Bay 12 Games Forum

You are a semi-free agent with important ties to important things, and therefore the experience and connections to organize and carry out major projects. However, you are not yourself powerful or wealthy enough to do any of this on your own- you need the backing and support of other major entities, which usually means on some level that you're working for them rather than the other way round.

Within these limitations, however, you are likely to have an exceeding amount of control and room for personal entitlement. So long as your requirements are met, your bosses typically won't mind you pursuing side projects or skimming off the top. On a related note, exact "ownership" of said projects can be somewhat fuzzy; it's usually more useful to talk about who has what rights or entitlements to certain aspects or products than it is to speculate on who "owns" a colony or even ship outright.

Players may join at any time. However, the game will only last until Turn 10, so latecomers will have somewhat less time to help develop the system. On the bright side, late arrivals do tend to have more of established players' efforts to draw technology and materials from.

This game is largely a technobabble space opera. Trying to use realistic particle physics to accomplish tasks is unlikely to grant any particular bonus, and may even fail when it shouldn't.

Technobabble, on the other hand, will typically succeed where it relies on or establishes internal consistency. "Rerouting tachyons through the proton manifolds" is unlikely to do anything on its own, but inventing tachyon reactors or proton manifolds in the first place might be entirely valid.


Technology, materials, demands, and so on tend to be loosely available where needed, especially if some example of them is located within the current system. More specific solutions to these issues will result in better, more concrete results. For instance, it is generally assumed that you have some armed forces of some kind, and that they are armed with weapons. The details are largely assumed to be ad hoc and not terribly efficient, however- police or security guards wherever they crop up, whatever weapons they could buy, and so on. Researching or manufacturing weapons for them explicitly, or raising or founding coherent police or military units, will make them more efficient and concrete.

Similarly, if you intend to focus on mining, trading, leisure, or anything else in particular, it might behoove you to make sure your particular patch of space is well-equipped to handle that sort of thing. Tourists riding Malk-4 Pleasure Yachts tend to have a better time than tourists riding whatever transport was available.

To really get a project going, you'll need a Charter for it. A Charter consists of three fields.

Sponsor: Who's paying for all this.

Location: Where this is going down.

Purpose: What everybody's hoping will happen.

All three fields are rolled for separately, so if you try to get, for instance, a Charter to build a brutal prison colony on a frozen planetoid for a grim and unforgiving empire, a bevy of 1s might result in an offer to let you make a tourist resort on a tropical world for the government of a cheerful and utopian planet. Odd rolls in different places might result in a brutal prison planet on a tropical paradise for really very friendly people, a tourist destination on a frozen deathtrap, or other oddities.

Charters may be discarded if undesired, but remain available for others to snatch up should they feel so inclined. Attempting to utilize the benefits provided by a Charter while completely ignoring the Charter's mandates will typically see you blocked or removed from your position before you can do substantial damage. Relevant preliminary work and side projects once a Charter's core functions are online tend to be perfectly fine. Building a vacation spot on a mining Charter is likely to fail, perhaps disastrously so, for instance, but building a vacation spot for an existing mining colony on that same Charter would likely not raise any eyebrows.


Claims are similar to Charters, except that they are smaller parts of the same general operation. Pursuing two different Charters means working on two separate projects, for the same organizations or otherwise. Pursuing a Claim within a Charter means working within your original Charter, but in a different area or under different conditions. A mining Charter to extract Cordobalizitite from a certain rocky red moon could be supplemented by Claims to begin work extracting Livarium from deposits elsewhere on the same moon or branching out to a different source of Cordobalizitite, for instance.

Claims are primarily necessary when it isn't clear that a desired location, resource, or demand exists. Building a tech lab on a residential colony wouldn't necessarily require a Claim, because there's obviously space for it and some possible justification for putting it there. Adding extensive industrialization for commercial frigate construction probably would, because it's relying on a consumer demand that might not exist.


Filing for a Charter or Claim is generally a free action, but players are advised to do so sparingly. Possible Sponsors are likely to be thoroughly unimpressed by someone who routinely applies for Claims and then refuses or seems unlikely to complete them.

Every round, each player gets three actions:

Construct: Build a colony, installation, series of factories, or something else on a large scale.

Manufacture: Build a spaceship, order of toys, military regiment, or something else on a small scale.

Research: Research a technology of some sort, be that better cupholder alloys or a new model of handgun.


In addition, any military forces or other free-roaming assets the player has may be ordered about as a free action.


Action Density is an important concept with regards to actions, especially Research. Simply put, the smaller your action is in scale, the more intense it is within its area of impact. Researching "better weapons" is likely to lead to vague, nonspecific increases in general weapon effectiveness. Researching "handheld laser cannons that work like Star Wars blasters in that they're not actually lasers but really just energy bullet things" is likely to give your troops a concrete supply of weapons with distinct qualities, and therefore a distinct impact on their performance should you try to use them for anything.

In general, it's recommended you keep your actions to the scale you most care about. If you simply want people to inhabit a planet, "colonize a planet" is a viable action. If you need the people on that planet to have any attributes whatsoever beyond existing, a more detailed, smaller-scale action might be required to get what you want. Overreaching on broad, vague actions and then trying to rely on the fruits of your labors is a recipe for being very disappointed by marginally better bullet alloys or scattered settlements of isolationist hicks.

Years ago, the world was overrun by demons. They slaughtered everything in their path, washing over those who resisted and running down those who fled. The very ground died with its inhabitants, tainted beyond repair by demonic magic.

A few places did manage to hold out, however. Dubbed Havens, these bastions of humanity held together long enough for the demonic attacks to subside, even if they never stopped completely. In time, they stabilized and were able to relax a bit, growing in strength and confidence if not necessarily in size. The world of today is a relatively stable place, compared to the huddled terror of yesteryear's constant siege.

Of course, even in relative peace, the world is a dangerous place. The demons are not defeated, nor even necessarily weakened; humanity is safe for the moment, but nobody is quite certain why. Everyone fears that the demons could resume their assaults at any moment, and that their attacks could be even more ferocious and concentrated when they do. Even if they don't, the world remains broken and hostile; demons and monsters infest anyplace that isn't protected by vigilant guards, and the regions where anything still grows makes most wish it didn't.

The average inhabitant of Valyn is a human of medium build (that is where we get the definition of medium, after all), with fair skin, brown hair, and green eyes. Variations are fairly common, especially now that reckless magical experimentation is more valued and common.

Humans are the only common race on Valyn; stories and rumors abound of other races that existed here and there before the invasion, but even most tales don't usually depict them as more than isolated villages. Nonhumans, including apparent humans with peculiar features, are generally assumed to be either extraplanar in nature, or a severely altered or mutated former human, and in either case tend to be uncommon enough to draw attention but common enough not to be especially crowdstopping.

Most rolls are standard RTD d6 rolls with modifiers. The results are summarized below.

Roll	Result
0	Abysmal Failure. You've ruined everything, probably including yourself.
1	Critical Failure. Not only did you fail, you made things worse. Injuring yourself on this result is common.
2	Failure. While you might not have made the situation objectively worse, you nonetheless failed to really accomplish anything. This can still have negative side effects.
3	Partial Success. You succeeded somewhat or in some ways, but not as well as you had hoped.
4	Success. You succeeded at what you were attempting.
5	Perfect Success. You succeeded magnificently, accomplishing more than you were expecting.
6	Overshot. You went a bit overboard, which should have succeeded but may involve side effects.
7	Massive Overshot. The results probably still resemble your original intention, but you've gone pretty overboard with them.

Results lower than 0 or higher than 7 tend to follow the same pattern of escalating power or ruinous catastrophe.

Modifiers to these rolls usually come from skills and the complexity and power of the action being attempted. A character may voluntarily waive some of their skill bonus in order to accomplish a simple task without being likely to go completely overboard on it.

Skills are measures of ability and knowledge in certain fields. Different skill levels have corresponding titles and bonuses to actions using them.

Skills are increased through use. Every time a character uses a skill in a meaningful fashion, they have a chance to gain experience in that skill. Uses of a skill with no particular benefit or risk to the user generally do not award experience; combat with legitimate foes or crafting attempts on valuable materials are two of the most common sources of experience gain.

Experience gain may also be affected by modifiers to a roll and the success of the roll. As a general rule, spellcasting benefits from penalties and mundane skills benefit from succeeding.

Name	Bonus	Experience to Next Level	Total Experience to Reach
Inexperienced	-1	2	0
Dabbling	+0	2	2
Novice	+1	4	4
Apprentice	+2	8	8
Adept	+3	16	16
Expert	+4	32	32
Master	+5	64	64

These levels and modifiers also apply to actions. This means that barring other bonuses or penalties, actions equal to your current skill level are flat rolls, while actions one level higher are at a net -1 penalty, actions one level lower are at a net +1 bonus, and so on.

Name	Bonus	Decription
Inexperienced	+1	There are generally no useful Inexperienced level actions. Actions that grant a +1 bonus are usually due to factors outside average human intelligence and knowledge counting as overqualification.
Dabbling	+0	There are generally no useful Dabbling level actions. Actions without modifiers are typically not considered Dabbling.
Novice	-1	Weak expressions of a skill's basic principles. Controlling fire between your hands, animating a dead cat, or crafting a simple wooden box might all be Novice actions.
Apprentice	-2	Proficient expressions of a skill's basic principles. Controlling fire around you, animating a weak but serviceable human skeleton, or crafting a wooden box with a hinged lid might all be Apprentice actions.
Adept	-3	Proficient expressions of a skill, and often considered the default level of a professional. Using controlled fire to damage and ignite someone, animating an undead minion with a modicum of understanding, or crafting a nice wooden chest might all be Adept level actions.
Expert	-4	Powerful expressions of a skill. Igniting something with flames so hot it's unpleasant to get near them, animating an undead minion powerful and intelligent enough to speak to you in cryptic epithets, or crafting a magnificent wooden chest with multiple compartments might all be Expert level actions.
Master	-5	Powerful expressions of a skill's advanced principles. Searing everything around you to glass terrain and ash statues, turning a fallen comrade into a revenant with full access to his memories and abilities and then some, or crafting a wooden chest that looks like a work of art and contains several hidden compartments might all be Master level actions.

HP: Your ability to take damage without dying. When it hits 0, you are unconscious but stable. If it goes below 0, you are disabled and in danger of dying. At a negative value equal to your normal maximum, you die.

HP can be increased by your Toughness skill. Toughness gains points every time you take damage, and functions on a different scale than normal skills.

Dodge: Your ability to take less damage from attacks, or even avoid them completely. Your Dodge value is added as a bonus to your dodge rolls.

Dodge is increased by raising your Dodge skill. Every time you are attacked by an opponent with more Attack than you have Dodge, you have a chance to gain dodging experience. Wielding a shield can also sometimes grant a Dodge bonus.

Attack: Your ability to hit and deal damage to targets. Your Attack value is added to attack rolls.

Attack is raised by your skill in appropriate weapon or spell categories. Every time you attack a worthy enemy, and every time you hit even an unworthy enemy, you have a chance to gain weapon experience. Every time you use a spell that isn't too easy, you have a chance to gain experience in that magical school. Attack is also increased by wielding better weapons. Using a two-handed weapon also tends to grant additional Attack over a one-handed one.

Note that attacks tend to deal damage based on the weapon wielded.

Damage Types: Damage is divided into several distinct types, which can be important with regard to defenses. A list of damage types is as follows:

Physical
 Slashing
 Piercing
 Crushing
Elemental
 Fire
 Frost
 Lightning
Divine
 Holy
 Necrotic
 Arcane

Resistance: Your ability to shrug off damage of a specific type. Every time you take damage, the amount is reduced by the value of your matching resistance, if any.

Resistances are difficult to acquire. Especially powerful armor can grant resistance to a given type. Otherwise, most resistances come from innate qualities, such as a frost elemental's resistance to cold.

Special HP: Your ability to absorb damage of a specific type. Every time you take damage, up to half of it damages your matching special HP instead of your regular HP, if you have enough. Healing effects tend to likewise be split between regular and special HP.

Special HP is most commonly acquired through armor. Different varieties of armor can provide increased resilience against different types of attacks.

Scaling Bonus: Most bonuses are applied directly to relevant rolls. Scaling bonuses are not. Instead, a scaling bonus applies a +1 bonus to the roll if the scaling bonus at least equals the character's current bonus. If so, the scaling bonus has the current bonus subtracted from it, and the same test is repeated with the new, higher bonus and the remainder of the scaling bonus.

As an example, consider a +6 scaling bonus. On a character with +1 (Novice) in a skill, the bonus would provide a +1 bonus, bringing the character to +2. Since the bonus was only +1, we subtract that from +6 to get +5. +5 is still greater than +2, so the character gains another +1 bonus, bringing him to +3 total. The scaling bonus, meanwhile, is reduced by +2, from +5 to +3. +3 is exactly +3, so the character gains a final +1, bringing him to +4.

On the other hand, let's say that character starts at +3 (Adept). +6 is still much larger than +3, so he gains a +1 bonus, bringing him to +4. +3 isn't enough to completely match +4, however, so he gains no other benefits, and ends up at exactly the same bonus as the Novice.

Scaling bonuses are usually found on magical artifacts, such as staves and tomes.

This is Queen Axespendable, your liege lord and master of all she surveys.


These are your monarch's skills, as denoted by the yellow (or in maxed cases teal) bars and numbers to the left. The values preceded by a + or - can be safely ignored. Values and incomplete bar sections in green represent bonuses granted by her current outfit, which she may be convinced to grudgingly change for important circumstances.

Your sovereign's stats play a vital role in her knowledge and proclivities. In the Mystical section, for instance, you might notice that her skill at wielding magic is an impeccable 100, while her knowledge of lore is a flat 0. You might therefore expect her to be knowledgeable, skillful, and likely enthusiastic about matters of sorcery, while being rather in the dark and presumably not terribly thrilled about pursuits of a scholarly nature.


This is your queen's starting mood. Your lady's mood has a strong effect on what she does and how; right now, for instance, you may notice she is feeling willful, meaning she's unlikely to bend to pressure or give up on getting what she wants. Wise courtiers keep a close eye on and even try to influence how their patron is feeling, though the wisest take care about how far they try to manipulate their monarch.

Mood may be altered by major events, including the actions of courtiers. Sometimes this takes a rather serious incident to have an impact, while other times it's as simple as a few carefully chosen words at just the right time.

The Queen is of course the highest power in the land, and her word is generally law. However, for some reason queens seldom want for individuals willing to manage the day-to-day minutiae of running their kingdom, in exchange for the modest price of owning some of it.

This is where you come in. Queen Axespendable will have need of competent, loyal servants, hopefully meaning you. In exchange, she'll of course grant you prizes befitting your station... money, land, military power, or perhaps other things.

Of course, there are a few snags in this particular beautiful tapestry. For one thing, you're far from alone- most monarchs can expect to be inundated with witless fools who are more than willing to mismanage their whole kingdom into abject ruin for the chance of owning some of it as it burns. Distinguishing yourself from this rabble may be exceedingly difficult.

Secondly, there's the matter of your kingdom's health as a whole. Even a queen can hardly grant what she doesn't have, meaning the rewards she'll be in a position to dole out may depend on how well she's doing at the moment.

Welcome to Ardania, a realm of many fantastic creatures and things.


Cities are vital to the kingdom's success; in many ways, cities are the kingdom. Resources, military units, equipment, research... everything is produced by cities. Not surprising, then, that land is the surest sign of a courtier's success and wealth.

Duke is a title given to the holder of a large area of land.

Count is a title given to the holder of a city.

Baron is a title given to the holder of a building.

These titles are, of course, overlapping, which can cause conflict when, say, a Duke insists that a Count in his domain runs his city a certain way. The easiest way to avoid such issues is simply to avoid having any overlapping titles; no Barons in a city ruled by a Count and no Counts in a region ruled by a Duke. This can be difficult to achieve, however, given the scarcity of such rewards and the number of individuals clamoring for them.

Holders of a land can, in theory, do anything they choose with it. Obviously giving a decree is different from watching it happen, especially when someone else is decreeing differently, but landed lords still tend to hold tremendous power within their domains. Even when the overt effects of this control do not seem particularly impressive, as with a Baron in charge of a silver mine, a clever lord can find subtler ways to turn their holdings to their advantage. Manufacturing gifts or ostentatious jewelry to bribe and impress their monarch or peers is a common use of such power.


With the rarity and relative stability of cities, it comes as no surprise that many courtiers find themselves literally fighting tooth and nail for recognition. Commanding a military unit is a relatively cheap method of proving one's worthiness for other, greater rewards, though many take a liking to battle regardless. Lesser courtiers are often defined by their position in the military.

Hero is a title given to someone who is either handler to or personally a Lord, a mighty champion that functions similarly to military units all on their own.

Captain is a title given to the commander of a military unit.

Heroes are quite rare, as Lords are quite rare, while Captains are very common, as military units are very common. Conflicts between military courtiers usually involves divisions over spoils or getting in each other's way, and they often don't work well with landed nobles.


Of course, even with the frequency of military units, there aren't always enough titles to go around. Some courtiers also find themselves desiring something a bit less violent than leading soldiers into battle, even from the safety and comfort of a feathered silk couch.

Minister is a title given to someone who is responsible for a concept, even if they don't hold any actual property or possess any particular authority regarding it.

Courtier is a title generally used only when a member of court has no other holdings, and thus no other titles, to be referred to by.

Ministers and Courtiers are both in the awkward position of owning nothing, which limits their chances for advancement to handouts. Ministers sometimes simply like an area so well that they want to specialize in advising their majesty on it, but other times are hoping for a related promotion when the opportunity comes. Courtiers are sometimes content simply advising their majesty or their peers at their leisure, but more often are looking for something, specific or not, to raise them from their current station.

Difficulty: Casual, Relaxed, Normal, Challenging, Impossible. Determines how much the AI cheats in spawning in free units for itself when it's attacking you. Presumably also affects intelligence, but that's hard to confirm. The game is really not all that difficult, even on Impossible, though being controlled by bickering nobles might spice things up a fair amount.

Victory Type: Defeat the Great Mages, Defeat an Avatar, Cast the Unity Spell, Capture 50% of Holy Grounds; or Armageddon Mode. The normal options may be mixed and matched so long as at least one is active, but Armageddon is different and disables all other options. Defeating the Great Mages means crushing all rivals by conquest. Defeating an Avatar means enraging a god enough that it sends a mighty avatar to crush you, then crushing it instead. Casting the Unity Spell means researching and casting a very difficult spell. Capturing 50% of Holy Grounds means capturing half of the Holy Ground special resources on the map. Armageddon Mode means defeating powerful alien invaders as they warp and destroy the very land.

World Type: Great Land, Supercontinent, Continents, Islands. Determines the shape and water distribution of the world, as well as the default number of rivals and portals.
World Size: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large. Determines the available map area, and the default number of rivals and portals.
Rival Great Mages: 1-8, affected by map size and type. Determines number of rivals (and occasionally allies) present on the map.
Additional Worlds: 1-6, affected by map size and type. Determines the number of portals leading to unique alternate worlds on the map.
Map Type: Flat or Round. Determines if going east or west wraps around or ends in a wall like going north or south does.

We have 10 points to spend on Perks for the queen. Perks cannot be gained in play, so choose wisely.

Treasury: +100 Starting Gold
Mana Vault: +100 Starting Mana
Master of Blades: Starts with a Master of Blades Lord
Demonic Advisor: Starts with an Imp Advisor Lord
Lord of Koatls: Starts with a Koatl Village resource in a nearby hex
Elven Followers: Starts with a military unit of Elves
Elven Relatives: Starts with an Elven Casino resource in a nearby hex
Magnate: +10 Gold Production in the capital
Researcher: +3 Research Production in the capital
Trader: +20% Gold Production
Farmer: +20% Food Production
Conjurer: +20% Mana Production
Archmage: +20% Casting Speed
Instructor: All units receive +1 XP per turn
Koatl's Training: All units receive +15 Melee and +15 Missile Resistance
Glorious Tactician: All units receive +20% unit power
Academic: +20% Research Production

Spells are fairly self-explanatory in most cases. "Favor of" perks do grant starting favor with the deity in addition to a custom spell that is less self-explanatory; I can describe them in more detail if there's interest.


Color: Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, Orange, Cyan, Pink, Teal. The differences in symbol/coloration have no effect on the in-game color of our borders.
Race: Arethi Elves, Humans, Monsters, Undead. Determines the race of our starting city, which is important. Cities of other races may be freely conquered, but suffer significant penalties to population growth and a -20% penalty to all resource production.

The races themselves are fairly complex, but can be described in terms of their favored resource. Elves are good at producing research. Humans are good at producing and human units tend to consume a lot of gold. Monsters favor food and undead favor mana in similar ways.

Each action has a 1/3 chance of being Bad, Normal, or Good. For numerical actions, which is most of them, these descriptors translate to half, normal, or double normal effect, respectively.

Additionally, you may occasionally Crit. Crits are rerolled for their quality, then applied as unique effects influenced by but unattached to the intended item. For instance, combat crits tend to be maiming or disabling attacks and defenses; crafting crits tend to produce special items; exploration crits tend to find special things you weren't looking for; and so on. Crits are always special, but they are in no way guaranteed to be useful or desirable.

Creatures usually need to eat and sleep, and typically have other needs and wants as well. In addition to inspiring dedicated service or resentful treason, mood extremes may produce mechanical benefits. Most creatures are easy to keep happy enough for normal service, but require truly impressive conditions to perform unique or unusually talented functions.

Creatures have a variety of skills, which are increased through use. Note that most NPC creatures have very limited interests, and are thus unlikely to gain more than a handful of skills beyond combat.

Unless ordered otherwise, most creatures have a handful of activities they default to. Usually these activities are at least marginally productive, but many overlords have different ideas as to what their servants should be doing at a given moment.

Creatures typically come from Portals. Creatures will emerge from Portals when conditions seem favorable to them, and may leave by the same means should things prove especially inhospitable. Spawning, raising, constructing, or converting creatures locally is also possible.

Dungeons are composed of rooms. Rooms are defined by the items or features in them. The best rooms are imbued with the subtle power of their overlord, turning them into an extension of their domain.

Otherwise, room quality and function affects the type and quality of actions that can be performed in that room. This is most obvious with crafting, where room type and quality determines what type and how powerful or fancy manufactured items can be. Room size can also have an impact, especially if multiple creatures are trying to use it at once.

Remember that room availability affects what creatures will enter an overlord's service.

Most likely, you're a monster or misfit who's come through a Portal to serve their new master. Do well, and they might have further use for you and your kind. Do poorly, and they'll probably write you off as another of those fools they're inevitably surrounded by. Of course, do very poorly, and they might make an example of you, sacrifice you to dark gods, or just kick you back through the Portal.

Starting characters will be able to be just about anything vaguely fantasy-ish that might serve a dark lord. Bear in mind that existing is no guarantee of your boss liking you, however.


Character creation consists of two parts. The first part is describing your creature type- your species, tribe, profession, or other meaningful grouping. Creatures should be fairly homogeneous- they may vary from one to another, but should still be describable in generalizing terms. Beast-headed humanoids who like sweets, each with a different beast head and favored treat, would probably be acceptable. Color-coded mages, each with a different elementally-inspired power set, color-inspired personality, and reference-based tastes in music would probably not be.

The second part is describing your actual character. Characters are unusually powerful individuals of their kind, and this should reflect in their abilities and other traits.

You may skip the initial portion of character creation to join as a unique creature if you wish, but bear in mind that this may reduce your political clout, as most creatures are more likely to listen to and associate with powerful examples of their own kind.

Creature
Name: What your kind are called, what they call themselves, or both.
Appearance: What your kind look like.
Personality: What your kind are like on the inside.
Preferences: What your kind like.

Default Actions: What actions your creatures tend to enjoy and perform when not otherwise occupied. Creatures who are not allowed to perform their default actions for long periods of time tend to become discontent.
Requirements: What your kind require to consider a dungeon a viable home. Creatures whose requirements are not met will tend to leave or sulk about it, even if conditions are otherwise favorable. Requirements are usually defined by required rooms, but some creatures require other accommodations as well. Stronger creatures require higher requirements.
Abilities: Any special abilities, traits, or other unique features. Things like fire breathing or cold immunity would go here, as does starting talent in noncombat actions that make use of skills.
Stats Stats are listed as Stat (+/-Mod). A stat mod is a modifier to the stat that does not affect its experience costs; this makes mods far more meaningful in the long run than current stats. By default, all creatures start at 3/3/3 in starting stats; unusually experienced or inexperienced creatures may have higher or lower starting stats. Stat mods are harder to quantify, especially as each stat has a somewhat different scale. As a general rule, +0 net stat mods would be considered fairly weak; +2 would be lower/normal, and +4 would be fairly strong. There are no hard limits on creature power, but remember that more powerful creatures will have more stringent requirements to keep happy.
Attack: The easiest, but not quickest, stat to raise. Attack is raised by and used for hitting things.
Defense: The slowest and most difficult stat to raise. Defense is raised by being hit.
HP: The quickest, but not easiest, stat to raise. HP is raised by taking damage. Note that unlike Attack and Defense, modifiers to HP come in the form of multipliers, not additive bonuses or maluses.


Character
Name: What you call yourself.
Appearance: What you look like.
Personality: What you're like on the inside.
Preferences: What you like.

Default Actions:
Requirements: What you personally require to consider a dungeon a viable home. This might be the same as all your kind, slightly different to account for different tastes or goals, or covering entirely different metrics.
Abilities: Any special abilities, traits, or other unique features. Your abilities might be different than normal for your kind, but you should still be recognizable as an upgraded version.
Stats You may have stronger or slightly different stats than normal for your kind. Bear in mind that you are likely to accumulate far more power naturally than most NPC versions of yourself, so even without mechanical benefits you're likely to exceed your brethren.
Attack: The easiest, but not quickest, stat to raise. Attack is raised by and used for hitting things.
Defense: The slowest and most difficult stat to raise. Defense is raised by being hit.
HP: The quickest, but not easiest, stat to raise. HP is raised by taking damage.

An overlord has been decided upon. Below was the prompt for creating one.


Your boss has some secrets, but you should know the basics. A final overlord will be assembled out of the most popular and, if necessary, workable suggestions.

Name: What does this dark master of all evil call themselves?
Appearance: What form does this sinister lord take when appearing before mortals?
Specialties: What strengths and weaknesses does this would-be conqueror employ?
Preferences: Surely, even an immortal sorcerer-lord must have a favorite type of tea or minion they can't stand to command?
Agenda: Though no one can truly know what goes on in the blackened heart and twisted mind of a being of this power and evil, there do tend to be some obvious clues.

Spirits of Creation are incorporeal, normally difficult to detect spirits of great power. Their qualities vary wildly, and just like living things, may change with time.

Personality and Outlook
One of the most important aspects of a Spirit is their personality and outlook. Unfortunately this varies at least as much as with living things- it's difficult to generalize them in a useful manner. Some view the whole world as a game, others view it as a duty. Some are cheerful and optimistic, others are dour and grim. Some carefully weigh each move, others act from moment to moment with nary a thought.

There are, however, a few general tendencies that show up fairly reliably, at least in Spirits that get noticed at all.

Above all, Spirits like to change things. Most consider the world through the perspective of their ability to alter the world around them- playful Spirits consider alterations to be the game, serious Spirits consider it their duty.

Perhaps in relation to this, Spirits tend to view themselves and others (both Spirits, living things, and nonliving things) in terms of what Spheres they command or belong to.

Spirits are malleable. While some may remain static, it is not necessary to do so- Spirits can alter their appearance, personality, and even Spheres much as any other living thing (or artist, in the case of appearance).

While normally difficult to detect, Spirits can make themselves known. How well they do this tends to depend on a variety of factors- the worst are uniformly misunderstood, while the best can act much like whatever they're attempting to deal with. A Spirit's Spheres tend to come into play strongly regarding their ease of communication.

Finally, Spirits tend to be strangely ignorant and knowledgeable. They routinely display knowledge of things no living creature could know, while displaying ignorance of things no living creature could miss. As with most traits, a Spirit's Spheres tend to be relevant here, but there's another interesting tendency- things touched by Spirits tend to be far more "visible" to them than things untouched. Spirits often display encyclopedic knowledge of their rivals' creations miles away in a place they've never seen, while not having the slightest clue on what exactly their own works rely on for food even while it crawls beneath their feet.

Cautions and Methods
While Spirits of Creation are powerful, their power is not unlimited... and attempting to overreach it can have dire consequences. Successful Spirits tend to obey the following rules:

Firstly, Spirits of Creation very seldom attempt to create something from nothing, or from grossly inappropriate materials. Altering a thing's nature is far easier and more plausible than attempting to create it outright, and Spirits that attempt the latter are almost always Devoured by the attempt.

Secondly, Spirits almost always attempt to alter only one aspect of a thing at a time- one quality or trait they wish the thing to gain or change. Attempting to alter multiple things at once is far more difficult, and Spirits that attempt such things often regret it.

Third, Spirits usually make sure their attempts are reasonable. Attempting to wildly modify something's traits, even one at a time, usually requires more power than a Spirit has, and Spirits that overreach themselves in this manner often suffer the same fate as those that attempt creation from nothing, albeit far less severely.

Overreach and the Devouring
When a Spirit attempts something beyond its reach, its fate is usually to be Devoured in the attempt. Being Devoured means that the Spirit puts so much of themselves into an attempt that they become part of it, trapped within their own creation.

Traits that Devour a Spirit to create do have the advantage of their patron's influence- a Spirit can achieve far more by being Devoured than they could otherwise. This is not to say that anything is possible, however- even sacrificing themselves in this manner, there are limits to a Spirit's power. There is also no guarantee that the result will be much better-aimed than any other act- while the result will certainly have power and the influence of its creator's nature, the grace with which it expresses that power and the accuracy with which that nature fulfills its creators intent is subject to the same forces as any of a Spirit's works.

Escape and Punishment
When a Spirit is Devoured, they are rendered trapped in an object until they can recover their strength. Naturally, this means that the minimum period of imprisonment is higher for more ambitiously overreaching works, and lower for more modest acts of hubris.

Once this period is over and a Spirit is at full strength, however, they still cannot escape automatically, nor without consequence. They must generally influence the outside world in such a way as to engineer their escape, and the results of doing so may be disastrous for whatever they were lending their essence to. Preserving their creation upon escaping from it is no more likely to succeed than any other act, and should things go poorly, their creation may be annihilated or crippled in the process. Even fairly successful attempts will generally rob the subjects of the divine qualities they enjoyed from their patron's influence, and only the most successful of efforts can maintain roughly the power and status they had with their creator making up a part of them.

Player Cap and Thunderdome
There is only room for so many Spirits in this land. When too many accumulate, they tend to bicker until only a few are left.

When the player cap is exceeded, Spirits start suffering a decay in power until they can dispose of one another. As Spirits are incorporeal and immortal, this is rather difficult. Most Spirits attempt to dispose of their rivals by tricking or besting them into objects- ideally objects that benefit the victor, but simply getting them out of the ring will suffice in a pinch. If successful, this tends to effectively Devour them.

Usurpers and Honor
Aside from these primary Spirits, there also tend to be Usurpers roaming around. Usurpers are Spirits who are unable to muster the full power of a Spirit by exclusion- there isn't any space for them to get a good grip. The natural solution for this is to dispose of an extant Spirit and claim their place, from which position they can branch out as they please.

Usurpers can perform relatively minor actions- generally they can modify the traits of traits, like a full Spirit only an order lower. More importantly in the long run, they can initiate Challenges.

A Challenge is essentially a trick or trap intended to lure a Spirit into ruin. This can be anything relevant, and can be surprisingly trivial in nature- the point is the honor and nature of the Spirit in question. Assuming a successful Challenge, the Spirit(s) in question generally have two options: Walk into the trap, or walk away.

Spirits who ignore a Challenge run the risk of losing some of their divine influence based on their actions, or lack thereof. If the Challenge is meaningless ("Bet you can't jump in this hole") or ignoring it works well with the Spirit's established Spheres ("Hey God of Painful Disease, I'm making one of your non-disease creatures suffer!"), there is generally no penalty for doing so. If the Challenge has some significance ("Hey Bird God, I'm messing with your birds," "Hey Fish God, bet I can outswim you"), failing to meet it may immediately cost them their influence in that sphere, and may grant it to the Usurper as a result. This is often enough to raise the Usurper to the level of a full Spirit, which often means the player cap has been breached and all hell is about to break loose.

Spirits who accept a Challenge, on the other hand, then have to deal with walking right into the Usurper's trap. If they succeed, they generally banish the Usurper- an ideally Devour it into something useful. If they fail, they're usually Devoured themselves, though less elaborate traps may simply shame them into losing their Spheres, as with ignoring a Challenge.

Spirits have Spheres, which are measures of what the Spirit is "in charge" of. They also have a measure of power, appropriately (if confusingly) called Spirit.

A Spirit acquires Spheres by making a claim to them and having a good case for it. With little or no competition, this can be a simple affair; having modified anything at all from the category may be enough to qualify. As competition heats up and claims expand, this becomes progressively more difficult- to gain or keep a Sphere, you need to display that you have a considerably better claim to it than any other Spirit, and that your works speak of a broader category than a more narrowly focused claim.

Spirit is a resource that is acquired by performing well in your attempts to create things. Statistically, every third action you take should grant you a point of Spirit. Spirit is spent on the following items:

Movement: It costs 3 Spirit to move from one Area to another, and 1 Spirit to move into or out of a Region. This Region cost is waived if the Region in question possesses something well-suited to your Sphere, which typically means one of your non-trivial creations. You can move directly from one Region to another, but you must still pay for both entry and exit.

Power: This use of Spirit may only be used on things within your Spheres. It costs a variable amount of Spirit to attempt things normally beyond your ability. 3 Spirit can make an effect weakly but innately magical, such as a bird that flies better on magical feathers. 5 Spirit can make it more noticeable, such as a snake that can sense prey through walls. More powerful effects are difficult to predict the costs of, but may be estimated by considering them in detail.

Success: This use of Spirit may only be used on things within your Spheres. Spirit may be used to empower a die roll, reducing its chances of failure and increasing the odds of a crit. The amount of Spirit needed for a given bonus is an amount equal to the bonus plus the cost of the bonus before it. A +3 would cost 3 + the cost of +2, which would be 2 + the cost of +1, which would be 1 plus 0, making the total cost of +2 2+1=3, and the total cost of +3 3+3=6. A table is provided below.

If an attempt crits, which becomes increasingly likely with higher bonuses, the crit roll is not affected by the bonuses to the normal roll. You may empower a crit roll, either on its own or in addition to a normal roll, but this costs the same as empowering a normal roll and is still consumed if the action does not crit in the first place.

Spirit may be pooled to perform actions. Spirits may also work together to mimic the effects of Spirit- each participating Spirit beyond the first may provide 1 Spirit worth of effect without actually expending anything except for their action. Unlike some Spirit expenditures, this is not limited to things within your Spheres.

Bonus	Cost	Effect
+1	1	20% Poor Result, 20% Crit Chance
+2	3	10% Poor Result, 30% Crit Chance
+3	6	0% Poor Result, 40% Crit Chance
+4	10	20% Normal Result, 50% Crit Chance
+5	15	10% Normal Result, 60% Crit Chance
+6	21	0% Normal Result, 70% Crit Chance
+7	28	80% Crit Chance
+8	36	90% Crit Chance
+9	45	Action Crits

There are two measures of location: Areas and Regions.

Areas are massive locations that share a roughly common climate and topography. If a place can be generalized fairly easily ("arid deserts and scrublands," "tropical jungles," "temperate forests and hills"), it is probably a single Area. Moving from one area to another costs 3 Spirit.

Regions are less formal designations that denote local differences. If a place is large and noteworthy enough to have its own name ("The Dark Forest," "Highpeak Mountain," "Windy Valley"), it is likely a Region. Moving into or out of a Region costs 1 Spirit, but it does not cost Spirit to "enter" a Region by creating it around yourself (as tends to happen). In addition, it costs nothing to enter or exit Regions that match your Spheres in some manner.


Modifying Regions is very simple- you simply reside within them while altering things. This can also create Regions where there were none previously, as you alter the world around you in a recognizable, localized fashion.

Modifying Areas is far trickier. It generally costs Spirit to shape ambiguous, poorly-explored Areas, and extant Areas are usually impossible to shape directly; they must be altered by altering their Regions, if at all.

It's a game where you play a god who doesn't know what his powers do except by experimentation, and whose boss sometimes gives orders. Failing this boss too often may result in being annihilated and replaced.

If you're familiar with Perplexicon, it's that as a god game, but with more structure and (perhaps ironically) less eating your fellows to gain their power.

Listed below is a series of not very familiar words. These words are code for actual words or concepts, and saying them may cause them to provide their effect. Combining words may have multiple effects at once, do little or nothing, or, if the words are compatible, combine them for new and different effects.

Once you've used a word and seen its effects, you might be able to puzzle out what it stands for; other times, the word may fail or the results prove ambiguous. Most players like to keep a list somewhere of words they think they know. Should you wish to keep the words you're experimenting with secret, you may PM the words you use rather than listing them openly in the thread, thereby preventing others from knowing what word it was that had that effect.

Once you start to figure out how to do things, you'll be able to do as you please to some extent... but since the Oversoul will occasionally give you commands, it might be wise to fulfill them. If you consistently fail the Oversoul, it's liable to murder and replace you.

-Each turn, you may say as many words as you like, but only as part of the same sentence. You may say only one command per turn, be it ten words or one.

-When saying words, be sure to include any relevant information regarding targeting, intent, location, direction you're facing, or any other information you suspect might have an influence on your action.

-You may PM words and actions if you wish to go about them in secret. Note that going about some actions in secret may apply a penalty to them, especially if you are pretending to do something different at the same time.

-As far as you are aware, there are no "stats" and you cannot eat your fellow gods to gain their powers. Then again, you don't know very much.

-Standard d6 system. Aside from the aforementioned stealth penalty, you are not aware of any way to modify your rolls.

-Turns will run whenever they run. If you have not posted an action by that point, you will generally idle.

-The Oversoul will sometimes give you commands. Commands are usually, but not always, general directives intended to take place over several turns; consequently, you can sometimes ignore them for a time. However, failing the Oversoul may result in being annihilated and replaced with a new god. As the Oversoul is unknown and unknowable, predicting exactly what counts as failure is impossible.

WIDEZA

Azepe
Besio
Bigesu
Bupesu
Dabifi
Danidu
Derema
Ejega
Ezuje
Fuita
Fuyaze
Herue
Imufe
Jiawu
Jiii
Maoli
Mugeya
Oupi
Pipau
Puheba
Puunu
Rejafe
Saote
Sazaya
Tegege
Usine
Vepige
Viveda
Weluva
Zeala
Zehimu



AFAGE

Efute
Egeke
Egura
Ejeju
Enize
Epihi
Eraje
Erau
Geia
Haea
Jimubi
Lemala
Nawiti
Omuo
Oruru
Pesewa
Pevemu
Pupifa
Seio
Tufeo
Vefuba
Vupae
Wadava
Yalea
Yiputi
Yiyavi



MILAA

Bikuya
Buzana
Diriu
Fakude
Fibusu
Fuumu
Guwayi
Hadabi
Heiku
Heruka
Hikigu
Hiyitu
Hutafe
Huzihe
Ivama
Jatie
Kehuvu
Lenuru
Mebawa
Miwere
Neobi
Nuzira
Ofamu
Ohuhi
Ojeyi
Otefu
Ouge
Peguhi
Pepahu
Pepuha
Pibera
Pibiwu
Piiji
Pituyi
Pugai
Redina
Riazu
Sapedu
Tihite
Uone
Upata
Varii
Veramu
Vetuba
Vipeku
Vuhivu
Watee
Wigesi
Wipenu
Yunee
Zafua



BAJEFI

Aatu
Aove
Badawu
Bagewa
Baie
Batimi
Beeo
Beradu
Buiwi
Daneza
Dijio
Dugai
Eae
Efee
Etava
Evate
Fiuo
Fivibe
Fulelu
Gubugi
Harau
Hirufa
Huruka
Huziza
Ibigi
Jevewi
Juhao
Juvuke
Kevapu
Kumite
Lihipi
Mezeu
Naatu
Napege
Nepire
Niade
Nuuo
Oetu
Pagavu
Pefiha
Peguo
Pujuhe
Rijaje
Riogi
Seruru
Sumeu
Tewawi
Tizeka
Ufuke
Urutu
Usigu
Vaai
Vayeli
Vuguba
Vurari
Wavufa
Weeke
Wefimu
Wihevi
Wuzala
Yizewe
Yugafe
Zafeu



TIUSE

Beapu
Didale
Ekuja
Helie
Jipala
Legiwi
Lesee
Liala
Luyeti
Migie
Otesi
Tiluja
Ukera
Uwimu
Waea
Wasee
Weniti
Yujise
Zageta
Zebue



GELEI

Eegu
Galeo
Iidi
Izewi
Jabibu
Jepia
Juae
Lagii
Liide
Lumue
Niginu
Nineta
Nivuza
Oopa
Oope
Opuhi
Otayi
Pewaze
Rafui
Taala
Taveku
Tezemi
Tusibe
Uepu
Weyata
Yioka
Yutaji



BUVUA

Apaze
Bisasa
Diyivi
Duazu
Enia
Evuze
Herie
Idubu
Juteke
Medazu
Minete
Oola
Osiwa
Otayi
Rufusu
Sanahu
Teagi
Wubupi



YUDUI

Akahe
Buyuye
Dipeyu
Hivemu
Kunie
Nagifa
Ohabe
Omaja
Revize
Sezuo



HIMIGI

Demili
Duowu
Evui
Eyuji
Gaodi
Gunadi
Iwagu
Jefaga
Jijelu
Katuo
Kifaa
Maguzi
Nigaka
Omuu
Pipau
Puvibe
Sejuhi
Selawu
Tehefa
Tidii
Wisuvu
Yaluji
Yebami