With Iituem's permission I'm going to pick up the Pawns game. However, its been dead for a bit so I'm gonna just restart it. I'm hoping to keep it low maintenance, but updated fairly regularly depending on the players. Hopefully this one will go better than the god games I design. The systems are exactly as Iituem designed, I just have more time than they do
"Back to a more traditional vein of God Game this time. Going for something more low-maintenance.
In Pawns, as you might expect, players take the roles of divine beings. In this game your deities are almost entirely passive. Being removed from the mundane world they have an almost unrivalled overview of it, but they cannot act upon it without mortal intermediaries - priests and pawns.
At the start of the game the six gods start out having freshly awakened, awareness of them having only just been kindled in their tribes. Whether they will guide them as shepherds or prey on them as wolves remains to be seen, but their avenues of interaction are limited:
Magic: You can gift Power to chosen mortals (priests, or perhaps wizards) with which to do magic. How this magic is applied is limited by the Aspects of magic they know, which is somewhat informed by your Sphere. You cannot directly tell them what to cast (except via a Pawn), although you can set certain conditions as part of your blessing (e.g. they must sacrifice a person to you before they are eligible to receive Power, and you indicate an expectation that such sacrifices will continue afterwards). You can withdraw your provision of Power, but only as a blanket measure - if you set up a ritual to allow your priests to draw Power and one goes rogue, you would need to end the ritual entirely, not just for the rogue. Magic can do pretty much anything, but is limited by Power and complexity.
Boons: At an expenditure of Power you can directly reshape an object or creature, be it animal, believer, non-believer or Pawn in a beneficial way - increasing or improving some aspect of them, or providing a new one. Healing or restoration is part of this, as is enchanting magical items etc. Drawbacks can be included, so long as the net gain is 'positive'. The more Power you invest, the more dramatic the result will be. If the boon you are granting relates to your Sphere in some way, the effect will be magnified. If you intend the boon to be hereditary it will cost significantly more or the effect will be significantly weakened. You can spread the boon over multiple targets with a consummate increase in cost.
Pawns: At a small sustained cost of Power you can designate one of a small number of mortals born when the Hero's Star passes over the world as a Pawn. You can appear before a Pawn in their dreams or speak to them in their heads, which is the only way you can directly communicate with a mortal. Depending on how much they worship you, or how much they stand to gain, they may go along with your commands - but how they approach the task will be defined by their personality.
NB: A mortal can be Pawn to multiple gods at once. When made a Pawn, the mortal can talk back to their patron and be sure to be heard. Once you designate a Pawn, you cannot undesignate them - that Power drain will remain until they die. More than this, designating someone a Pawn makes them important to Fate - whether or not you command them their actions will have a significant effect upon the world.
Prayer: Prayer is a way for mortals to speak to you, but it is a one way communication. Unless coupled with a significant sacrifice, you will tend to hear prayers as broad desires of your worshippers, not specific details. A prayer with a significant sacrifice can be used to contact you, even by a non-believer. You would have to make them a Pawn to talk directly back, although you could send a Pawn to talk to them.
To join, post your signup as follows:
Name:
Sphere:
Agenda:
How you appear in dreams:
Spoiler: Important Concepts (click to show/hide)
Power: You draw Power from worshippers. Those who praise your glory, offer sacrifice in your name and otherwise pay homage to you bind themselves to you in small ways and you draw from them accordingly. Both quantity and quality of worship counts. Power is used to empower Magic, provide Boons and create Pawns.
Aspects: Aspects are essentially the components of spells. You can teach a mortal any Aspect of magic for 10 Power, which will affect what kind of magic they can use. If the Aspect directly relates to your Sphere, it costs 5 Power to teach. Aspects can be broad ("Life") or narrow ("Explosions") - narrow Aspects will generally be more effective at their given task while sacrificing versatility.
Sphere: You start the game with a Sphere relating to some aspect of creation (Fire, Earth, Life, Magic, Travel, Beasts, Murder, Knives). This should be informed by the nature of your god, and reduces the cost of Boons and Aspects for you.
The Hero's Star: Actually a dwarf planet with a very irregular orbit, appears to be an emerald star from the surface. Passes close to the world for 5 years out of every 20. These five years signify Hero Time, when mortals are more influenced by the will of the gods and Fate.
Hero Time: During the five years of Hero Time, gods can act normally due to the influence of Fate - in effect each turn is a single year. In between Hero Time the influence of the gods wanes significantly - turns happen once every 5 years instead, and during this period the actions of mortals are relatively unguided. A small number of mortals born during Hero Time are marked as potential Pawns and can be chosen by gods to act in their stead.
Spoiler: Some Rules Regarding Magic and Covenants (click to show/hide)
1. The act of teaching an Aspect of Magic to a mortal costs 5/10 Power depending on whether it relates to your sphere.
1a. Mortals can teach other mortals Aspects without penalty.
2. Once taught, any mortal who has sufficient Power and knows the Aspect may do magic directly relating to the Aspect, including combining aspects to create complex spells.
3. Mortals can only gain Power from Gods.
3a. Gods gain Power from mortal worship, heightened by sacrifice and ritual.
4. Gods may dictate the terms under which they grant Power to mortals, including how much at once and how much to spend overall. This is a form of Covenant. It costs no power to set a Covenant in place, but Power is lost when the terms are met. A god may cancel a Covenant at any time, but not retroactively.
4a. Mortals need to be aware of the terms in order to draw Power from Gods, unless the terms are so simple that a mortal could fulfil them accidentally."
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Above quote taken from the original thread.
OOC:
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=151864.msg6364427#msg6364427
