I want the players to gain a Gift from it every 2 levels (2-4-6-8-10). It's not worshipped based, but based around the amount of territory the Dragons control, and the variety of lifeforms that live in there. All creatures that don't have higher thinking such as Dragons, Mortals, or strong Monsters are immediately absorbed by this territory.

So like a Deer that lives in a forest within your territory is automatically a citizen of the territory, and contributes toward the Dominion you get. It's miniscule which is why Dragons constantly want to add more territory. The more you control, the more fuana/flora the bigger the Dominion score you get at the start.

Now with higher intelligence creatures they have to choose to stay. Dragons can't contribute cuz they are already leeching, which is why Dragons will chase off rival Dragons immediately. Mortals contribute, but until they grow used to the Dragon they will feel unease while being in a Dragon's territory. Their sixth sense kicks in and it feels like they are being watched or even hunted. So Mortals will usually not stick around to form communities unless the Dragon can coax them to stay on their land. Mortals contribute more then basic animals, and having a village or city of Mortals within your territory is a big boon. Basically them of them as bonus points to your base score. So lets say your Territory gives 2 Dominion Points per month, and then you create a Elf Village somewhere in it. That would at +2 to the points, and if that Elf Village then transformed into an Elf City it could add +4 per month, netting you 6 Points overall.

Finally I want a semi-pokemon game where unique Flora/Fauna can also add points of their own. Perhaps you find a Yggdrasil Seed and decide to plant it within your territory. This will amplify the power of any Forest it's exists within, and eventually it'll become an Erdtree that grants special benefits to the land, on top of bonus +1 Dominion. Or perhaps Nu is able to convince a Leviathan (Leviathan are Whale like Kaiju in Nastrondir) Pod to take shelter in a Cove within the territory. They are magically enchanted creatures that could protect any ports or sea towns within your territory. Stuff like that.


The Gifts I have in mind are sorta like this:

Level 2 Gift Opens the system to players, you are able to mark a small amount of territory, as well as consecrate an object that will act as the "shrine" of the territory where the Seithr is gathered. It is here that players will actually be able to take the Dominion Points. Dominion Points need to be divided as a group, which will influence players choices on how fast they will capture territory cuz there won't be enough DP to go around at the start of the game. The size of your territory will also naturally increase as you level up (with level 5 and 8 being the big steps cuz the territory will double in size). If we're going by the map scale (in the old material), your Territory at level 8 would encompass almost the entirety of the map at that point.

Level 4 Gift introduces the abilities that allow you to govern your Territory more efficiently, able to see/hear/smell things within the borders without having to be personally present. You will also gain the ability to mark Animals/Plants to empower them to help maintain the territory. This is when the Pokemon stuff comes in, cuz you will be able to gather unique creatuers into your territory. They become like pets/cattle for you in the territory, but dangerous to outsiders.

Level 6 Gift allows you to empower Mortals, in the First Age they were known as Dragon-Blooded and were the foundation of the Mortal aristocracy at the time. In the Second Age most have become diluted, or are still in the service of other Elder Dragons. The Dragon-Blooded you create will be first generation, and thus equal to Heroic Mortals. This can also be applied to Beastmen who lack the taint of divinity, but are not as intelligent as Mortals normally.

Level 8 Gift would allow you to freely terraform the land in your Territory without utilizing Dominion. This will be the last major gift within the story that lets you transform your land to what you desire, being able to change something like the Ash Wastes into a jungle (save for the land beneath the Black Blade).

Level 10 Gift is the birth of an Archdragon. This ability will destroy your Territory absorbing all the Seithr from the land, and transforming you into an Archdragon. This is definitely the Post-Game, fuck it lets go kill God idc anymore move. But I wanted the act of becoming an Archdragon to be a gameplay mechanic with consequences. The main thing that makes an Archdragon different from an Elder Dragon is the ability to absorb Divine Magic, and devouring Gods will allow you to absorb a portion of their powers.

Ah, should have mentioned it but Lellelan's words aside from Dragon are Passion and Music. I'll get started on my character sheet!

Cultivation makes sense for the most part. I'm fairly new to Godbound so I need to read up on Dominion but I get the concept.

As far as how Lellelan joined the others I think it should be pretty simple. She travels a lot so it's easy to say she was in Belrand at some point. Wars are a breeding ground for heroic and tragic tales after all. Even disguised as humanoids most of the characters would be people of renown so it's fairly plausible one of them caught her interest. Her charm was probably enough to get a face to face meeting but it would have been pretty awkward when she realized her gifts were resisted.

If the alliance had already been started Lellelan could have been recruited at that point.

In Belrand Sorcery is outlawed of course, but the Noble Families who descend from Baal Shax’s Archons still uphold the tradition as a secret society. One of the more prolific families in this secret society is House Leutrec.

Well, Antherisax probably wouldn't come by in the most orthodox of ways.

Fashioning himself as a sort of druid and protector of the wilds, he'd likely have spent most of his life finding spots of wilderness and.... well, claim them as his own, loudly proclaiming to all around that it was off limits. His ability to detect lies and illusions along with communicating and working with animals, that usually meant not just him, but whole stretches of forest turning against anyone who tried to tame it. Basically making removing him too much of a hassle and drain of resources for most nobles.

I see him joining the group either because one of them sought him out for his abilities, and him seeing the logic in working slightly within the system to better protect nature.

Or himself simply walking into the lord's court one day, declaring himself a perfect fit for the job of spymaster/master of beasts, and revealing some liars or people hidden among the court to prove his point (Not the other dragons, of course. Don't think his eyes work on the dragon word illusion anyway), and demanding concessions and protection for his forest in return.

Antherisax is not subtle in his works.

One thing with Nu is that she could have a reputation among the group as something of a territory arbiter, simply because she isn't a threat to anyone else's turf - her target Territory is the sea and the beachfront and her current (as-yet metaphorical) territory is right in the heart of Belrand and, if I'm not mistaken, none of the other dragons are interested in directly challenging for the Black City. And her objectives generally amount to strengthening dragonkind. She has the same territorial instincts as everyone else, of course, but her rational side is aware that she's going to gather far more power with a united Dragonflight cooperating to terraform Nastrondir.

Her main interest on land is in crushing the Church and the Divine as a threat to herself, and anyone else interested in breaking the Church's power may have wanted to make common cause with her.

In reply to GM (msg # 31):

I can probably mind-control some of their vital support personnel, but I'm not going in deep. The way I've redesigned Nu, she's no longer the charisma goddess she used to be. So the infiltrator is probably not me. I'll be busy coiling around the Grand Duchess' throne once we finish eyeing each other warily.

Heh, as mentioned, alas I don't think Drann will be the best to go about infiltrating the Faithful. Helping push them out? That may be another story, especially if he can recruit enough sorcerers and raise their standing/influence in Belrand of course. #1 and #3 would most likely fit into his purview most easily I'd imagine. :)

Siurinax would be very interested in working with Drann soon after they meet in the Free Cities (if that works for Drann).  Siur's main thing he's been up to is experimenting with growing groups of people - cutting off the useless and malignant, growing the useful and good.  He'd be happy to help Drann do the same with his sorcerers, with prophecies about how to go about a project - whether expansion, unification, clearing traitors, whatever - as well as luck to see it through, in exchange for getting to be part of the working with and reshaping of the organization.

He'd be up for doing the same for everyone else's areas of interests as well.

With his charisma, luck, and (TBD) Facts, Siurinax would probably be the best for the infiltration.  Not sure how I'll do with Dark^TM scenes as a player, though - might end up having to flip the table earlier than planned.  We'll see.

In reply to GM (msg # 23):

In an ideal world she'd just witness but the world is far from ideal isn't it? Sometimes actors need some extra motivation to get through a scene, and it wouldn't be a good story if the hero died to some random bandits would it? So yeah she definitely manipulates events so that the story becomes one worth telling.

Honestly I haven't really thought about what "territory" Lellelan would want, nor do I think she's put much thought into it. At least in the beginning she's more interested in seeing the others achieve their goals and then pushing them even further. Nu why settle for a sea when you can have the entire ocean? Antherisax who will protect the forests abroad if not you? Etc, etc.

At some point she might want to hold some territory of her own. Becoming a queen definitely sounds like an interesting role worthy of her taking the stage herself.

gonna start proper on the char sheet now. not sure how much time I have, tho, so it might not get done until sometime tomorrow.

Anyway, do we roll starting stats or assign the baseline in the book?

You can use the Stat Array from the book, OR roll your stats in RPOL's dice roller.

Antherisax I'll be honest either Faction would work for you, BUT I think your character would specifically be helpful on the Faithful side (and I need more players who are interested in manipulating the bad guys).

So Siurnax is already feeling his instincts to Cultivate the world around him. Is it possible he has tried to Cultivate before and failed due to outside factors? Perhaps this is why he joined the group, since he has already tasted failure while working alone?

In reply to GM (msg # 36):

One question I do have for the DM and the group, how open are we being about our dragon forms on the Ducal side? Are we openly claiming to be dragons helping Ducal's cause so the people/lords favor us directly? Are we working as our mortal guises to help prop up Elizabeth and run Ducal from the shadows? Perhaps something in-between where the humans know dragons are helping but don't know who are mortal guises are?

I'm keeping my options open. Nu may reveal her existence fairly early, but not her link to Tanith or her interests in Belrand.

Which raises the question. In this timeline, are mortal Theurges or other mortals who can wield army-shattering arcana known to exist?

I'm currently bouncing around the idea of whether, or not you guys can "re-charge" existing Dragon-Bloods who have had their powers wane throughout the generations (like Elizabeth, who's blood is diluted to the point where she's barely more then a normal Mortal).

If their blood is that weak, then of course we can awaken them again.

I think Nu is on the right track and perhaps we aim for somewhere in the middle? One or two dragons might reveal themselves and help to start mending the people's views of the them without necessarily giving away their mortal guises. Maybe rescue a village or two after the faithful are revealed to be the mustache twirling evildoers they are.

Speaking of infiltrating for the sake of the gm and others summarizing where everyone currently stands:

Antherisax open to infiltrating (msg #37)
Drannathorin reluctant to infiltrating (msg #33)
Lellelan open to infiltrating (msg #38)
Nu reluctant to infiltrating (msg #32)
Siurinax open to infiltrating (msg #34)
Toraas Veer unknown

Seems we have a pretty even split of those who are willing to infiltrate and those who would rather avoid it.

Really, if the group is working together at least in part (or in full) just through various angles, I could see those NOT directly involved in infiltration helping on that angle without the need to break character. Those who have embedded themselves spread the world that 'dragons are not evil - that's the Faithful spreading lies to take control'. Queue one of the others winging their way in (in dragon form) to help rescue a village or perform some great feat that helps the people. Those working at spreading the word in mortal form don't blow their cover, but the end result is the same. IF/when those directly involved want to reveal themselves, they can, but going that route lessens the risk of being exposed too soon. Plausible deniability as it were.

In fact, I could see that sort of mutual 'fly in to help out, then disappear' angle being useful for everyone at some point. Having one of the others be the dragon just keeps our individual covers in place. "It obviously wasn't me.. I was standing there too - remember?" Who helps with what activity could go to the strengths of everyone involved. Best suited gets the job for whatever the particular situation requires. But it'd make a great way for the group to interact and help each other build up influence.

Alternatively we can choose to keep our true forms a secret. We just need to make sure our mortal selves are becoming the heroes and not the army.

In reply to Drannathorin (msg # 54):

If you want communication between us, let me see if I can take Of One Mind at level 2. Instant mental communication between me and any of my linked people (and I don't mind being a mail server for the group). And immunity to mental influence, because I'm a nice dragon.

I have a plan for ensuring my own mortal self is securely part of the winning team, which I'm not going to reveal just yet because I'm trying to keep our GM guessing for a bit. (Though he probably has my big early figured out already.)

However, he will still be a merchant in his infiltration guise