Gods and Monsters: A Deity Game [Recruiting]

[Hobbes1266]

If someone's running it I'm still interested. Would there be any changes?

[CountessYlva]

The basic rules are unchanged. I can provide feedback regarding aspects and stunts. The setting is more or less unchanged, with various environments, deities that are or acquired the shards of an infinite godhead, and a world that's in an iron age time period. It has developed that over time naturally, and it's worth noting that your characters aren't necessarily the original holders of these shards of divinity, if that changes what direction you're going. I figure there are some shards that are still around, intact and self-aware, and others that have been seized by mortal holders in the time since.

[Empyrean]

Still sounds interesting. How would mortals acquire these shards?

Also, what can you tell us about aspects and stunts? I listed some things that form the core of Mirienne's legend, and if she's been around for a while, I imagine she'd have taken steps to ensure her legacy in the world.

[CountessYlva]

So for the first question, mortals pick up shards in several ways. Sometimes the shard has a physical manifestation, and touching that manifestation is enough to take it up and hold it. In other cases, it's more of a spiritual sameness with a shard's identity - someone embodies the same concept closely enough that it settles into them without their doing anything deliberately. And in a handful of cases it's seemingly random.

Regarding aspects and stunts, I've worked with similar systems a lot. The basic idea for aspects is that they should be things that are core to the character's identity, and which can be both a negative and a positive thing for them. So phrasing counts a lot. Think of things like "More Clever Than Wise" or "A Reaction Time Faster Than Thought." Yes, they both have positive aspects, but they can also be a source of problems. The Trouble aspect in particular should be a problem of some kind that isn't easily solved - something that just fighting someone or fixing a simple problem won't get rid of.

Stunts, in this game, can be pretty open ended and absolute. Things like "My arrows never miss" or "I can raise the dead" are perfectly fine - you're deity level powers, after all. Don't worry about exact wording too much, I'm trying to keep things fairly simple for this so I won't be too concerned with mechanics and exact limitations.

[Empyrean]

Okay.

So my original conception was of Mirienne as a primal goddess. The original deity of love and lust and fertility. Would that still be applicable to this setting? And do I need more aspects than the ones I have listed? Or stunts for that matter? If the timeline is longer and we're not the first deities at the dawn of time, would she and others have had time to develop more aspects and stunts?

[CountessYlva]

The primal deity works still. I'm going to keep it at the same number of aspects and stunts, just for keeping everyone at similar levels of power and not adding more complexity to the system.

[TheGlyphstone]

Since I'm thinking of it....in the OP, we were given six Approaches to fill, but only five values to fill them with - and they seem to have been mistyped anyways. That might need clarification/rewriting.

[CountessYlva]

Good point, yes. I think it's supposed to be 1 good +3, two fair +2, two average +1, and one mediocre +0 approach. The basic idea behind the different approaches still works, although I might rewrite the exact descriptions.

[Hobbes1266]

So how far along is reality? Still fairly primordial and unshaped with only the broad strokes defined? Is the source of the gods and "shards of divinity" still going to be the same? We'll be new, but is it safe to assume that the other "older" gods aren't so far along as to have actually created a structure and order that can't be challenged? More of a head start compared to us rather than a well established pantheon?

Will we be making a new group request thread since this is going to be under new management? Will we be accepting new people? How many people are planning to stay and are we losing anyone? When would we be starting? (Amario expressed interest, if we don't intend on starting too quickly and if we have room I personally don't see a reason not to give an opportunity to join, but it's not my call)

[TheGlyphstone]

If humanity has reached the Iron Age, I wouldn't call it primordial and unshaped.

[Hobbes1266]

If humanity has reached the Iron Age, I wouldn't call it primordial and unshaped.

When I said unshaped, I didn't mean entirely unshaped, I meant is there room for more to be created in the world or is everything fully fleshed out? Is every continent, landmass, creature, and thing in the world already created or is it more like there is one portion that has been created and focused on?

Yes there are things that are already defined, at least one continent/landmass/thing where humans have managed to advance enough to create a form of society (with or without the help of gods, I assume with) but I was wanting to know how much was defined.

On that note, how much of the world will we be keeping from the original post? Since several points of interest were outlined

[CountessYlva]

The world isn't completely unshaped, but civilization is still pretty early along. I can get a recruitment thread up if it would be helpful to have a new one, don't know quite what the etiquette is around that but I can certainly do it. I figure I'll give it a while to see who all is still interested before closing it - it would be silly to shut it down and then find not enough people are still around to put a group together.

As for the other question, I figure there's one continent that has developed civilization, probably some other continents that are unlikely to be major focuses unless you make them, and large ocean areas that could be created in. So somewhere in between.

As for the world, I don't know where the original GM was going with their ideas, so I can't say it's the same; but the same basic idea of different biomes and one major city seems perfectly viable. And there are deities that are more established than you in terms of power and how much influence they have already, but it's very much a head start rather than completely established.

[TheGlyphstone]

Will the other gods will occupy classical 'slots' in a pantheon that we as PCs aren't laying claim to? Or will we potentially have rivals for our portfolios?

[CountessYlva]

You will potentially have rivals for portfolio slots.

[TheGlyphstone]

I suppose that allows for a route of potential advancement then, defeating rivals and claiming their shards to add to our own.

I've gone back and edited my Approaches anyways, for a +3/+2/+2/+1/+1/+0 spread as indicated.

[Empyrean]

How does one do Approaches? I just put some things that I thought matched Mirienne's personality.

As a primal goddess, it occurs to me that she might know of/have some relation to the elders of the pantheon. Thoughts?

[TheGlyphstone]

So the Fate Accelerated system actually has an online SRD, which somehow never got linked.

https://fate-srd.com/fate-accelerated/get-started

Approaches are covered here:
https://fate-srd.com/fate-accelerated/how-do-stuff-outcomes-actions-and-approaches

They're renamed a bit but:

Wise: A Wise action is when you pay close attention to detail and take your time to do the job right. Lining up a long-range arrow shot. Attentively standing watch. Disarming a bank’s alarm system.
Clever: A Clever action requires that you think fast, solve problems, or account for complex variables. Finding the weakness in an enemy swordsman’s style. Finding the weak point in a fortress wall. Fixing a computer.
Bold: A Bold action draws attention to you; it’s full of style and panache. Delivering an inspiring speech to your army. Embarrassing your opponent in a duel. Producing a magical fireworks display.
Mighty: A Mighty action isn’t subtle—it’s brute strength. Wrestling a bear. Staring down a thug. Casting a big, powerful magic spell.
Swift: A Swift action requires that you move quickly and with dexterity. Dodging an arrow. Getting in the first punch. Disarming a bomb as it ticks 3… 2… 1…
Subtle: A Sutble action is done with an emphasis on misdirection, stealth, or deceit. Talking your way out of getting arrested. Picking a pocket. Feinting in a sword fight.

Each character has each approach rated with a bonus from +0 to +3. Add the bonus to your dice roll to determine how well your PC performs the action you described.

So your first instinct is probably to pick the action that gives you the greatest bonus, right? But it doesn’t work like that. You have to base your choice of approach on the description of your action, and you can’t describe an action that doesn’t make any sense. Would you Forcefully creep through a dark room, hiding from the guards? No, that’s being Sneaky. Would you Quickly push that big rock out of the way of the wagon? No, that’s being Forceful. Circumstances constrain what approach you can use, so sometimes you have to go with an approach that might not play directly to your strengths.

So choosing based on personality's not a bad place to start. Your Approaches will shape how good you are at certain tasks or problems, depending on how you choose to go about overcoming them, so having that match how the character would choose to solve problems makes sense.

[Empyrean]

*pokes*

[Hobbes1266]

So what else do we need before we begin?

[CountessYlva]

Me to put the stuff together for it. Which will happen shortly - probably tonight.

[CountessYlva]

All right, so all four of the people who have expressed interest after I floated the idea of taking over should be good fits I think, that gives us Levi, Hobbes, Glyphstone, and Empyrean. I'll give it a little more time for any other ideas to trickle in, but for now here are the OOC and IC threads. There's a little more information about writing aspects and stunts in the OOC thread, I can provide more specific feedback if that doesn't make sense or you want assistance with your character.

[TheHangedOne]

Tossing my hat into the ring~~ this idea is too good to pass up.


Name: Doran
High Concept: Protector of Exiles, Father of Monsters
Trouble: My Children! My Children! Who dares to harm my Children!?
Additional Aspects: The Adversary of Humanity, The Guardian of Castaways and Orphans,  The Defiant
Sexuality: Heterosexual
APPROACHES

Bold: +3 (Who dares to defy me!)
Subtle: +0 (what is subtlety?)
Clever: +1 (Some times, we plan...)
Mighty: +2 (Behold my strength!)
Wise: +1 (I must do more than safeguard the flesh...)
Swift: +2 (Deceptively so)

STUNTS

• My ears are keen to the lamentations of the outcasted; thus, no matter where in the world they are, I can hear their plight and respond to it.
• The cruelty of humans can be too much to bear at times. When I am made to cry for the suffering, my tears can restore and even empower them.
• Though I prefer the majestic form of the mighty dragon, I am capable of walking the earth in the guise of any of my children.

Of course, as to be expected of the Father of Monsters, he takes the form of a great dragon.

While humans and animals may populate the world, in the shadowy and forgotten places, those still uncivilized, lay stranger creatures still. Bold and intrepid humans call them Monsters. Those monsters find a fatherly figure in the form of Doran, whom is responsible for siring quite a few of them himself. While at one time he was content to teach dragons to fly, to protect minotaurs from having their horns stolen, and to teach even the mighty kraken temperance and control, a disturbance in the human world drew his attention.

The child had been born with a rare condition, rendering them pale white, blind, and sickly. This affliction was not what drew his attention, however. It was the small crowd of villagers that had gathered together to kill the child, believing it cursed; blaming it unfairly for the woes that they themselves had created. They called this child "monster"! A mere child!

This infuriated the godling, who took the form of a mighty dragon, and brought destruction to the entire village, judging them all unworthy of continued existence in his divine fury. He then cradled the infant in one of his giant claws, and heard its tale; of struggle and woe, of inordinate blame and castigation, of unending suffering, and he wept at this petty and wanton cruelty.

It is said that his tears restored the child's eyes, and allowed them to see the world around them for the first time. He took the child, and tutored it about the world; gave the child strength and speed, so that it might never have to fear for its life again. In time, the child grew into something neither man nor monster, and left to find its place in the world, as all fledglings do.

Doran's attention then turned back to the humans. He heard the cries of lamentations of new beings now; and he grew to care for those who were shunned and villified by their so-called peers. In time, he tempered his violent outbursts, and instead reached out to empower the exiled as well, becoming their adoptive father. When no other deity would take pity on them, there was Doran, ready to imbue them with the power of mind, body, and spirit, that they needed to survive in such a harsh world.[/list]

[Hobbes1266]

I was kind of hoping I would see someone make a god of monsters, and this is certainly a lovely take on the idea, at least in my opinion.

[TheHangedOne]

Thank you! 

[CountessYlva]

Looks good, feel free to jump in!