[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Shape and Nature of the World
Multiple votes are fine if the options can be reconciled, such as a hollow but Earthlike world, or a flat world with strange seasons

• Earthlike planet
• Mostly Earthlike, but with some fantastical geography (flying islands, crystalline forests, vast underworld caverns, wandering mountains)
• Flat world
• Strange seasons, day-night cycle, or climates
• Hollow world
• World not yet fully formed from Primal Chaos, subject to change by powerful magicians, heroes, villains, gods
• Other (pleases specify)

Mostly Earth-like with some fantastic + Strange seasons, day/night etc. as a consequence of fantastic stuff.

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Magic System please pick one. Or, if you really want more than one, choose 'Other' and specify
• Basic Set system only
• GURPS Magic hardback
• Something from Thaumatology (please specify)
• Magic as Powers
• Magic as Psionics
• Magic as alien/ancient super science
• No ‘magic’ in game terms. Magic is a matter of cultural beliefs, how people explain things. Many magicians are sincere believers, others are frauds.
• Something else (please specify)

Any combination of Thaumatology (particularly Realm magic), Magic as Powers, superscience (e.g. Alchemy).

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Tech Levels
Please vote twice, once for ‘default’ TL and once for the maximum TL that maybe included. These may be the same TL, if you like.
• TL 0
• TL 1
• TL 2
• TL 3 (specify with or without gunpowder, since not all TL 3 civilizations will have it)
• TL 4
• TL 5 or higher

Default TL2, maximum TL3 in general and TL4 in swordmaking (Rapiers!).

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Races/sapient creatures
Choose one option
• Humans only
• Humans and humanoid races only
• No humans, one or more other races exist
• Humans, humanoids, and non-humanoid races exist, may include spirits or talking beasts
• Spirits and Humans only
• Something else (please specify)

Humans, humanoids and non-humanoids, but humanoids are more common in Places That Matter™.[/quote]

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Connections with other worlds
Choose one
• Isolated
• World hopping is possible but rare
• Gates are common
• Something else (please specify)

Isolated to Rare Worldhopping (as in, 3 other connect worlds at most, and difficult to reach normally).

Originally Posted by combatmedic

Gods
choose one
• One True God, possibly with hierarchies of saints, angels, demons, ghosts,ancestor-spritrs, 'small gods' etc. beneath him
• Two gods, one is good and the other is evil—or they otherwise represent opposed principles
• The gods are mysterious, distant beings—some mortals may even doubt their existence
• One pantheon for the world (gods may be known by different names and aspects to the various cultures/races)
• Distinct pantheons, probably in competition
• Other (please specify)

If I get a lot of ‘Other’ votes, I will probably go back and reopen one or more of these initial sections to more ideas.

My 'non-Other' choice is Mysterious Distant. My 'Other' choice is 2 or preferably three gods, but neither of them can be clearly identified as good or evil. An example would be something like this:

Spoiler:  

Originally Posted by William

Pathos, Ethos, and Logos.

Pathos: "It is most pleasing to do what makes people happy and avoids causing sadness. Act sympathetically."
Ethos: "It is proper to do what is right, and avoid wronging others. Act ethically."
Logos: "It is rational to do the most reasonable thing, and avoid error. Act logically."

Pathos on Ethos: "If your ethics cause sadness, they're inherently wrong."
Pathos on Logos: "If your logic doesn't make people happier, abandon it and follow your heart."

Ethos on Pathos: "Hedonism is shortsighted; ethics is historically accumulated wisdom that takes people's interests in to account."
Ethos on Logos: "Logic can lead to morally untenable outcomes, in which case it should be abandoned to go with what is right."

Logos on Pathos: "Following immediate gratification does not optimize long term outcomes."
Logos on Ethos: "Ethics that conflict with facts on the ground must be amended."

Pathos provides telepathic and empathic powers, especially emotion-based ones, as well as Social Advantages like Charisma, Social Regard, etc. Your power comes from a deep emotional understanding of yourself and others. Its moral code is based on doing what makes you and others happy. The balance between you and others varies by interpretation, so some Pathos-powered persons would be pacifists unwilling to hurt a fly (power disruption comes from violence), and others would be sadist hedonists who leech confident strength from successfully bullying others (power disruption comes from the shame of showing weakness). Pathos-wielders actually think that the other power sources are simply weak expressions of the emotional state of their own users.

Ethos provides powers of mystical guidance and moral support: Intuition, Oracle, Precognition, True Faith, Common Sense, and possibly others depending on the specific ethical code being adhered to. The nature of the code itself does not matter, in terms of the power; what matters is the adherence of the power wielder. Disruption, of course, comes from breaking the code. In-game codes that fit with this without hypocrisy would include asceticism, seamless garment pacifism, or a religion that claims any religion is a path to truth (or that all gods are emanations of the One God, etc.). Ethos-powered persons may be saints, zealots, or both. Spirits in service to a god or devil could be ethos-powered -- on both sides. Ethos-wielders actually think that the other power sources are simply deriving from the users' dedication to their own philosophies.

Logos provides powers for sensing (super-vision, hearing, etc.), analysis (eidetic memory, lightning calculator, Talent for tactics and strategy, limited Precognition from calculation, etc.), and iconic communication (i.e. the written and spoken word, and recordable data). Logos wielders who act irrationally -- on insufficient data, or failing to analyze the data or heed the analysis -- lose the benefits of their powers. Computers or construct spirits could be logos-powered. Logos-wielders actually think that other power sources are natural consequences of somewhat flawed reasoning.

A fourth power, newer on the rhetorical scene, is kairos: timing, the opportune moment, paying attention to one's audience. Associated powers would include Harmony with the Tao, Serendipity, Luck, Destiny (and infliction of a disadvantageous Destiny), Altered Time Rate, Extra Attack, and temporal or parachronic abilities. I'm uncertain what moral code this would come with, though. Being self-absorbed, overly planned, and unwilling to let go?

Or maybe take five of Heidt's aspects of morality, modify them a bit, and make 5 gods.