Divinity and Magic
I have to type this up literally every time i start a campaign. The information is in my old campaign PDF, but really it needs to be updated to something like 3.0 before i feel okay with releasing it as a campaign reference so i'm typing this up again... cause players who want to be divine casters will want to know...
There are eight divinities... sixteen if you want to get technical and count their duo aspects, since each one has a male and female incarnation.
The first four are considered the Elder Divinities...
First there was Nyx. Even encompassing chaos and darkness. The void is his home, and he likes nothingness. Minimalist that he is, he cleans up the clutter left by the theer divinities to bring back the status quo... which is of course nothing. He's the compulsive room mate looking to keep the apartment tidy and constantly cleaning up after you.
Second was Kismet. Change, Luck, Random chance. She's the unsatisfied sibling of Nyte that thinks he's too uptight and things need to change. She just needs the right opportunity for it. For Nyx to be inattentive and distracted. It's okay if it takes a while, to be immortal is to be patient.
Third was Sol. A catalyst of change was needed and what would annoy Nyx more than the introduction of the sun. That blinding warm light that was the annoyance of change in Nyx's roiling chaos. Annoying but not impossible for Nyx to deal with. Sol might have been a good looking self entitled gigolo but Nyx had a few eons on him, and was not going to take this quietly.
Fourth was Creed. Fate doesnt take sides, though acknowledges that left alone Sol was probably doomed. It was just a matter of time. So while Nyx is arguing with Sol about hair clogging the sink, she invites Creed over. Divinity of law and order. It's great that Nyx keeps things tidy but the room needs to have the furniture rearranged. Nyx doesn't take this lying down, and Sol get a breather while Nyx goes to argue about where to put the espresso machine.
Nyx was too powerful to deal with individually but the notions of numbers seemed to be working to keep him in check...
Enter the new Divinities... Gaea, Aircel, Pyro, and Luna. Patrons of various races, and elements.
Young divinities who came about to take care of the room, cause all this change was leaving a mess and someone needed to tend the garden, stock the fridge, and do the dishes.
Nyx is pretty fed up and threatens to evict them all but doesn't for the moment, since that would probably mean he'd end up on the streets too.
The divine notice that there is this whole gender equality movement around and decide to be a part of it. Being divine and near omnipotent in their own ways they're fully capable of doing something puny mortals do, so they present duo aspects, and have both male and female genders. No one will say who did it first but once one did it, they all did it, so each divinity has a male and female aspect.
This is like the 12th time retelling this, so accept it cause it amuses me. it's a not quite so serious interpretation of Divine Politics, but the core events are in there.
Magic development 101 for dummies (obviously not you, but you might find something useful here anyway)...
Aircel is consider the divinity of magic. She didn't invent it, but she did give it form and general made it available to the common little folk... (ie. mortals). She's the generous soul that dipped her hand in the magic cookie jar and flung the coins at the common hobo's living outside the divine condo. Nyx is still pretty pissed about that, he had planned to use the funds to pay for an coffee bean subscription to keep the espresso machine well stocked with designer caffeine.
Magic starts to develop for mortals as they learn to use this resources. Spell like abilities were numerous but generally unimpressive. There was room for improvement... and with practice the first spell classes were developed. Classes that dedicated their existence to develop these innate talents that were special and different for each one of them. Hence appeared Spell singers... Sorcerers... and Oracles. Like the 'Force' manipulation of magic was all about training to be in touch with magic and manipulating it was more art than math. When the new divinities came along Aircel gave these crude classes direction and order. More structured methods of spell casting that could be studied and required structure and rules to be followed. Shamans, Wizards, Druids and Clerics would follow these development to where we are today.
If you want more serious discussion about this stuff, ask me (or other players) about it in the OOC thread. Most of you should already know this stuff so i presented in a style that i hope you found amusing.
This message was last updated by the GM at 12:33, Tue 11 Apr 2023.