I guess I've kinda been thrown off ever since the whoel tree thing came into this, since it doesn't quite seem to jive with the impression I'd had of the game from your earlier comments. The references to Olympian gods even less so, considering the totemic stuff.
And I honestly don't have a clue how the tree thing works. Where are the followers? That's all that matters.
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I can see how that would be confusing.
Essentially, it started with me going to a Dia de los Muertos anthropology exhibit and seeing the close connection between the natural and spiritual in all of it, a connection that our modern society largely lacks. I want to create stories in that realm through this collaborative game medium, and I think it will give this game a great amount of impact, even to people outside the game (kind of like how I hope Simjen's story had a similar reception in the KW anthology).
The problem is, it's almost like players are permanently manifested. Considering we often end up destroying a world in a dozen turns or so normally, I figured that wouldn't be so good. So I instituted the idea of the atheist test. Well, that makes being a god kind of boring, so I figured I'd open up two other realms for the typical stuff where players do not have to be so subtle. But if the gods aren't made to play in the world, what's the point of it all?
The vast majority of followers spend their entire lives in the middle realm. The boundary between realms, though, is not intended to be a giant gulf with always clear borders.
Essentially, it started with me going to a Dia de los Muertos anthropology exhibit and seeing the close connection between the natural and spiritual in all of it, a connection that our modern society largely lacks. I want to create stories in that realm through this collaborative game medium, and I think it will give this game a great amount of impact, even to people outside the game (kind of like how I hope Simjen's story had a similar reception in the KW anthology).
The problem is, it's almost like players are permanently manifested. Considering we often end up destroying a world in a dozen turns or so normally, I figured that wouldn't be so good. So I instituted the idea of the atheist test. Well, that makes being a god kind of boring, so I figured I'd open up two other realms for the typical stuff where players do not have to be so subtle. But if the gods aren't made to play in the world, what's the point of it all?
The vast majority of followers spend their entire lives in the middle realm. The boundary between realms, though, is not intended to be a giant gulf with always clear borders.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
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Did you change what you considered the realms at some point, then? Pretty sure the description elsewhere mentioned bough, branches, and roots as realms, but I'm getting the impression now that it's bough, ground (among the roots) and underneath (deeper among the roots, at least metaphorically).
I have no problem with all the early stuff, the totems, the style, the atheist test. That's nothing. It's this other stuff that's really vague and I have no idea how it's meant to be used in play.
I have no problem with all the early stuff, the totems, the style, the atheist test. That's nothing. It's this other stuff that's really vague and I have no idea how it's meant to be used in play.
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If I changed it, it wasn't intentionally. I probably used the word 'bough' when I meant 'crown' or 'canopy.'
The three realms are Crown, Trunk, and Roots. Just the top of the roots are visible at the base of the Trunk.
The three realms are Crown, Trunk, and Roots. Just the top of the roots are visible at the base of the Trunk.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
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I'm kind of treating the three levels as different worlds, and assuming that we're in just one of them.
'Cause if it were literal, then the huge canopy of the tree would block out all the sun from getting to the entire ground below... no farming, agriculture, jungle, etc.
So, those of us on the ground are on the ground, there's a giant tree trunk somewhere over to the side, and if you climb that you get to the giant and the goose who lays golden eggs or something.
Probably the "roots" section is a huge Hades-like place, but again... I'm a jungle kind of gal, so I'll stay where I am.
'Cause if it were literal, then the huge canopy of the tree would block out all the sun from getting to the entire ground below... no farming, agriculture, jungle, etc.
So, those of us on the ground are on the ground, there's a giant tree trunk somewhere over to the side, and if you climb that you get to the giant and the goose who lays golden eggs or something.
Probably the "roots" section is a huge Hades-like place, but again... I'm a jungle kind of gal, so I'll stay where I am.
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"Fully manifesting as you may be accustomed to in Pantheon or Aesir is practically impossible."
Goatkiller has an interesting way of looking at it. For all intents and purposes, the middle realm -- trunk -- is the 'real world.' I wouldn't say that the other two are different worlds, but rather different dimensions that lie adjacent to it. Kind of like an unsophisticated comprehension of the Judeo-Christian model of the universe. Heaven is up in the clouds, hell is down below the ground, and we're stuck in the middle. Only in this case, there's a slightly more obvious or real symbol for it.
Which isn't to say Roots has to be Hell (or even Hades) and Crown has to be Heaven (or Olympus). The details are up to you guys. (Don't ask me; I just work here.)
Though to go back a bit, the physical form of the tree definitely has a real effect on the land. For instance, the sun does cause the trunk to cast a hell of a shadow, which changes in length and shape throughout the course of the day and over the course of the seasons.
Being present, at least some way, shape, or form, is not only allowed but mandatory. If I had envisioned things more fully at that point, I would've put it in the rules. I'll try to go over it again this weekend and update where necessary. I think it works in the context of the origin story, though.the Free Dictionary wrote:man·i·fest (mn-fst)
adj.
Clearly apparent to the sight or understanding; obvious.
Goatkiller has an interesting way of looking at it. For all intents and purposes, the middle realm -- trunk -- is the 'real world.' I wouldn't say that the other two are different worlds, but rather different dimensions that lie adjacent to it. Kind of like an unsophisticated comprehension of the Judeo-Christian model of the universe. Heaven is up in the clouds, hell is down below the ground, and we're stuck in the middle. Only in this case, there's a slightly more obvious or real symbol for it.
Which isn't to say Roots has to be Hell (or even Hades) and Crown has to be Heaven (or Olympus). The details are up to you guys. (Don't ask me; I just work here.)
Though to go back a bit, the physical form of the tree definitely has a real effect on the land. For instance, the sun does cause the trunk to cast a hell of a shadow, which changes in length and shape throughout the course of the day and over the course of the seasons.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
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So, we aren't corporeal, but we have a location nonetheless. That's not how I'd envisioned it, but at the same time my mods operandi is to think in terms of where my people are, so it's not a stretch to actually be present at that spot.
Are we a focused single-point thing, or are we diffused over an area of some size? (And if so, how big of an area?)
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Are we a focused single-point thing, or are we diffused over an area of some size? (And if so, how big of an area?)
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You can be corporeal. You just can't be obvious about it. For instance:
The other day, I'm going through the metro. I see this long-haired, bearded, wizened old man trying to figure out the turnstile (he has a paper ticket but is trying to use it like a smartrip card). I show him where to feed the ticket in, to take it out, and then to walk through. He didn't speak, but I could see his gratitude on his face. Cool enough. But if that had been Zeus, I would've received a magic, never-ending coffee mug or something. Or maybe my wife and I will be turned into trees when we die or something. *shrug*
Or you can be incorporeal. Or you can be awesomely corporeal in one of the other realms. Your choice.
The other day, I'm going through the metro. I see this long-haired, bearded, wizened old man trying to figure out the turnstile (he has a paper ticket but is trying to use it like a smartrip card). I show him where to feed the ticket in, to take it out, and then to walk through. He didn't speak, but I could see his gratitude on his face. Cool enough. But if that had been Zeus, I would've received a magic, never-ending coffee mug or something. Or maybe my wife and I will be turned into trees when we die or something. *shrug*
Or you can be incorporeal. Or you can be awesomely corporeal in one of the other realms. Your choice.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
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Affirmative.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
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I wouldn't say "limited to," but I do think it will work a lot better that way.
"It is not the literal past that rules us, save, possibly, in a biological sense. It is images of the past. Each new historical era mirrors itself in the picture and active mythology of its past or of a past borrowed from other cultures. It tests its sense of identity, of regress or new achievement against that past.”
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