Discussion thread for Haelyn (Deities and Demigods). If you would like to add a comment, click the Post Reply button.
Exalted Anuirean? Am I missing something? What happened to Outsider etc.?
The first time I proposed this sort thing, somebody said: “They aren’t outsiders.” So, I had to put something down.
Actually, the outsider type reflects how a being is “not entirely natural.” These characters should all have some base levels in their appropriate classes, but they should also have a number of outsider Hit Dice to signify their divine status (apart from their divine rank, of course)… On the other hand, none of them should have the Extraplanar subtype, but the Native one.
P.S.: Silliness is warranted in this case, but let us NOT overdo it.
I think that their transformation into gods completely removed the Native status, even if they’re not Extraplanar. After all, they’re now divine beings, free from the disadvantages of the Native subtype and, if you follow the D&Dg rules, complete with all the divine advantages, including the Outsider hit dice and Outsider (ethics, morals) type.
Edit: For the record, “Medium-sized” is now just “Medium”. Also, “Insider” sounds silly. Just indicating that they’re (possibly non-native) non-extra-planar Outsiders should do the same trick.
Gods would have to be the ultimate insiders.
A couple of Native Outsiders coming up. 
Actually, Thelandrin is correct: I forgot that the Native subtype indicated a creature that was semi-deific and does not much the whole godly theme - which would make using it erroneous. Outsiders are fine, anyway - the entry regarding outsiders reads: “Some creatures start out as some other type and become outsiders when they attain a higher (or lower) state of spiritual existence.” If that is not relevant to ascension as well, I wonder what would ever be…
Why is Haelyn DvR 20? That is the greatest power that any god can be. Are you intending to make all the Greater Gods that, or just Haelyn? For reference, even people like Zeus and Odin are only DvR 18 or so.
Avani is DvR 18.
Elton.
I would like us to emphasize a little on 3 matters: first, the Native subtype (if you keep it, move it in a parenthesis, though I suggest you do ommit it); secondly, the DR; and, finally, any special powers (attacks/qualities/etc.).
At 08:11 AM 6/16/2007, kgauck wrote:
>Gods would have to be the ultimate insiders.
Excuse me if I pun on at the mouth…
Interestingly enough (to me) gods come in two major flavors; ones
that embody abstract human ideas, like Haeyln whose portfolio
includes things like law, justice and chivalry and those who embody
things having to do with the nature or natural environment like the
sea, fire and weather.
I`ve always thought it would be nice if such a distinction were
portrayed somehow game mechanically. That is, a god who embodies a
human ideal/concept might be more influenced and/or derive more
“mana” from the actual worship of humans. Haelyn is more likely to
respond to the prayers of knights before battle, and the god himself
derives more “godly power” from the existence of temples. Erik, on
the other hand, as a nature god wants unspoiled natural land, hence
the lack of development in the Rjurik Highlands.
Gary
Types are not meant to reflect that. A myriad other things do just that.
Excuse me if I pun on at the mouth…
Interestingly enough (to me) gods come in two major flavors; ones
that embody abstract human ideas, like Haeyln whose portfolio
includes things like law, justice and chivalry and those who embody
things having to do with the nature or natural environment like the
sea, fire and weather.I`ve always thought it would be nice if such a distinction were
portrayed somehow game mechanically. That is, a god who embodies a
human ideal/concept might be more influenced and/or derive more
“mana” from the actual worship of humans. Haelyn is more likely to
respond to the prayers of knights before battle, and the god himself
derives more “godly power” from the existence of temples. Erik, on
the other hand, as a nature god wants unspoiled natural land, hence
the lack of development in the Rjurik Highlands.
Sorry for the resurrection; I`m finally getting around to going through my
inbox and I found this little nugget.
About a year ago, I had a similiar idea, but never really developed it. It
came from an idea I`ve always had about the presence of “Dark Sources” in
Cerelia, and branched out from there. Anyway, here it goes:
For every regent type in the game, there may also exist one or more other
regents that represent polar opposites or shadow opposition to these
groups. Theyre not necessarily enemies, but the very nature of their organization means they will forever remain in competition. (Im a big fan
of promoting more direct competition at the domain level, as opposed to the
indirect competition I feel exists now.)
So, while we have a King who might depend on gaining Regency from Law
Holdings, we might also have a Kingpin that depends on lawlessness. So in a
level-4 province with a level 2 law holding, 2 RP are going to the Law
Holding and 2 RP are going to the “Non-Law Holdings” if they are owned.
When the Level 2 law holding is ruled, one non-law holding is destroyed to
make room. This, of course, makes the traditional regents far more
powerful. It is a similiar relationship that exists currently between
province levels and source holdings.
I never could come up with what would be the opposite of a Guild Holding,
but I figure the elves must have something since they have no guilds.
Likely, whatever it is, would be destroyed by the presence of Guilds.
The temple holdings are opposed with non-temple holdings, which I always
imaged ot be equivilent to druidic holdings. Thus, the presence of the
temples could destroy the “natural” spiritual energies. Of course, I always
imagined druids to be source holding rulers also, so my interpretation
varies from other people on this issue quite a bit. Like I said, the idea
was never fully developed, so it only makes half-sense right now, but I
thought it was a fairly cool idea.
The source holding was a little more complicated, because the campaign I was
designing had a Dark Source, which is something outside of the Birthright
material. In my interpretation, rising province levels could destroy
sources (and thus sources functioned as non-provinces), but they could not
destroy Dark Sources. Dark Sources, however, when ruled, could destroy
Source holdings, and if there were no source holdings, then province
levels. The Dark Sources were meant to represent a corrupt taint in the
land, connected to source holdings from the Shadow World.
One of the advantages of this system, is that you can look at information
about a realm (or just look at the map), and in addition to learning a bunch
of stuff about it, theres a bunch of stuff you could learn about it based on what isnt there. If something is missing that should be filled (like
empty source holdings lying near a source-regents domain), theres a
domain-level reason WHY that may be the case, and the player is exposed to
the idea that there may be a consequence to claiming it. (In this case, it
could really piss off any non-source holding regents that the player may not
be aware of).
I was imagining that most non-holdings are tiny organizations in and of
themselves that are very little threat to a regent, except as a nuisance in
an RP bidding war, but there might be a few powerful (hidden) empires
controlling non-holdings in multiple domains that work to keep the
traditional regents out of particular areas and activities. And they have
RP. And possibly troops.