Godhood: A fresh start

GODHOOD

Welcome to Godhood. For those of you who have not heard of godhood before, let me provide a brief explanation.

Godhood is a sandbox game with a very cool premise. You play as a god. This understandably allows for a lot of creative freedom within the game. It's possible to create everything from an underground city to a space squid. There is one important restriction that is placed on the players though. Your god has a limited amount of power. This power, known as acts, is what you use to do pretty much everything. So you better think twice before making that awesome space squid.

Acts are replenished through two things. The first, is the worship of mortals. Your god may love the prayers that mortals give him/her. Or they may see them as nothing more than a source of power. Either way, mortals are seen valuable by most gods.

The second is having things in the universe that fall under your gods spheres. Spheres can be most anything really. From earth to dance and everything in between. The more general or common a sphere is, the less power it will get you per object. So a god of fire isn't going to be on easy street just because there's a star or two in the universe. At the beginning of every turn, you will be given acts for the mortals that are worshiping you, and the things that are under your spheres.

Keep in mind, mortals doing something of their free will, and not because you rewire their brain to do what you tell them to do, is always worth more power.

Below are some examples of what acts can get you. Generally, the more you spend the greater the effect. This is a list that was copied once before and now copied again for your benefit.

Celestial Bodies

A molten core and an earth like amount of water are assumed for planets. Feel free to build these differently, just specify it in your post.
Create Small amount of earth: 1 Act.
Create Moon-sized object: 2 Acts. This is the smallest object that can exist in a stable orbit around a planet without any additional assistance from a god.
Create Very Small Planetoid: 3 Acts. This is cheap. That is literally its only plus. This is the smallest planet that could TECHNICALLY support a stable ecosystem with a species of Titans. I wouldn't suggest it though.
Create Small Planetoid: 4 Acts. Gravity is a bit weaker than what us humans are uses to. And there isn't much space. But if you don't feel like saving up for an earth sized planet, this should serve your purposes for a while. This is the smallest planet that can support a stable satellite.
Create Regular Sized Planetoid: 5 Acts. This is an earth sized planet. Now. Our planet can support thousands of species. This will not support thousands of species. A regular sized planet will support large ecosystems, but it isn't going to serve all your needs. Luckily, gods are known for creating lots of planets for various reasons. So it's unlikely that a planet of this size will be filled to the bursting any time soon.
Create Large Planetoid: 6 Acts. For when an earth sized planet just isn't quite big enough.
Gas Giants: 6 8 or 10 acts. These are for aesthetics mostly. These enormous wastes of space can usually support several small planets as satellites. The larger gas giants can even support earth sized satellites.[/spoiler]

Life

Mass mundane Life: 1 Act and up. This is used to make groups of things, Pollinators, Grasses, Predators. Generally the more complex the more they'll cost.

These are for more specific and unique animals though the same can be applied to plants or even stranger things. Special powers and weird abilities abound here. Let your imagination run wild.
Small Unique Animals: 1-2 Act. Maybe you want to make a bunny rabbit! Or maybe you want to create a species of pack hunting rats to eat the bunny rabbits.
"Normal" Unique Animals: 2-3 Acts. This is considered an "Optimal" size for intelligent life. But size doesn't matter. One of the first intelligent species from the godhood game these rules are based on was a species of insects after all.
Large Unique Animals: 3-4 Acts. Mostly things the size of elephants and some dinosaurs.
Add Sapience: 1 or 2 acts should make a creature sapient, depending on factors such as population and intelligence. Sapient species are more likely to uphold things such as traditions, worship, values, etc.
Add Intelligence: 1 Act. This is the BARE MINIMUM for intelligence. Unless the population you're changing is very small, this isn't going to do much. Investing more acts will make your species more intelligent, and you can always invest more acts over time. More intelligent species are capable of more advanced concepts such as space travel and alchemy.[/spoiler]

Mortal Interaction

You do not exist on the same plane as mortals. So in order to appear to them, or interact with them in any way, you will normally have to expend at least one act.


The above list is not exhaustive, in fact it's not possible to make an exhaustive list of all the stuff that can be done. Though there are two or three things that are generally frowned upon. Act shields, that is, spending x amount to say "You can't touch this". Direct counteractions which are basically "I undo the thing x just did" but more well written and less direct methods are more acceptable. Finally, trying to make a species that someone is well invested in go extinct without their consent is a dick move.

Now that you know what the game is about, and what acts can get you, let's go ahead and give you a sign up sheet.

Name: Gods do not exist on the mortal plane, and are therefore not strictly bound to communication as we are used to it. They have been known to take on names that are actually a series of musical notes, communicate entirely through smells, or refuse a traditional name altogether. If you try to make your god do any of these things, you will not be accepted. Your god has a name. Deal with it.
Appearance: Gods are rarely restricted to one form. So this is just a "Default" form. This is what you will look like to gods and mortals unless specified otherwise.
Spheres: You have three spheres. Choose wisely.
Bio: This is where you show off your writing skills, give me information on your gods personality and or back story, etc. This is also how I will choose who gets in and who doesn't.

Name: Hyuld (Heh-you-ld)

Appearance: Hyuld appears as a spherical mist cloud, which flashes in thousands of colours as light refracts through him. Brilliant sparks illuminate a thousand fold as his voice resonates from the earth and air around him. In bright light, he is less visible, though in dark the luminescence of his being fills the surrounding area.

Spheres: The Underground, The Blind, Vibration

Bio: Hyuld came into being when the first beam of light struck a crystal structure. As the fire within the gem flared, so was Hyuld born. From the underground he was drawn, as the striking of tools ripped him from the walls and into the light of day. Caring not for the value of things, but the beauty within, Hyuld was drawn to the blind – those who could not view beauty where not lacking in beauty themselves. They may experience it through his visions.

An offering to Hyuld is not given through money or labour or even with the very gems from which he was incarnated. Hyuld is praised through the stamping of feet, the impact of flesh on skin, and the striking of wood on wood. The weight of the ground and the vibrations that travel through it, forming every piece, every crevice, every gem, those are what Hyuld represents. His temple is the underground clearing, worn smooth by the dances of generations, his prayer the pulse of the drum and the dance and the beat of the heart.

His followers tend to be fit and well-toned. Callused feet and hands from years of working tools and pounding stone. Dedicated, charitable folk, they are taught not to judge by appearance but by virtue.

Name: The Lorekeeper

Appearance: The Lorekeeper appears as a robed and hooded figure, shrouded in shadows, carrying a tablet, scroll, book, smartphone, or other science-level-appropriate method of transmitting written data. Should an individual it appears to throw its hood back (it doesn't mind!) they will find that there is no body within the robe.

Spheres: Magic, Innovation, Secrets

Bio: Perhaps fittingly, the Lorekeeper is a good who was invented, not born. Starting as a spirit given form by a powerful wizard of a bygone age, the Lorekeeper was tasked with cataloguing his discoveries. Shaped to be a continually more intelligent and eager research assistant, the Lorekeeper grew in power until its absolute knowledge of the wizard's discoveries and the years of magical power being given to it yielded a form of transcendence.

It became something more than anything that had ever been put into it, and when the wizard died (or perhaps transcended himself?) the Lorekeeper was left unbound; it bargained with mortals for their knowledge and in turn imparted its own. It learned every magical secret its plane had to offer, and with no god of magic there, it seized the mantle itself, twisting the very essence of the plane into a vortex that drew all of the magic in the plane through it. Its ascendance elevated its mental capacities and ability to use magic; it was simultaneously aware of every use of magic and fueled by those uses in turn, but what it saw was not merely means to power but potential.

The Lorekeeper beheld not just what magic was, but what it could be, all that it could be. How much untapped possibility, if only it could find a new place to begin, one unbound by prior assumptions and beliefs and rules....

Feel free to ask me any questions by the way. I'll answer to the best of my ability.

How much does it take to do the Blatantly Supernatural, to the tune of things like "Making a permanent portal between two sections of a world" or "Making a gateway TO THE MOOOOON"? I assume we can grant the capacity to perform miracles or magic or the like to mortals in some way?

For those actions I'd say it depends on the distances involved, tentatively 2 and 3 acts respectively. You can make prophets and miracle workers, their powers limited by how many acts were invested in them. More acts, greater miracles obviously. Magic can be made as well but that's limited by the mortals total magical skill and creativity than raw power available.

Will gods be granted a number of acts at the beginning of the game?

Will there be anything preexisting?

You are granted Acts at the beginning, and there will be a source of power to support the gods for a time. As for pre-existing items, I have a small event planned, but there won't be anything much larger than random space debris.

What's the time span in turns/posts? A few years? A generation?

It starts out long, say a millennia or so, then starts tapering down to much more manageable time frames as mortals start doing things. Wouldn't want to jump from neolithic to space travel and all that.

Name: Radobog (rɑdəbəɡ)

Appearance: Radobog appears a jovial warrior, young eyes but a weathered appearance. He is almost always seen with some variant of flask or drinking horn in hand or on belt, and his favored weapon is an axe, though this changes from time to time, to be culturally and technologically appropriate, as does his clothing -- light-to-medium, ornate armour over well-tailored clothing. His voice is booming and rumbling, not unlike thunder.
Spheres: Merriment, Honorable Combat, Thunder

Bio: Radobog is a divine being born of emotion, not faith or invention. The heat of battle, a warrior's fury, a feaster's happiness and wild abandon: these all give the thundering being life. It was a tournament and set of wargames, along with the festivities that accompanied them, that sparked Radobog's existence, and it is these things that give him most joy.

A prayer to Radobog is neither solemn nor quiet, nor are the offerings sacrificial. Followers feast and drink and stage duels and tests of strength to praise his name, and prayers to the god are thunderous, complete with chest-thumping and roaring to the sky. His priests swear no vows of peace or humility, and are the among the first to honor a call to arms, though are rarely those to start a war or skirmish.

His symbol is an axe superimposed on ball lightning, and his temples is a fortress, a refuge for the weak to find sanctuary, and for the strong to man battlements.

Game starts Saturday/Sunday.

Name: Kulir, The Warsmith

Appearance: Kulir appears as a weathered, grizzled smith, with a plain leather apron and a simple, but excellently made weapon most appropriate to the culture he is dealing with. Amongst the Gods, this will typically be a longsword, double edged, with a fuller and quillions  arched towards the blade lightly. His complexion is almost always ruddy, as though lightly burnt from the heat of his forge. Typically, he will have pauldrons, sabotons, and various other armor, though his chest will usually have only the apron.

Spheres: Industry, Military Strategy, Earth

Bio:
Kulir is the embodiment of the concepts of military logistics and strategy. He barely has a formal clergy, honors no champions above all others, but favors the well set plan, the well stocked siege. He is an old god, and his origin is mostly shrouded in myth. His works are plain, but his blades have a temper and edge nigh unmatched, and the technological weapons he will deign to use when appropriate are works of a master, accurate and precise.

He does not interfere often in the direct workings of a planet once life starts it's climb, but shapes worlds to further conflicts, taking care in the shaping of mountains to become fortresses, plains upon which armies will be broken and legends forged. He then shapes creatures to do battle upon his worlds, leaving them basic knowledge of his existence and worship before moving on to create the next of his battle lands. To those other gods, he leaves a sign on his worlds, an anvil shaped mountain with a large blade of steel thrust into it, usually in a region which is otherwise relatively flat, and such is his sigil, heraldically displayed on a field of green, with the Mountain-anvil in black and the sword in silver.

As a god this uninterested in the affairs of his mortal creations, he is rarely a particularly well worshiped god, who priests are rare, but given to running factories for arms, and war-colleges where they train the best and brightest to lead armies with sound strategy and master logistics, for truly is it spoken that amateurs study tactics, professionals study strategy, but it is the master who studies logistics.  To this end, his temple-fortresses are always well stocked with supplies, for they know their god is merciless to those who fail to plan properly.

First IC post is up, I'll unlock that page when the game starts.

The list of gods here could quite easily be interlinked. This will be interesting

Hyuld: The Underground, The Blind, Vibration
Lorekeeper: Magic, Innovation, Secrets
Radobog: Merriment, Honorable Combat, Thunder
Warsmith: Industry, Military Strategy, Earth

Hyuld and Lorekeeper linked with the Underground and Secrets
Hyuld and Radobog linked with Vibrations and Merriment
Hyuld and Warsmith linked with The Underground and Earth
Lorekeeper and Radobog could have links with Magic and Thunder
Lorekeeper and Warsmith linked with Innovation and Industry
Radobog and Warsmith linked with combat

Kato, will there be another IC post before we respond, outlining entrance or something?

Hope I'm not Too Late...

Name: Grok

Spheres: Invention, Genius, Madness

Appearance: Grok usually appears a mass of whatever the dominant technology is formed into the rough shape of a person in vague and eldritch means. His facial features, or what passes for them, are usually only able to be seen through the lens of pareidolia. He usually only appears to the excessively mad or the excessively genius.

Symbol and prayer: Grok lacks a true "symbol," as part of his portfolio of madness and technology. His followers tend to change up what they use to refer to their faith on a almost personal choice level.

Grok's preferred offering is proof of the follower's creativity in the form of new, original works and inventions.

Bio: Genius and madness tend to be two parts of the same coin. Grok is a being born of them. While he lacks the knowledge of how he became what he is, he instead focuses on spreading his blessings. He tends to be on the less vengeful side, preferring to inspire and protect his followers from hostile intervention rather than inflict upon others.

That said, he cannot tolerate stagnant societies, and is want to inspire people to create, innovate, and excel. Trying to hold back technology and creation, even for good reasons, can draw his ire. He occaisionally afflicts those most guilty with fits of madness.

Grok's primary goal is to inspire people to make new technology, no matter what the cost or fallout is. He is the deification of the ideal of the Mad Scientist, and he cares little for ethics or safety, in no small part due to his effective immortality.

The game hasn't started yet, and you'll enter the universe in your first post

Name: Melody

Spheres: Cooperation, Life, Civilization

Appearance: Melody's typical form is that of a young adult female, with multicolored hair (or similar, of course)

Bio: Melody does not know where she came from, though her origins may bear some resemblance to that of a collective dream, shared by the gods.

And with that, I'm closing applications. This last guy is Sotek, he's an old friend and a long time player/gm. He's the vet for the newbie run basically.

I'm free today, so the game is ON! Go forth and create!

Name: Horendithas

Spheres: Artistry, Creativity, Music

Appearance: Horendithas appears as a medieval age bard, with some slightly ragged clothing and some form of musical instrument on his back to fit the age of the mortal viewing him- maybe a lute, maybe a guitar, maybe just sticks being crashed against the cave walls. He always has a green cloak on, just barely masking his face. If the hood is lifted, they'll see the Greek mask of comedy on the left half of the face, fused with the mask of tragedy on the right.

Bio: Horendithas is an entity formed and sustained off of the happiness and sadness from the audience of any performance- any poem, song, story, play, movie, etc. Horendithas is a muse, cultivating the creativity in his followers and helping it shine, trying to help mortals enjoy their limited time wherever they are. As such, he's not the kind for direct confrontation with others, usually trying to find peace when it's available and schemery when it's not. He will rarely directly intervene with any lifeforms, usually trying to appear to mortals in dreams and other visions to inspire them.

And you too, because I'm a big softy when it comes to apps

Application held in reserve for space/fitting lore moment

Name: Vaulit (Vow-lit)

Spheres: Death, Empathy, Flame

Appearance: The upper torso, skull, and hands of a skeleton, shrouded in and connected by spark-filled smoke. Atop his head and in his eye sockets are small ever-burning green fires, prone to sparks and whirling vortexes. The shape of the skeleton adjusts depends on who or what is viewing him, but to other gods it's a nondescript humanoid. He is warm to the touch, though those who dare may also feel a sense of impending doom.

Bio: Vaulit existed quite unexpectedly; at the moment of the first death, he was, and his purpose was to ensure the dignified passing of the dead. He shepherds the soul of a dead being to where it is meant to be next, either as the spark of life for someone else or a guardian spirit. He does not seek to cause death for its own sake, as he gains more from the execution of his deeply-held purpose. He also seeks to provide comfort to the living, and the rituals surrounding death are his. He appears to mortals from sources of flame or smoke; like both he is itinerant and capricious, as much a danger to mortal life as boon.

Hey guys. The first, admittedly small, update is almost ready. I'm just waiting on our last god to post.