Rules of Dawn of Worlds

For the complete rulebook, refer to here:

http://www.clanwebsite.org/games/rpg/Dawn_of_Worlds_game_1_0Final.pdf

This is a useful resource to refer to for figuring out how much points it'll cost to take an action. Other than that, you don't really need to read it as the premise of the game is very simple.

At the beginning of their turn, each player rolls 2d6 to work out how many points they've collected that turn (and initially to work out turn order). Then, based on the amount of the points they have available, they can take a number of god-like actions on the world which they do alongside a written roleplay post describing their actions.

For example, I might roll an 11, and then decide to use 9 of those points to Shape Land x3 and erect a mountain range. If I have points saved up from a previous turn, I might even have enough to create a race or influence an existing one.

The amount of points an action takes (and the kind of actions able to be taken ICly) depend on what age the world is in. Each age lasts a number of years/turns agreed upon by the players and encapsulates some theme; the first age is the age of shaping where there is rarely any life and the gods are most active moulding the world and planning, the second age is the age of ancients, where primitive life begins and the earliest seeds of divine influence are sown... and so on.

At the end of every turn, the changes carried out by the players on the world are recorded in two ways:

(1). Visual changes such as geography, cities etc. are recorded on a map drawn by me. This map starts as a mostly blank canvas (some fairly featureless continents) and is up to the players to populate and exploit.

(2). Lore changes such as races, creatures, organisations, technologies and so forth are recorded in an encyclopaedia thread that is kept updated.

To give an example of both:

Map from our last game - https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/16M1tFha1tq5xLMYkmVFHBF0Pr2WB-aXyPKWZRlJaWbo/edit

Encyclopaedia from our last game - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RtW6Y80tUznirTHHkqlYIhueNzwdwKWbiW4g9K96Um4/edit

Those were games that ended relatively prematurely... and already we had a substantially changed map (someone ate the sun) and were filling out the lore.

That pretty much covers it, anyway. Hit me up if there are any questions.

Ages

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This is a means of including some kind of progression into the game. We haven't tried it out yet so this game will be something of a test-run for it. Essentially the idea is that all the deities start off as Lesser Deities, wayward spirits hungry for energy and eager to become more influential in the cosmic pantheon they're a part of.

Expy/me designed it and wrote the following:

10 = Creator Deity: The Alpha and Omega.

8 = Transcendent Deity: A greater deity that has unlocked some great source of power allowing them to glimpse into the dizzying infinity realms that pull the strings of the material and immaterial alike. They cannot yet access its true potential, but it is tantalizingly close.

4 = Greater Deity: A true deity, significant to the fate of the cosmos and able exert great power upon the material plane.

2 = Transitional Deity: A spirit ascending into godhood, still struggling for energy and influence but successfully established as a power on both the material and immaterial plane.

1 = Lesser Deity: A wayward spirit drifting through the cosmos, eager to find a world in the void and use it to ascend in power.

0 = Demi-god: A manifestation of the power of some more powerful spirit. Far greater than a mortal, but unable to exert any influence beyond the plane it is tethered to.

N/A = Dormant Deity: An inactive god, slumbering and gaining no energy. Perhaps waiting for the universe to end.

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There is a passive 0.1 gain per turn. 0.2 if a new cult is formed, or a god’s race  advanced in any way. The 0.2 gain only applies once a turn (creating 10 different cults in one turn still only results in 0.2 gain), and stacks with the 0.1 passive gain.

As you reach the Greater Deity stage (4), the passive gain and advancement gain no longer applies. Your deity has hit the limit of their forseen potential, and it is uncertain what lies beyond. A Greater God can only rise higher with certain events.

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Between levels 2 - 4 (your deity won't start at 0, but the avatars you create will) you gain a +1 bonus to every roll (i.e. level 2 = +1, level 3 = 2+ etc). At level 4, you gain access to an extra d6 (so you'll be rolling 3d6). Beyond that the nature of the bonus is unclear.

Your deity level will also have an influence on your conflicts with other deities. More powerful deities will naturally have more of an IC-common-sense advantage.

Fights between gods are settled in 3 turns.

Per battle-turn won, a god gains +0.5 points to their power level, up to a total of +1.5 in the best case scenario by the end of the clash.

Per battle-turn lost, a god loses -0.5 points to their power level, up to a total of -1.5 in the worst case scenario by the end of the clash.

For the specifics of combat, see the rulebook (but it's basically just "work it out amongst yourselves, maybe throw some dice).

One Rule We Forgot to Mention

We thought it'd be cool to add another action a deity can take; 'Create Artifact'. This costs 10 points in the First Age, and 7 points in the Second Age.

This allows the deity to imbue part of their divine power into a material object that can be possessed by a mortal. It could have any number of positive or negative qualities and could take any shape, within reason. These are very rare items of great power that are the stuff of mortal legends.