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22:30, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

God Game advice for prospective game.

Posted by spectre
spectre
member, 862 posts
Myriad paths fell
away from that moment....
Thu 12 Oct 2017
at 04:20
  • msg #1

God Game advice for prospective game

For those who don't know, a god game is a pretty nifty sort of game where you take on the mantle of a deity of your own choosing and then create a world then make vast strategic plays, and the rules allow for a strict "one sentence per round/day" as your actions, never to be undone by any other players. There are no stats or dice involved in the vanilla version. Sounds interesting and creative right?

So I don't need advice on that, but I would like to work some extra rules or tweaks to make the game more fun and invested, not only in the world you've created but also the god you've created. Somewhat like the world creation rpg Dawn of Worlds does but simplified for a pbp format. I'm guessing I should figure out some kind of resolution system too, which would have to take into account battles against unstatted combatants and supernatural powers. I have no idea what to do about that.

Here are some of the ideas I've come up with in shortform and tried before:
- Artifacts: that confer some rule's lawyer-y exemptions(once per aeon this god gets to undo another god's action, or this god gets to make the first lifeform).

- Domains: that great exclusive power over a certain predetermined domain from a list, (such as right to define the mortal afterlife, or power over dreams exclusively).

- Simply a scene change: I once made a scifi god game, where the players were machine intelligences, sent to colonize a world. Fun but it didn't last long.

Really I just need some advice from people who play these games to know what's going to be more fun. More complicated to give people more to do, or go simple and just dress it up better?
horus
member, 293 posts
Wayfarer of the
Western Wastes
Thu 12 Oct 2017
at 06:16
  • msg #2

God Game advice for prospective game

In reply to spectre (msg # 1):

I don't know that I'm really an expert in this field of gaming, but here goes:

Each player (each god) in the game should have at least one Aspect, one Attribute, and a special Domain over which that god exerts sole authority.

Aspects are personae.  These can take varying physical forms.  For example, with Buddha, the aspects Tathagatha, Kalkin, Manjusri, Maitreya, and Siddhartha Guatama are all part and parcel of the mythology surrounding him.  He might make himself manifest to other players in any of the Aspects he has available to him.

Aspects of Heru (Horus) included Heru'wur (Horus the Elder), Harakhte (Horus of the Sky), and Harsesis  (Heru, son of Aset and Ausar).

Aspects are sometimes used to syncretize gods from one mythos to another.  Jupiter and Zeus and Re, Juno and Hera and Hetheru (Hathor), Venus and Aphrodite and Aset (Isis), Mercury and Hermes and Djehuti (Thoth), and so forth.

It might be wise to assign each god a Prime Aspect, but that might be overdoing things, I don't know.

Attributes are qualities or powers the god is known to possess.  Aphrodite, for instance, is known to be very beautiful and alluring.  Krisha is hairy and swarthy, but has an indefinable erotic appeal.  Hermes is gender fluid and can move very quickly.

Domains are spheres of governance:  Again, using Aphrodite as an example, her Domain would be love, both erotic and more platonic forms.  The domains of Hermes might be speed, communications, deception, and language.  Yama governs Death He Self.  Mara is Lord of Illusion, Kartikeya is Lord of the Battles, and so on.

Each god or goddess is also usually associated with one or more objects of power (Artifacts, as you put it).

I'd be interested in this game.
shapeshade
member, 15 posts
Thu 12 Oct 2017
at 12:56
  • msg #3

God Game advice for prospective game

In reply to spectre (msg # 1):

I'm in one of these type of games now, and really enjoy it. I'd be interested...
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