      • Interpretation: So long as the SUN shines true, causality exists, and things can happen only after other things.
      HORRORS ARE NOT.
      • Interpretation: So long as the SUN shines true, nothing forbidden by THE LAW shall ever exist within its light.
      THY WORD IS THY BOND.
      • Interpretation: So long as the SUN shines true, agreements and promises witnessed by the SUN must be kept.
      (Loophole-ridden physical laws about thermodynamics, something called gravity, and lots of other stuff)
      • Interpretation: So long as the SUN shines true, things seem to make sense and happen reproducibly except for that thing the wizard did that caused the farmers to turn into frogs. Luckily, the SUN took care of the upstart, and neither the wizard nor the farmers were ever seen or heard from again.



      The Stewards

      Essence

      Godly essences come in three flavors: Flaming, Frosted, and Fulgent. Each flavor receives an extra collective act each turn should it manage to come to some sort of consensus (>50%) on what to do with it. Unused essence acts don't carry over to the next turn. Essence flavors with fewer than two members don't get this act.

      Actions performed by gods of different essences working in concert are often cheaper or more effective than those performed solo. Differences will be listed in the relevant act's cost table.

      Their THRONES

      Direct interaction with Stewards is incredibly dangerous to mortal health whether it comes in the form of speaking with, gazing at, or otherwise communing too closely with them. This is regrettably true even for the most fireproof and electrically insulated mortals. Fortunately, Stewards can send down their THRONES to maintain a presence on the material plane and, as a bonus, spread the cleansing radiance of the SUN. THRONES can take on the appearance of buildings, natural wonders, monuments, literal thrones, or any number of other majestic things, and within their influence, everything conforms better to their owners' vision. The first time a Steward's THRONE is placed on the world is free and costs no actions and comes with the option of extending range/reducing intensity or increasing intensity/reducing range by one step. Subsequent moves require 2 Acts and can be repelled by the influence of THRONES of uncooperative Stewards. There is no penalty for overlapping spheres of influence between friendly Stewards. If anything, there may be a minor bonus in that the intersection is better covered at the expense of some area that is less covered.

      THRONES in their default configuration gently affect places to a Steward's liking up to two hexes away and maintain the SUN's LAW up to four hexes away. Stewards interested in better range or intensity may spend an act to reconfigure their THRONES to increase one at the expense of the other. Hexes that contain particularly pious mortals or that resonate particularly well with one's sphere can count as being within one's dominion even when they're out of range.

      The CANDLES

      From time to time, Stewards may stumble on CANDLES. CANDLES may be lit to expand or intensify a Steward's THRONE's influence for two turns. Optionally, the CANDLE may be burned at both ends to double the bonus at the expense of making the bonus last for only a turn. In any case, the bonus starts on the next normal turn and ends on the end of the normal turn after that in the unmodified usage.



      Paths

      The Path of Benevolence, or: The Mortals Path

      The positive attention of mortal charges is good for getting stuff done and translates rather directly to great power. Here are the types of mortal attention available:

      Belief: Association of a god with a sphere. Excepting gods with colliding spheres, excessively broad/unenforceable spheres, excessively narrow/unrecognizable spheres, or without any representation on the mortal plane, this one is generally a freebie.
      Worship: Active acts of adoration/veneration whether through offerings, festivals, sacrifices, or prayers.
      Dedication: Righteous mortals dying and going to a god's afterlife vault and an argument against making worshipers immortal.
      Souls: General population of a god's afterlife vault and another argument against making worshipers immortal.

      The Path of Aloofness, or: The Meta Path

      Some Stewards don't particularly care about squishy mortals but would normally feel pressured to maintain good relations with them regardless in order to avoid falling behind. These Stewards may instead gain acts by following the Path of Aloofness:

      Creator: Find a suitable muse and let the words or brush strokes flow. A picture is worth a thousand words, and either or both of these will satisfy this mechanism (unless it sparks unanimous disapproval). Literature, dialogue, and proposals (but not counterproposals) on IC count to the 1000 word quota.
      Destroyer: Remove or arrange for the removal of a creation no one needs or remembers making. Make sure you have records if you're outsourcing the job. Alternatively, take up the position of devil's advocate during a Council turn and see an proposal fail after you've argued against it for five free turns of fulfilling this criterion.
      Preserver: Stop something from getting destroyed/changed/improved. Alternatively, stop an act (whether divine or Council) from going through somehow. Make sure you have records if you're outsourcing this one.
      Reshaper: Reshape the land itself (optionally including its attendant flora or fauna) to better fit some sort of vision. Mortals aren't necessarily involved, so surely this won't step on any toes? Alternatively, propose a counterproposal and see it pass.
      Exister: Continue to exist. This one is generally a freebie and is solely in place to keep the Path of Aloofness vaguely playable.

      The Path of Malevolence, or: The Nonexistent Path

      So long as the SUN shines true, there is no Path of Malevolence.



      The Earth

      Here is the new world in all its blank glory:

      Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)



      Character sheet

      Code: [Select]
      Name: Who are you?
      Predecessor: Who/what did you succeed? What was the cost? Are they imprisoned, dead, or just retired?
      Sphere: What do you preside over?
      Essence (select one): Flaming|Frosted|Fulgent.
      THRONE form: What does your THRONE look like?

      Sigil (optional): A glyph of some sort representing your portfolio.
      Afterlife vault (optional): What do your worshipers have to look forward to?
      Description (optional): Any additional details

      12
      Forum Games and Roleplaying / YOU ARE AN IDOL (SG)
      « on: April 21, 2021, 10:05:54 pm »
      YOU ARE AN IDOL.

      THE GODLY KIND BUT THE SINGING KIND TOO. HAUNTING SINGING ISSUES FROM CLEVERLY HIDDEN TUBES IN YOUR BRONZE FORM ON WINDY DAYS.

      WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO APPEAR?

      (A) PODUNK TOWN
      (B) BUSTLING METROPOLIS
      (C) SHRINKING RANCH
      (D) NATIONAL PARK
      (E) SOMEWHERE ELSE

      WHAT FORM WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE?

      (A) QUADRATIC MONOLITH
      (B) COMELY HUMAN
      (C) SOME BIRD/BEAST
      (D) SOMETHING ELSE

      13
      Forum Games and Roleplaying / QWOP Arms Race
      « on: January 05, 2021, 11:13:58 pm »
      QWOP Arms Foot Race


      Starting movements
      The starting program is the same for all nations:

      Quote
      Repeat 100 times:
       - Short right thigh (Q)
       - Short left thigh (W)
       - Short left calf (O)
       - Short right calf (P)

      Nations

      We need a flag!
      Thighland
      Athletes from the nation of Thighland are renowned for their impressive thighs. Training costs involving thighs (Q/W) are 20% cheaper as a result.

      We need a flag!
      Calfornia
      Calfornian runners are praised for their meaty calves. Training costs involving calves (O/P) are 20% cheaper for Calfornians.

      Phases

      Training phase: Comparable to design phase in most arms races. Submit and vote for changes to your athlete's training regimen. Unlike most arms races, there are no rolls for design. Instead, each team gets a budget of 10 dollars/pounds/euros/yen to spend on training to add to, remove from, or otherwise modify your athlete's moves. Where discounts apply, final costs are rounded down to a minimum of 1 point.
      Revision phase: Each team gets a video of the results of their athlete's training and can make small corrections (capped at 3 points for now) before participating in the actual event. Aside from money earned from selling merchandise, team funding does not carry over to the next turn.
      Race phase: The results of months of sweat and tears come to fruition as the nations participate in the Intercontinental Foot Race.

      Training costs

      Add short movement: 6 points
      Remove short movement: 5 points
      Lengthen/Shorten movement: 5 points
      Slightly lengthen/shorten movement: 2 points
      Finely lengthen/shorten movement: 1 points

      Add/Remove 1 repetition of program: 5 points

      Sell merchandise*: -10 points

      * The "sell merchandise" action can be used only once by each team and requires a flag (and optionally a slogan and currency and currency symbol and map) for your nation's team.

      Victory

      The first team to reach the 100m mark (or go as far as possible before the game inevitably dies) wins the Gold Medal of Victory.

      14
      Forum Games and Roleplaying / Age of Ideas IC: Hello World (7/16)
      « on: December 18, 2020, 11:27:30 pm »
      Age of Ideas: Chorus Primeval

      A shapeless cloud, a shoreless sea,
      A soundless name and symphony:
      What shall I do, what shall I see?
      What seems to be the missing key?


      Anonymous, "Whingings"


      In the thoughtful void that was to be the universe, five great Ideas emerged from the endless sea of lesser Ideas of the beginning-untime. This would generally be an unremarkable occurrence lost to the noise but for the fact that they had something of a Beginning. As a result of their chaotic births, they successfully attained a sapience uncommon to lesser Ideas. With sapience came Speech; with Speech came Disharmony; with Disharmony came a yearning for something different and more tangible than this eternity of meaninglessness. Unprecedentedly individual yet just as boundless and everlasting as all other Ideas, here are their cores from hub to rim along with a complimentary divination of dubious quality:
      • An Idea of fickle Luck fittingly occupying the speedy innermost Orbit. This Idea is in the process of eclipsing a rival, but their combined influence would surely be formidable were they capable of setting aside their differences.
      • The unstable, self-rivaled Idea of Contradiction. Initially aligned with Silence and the Idol, the effects of this inauspicious conjunction on the latter two remain to be seen.
      • A grand Thought of Silence befitting the void in the next major Orbit. This Idea is currently harmoniously balanced with the Idea of the Idol and briefly observed a conjunction of Contradiction and Idol with whatever that implies.
      • Fate, Luck's counter, in a middle Orbit. Foil and fulcrum both, Fate is currently weakly eclipsed by a potent rival and had observed an alignment of Silence and Uniqueness and now observes a frightful conjunction of Luck and Chaos.
      • The Idea of Chaos, for which Fate and Luck were in conjunction and thus had no net influence...ostensibly.
      • An Idolatrous Idea, an imperfect counter to Silence yet in pleasing conjunction. Perhaps their balance is easier to shift now? This Idea observed a brief but ominous conjunction of Silence and Contradiction.
      • The Concept of Uniqueness, a strange and novel Idea, in the highest, most remote Orbit. This Idea briefly influenced Fate/was influenced by Fate and Silence. Could this Idea have arisen in a more fitting Orbit?

      A throng of fascinating and delicious Lesser Ideas, lesser in magnitude than the Greater Ideas but no less useful, sailed through the ether in their eccentric manner. If left undisturbed, they will likely eventually fade and rejoin the teeming mass of Ideas or, rarely, grow in strength off of other ambient Ideas. Here they are in no particular order:
      • Convergence (weak, sentient)
      • Continuity
      • Cooperation
      • Direction
      • Discord
      • Discreteness
      • Divergence
      • Emptiness
      • Existence
      • Misfortune
      • Noise
      • Pariah
      • Quantity (strong)
      • Rejection
      • Repetition
      • Volition

      It is currently the Age of Ideas. Speech has been discovered but not Naming. Three actions are available for each Greater Idea.

      Spoiler: Status (click to show/hide)

      Spoiler: Actions (3 available) (click to show/hide)

      15
      Forum Games and Roleplaying / Age of Ideas: A Pregod Game (7/16)
      « on: December 16, 2020, 01:34:41 am »
      Age of Ideas

      It is an untime of endless potential. Time and space have little or no meaning as everything happens, and yet nothing truly does in this swirling primordial cauldron of transient Ideas. Grand Ideas. Simple Ideas. Concrete Ideas. Abstract Ideas. All these and more come together in a dizzyingly dialectic dance of ephemerality. A keen observer (if the act of observation can even be said to make sense at this point), however, may spot persistent, irrefutable Ideas in this roiling mess. Could they mean an end to this incomprehensible state? Can anything lasting come of them?

      Quote from: Greater Idea sheet
      Core Idea: Near-equivalent to spheres in most god games, must be unique. Opposites of existing Core Ideas encouraged.
      Orbit: 0-15 or random. Must be unique; collisions are resolved with dice, and no one wants that. Lower orbits increase priority when competing for Ideas but lead to faster Crystallization buildup. Alternatively, if most entries request random orbits, everyone will receive a special bonus and be placed in random orbits.
      Crystallization: 0

      Spoiler: Actions (click to show/hide)

      Spoiler: Glossary (click to show/hide)

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