Godhood XIV [OOC] [ROLL CALL. ALSO: OPENING.]

Godhood IRC: [link]

This is the story of the maggot and the butterfly--
--Oh, I apologize. It's not quite time for this part of the tale.
Soon, soon.

Instead, let us say that this is a story of gods.
A story told countless times before.
(Though if one were to count, this might very well be the fourteenth time)
A tale of a universe, newly awoken to existence,
Shaped by gods, who populate it according to their whims.
Gods, who fuss and squabble over every detail of their creation.
Fighting for the regard of mortals they themselves created.
Who can never get far enough from each other to be satisfied in their own spaces.
At times, straining beyond their limits,
Only to be reprimanded by cosmic forces of narrative contrivance.

Yes, a tale of gods,
And of parasites.



Welcome to Godhood XIV: Usurper! I hope you know the routine by now.

You play as a god [or demon]. You and your fellow gods use ACTS to shape the universe. You gain ACTS by having things in the universe that fall under your spheres, and through the worship of mortals. [In this version of the game, influencing mortals WILL COST ACTS, as seen in Godhood XIII. Incidentally, GHXIII has a pretty nifty reference for the ACT costs of quite a few things. Edit: I've decided I like the costs listed there for Living things and Interacting with Mortals, but wrote up some cheaper costs for planetary junk. Check it out, why don't cha.

SAMPLE COSTS CHART
These are the costs for basic things. Extraordinary properties may add to the cost.

Show Content

Planets and junkPlanets: 2 for a small one, 3 for a plain ole earth sized one, 4 for a large one, 5 for a GIANT one. Gas giants can be made for 1 act less at each size.
Moons: 2 acts for your basic moon; the material itself and setting it in stable orbit around the planet.
Suns/Stars: 3 is the cost for an average sized sun.
The following costs assume an earth-sized planet:
Molten core: 1 act. Allows for tectonic and volcanic activity
Oceans: 1 act per 1/3 of the planet covered, assuming an earth sized planet. Usual number to invest is 2.
Metals and minerals: 1 act for scarce resources, or a concentrated area of resources. 2 acts for average resources, 3 for abundant resources.

Show Content

Life Creation Cost Guidelines Basic Plant Life, Insects, One Celled Organisms: 1 Act. These can also be distributed over more of the planet for less the cost.
Basic Small Animal Life: 1-2 Acts, depending on distribution.
Basic Animal Life: 1-3 Acts. Non-sapient animal life, or at insect life, or what have you. Basically, stuff that’s between the size of a deer and a water buffalo. Remember that how much you spend will affect the starting population.
Basic Large Animal Life: 2-4 Acts. Elephant to whale sized life.
Basic Massive Animal Life: 3-5 Acts. Think T-Rex.
Basic Supermassive Life: 4 acts and up, depending on what you’re making and whether you want it to reproduce or not. Think, well, bigger than a T-Rex. Titans and such.
Add Sapiency: +1 for basic, +2 for "average", +3 for insane levels of sapience.
Add Intelligence: +1 for basic, +2 for "average", +3 for insane levels of intelligence.
Add “Special Properties”: +1 and up depending on the “Special Property.” You want a rat that farts pepper spray? You have to pay for the privilege, son.
Add Obsession/Instinctual Attraction: +1 Acts. Make that two-headed boar you’re making intensely obsessed to partnering with the three-headed meerkats.
Alter Creature: 1-3 Acts depending on population and creature size.
Kill Creature: No.

Show Content

Dealing With Mortals Cost Guidelines
Appearing to Mortals (intangible): 1 Act. You can’t touch or be touched, but you can talk and look all scary. The simplest way to deal with puny mortals, and the cheapest.
Take Physical Form: 1 Act for anything that’s reasonable (become a bird, a humanoid, or something like that.) Take note, you can be killed in this form, but you just go back to being intangible. Unless you put extra acts into it, you have the regular abilities of whatever you took form of.
Ghostwriting: 1 Act. Carving or writing something without a pen, chisel, or hand.
Small Miracles: 1-2 Acts. Blow up a frog. Make a dead tree bloom. Basically, any small show of power that won’t give anything mystic powers or crap like that.
Large Miracles: 2-3 Acts. Part a sea, feed the thousands, stuff like that.
Possession: 1 Act. Force a mortal to your will by hijacking their brain. Most mortals won’t be able to stand this for long, though, so make sure you leap back out as soon as you do whatever.
Vision: For 1 act, you can give a small "group" of people the same vision/dream/ideas
Divine Inspiration: For 1 act, a single mortal is DIVINELY INSPIRED about a particular idea/technology [for example, if a mortal were inspired with stoneworking they would go on to develop MASTER STONEWORKING TECHNIQUES, or a mortal could be inspired to make a legendary artifact, that sort of thing]
Prophets: Cost TBD. A mortal linked to a god, allowing them to ask for clarification on this and that during their life-time (I will have them asking you questions during turn end, in other words. For my sanity's sake the universe is not allowed more than one prophet at a time.)
KEEP IN MIND THAT ANY AND ALL INTERACTIONS WITH MORTALS MUST COST SOMETHING.

Show Content

EtcNew plane of existence: There are two in the beginning; the Material plane and the Divine plane [Where you are.] Creating a new one costs a hefty 6 acts for just something basic overlaying the Material plane. They can be improved upon later or made with more acts for something fancier. Be sure to lay down some rules of existence on the plane when you make it!

If you're new to the game or want some clarification on the rules for this version, ask me questions here, on the IRC [link at the top], and/or read the previous Godhood threads--They all do a better job of explaining this than I ever could.

GOLDEN RULES:
Respect your fellow players
You are not competing AGAINST them--you are building a story WITH them.
WHIMBREL'S WORD IS LAW
Don't backsass me, kiddies. If I say jump, you say how high. If I say "I'm not allowing that action" you alter your plans accordingly. If I say "I've changed my mind about [x]" you accept my fickle whims until such time as they change again. If I say "I think you and [y] need to get along" then you and [y] get together and hug it out until you both feel nothing but good will towards all living things.

SIGNUP SHEET

Name: What shall we call you?
Appearance: How you appear to your fellow divinities. When you [pay to] manifest yourself to mortals, you may choose whatever guise you wish, at no additional cost.
Spheres: Choose one primary sphere and two secondary spheres. These will determine what grants your god divine energy--acts. As a general rule, more specialized spheres grant more power per instance than generic spheres, such as earth, wind, and fire.
Additional info: Anything else you wish to share? I'd love to hear it. PM me if you want to keep certain details hidden, but wouldn't mind if some plot element pertaining to it showed up.

P.S.
You're allowed to submit more than one god for consideration, but only one god per player will be accepted, when all's said and done.
...I like having the option to mix and match ~>u>~

Concerning Demons:
Know, going into this game, that any one of your gods may be reduced to demon-hood.
That being said, if you would care to BEGIN your god as a demon, submit your application as normal and then send me a PM requesting to start as a demon. Only a few will be selected to begin as demons.
If you are a demon, you are not to purposefully reveal your demonic nature, IC or OOC!
Nor are you permitted to share the rules for demons!
Rules for demons shall be revealed on a need-to-know basis.
In other words, I'll tell you what they are once you become a demon.

Deadline is MONDAY of NEXT WEEK...So you have seven days.