1In the beginning, there was the Void. Then, the first Gods came into Being. They began to form the world as more came into Being.--
Volumes of Being: Volume I: The Book of Origins: Chapter 1: The Void: Verse 1
This is a divine RtD. You play as gods forming the world.
All Gods have three traits:
Power, the amount of energy a God has to do things. All gods start with 10.
Affinities, things Gods do better at. You may choose one or two to start. These may be modified if the GM decides that it sounds too broad or too specific.
Discords, things Gods do worse at. If you have Affinities, you must have an equal number of Discords. They may also be modified if the GM decides that they are too specific or broad.
Most Gods also have such things as appearances, personalities, and the like.
Acts are anything the Gods do. Acts are typically assumed to include unmentioned details--forests are assumed to have trees and worms, species are assumed to have all required organ systems and symbiotic bacteria, etc. If you want any of these to be exceptional--e.g, trees made of crystal or symbiotic bacteria that generate methane--you must mention it. In general, Acts cost 1-3 Power for each specific notable component, depending on the size. Making a whole planet or other celestial body, or creating a curse or other magical effect over a large area, costs 3 Power. Shaping a forest or creating some small-scale, lingering magical effect costs 2 Power. Creating a single species or imbuing a relic with power costs 1 Power. The cost for each component is cumulative.
Example: Jenerik the God of Creation wants to make a forest called Goldforest the Forest of Gold. In this forest, there is a species of golden trees made of gold and a species of songbirds which can turn predators into gold with their song. This would cost 2 for the forest, 1 for the trees, and 1 for the songbird, for a total of 4 Power. The forest would also be assumed to have understory flora and fauna and other species as needed.
Each portion of the Act would need to be rolled on separately. A 1 describes a general reversal of what you want; a 2 means you get a vaguely similar result; a 3 gets you what you wanted, but less; a 4 is what you asked for; a 5 is more powerful or impressive; and a 6 takes things far further than desired.
Example: Jenerik rolls a 3, a 1, and a 6 on those three portions. The forest is a scraggly wood full of lead trees and songbirds that turn anything except lead around them into gold. This could be good, or bad.
There are a number of ways to make your job more easy. You get a +1 to the roll for Affinities; spending an extra point of Power on that portion of the Act; or modifying an existing creation rather than making a new one. Having an Affinity also means that 6's will not have as horrible side effects. On the other hand, another God impeding you or a Discord will give you a -1 penalty!
Example: Jenerik wants to make his Forest work. Thus, he alters the trees to be made of gold and to grow well. This is a two-part, two-power Act. To make sure he doesn't screw this up, he spends an extra point of Power on each task. He has a Growth affinity, but Pho is impeding his ability to turn the trees to gold. He rolls 6+1-1 and 2+1+1; the trees will grow better, and are now made of gold. They are also made of gold; in fact, they are sufficiently pure gold that they bend under their own weight!
Power Flux affects every deity. On a 1, they lose one Power, but on a 4 or 5 they gain one, and on a 6 they gain two Power!
You can also get Power in other ways. The existence of your creations can give Power. To qualify, a creation must be either aware (ie, some sort of animal-like creature) or obvious (ie, a large area of land or the sun), and must not be using significant amounts of magic to exist (ie, most magical effects you could make). Appropriate creations grant their creator 1 Power per turn, unless they are somehow corrupted or otherwise taken by another God.
Mortals, ie sentient species, have a significant impact. Each culture worshiping a deity gives Power, depending on the size and how faithful they are. A single city of faithful worshipers grants 1d6 Power per turn. A village grants half as much; a small country twice as much. Similar considerations apply for faithfulness.
If two elements can interact, expect them to do so. A forest next to a tundra will cause the creatures of both to interact. This can cause (say) penguins of the latter to evolve into ground birds in the former, and jungle cats or the former to evolve into ice leopards in the latter. (Evolution will take significantly less time in this game than it does IRL). More than one major change per boundary need not be expected.
Disasters can happen. Usually, these will be caused by your own actions--typically with 1's and 6's--but they can have less direct causes as well. Plagues, wars, famines, and so forth are all possible, and will cause issues for those in the affected areas. You have been warned.
Signups are always open. You will enter on the next turn run.
Name:
Affinity/s (if any):
Discord/s (if any):
Other Notes (appearance, personality, religious rites, whatever):
If anything doesn't make sense, let me know.
