{Placeholder}

???:

1. Concepts
   
2. Divines
   
3. Realms and Provinces
   
4. Souls and Monsters
   
5. Actions and Tests
   
6. Skills and Feats
   
7. Artefacts and Equipement
   
8. Combat
   
9. Magic
   
10. Vitality and Threats
    
11. Recovery and Boons
    
12. Advancement and Honours

This message was last edited by the GM at 12:03, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

You play a God, referred to as a Divine to differentiate from a being worshipper as a god. Each Divine claims a Realm within Creation, which may take many physical forms, though for the most part their fundamentals laws are mundane. Each Divine comes into being with a race of their Chosen followers, a specific species of Mortals.

Beyond this, other Realms and Mortals exist, together with Monsters, Ascendants and others.

You will influence your Realm, and others, through your presence and your influence over these inhabitants. Raise them up, if you choose, empower them. Explore, fight, trade, seek friends and allies, lovers. You have many tools to hand for this: your innate Attributes and learned Skils, the Artefacts and creatures you create, the Magic you enact.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:01, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

As a Divine, you are one of the most powerful beings in existence. As such you benefit from a few advantages that set you apart from Mortals and other Ascendants.

Awoken Divinity
Celestial Body

Divines are largely more resilient then Mortals regardless of their Resilience attribute. They cannot contract mundane diseases, heal from wounds faster, and fatigue more slowly. When in [Public] Realms they also do not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe as they are in their fully Divine forms.

Effects of a magical nature still operate as normal on Divines, although they must typically overcome a Divine's will

Celestial Senses

Attuned as they are to Creation, each Divine can identify the Rank, Aspects, and Natures of a Monster with a single glance. This does not reveal Attributes or Skills although this can be overcome with the appropriate Divination spell or power.

They can also identify the Chosen of any god at a glance. If they have met the Divine to whom those Chosen are beholden before, then they recognize their signature on their souls, otherwise, they simply get an impression of their primary Domain.

Each Divine may sense the presence of another within their own Realm, though typically not their direction or distance.

Celestial Demesne

Even newly Awoken, a Divine and their Realm are inexorably tied. As their authority increases, so to their power to affect changes to it. While truly grand efforts will require magic or theurgy, there are many feats that they can perform, with sufficient concentration and focus:

• Alter their Chosen - Over months to years, to change their form or nature
• Alter Ecosystems - Over weeks to months, to rebalance species or encourage the emergence of new creatures or plants
• Alter Terrain - Over days to weeks, to raise or lower regions or landmasses, bring forth mountains or pits, pull magma closer to the surface
• Alter Weather - Over minutes to hours, to change temperature or precipitation or wind, encourage squalls and storms
• Create Portals - Instantaneously to other realms by which to travel (or create one to their Realm from another).

All such changes take time and most require an instance within their Realm, with finer control proportional to the subtlety and slowness of the change. Any changes attempted outside of Provinces under a Divine's control are significantly harder or reduced in effect.

Celestial Powers

Beyond their powers over their Realms, each Divine possess an intuitive understanding of certain primal manipulations of their Domains and the Souls of Creation:

• Divine Magic - Act instinctively as a source of power for the prayers and rotes of their Chosen and other worshippers, permitting the emergence of one or more forms of Priestly Magic
• Animancy - Create, enhance or fuse the Souls of Monsters - and, sometimes, their Chosen -changing them into new forms
• Artifice - Create or enhance Souls into items, creating Artefacts
• Invocation - Draw out captured Monster Souls, bringing them temporarily to life
• Channelling - Draw out powers related to their Domains or Realms

Each of these is explained further, below, and beyond them, other powers may lie

Paradox

Paradox is the ability for a Divine to appear in more than one place at once, albeit in a singular body. Effects of a physical nature felt by one instance are shared by all - importantly this includes wounds (and healing), changes in their Aura, memories, and captured Souls, Aspects and Natures. Effects of a magical nature are not shared - including spells and their usage. Items will not Paradox, unless they are equipped to an Artifice slot, nor will followers, unless a Familiar - who may only have a single instance at any time; instead such things must travel between Realms through a Portal or Gate.

Appearing in a Realm or maintaining an instance is restricted only by the status of the Realms that the Divine wishes to be in:

• [Realm] - They cannot Paradox into a Realm claimed by another without their permission. Attempts simply fail, loudly.
• [Public] - They may Paradox to such a Realm at will, and Paradox between major locales, removing the need for mundane transit so long as the destination is known. Each major locale will have an emergence zone.
• [Secret] - They may only Paradox into a hidden or barred Realm once a way in has been uncovered, after which they may typically Paradox into it at will.
• [Lost] - They typically cannot Paradox to such a Realm, needing an enter or exit in some other manner. Entering one will remove all other Paradox instances and attempts to Paradox from such a Realm fail.

Each Divine may maintain only one instance within a given Realm unless otherwise stated. They must maintain at least one instance somewhere at all times.

With Paradox, comes its effects upon time, and time runs differently upon each realm. While a minute may pass in one realm, a week or even years may pass in another. Each Paradoxed instance of a Divine exists simultaneously with the others. Time flows with postings, the action economy of the campaign

Triplet Existance

Each Divine has three lives to live. When killed they return to the primordial dream-realm where Divines are Awoken, remaining there until they can reconstitute and resurrect. With each death, they are weakened on an essential level until they can no longer reconstitute themselves and their identities are lost forever.

This is the cycle of creation and destruction, birth and death. With the passing of a Divine into their Final Death their Realm should begin to wither and perish before ceasing to exist all together unless passed to an Heir. But since the Shattering, many ruined Realms have lingered on, their dead ushered elsewhere.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:28, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

Within Creation, a Realm is a manifestation of reality taken physical and metaphysical form.

Realm Manifestations

Each Realm has five Provinces, each containing a number of Locales, the potential for resources and their own inhabitants.

Each Realm will have one or more Traits, describing fluctuations in their nature.

Each Realm exists within at least one of the Nine Spheres

Celestial Demesne

At the beginning of the game each Divine will manifest in one Province, which will contain a majority of their race. They will need to secure control over this Province, typically overcomming a challenge of some kind.

Each of the four other Provinces will be unknown to them, needing to be put under their control through various means. For each Province that is brought under their command they will increase in Divine Rank, see an increase in their weekly Minor Souls, and receive a Province bonus of some form. Once they have claimed command over all the Provinces in their Realm their Divine Rank cannot increase without performing grand deeds in other Realms.

Each subsequent Province will become harder to claim, the challenges their having had time to become entrenched.

Other Realms and Demesnes

Beyond their own Realm, a Divine may Paradox or otherwise travel to Realms claimed by others, or none. They are typically differentiated by this:

• [Realm] - Realms personally claimed by a Divine or similar power, who must usually permit another Divine to Paradox there
• [Public] - Realms claimed by none, and typically unclaimable
• [Secret] - Realms that have been concealed or hidden from casual intrusion, often created by a Pantheon or Conclave
• [Lost] - Realms that have been severed from the cradle of Creation, often with eldritch laws or natures

Realm (and Paradise) Seeds

It is possible for a Divine to create a new Realm, with sufficient power, but to do so requires a Seed
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:47, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

Souls are the key resource of all gods. Nearly all actions are fueled by the use of souls and their consumption. Souls are divided into three categories: Faithful Souls, Mortal Souls (typically simply "Souls") and Monster Souls

Faithful Souls

Souls of a Divine's Chosen or, potentially, other faithful Mortal believers. These Souls possess the memories and identities of the person they belonged to. Without a Paradise they will linger around their Divine, their fate linked to their survival. If a Paradise exists then the souls will travel to that location and be re-born as their Divine has dictated. If a Divine suffers Final Death then those souls outside of a Paradise are lost forever but those within continue on indefinitely.

They cannot be used by their Divine to fuel their powers or to be harnessed in any way.

Mortal Souls

Motes of pure spiritual energy that are released when a mortal being dies. Lacking Aspects and Natures, they are the most abundant type of soul, and are consumed to fuel a Divine's powers - be it Alterations within their Realm, or as fuel for powers or Animancy or Artifice. You can see a summary of common costs, in Souls, below:

{Table}

The primary gain of souls is passive. As a Divine claiming a Realm you will gain a hundred Souls each week per Province controlled (technically receiving Souls for the first Province before it is controlled) and may obtain bonus souls for outstanding roleplay or completing major objectives.

Another method of gaining Mortal Souls is to kill monsters. When a monster is slain it releases a quantity of souls relative to its Rank.

Monsters and Monster Souls

Different from the mortal beings and creatures of the Realms, a Monster is a being forged with a shard of Chaos - containing something of the remnants of Creation itself within their souls. Others, such as Ascendants, are believed to be a similar nature - containing perhaps patterns of Law, or scales of Balance. Seeking to fuel themselves and their powers, they subsist on the souls of other Monsters, Mortals and the Chosen. They are often aggressive and simple-minded although more powerful Monsters may demonstrate intelligence and even motivations beyond simple survival.

However, Divines should not be lead astray by this as Monsters are incomplete beings whose chaotic souls must subsist on the souls of other beings. That, however, does not prevent them from showing mercy or favoritism to certain beings and some have even allowed them into their Paradises where their souls are made stable by the constant influx of spiritual power.

Ranks

Each Monster has a Rank which shows its relative strength. Ranks go from 0 to 5 with each rank being roughly twice as strong as the previous, although Attributes and Skills may offset this one way or the other

A Rank 0 Monster is mostly a nuisance, Rank 1 Monsters are potential lethal in large numbers but easy to kill, Rank 2 is a challenge for young Divines and begin to demonstrate impressive abilities, Rank 3 is potentially fatal for young Divines and often have well distinguished powers, Rank 4 is generally outright lethal to a young Divines and is a challenge even for mid-tier Divines, and finally Rank 5 monsters are demigods in their own rights.

This scale also really only controls for simple Aspects and Natures. As Aspects and Natures become more complex they will increase the strength of the individual proportionality. So a Rank 3 Fire Nature Dragon is easier to kill than a Rank 2 Hellfire Nature Dragon.

As a general rule of thumb no Monster will have a Skill higher than Rank + 1 or an Attribute of Rank + 2

Aspects

Aspects are qualities of a Monster which largely define its form and behavior. A massive hydra-like monster might have Aquatic, Serpent, and Dire as Aspects to represent their habitat, form, and size respectively. Aspects are powerful as they can be bound to items through items using Artifice and bestow those qualities to the bound item or wielder.

Natures

Nature is the essential essence of a Chaotic or Balanced creature and give it Power. As in the previous example a hydra is likely to have a Water and Poison Nature to represent its prodigious command of currents and ability to vomit forth streams of poison. Natures are powerful because they can be bound to items using Artifice to give the item that nature.

Patterns

Patterns represent the essential essence of a Lawful or Balanced creature and give it Power. They function similarly to Natures

Death

Souls of Monsters (and others, such as Ascendants) released when they are slain. These souls contain the Aspects and Natures of the being they originally belonged to. They may be harnessed in several ways - being bound as a Familiar, for Animancy or Artifice to create new Monsters or Artefacts, or invoked temporarily - or shattered to release their Aspects and Natures and a further bounty of Mortal Souls. These Aspects and Natures are obtained at random.

This message was last edited by the GM at 11:02, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

{Placeholder}

Attributes

Attributes define the raw potential that a being has, and are used as a baseline for Skils or to define competency and ability when a comparison must be made.

We use the following Attributes in the campaign:

• Might: Strength and raw physical power
• Finesse: Dexterity, agility and physical gracefulness
• Resilience: Toughness, constitution and resistance to harm and disease
• Grace: Charm, natural charisma and natural awe
• Intellect: Intelligence, wisdom and capacity for rational thought
• Will: Resolve, mental fortitude and toughness
• Essence: Connection to the flows of Essence, capacity for magic

Attribute Ranks

Attributes have five Ranks of potentia; for most mortal beings:

• Average (0)
• Above-Average (1)
• Gifted (2)
• Highly Gifted (3)
• Champion (4)
• Peak (5)

Rumours speak of Ranks beyond these, attained by Divines and other significant powers through testing and privations

Skills

Skills represented learned or learnable expertise. Each is linked to an Attribute - the innate capacity - and the combined value of the Skill and Attribute often serves as a threshold value to see if you succeed as some action or not.

Basic actions, such as running, jumping or swimming, cannot fail for a Divine unless some outside force is acting against them.

Skills and Categories

Available skills for this campaign are::

• Offensive: Brawl, Melee or Marksmanship
• Defensive: Dodge, Block or Parry
• Physical: Athletics, Acrobatics, Stealth or Larceny
• Social: Diplomacy, Empathy, Intimidation, Negotation, Subterfuge, Carousal or Gamble
• Mental: Concentration, Insight, Investigate or Survival
• Professional*: Performance, Expression, Crafting, Medicine or Lore

All of the Professional skills, bar Medicine, represent a narrow field of study and must come with a specialism (example might include Crafting(Blacksmithing) or Lore(Nature)); for Medicine, the specialism is per race or species.

Skills in Magical fields are handled separately, in the next section

Skill Ranks and Progression

Skills have four Ranks of expertise:

• Novice (1)
• Journeyman (2)
• Adept (3) - Gain a Feat
• Master (4) - Gain a Special Ability

Rumor speak of a fifth Rank, Grand Master, but the path to achieve such is shrouded

During character creation, each Divine selects 1 skill from each category and 2 skills of their choice from any category. They are considered Journeyman (2) at all skills they select and may select 2 skills from those selected skills at which they are Adept (3) in

Periodically, a Divine or Mortal will be rewarded with Skill Progression, given as a percentage, and when they reach 100% you increase to the next Skill Rank (and the progression reset). Progression is often given in 5% increments and will decrease in amount and frequency as Rank increases.

Learning and Teaching

Anyone with a possessing a Skill at Journeyman Rank or higher may teach others that Skill, so long as their Skill Rank remains higher. Instruction takes the pupil to a maximum of one Skill Rank below their teacher.

The time that this instruction takes depends on the being taught. Divines are naturally faster learners, and obtaining a new Novice ranked skill through the instruction of another Divine can occur within hours. Instructing, or being instructed by, a Chosen or intelligent Monster then the process takes considerably longer; often days or weeks of instruction unless they are gifted in some fashion to obtain information more quickly. This duration increases dramatically if the Divine wishes to teach a being magic often taking months for them to grasp.

Feats

Feats represent a special kind of bonus that can be attained when a Skill reaches Adept level; they provide a unique bonus or outcome to the skill

Typically they are gained through effort and circumstance rather than simple learning.

Language

Each Divine instinctively knows how to communicate with other Divines, Ascendents, their own Chosen and sentient Monsters and Mortals within their own Realm. It is only through practice and effort can they learn to communicate effectively with the Chosen of other Divines, or Monsters and Mortals of other Realms
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:01, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

{Placeholder}

{Placeholder}

All of the Divines have an instinctive understanding of magic, from whence it flows and surges.

They know of the Laws of the Tides, the Essence of Creation: here power is stratified by the currents themselves, the bonds and the paths between concepts, the strictures and the rotes. Unseen centre, the promise of Universal understanding; the wild tides, the Primal forces that mark the beat and rhythm of Creation; beyond, the predictable Flows, deep rivers that the Divine draw upon; and, far beyond, the Sublime and Eidolonic, a promise that echoes the first and so Creation repeats itself anew.

They know of the burgeoning swirl of Divine power: here power is measured, with vagueness, from how close it is to the Spark: faith and rite and bare belief. Belief in self, the Creation-changing power of the Divine; belief in the Divine, for those Chosen and those who Chose. Belief in stricture, those rotes and cantrips that impress small changes upon small minds - yet where the Deck draws power in a thousand cuts, perhaps

They know, or think they know, of the hubris of self-belief, the trust in the inner self, the singular emancipation of reworking reality to one's own view. And they know how fragile that road is.

Finally, they are aware of the seductive promise of Ascent (or Descent) and the leaps one must make from mortal to ... something other. Of becoming the exemplar of a thing, or place or nature.

All of the Divine have an innate ... faith in such understanding, but it is shallower than they think

Primal Magic

{Placeholder}

Flows, or Fields of Magic

{Placeholder} - Veneration , Restoration , Transmutation , Enchantment , Glamour , Evocation , Summoning , Abjuration

Divine Magic

{Placeholder}
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:31, Mon 19 Aug 2019.

Health
Each creature measures their vitality in terms of Health, beginning with 5 + (5 * Resilience) (and a Divine beginning with a minimum 10 Health).

Injuries reduce Heath by a factor equal to the Damage less any defences or armour that they may be wearing or in the case of magical defenses, shielded by.

If a Divine or Ascendant is reduced to 0 Health they are unconscious and considered dying; for a Mortal or Monster, they die. If a Divine suffers further harm, reducing them to -5 or lower Health they are dead (with Divines losing one of their lives until they experience Final Death).

Aura

Every Divine is shrouded in a sphere of power, invisible most of the time. This shroud acts as a dampener to any damage that would be dealt to them. The strength of a Divine's Aura is equal to their Essence plus their Divine Rank and it reduces damage by that value before being further reduced by active defense. Certain items can augment the efficiency of an Aura and even bestow it special effects. Attacks which are equal to or greater than the Aura reduce its power by 1 until it is allowed to regenerate, often at a rate of 1 per 5 minutes. Lesser attacks also reduce a god's Aura but at a rate of 3 attacks per 1 Aura reduced.

Even an unconscious and dying Divine benefits from their Aura.

Diseases and Ailments

Diseases of mundane nature have no sway over Divines but magical and theurgic afflictions do. If a diseases threshold value is higher then the Divine's Resilience, or Will depending on the disease, plus any relevant skills or abilities it takes hold. Diseases normal impart some negative condition which lasts until it is cured or otherwise removed.

Magical diseases last a number of days equal to their threshold while theurgy lasts indefinitely until removed by an equal or greater power.

Ailments, unlike diseases, affect Divines equally. These ailments are often bodily conditions such as starvation, thirst, confusion, etc. An Ailment takes hold if the Divine's Resilience or Will is lower than the threshold and lasts until remedied in some fashion.

Ailments by their nature can increase in intensity if ignored and can debilitate gods if left unchecked.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:21, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

Healing

Divines heal 1 Health each day per point in Resilience regardless of their activity. If a Divine is reduced to negative Health but is not dead they will recover to 0 Health within an hour and then begin healing at the usual rate. This rate can be augmented by abilities and magical items.

Monsters heal at rate of 1 Health/Resilience/Day but only while resting. If active this rate is cut half, rounded down to a minimum of 0.

Mortals heal 1 Health/Resilience/Week although this doubles if resting. Advanced and Elite Units heal as if Monsters of equivalent Resilience.

Boons

{Placeholder}
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:24, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

Divine Rank

When major objectives, such as the control of a Province, are accomplished a Divine increases in Divine Rank. These Ranks provide attribute and skill improvements, some bonus, and at certain thresholds provide Titles to reflect their increased power. Detailed below are the ranks, titles, improvements, and benefits:

• Rank 1 - All Awoken Divines start here; those born or created outside Awakening are known as Lesser Gods
• Rank 2 - Recognised as a Minor God. Gain 1 Minor Power. Gain a Class
• Rank 3 - Gain +1 ranks in two Skills. Gain a Resistance
• Rank 4 - Gain +1 to an Attribute. Gain a Honour Guard
• Rank 5 - Recognised as a Greater God. Gain 1 Minor Power. Gain a Specialisation
• Rank 6 - Gain +1 ranks in two Skills. Gain a second Resistance
• Rank 7 - Gain +1 to an Attribute. Gain a Hero
• Rank 8 - Recognised as a Major God. Gain 1 Major Power. Gain a Mastery
• Rank 9 - Gain +1 to an Attribute. Gain an Immunity
• Rank 10 - Gain +1 ranks in two Skills. Gain an Heir

Class: As a Minor God you gain a Class which will further define your abilities and skills. Classes are broad terms (mage, warrior, rogue, craftsman, etc.) which provide +1 bonuses to relevant actions. Classes provide you with a Special Ability related to the Class.

Resistance: You are now resistant to some source of harm. Subtract your Rank from any damage that you would suffer from this source. Sources should be limited blades, fire, etc.

Honour Guard: Your divine power has reached out and ceased fragments of Creation, molding them into a group of warriors whose loyalties are absolute and powers are reflective of their Divine. These units are considered Elite and are treated as if they posses Natures the same as your Domains. They also gain one ability for each of your Domains. If such a unit exists already elevate them to the appropriate status and refund any Souls spent in their advancement.

Specialisation: You have progressed along your path and as such have gained a Class specialisation. A specialisation increases the bonus provided by your class to +2. (Example specializations might be envoker for mage, knight for warrior, assassin for rogue, blacksmith for craftsman, etc.) A Specialisation provides you with a Special Ability related to the Class.

Hero: Your divine power reaches out once more and forges a Hero. Possessing powers as if a demigod, a hero is your mortal instrument in which to exact your will. They are treated as if a Rank 5 Monster whose Natures are the same as your Domains and gain up to three Aspects of your choosing. If an existing being is elevated to the status of Hero they can gain Aspects up to three and they gain your Domains in addition to any Nature they previously possessed up to a maximum of four. Refund the cost of any improvements and gain one ability for each Nature possessed, excluding any that were already possessed.

Mastery: You have reached the end of your path and with it has come mastery of your Class. You gain a +3 bonus to some application or exertion of your power. (Example masteries may be pyromancy for envoker, riding for knight, and artifice for blacksmith)

Heir: You have amassed enough power to spawn a new Divine. Your Heir inherits a primary domain related to your own and a secondary domain of the GM's choosing. This new Heir does not have their own Realm but can forge one using a Paradise Seed. If you experience Final Death you may continue the game as your Heir who inherits all that you possess.

Province Bonuses

For each Province coming under a Divine's control, they see an increase in their weekly Minor Souls, and receive a Province bonus of some form. These bonuses can be, but are not limited to:

• Decrease Soul Consumption for a specific Divine Power
• Increase Minor Soul gain by 25%, rounded up
• Increase Aspect and Nature gain by +1
• Gain 2 Minor Powers
• Gain 1 Major Power
• Gain access to a Secret Realm
• Gain 1 Secret of Creation
• Gain access to 1 Theurgy power
• Gain 1 Rank 5 Monster Soul
• Gain a Paradise Seed

Realm Traits

When a Realm comes fully under the control of a Divine, it may gain a further trait

Honours

Legendary acts, impossible tasks and epic deeds teach the Divine, as well as spread their fame (or infamy). Often they will have a profound effect on the Realm in which they were performed, perhaps throughout Creation. An Honor cannot be earned in a Divine's own Realm however as their dominion over it, however contested, is absolute.

Each of these Honours will confer a benefit related to the act that earned it
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:11, Mon 12 Aug 2019.