Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Political Free-for-All

Question: What will you do if/when all your PCs get to legend 12? At that point it seems the older gods start to get nervous.

As they grow in power, the PCs' political status will inevitably change. Already they're discovering that they're fairly powerful forces even at Legend 9 or 10; Sowiljr already numbers among the most beautiful gods in existence, Jioni can teleport further than many less-adept Psychopomp gods without even breaking a sweat, Eztli delivered a beatdown to a Legend 12 goddess that she'll be feeling for weeks, and Vala's powers of prophecy exceed those of anyone else in her pantheon. Already they're beginning to shift and try to find their own niches, whether they're carving out their own unique territories and roles or competing with other gods at roughly the same power level to attempt to take theirs. It's a really fascinating things to watch, and of course the gods choose to oppose some of them and aid others for their own political ends.

Indeed, some gods may become nervous, especially those with a history of smacking down possible competition for their thrones with extreme prejudice (looking at you, Shango) or those with notoriously bad tempers when others do things they perceive as competing with them (Dian Cecht, you are a horrible person). On the other hand, many gods may be overjoyed to have new, powerful allies to help in the war against the Titans and welcome them eagerly into the ranks, especially if they're related or happen to be very personable (I mean, how long could you really stay pissed at a guy with ten Epic Charisma?). Still others are likely to continue puppetmastering them from behind the scenes (or attempting to do so, at least) - if they're good at it, a Legend 12 tool is probably even more useful than a lower-Legend one, and depending on the PC they may be able to get away with it for quite some time. Just as Odin can effortlessly direct Thor wherever he wants, so might he be able to influence PCs into doing what he wants regardless of how powerful they are. It'll be more difficult, but for many manipulative types, challenge is the spice of life.

Some PCs, I'm sure, will agitate and try to change up their pantheon's politics and hierarchy - some may even succeed. Others may be happy just to be part of the pantheon and have no interest in swapping its rulers or taking over someone else's job. I don't foresee any of them having any trouble finding something to do, however, or any pantheon ever getting tired of fielding them against various threats - personal or public, battlefield or political.

7 comments:

  1. Just wanted to say thanks to whoever asked that question since basically I was thinking about that myself. :P For example, one character of mine (Daughter of Artemis) is about to become the Goddess of the Shifting Moon and I was wondering how Artemis would react to her now-daughter (PC Started out transexual and upon reaching godhood changed herself into a biological female-Long story) also becoming a Moon goddess

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    1. Ooh, Dodekatheon gods are always tricky - Artemis pretty much took over the moon-cult from Selene herself, so she might be fully aware of how a younger god can encroach on an older one's turf. I'd say it totally depends on how the PC approaches - if she's polite and makes it clear she's not trying to steal her mom's thunder (and some Epic socials wouldn't hurt!), she might be okay, but it's a political situation that could totally get out of hand in a fun way.

      Also, that sex change is very cool. I love it when characters transform themselves to be more in line with their concepts.

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    2. considering the main theme of the pantheon is children supplanting there parents, it could be an interesting storyline.

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  2. I agree Firefirght and thanks for the compliment Anne, she's actually part of a homemade pantheon I'm thinking of making of new Gods who decide to make their own pantheon. So would you say the pantheons have more or less a general attitude towards this subject or would you say it depends completely on each God? (IE: Dian Cecht feeling differently about his now-God Scion then say Brigid or Danu would)

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    1. I'd say that you always supplant (or look like you might supplant) a god at your own risk; some might be willing to share the limelight, but in general it's a dangerous proposition. These gods didn't get where they are by letting other people steal the show, after all. Some specific gods might be okay with it, especially if you presented it nicely, but that'd be a per-god basis, and even those that don't react violently might still try to steer you toward something that doesn't infringe on their turf so much.

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  3. Thanks for the answer and again thanks to you and everyone who works on this great blog and site :)

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