Entry-Level Dieties: a roleplaying game in progress

[Marhault]

What about having the players play followers of each others ELDs?

[Spooky Fanboy]

-since you've got these dichotomies at the heart of the system (Hubris/Focus for example), why not have every roll involve both? That is, every player has one die representing one half of the dichotomy, and another die representing the other. I can see same die types, but different colors, or different die types as the "rank" of the trait. I can see this making for fun and complicated explanations, depending on win/win, win/lose, lose/win, or lose/lose.

Has merit, and needs more thought on my part...

-I'd want to play both believers and ELDs. None of this Wheel-as-ELD stuff for me, thanks. I wouldn't worry about screen time, as it seems to me that different aspects of the story, or even different stories altogether, would focus on one or the other. Sometimes I'd get to play converting other to the proper worship of Beyugias, and other times I'd get to play Beyugias smiting the temple of another god. Fun!

True, but I want to keep the idea that the ball starts rolling with the actions of one of the Faithful. It emphasizes how important the Faithful are in this game.

-I wonder if you can do Believers (instead, call them the Faithful?) something like Incarnate does past lives. That the ELD starts with X points as a Faith pool, and the Faith pool can be used (among other things) to define the Faithful. Of course, that makes it a little more complicated....

I had an idea of creating Faithful with Faith points, with possibly giving the player a "free" Believer to start the game. How does Incarnate do this, out of curiosity?

-...but, it would introduce a nifty power level differentiation. The Faithful have the dichotomy, and ELDs have a Trichotomy (Hubris, Focus, and Fate?), with progressively more powerful deities having duadratomies, pentotomies, etc. Or maybe this is a crap idea....

Not gonna do it. 1) I'm lazy; simple mechanics are the best way to go. 2) I want to emphasize that there isn't all that much difference between ELDs and their Believers. What difference does exist, is the same difference between line-level employees of a company and the "higher-ups" in that same company, just magnified.

-Miracles: don't have them rolled to succeed. Instead, have consequences, especially since the Faithful and the ELD are played by the same player. Miracles go off, if the player says so, and the the Faithful PC's Faith is high enough, but that causes a drop in the ELDs Faith pool. If the player decides no, the miracle doesn't go off, then the Faithful loses Faith. More of that fine jugggling act.

I want to keep the rolls; again, it emphasizes the communication gap between the Deity and the Faithful. Inter-character conflict is a feature of the game, not a bug. ;-) Just because the characters are controlled by the same player is not a sufficient excuse to wave away that gap.  

- Low Faith = bad for ELD, I like. In particular, I wonder if there isn't some way that the ELD's traits would be defined by his Faith pool? If Beyugias' Faith pool is 42, then that means he has Hubris X and Focus Y. If through miracles or Faithful attrition, his Faith pool drops to 27, then he has Hubris Z and Focus Q.

- It seems to me that the most important rolls would be in conversion and other ways of gaining Faith. Also very important is of course preventing the loss of Faith (particularly if the Faith pool is tied to ELD traits). I think the mechanic should focus there.

These are things I'm working on. Originally, I only wanted to lower the ELD's attributes through Faith lost by Believer attrition, but that would de-emphasize the importance of having Hubris at reasonable levels.

This, of course, ties in to just how much Faith should be required to create miracles, sustain Deities at particular levels of competence, etc. That involves math and playtesting, both of which I've at short supply.

-I can see the need for a bunch of defining factors for the ELD, all of which would propel Faithful-level gameplay. Like Sins (Beyugias' #1 venal sin - eating pizza and reading comics simultaneously :), Temptations (the movie versions - Noooo!!), Blessings (superheroic powers), and so forth. It's probably obvious that Miracles would have to tie into domain - Beyugias' Faithful won't be inspiring romance, but they will be growing extra large boobs, long flowing hair, and suddenly wearing revealing and gravity-defying spandex. ;)

Definitely something I'm incorporating, however:

Note that Dominion (as I currently have it) is designed to supplement the Entry-Level Deity's Miracle stats (adding to the TN you have to roll under); while it pays to play to your Dominion as far as ease of Miracles (the balancer being that you have to customize your Miracle accordingly and convincingly), you are not limited to your Dominion in performing Miracles. Beyugias can indeed inspire romance the old-fashioned way, but will have a much-easier time doing it if he (she?) tailors it according to Dominion. Any ELD can reach Supreme Deity status, even Beyugias. (The mind boggles at the results, but it can still happen...)

What about having the players play followers of each others ELDs?

Ah, now this might be a way to go!

Picture this: Each session, one player plays his/her ELD, the other players play the Faithful. Next session, another player plays her ELD, and the rest of the players play her Faithful, until everyone's had their chance, and then it starts over.

Benefits: I don't need to calculate how many Faith points each Believer beyond the first one costs; they are considered "freebies." It emphasizes the rift between Believer and Deity. No one is left with nothing to do. Any leftover Faithful can be played by the ELD's player.

Thoughts?

[Spooky Fanboy]

Okay, I think I've gotten enough from here to help me with the basics. I just have to connect the dots at this point. I'll take our suggestions, add some necessary ingredients, and see what I come up with. Playtest document dead ahead!