Kevin's Watch

I really have to ask this...

Why on eiran (or elsewhere) would you want to make things even more complicated for you to process???

You mean more complicated than people sprinkling their DRPs around to every other deity like they were flower petals, forcing me to double-check all submissions to make sure that X did indeed give Y DRPs to Z? In the system outlined for P4 I wouldn't care less about who owes what favor to whom; it'd be all a player-managed business

Another consideration I had was that Courts could be assigned not necessarily before the game begins, but rather coalesce afterwards; since starting areas would be assigned randomly, depending on Bill the God of Wine's interaction with Martha the Goddess of Barbecues, his neighbour, mortals could think that Bill and Martha are part of the same pantheon and essentially nudge them towards forming a Court (of course, if either Bill or Martha proclaim to be the only god(dess) and say that the other is a demon, then this is not going to happen).

I like this.

Xar wrote:You mean more complicated than people sprinkling their DRPs around to every other deity like they were flower petals, forcing me to double-check all submissions to make sure that X did indeed give Y DRPs to Z? In the system outlined for P4 I wouldn't care less about who owes what favor to whom; it'd be all a player-managed business

Doesn't work like this in Aesir!!

Xar wrote:

Menolly wrote:What you are saying makes sense for the role playing aspect. The problem I see is that many times a deity does not need a favor from the domain of the requesting deity. Being able to directly donate power so the one doing the favor does not have to call upon their own power enables the potential of helping each other.

Ah, but that's exactly the point: deprived of the ability to repay your debt using the belief of your worshippers, we move into a more roleplaying-heavy situation where the god who just helped you may not need a favor from you now, but he may choose to ask such a favor later (perhaps at an inconvenient time to you, whether consciously or not) and then it's up to you to comply or refuse (I can imagine that some sly and devious gods would do the latter). Plus, favors can become a "universal currency" (i.e. the God of Biscuits has no need of favors from the Goddess of Pizza, so he "trades" the favor she owes him to the God of Appetite, in exchange for a favor from the latter).

Or... If you want something from a deity who wants nothing from you, you may just be up a creek. Who says all members of any pantheon must always help someone who wants something?

...grumble...
...bitch...
...moan...

I despise change.

Argie wrote:

Speaking of which...
What if we allow the player to propose the court themes before the start of the game? We could then chose between a small amount of them after a pool, for istance... the court must have a name, a favourite season, a concept... share the beginning of the world and the end of it, how the souls will be created, moved or reincarated when the bodies die... i see many, many RPG ideas leaving to the player chose the side in which play.
In that way old friends could build something very interesting, and it will be always enough room for new comers!

I like this idea. I see Xar's point about ending up with 12 mini-courts - but! Why not have a contest before P4 starts and use the winning one or two ideas as a basis for the courts in P4?

I would like to see a court structure before the game starts, for purely selfish reasons. I'm struggling to come up with a P4 deity idea. I think I put too much into Brid - any thoughts I have for a P4 diety seem kind of flat in comparison. Having a background, a pantheon canvas already there, would really help (I think).

Oh great! A contest! In other words, I don't get to have any input into the courts!!



But what if someone who voted for one of the winning court ideas gets put into another court?

Know you not that two forces govern the world, fighting an eternal battle? Law and Chaos. And those who uphold Chaos claim that in a world such as they rule, all things are possible. While those who uphold Law claim that without Law, nothing material is possible.

--A

Xar, I can kind of see your point about some players always forming alliances. But is that really a problem? If the rules are set up to allow that from the get-go, it wouldn't be a surprise to anybody, and others could build their own alliances up front as well.

Consider also that random court assignments also means that someone might be put on a court with someone to whom she doesn't want to be allied. And then she's forced to choose between losing the benefits of a court, or having to put up with so-and-so all the time.

And really, if two or three players can invent their character ideas knowing ahead of time that they'll be in a court together, they can start out with a whole lot of cool (from a role-playing perspective) backstory that assumes the common court. Which would then go to Stonemaybe's poin of allowing a rich backdrop from which to invent a new deity.