Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-11-2018, 06:08 PM   #3421
malloyd
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Quote:
Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Of course, Islam doesn't need to be the only "True Revealed Religion." There could be half a dozen or more "True Revealed Religions" in this multiverse.
Sure, it's another option, and again one that ought to require some hard thinking among people who care about (ir)religion(s).

A less obvious variation I've thought about is there is some revealed religion that is widespread in many timelines despite a lack of common origins, but that never existed on Homeline - the "Yes there is a God, and he's never bothered to try to save *us*" option.
__________________
--
MA Lloyd
malloyd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2018, 06:35 PM   #3422
AlexanderHowl
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

There seem to be hundreds of gods (if not countless gods) in the Infinite Worlds (some of whom are on Infinity's payroll, though I wonder what would you be paying to interest a god?). Some of the gods presumably have powers that extend beyond their timeline but are too busy, too unaware, or too uninterested to bother Infinity much (I would love to see who qualifies for the Division of Divine Diplomacy in Infinity though). After all, there are probably versions of Freya who are capable of visiting Homeline if they feel like it, and I imagine that they have the Infinity equivalent of Phil Coulsen to tell her where to park her chariot of cats and to offer her mead liberated from a halls of an alternate Valhalla while they negotiate the conditions for her leaving as quickly as possible.
AlexanderHowl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2018, 07:59 PM   #3423
tshiggins
 
tshiggins's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Denver, Colorado
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Also relevant to this discussion:

https://nypost.com/2018/06/22/myster...s-vast-desert/

"UNESCO describes the site as: 'The largest conserved site of the civilization of the Nabataeans south of Petra in Jordan [with] well-preserved monumental tombs with decorated facades dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD.'”

(Why, yes, I am stashing ideas in this thread, perhaps to be used later....)
__________________
--
MXLP:9 [JD=1, DK=1, DM-M=1, M(FAW)=1, SS=2, Nym=1 (nose coffee), sj=1 (nose cocoa), Maz=1]
"Some days, I just don't know what to think." -Daryl Dixon.

Last edited by tshiggins; 07-11-2018 at 08:06 PM.
tshiggins is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2018, 05:19 AM   #3424
Phil Masters
 
Phil Masters's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: U.K.
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
There seem to be hundreds of gods (if not countless gods) in the Infinite Worlds (some of whom are on Infinity's payroll, though I wonder what would you be paying to interest a god?).
Amusement, or the opportunity to exercise the ethic which defines its existence, very often, I'd imagine. Or a chance to prove its worthiness to the skyfather figure who exiled it from the mead-halls for being a drunken jerk. Though it'd be wise to triple-check that what you're actually giving it isn't a first layer of ablative protection when its enemies show up.
__________________
--
Phil Masters
My Home Page.
My Self-Publications: On Warehouse 23 and On DriveThruRPG.

Last edited by Phil Masters; 07-12-2018 at 05:23 AM.
Phil Masters is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2018, 08:05 AM   #3425
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl View Post
There seem to be hundreds of gods (if not countless gods) in the Infinite Worlds (some of whom are on Infinity's payroll, though I wonder what would you be paying to interest a god?).

Transportation is the strongest one I can think of. Gods in IW seem to mostly be isolated on worlds or skerries. The reasons for leaving can vary. Some of them might be bored and looking for new experiences. Some of them may be exiled or disgraced and want to start anew. A mission to break Prometheus out of Hades would make for an awesome adventure. They may want to improve their craft and give their followers new reasons to worship them "And then Vulcan crafted the internal combustion engine, and bestowed it upon his favorite city."


Some deities will fall for mortal gifts. The methods used to draw away Zeus may have some moral implications, but historically gods are said to respond well to worship of all sorts, and can be cajoled into granting favors.


Demi-gods in their young phase do seem like a better class of recruits though.
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic

Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog

Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!
ericthered is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-12-2018, 11:01 AM   #3426
PTTG
 
PTTG's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Considering the power levels of DF characters, they can pretty reasonably be called demigods.
PTTG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 04:59 AM   #3427
Astromancer
 
Astromancer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Quote:
Originally Posted by tshiggins View Post

(Why, yes, I am stashing ideas in this thread, perhaps to be used later....)
That's just a sign of virtue and wisdom.
__________________
Per Ardua Per Astra!


Ancora Imparo
Astromancer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 05:07 AM   #3428
Astromancer
 
Astromancer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

As a threat/opportunity (and those words belong linked) a real deity set loose in the IW setting is vast. Athena would look for wisdom, Loki would want some fun and playmates, the Mac Og would look for true love, with several thousand women and men. Chaos would ensue. Well not from Athena, much.

Creating a deity who has lost their world and purpose and is looking to find a home and purpose could set up loads of adventures. I'd bring them in first as a whacked out encounter. Then a recurring character. Then they, or the side effects of their arrival, could function like one of Buffy's big bads.
__________________
Per Ardua Per Astra!


Ancora Imparo
Astromancer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 06:19 AM   #3429
Astromancer
 
Astromancer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Try this idea. A deity, cast out in an ancient gods war, knows that he needs followers to guide and love. Wounded but humbled by his long exile and misery. Comes upon a world much like Homeline (it's a Q6 echo) in the late 1930's.

He stops for a time to rest and to study. he comes to enjoy the vitality of the USA and to admire FDR as a role model. By random chance, he finds a copy of Action Comics 1. He sees the similarity between himself and Clark Kent, and enjoys the idea of a "Superman" who serves the people rather than dominating them. Bit by bit he comes to see in the superhero comics a new mythology, not yet worked out. Superman is a solar hero protector god. Namor is a Shiva/Posieden-like chaos sea lord. Could this be a path to finding his place? Maybe mortals no longer needed gods to rule them, maybe democracies need protector guides.

If you have Stoddard's GURPS: Supers, blend the Archetype, with Renaissance Man, and several other templates depending on what type of deity you want him to be. The deity in this scenario now appears as a tall, slim-waisted, muscular, blue-eyed, brunette, i.e. the Hollywood ideal. Heck, it works for Clark, doesn't it? The local year is 1941, WWII looks a grim as it ever did, and suddenly, Hitler, Stalin, Franco, Mussolini, and some of the key Japanese militarists are brought to Geneva, to face charges of aggression and warmongering by The Sentinel! Of course, everyone was let go, but the simple fact that the democracies now had a superhero on their side, sent ripples through the world.

Homeline is shocked, they didn't think supers were likely here. Centrum is ticked off, they were going to try to divert Homeline's attention by aiding the Nazis. The Cabal is intrigued, they know a god when they see one, and they wonder how to exploit him. Both Homeline and Centrum wonder if other supers are going to show up in this parallel. If so they'd make good recruits.

The situation on this Q6 parallel is messed up. The dictators are shocked and afraid, this new man puts them on the frontline. Their power is threatened. Churchill hopes he can reach this man because the Sentinel speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent many people think he's British. Churchill hopes to gain a champion for England. A grandson of one of FDR's cabinet members recognized the whole business of taking the dictators to Geneva showed his father, and FDR assumes the Sentinel is either American or Canadian. He also wants to find out who this man is. He assumes he a little immature at best! People the world over are looking for the Sentinel. The Sentinel is looking at being worthwhile and useful for the first time in millennia. He has hope and wants to bring hope to the whole wide world.

Minor Notes: Churchill took time to score points with Stalin by getting him home. The Japanese leaders got American help. Japan might want to delay any attack on a nation that might have a superhero. FDR would still be trying to provoke a German incident in the Atlantic, but both Hitler and the Japanese militarists remember what it was like to be grabbed and pulled through the sky and around the wide world. They don't want a repeat.

The Sentinel as I imagine him is a peculiar type of Storm God. On the world he came from Spring is preceded by the most powerful storms of the year. The Sentinel (He calls himself John "Jack" Green in his secret identity) drives away the lords of winter and death. He is the Captain of the Thunder and Lightning, but he's also the Lord of the Crocus and the Anemone. He's both the protector of Spring and the handsome young bridegroom of the Earth Goddess. Jack is all about hope and second chances. He sees in the New Deal and in the ideal of Democracy a new spring for him. He wants to protect society and make it bloom in justice.
__________________
Per Ardua Per Astra!


Ancora Imparo

Last edited by Astromancer; 07-13-2018 at 07:06 PM.
Astromancer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-13-2018, 06:14 PM   #3430
Prince Charon
 
Prince Charon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Default Re: New Reality Seeds

The Sentinel's world could be quite interesting, even if no other 'superhumans' show up. Batman-like Super-Normals are a distinct possibility, due to the inspiration provided by the Sentinel.
__________________
Warning, I have the Distractible and Imaginative quirks in real life.

"The more corrupt a government, the more it legislates."
-- Tacitus

Five Earths, All in a Row. Updated 12/17/2022: Apocrypha: Bridges out of Time, Part I has been posted.
Prince Charon is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
ideas to share, infinite worlds, infinity unlimited

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:40 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.