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 > Roleplaying in General

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-29-2015, 09:42 AM   #41
Dalillama
 
Dalillama's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Default Re: Things to Avoid In Set Construction

Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
But if you are going to build a history for setting in which the gods are active, or even a set of templates for their empowered clerics, you really need those lists and spheres of power, no matter how unrealistic they are historically.

In a lot of ways it's a close analog of why isn't RPG magic as "magical" as the stuff in stories. It's because when you write and RPG magic system it has to have *clearly written rules*.
Of course, active, interventionist god will probably affect worship dynamics as well; e.g. everyone who lives in the territory of the city-state of Koli-Nasa sacrifices to the city's twin patron deities Koli of the Flames and Nasa the Huntress. They do this because people who don't, or who sacrifice to the wrong gods, have their house mysteriously burn down and their livestock killed by arrows from the sky. It's also much easier to pin down the characteristics of active gods: if priests of the cult of Farness get healing powers, while those devoted to the cult of Kigga can call lighting out of a clear sky to kill enemies of the faith, that presumably tells you something about the respective characteristics of those gods.
Dalillama is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-29-2015, 10:14 AM   #42
aesir23
 
aesir23's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Vermont
Default Re: Things to Avoid In Set Construction

Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
Since most surviving polytheistic religions have most people taking most or all their problems to their favorite deity, this is actually a better model than it might first appear. Yeah OK, most people will toss an occasional offering to a few other gods, or might take a special life stage ritual or traditional kind of problem to a god that specialized in that one - I understand a lot of the popularity of Christian wedding themes in Japan is Jesus is considered a sort of specialist in marriages for love as opposed to more sensible traditional reasons - and attending two different temples regularly doesn't necessarily brand you as a weirdo, but people shop around less than you might think even when there are lots of options.

The collection of gods with not much overlapping special portfolios we have for the Greco-Roman or Norse polytheisms which inspires a lot of frp religions is more a product of the imagination of late syncratizers who didn't much believe in any of the gods, trying to make something coherent out of conflicting stories from a bunch of regional variations than of anything real.



The reality is mostly polytheisms are messy, and rules sets really don't like that at all.

If you have a complete list the gods, it's wrong. If you have a list of which temples are dedicated to which gods, it's probably wrong too. If you know which god is in charge of the weather, you're reading one of those late syncretizers. If you stick to the huge temples in the city centers and the gods that have major public festivals in one or more of them, maybe there's a chance it's right, though there are likely some gods on that list some of the other cities will insist have an entirely different name or aren't even real.
Yes, this fits very well with my impression of Hinduism from when I lived in South India for a year.

This despite the fact that many Hindus take a vaguely monotheistic "all gods are one god" stance.
aesir23 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2015, 07:37 AM   #43
FIGS
 
FIGS's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: Things to Avoid In Set Construction

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
1. Do not try to make the world "exotic" by telling the players that the sun rises in the west. West and east are defined by the direction the sun rises and sets.
...and what about when there are four or more suns nearby that planet?
FIGS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2015, 07:56 AM   #44
ericthered
Hero of Democracy
 
ericthered's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
Default Re: Things to Avoid In Set Construction

Quote:
Originally Posted by FIGS View Post
...and what about when there are four or more suns nearby that planet?
Its cheap, but makes a lot more sense -- but there you've got to watch the exact orbital dynamics or you'll make it cheesy -- and when its dark and when its light and what exactly you call the season when its always kind of light require some thought.

Or you need a sun that isn't a ball of plasma millions upon millions of miles away. Which can be as exotic as having more than one. The real trick is having it mean something. If you have two suns and one of them goes around the earth faster than the other because its an mountain mages enchanted to grow that bright and put into orbit to increase the growing season*, that has practical effects and informs your players about what you can expect magic to accomplish.

*From battle for wesnoth, under the burning suns.
__________________
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 offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
world building, world design

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 03:42 AM.


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