05-11-2016, 09:16 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
Just a random thought that might be interesting to someone out there: a version of Cosmic, the +50% power modifier that basically says "I trump lower powers," but the "lower powers" are in fact cyclic, like a game of rock-paper scissors. For instance, the five Chinese elements act this way toward each other, so you might have Cosmic beings in tune with these elemental forces able to overcome or be subject to the appropriate power around the circle. Their high-powered representatives would have +50% Cosmic power modifiers and would be treated as a tier above the one they beat, but a tier below the one they're subject to.
It also struck me as a reasonable philosophy for a religion's major gods, which could then be reflected in a society's structure: The War God and the Plague Goddess always beats the Farming God and the Crafter Goddess because war and disease make farming and labor darn near impossible. The Farming God and the Crafter Goddess always beat the God of Wealth and the Goddess of Nature because wealth depends on productivity, and farmers and crafters tame the wilderness. The God of Wealth and the Goddess of Nature always beat the War God and the Plague Goddess because the richer side almost always wins the war, and nobody wins against winter. Rearrange, add deities to groups, or expand the circle (with unrelated deities treated as equal tiers) as desired. |
05-11-2016, 11:43 PM | #2 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
Quote:
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05-12-2016, 09:31 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: GMT-5
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
I would call it a setting feature and give all the lower ones +0%.
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05-12-2016, 11:49 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
I would presume the lower ones are still Cosmic with regard to some other mundane power sources, meaning use +25%, but it depends on the setting.
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05-13-2016, 06:06 AM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
If there are two different actual levels, but each of the top level ones has another one that can beat it, I would treat them as the two lower tiers of a three-tier hierarchy, with the uppermost tier (full Cosmic that beats everything) being empty.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
05-13-2016, 08:04 AM | #6 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
So you'd have:
Cosmic +50%- placeholder source, theoretically trumps all lower tiers Cyclic Cosmic +25%- e.g. Water beats Fire beats Air beats Earth. All beat non-Cosmic sources. Mundane +0%- other non-Cosmic sources, whether Magic, Supers or Psi. Is that correct? Actually, I'm not sure what Edges meant now by "lower ones." I thought he was referring to "lower Cosmic sources."
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05-13-2016, 09:57 AM | #7 | |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: GMT-5
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
Quote:
They way I read the OP was that there are really only two levels in the setting. One is the "I trump lower levels" and the other is the "lower powers" which are cyclic (to use the OP's terminology). In this case, I would give the first level a +50% cosmic modifier and the second level a +0%. If indeed there was an unmentioned "even lower level" that is trumped by both the high level and the lower, cyclic level, then yes I would agree with giving the cyclic level a +25% cosmic modifier. Basically, I would treat all of the elements of a balanced, cyclic group of sources as a single level with respect to the cosmic tiers rule from GURPS Powers. |
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05-13-2016, 10:25 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
Yes, that's my view too.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
05-13-2016, 05:44 PM | #9 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Upper Peninsula of Michigan
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
By "lower" I meant "non-Cosmic" or, if multiple levels were being used, "less Cosmic." The 25% suggested here seems quite reasonable for the last level of Cosmic one takes if it is subject to such rivalries.
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05-14-2016, 03:43 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: Rock-Paper-Scissors Cosmic
This is actually a pretty good idea. I might borrow it for several of my cosmic entities in the Marvel Reboot project, actually, given how flexible the cosmic levels seem to be. I'd probably label it as "Cyclic Cosmic" or something similar.
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