Saturday, November 16, 2013

Socializing in the Sky

Are you guys ready for another session of marathon vlogs? Here they come! Today's is about politics and insanity among the gods, who never seem to have getting along near the top of their to-do lists.


Question: From a social perspective, what does it mean to the gods when one god has more associated purviews and/or Epics than another god?

Question: Would it be possible for a god, through either Fate-dickery or Magic or just sheer force of will, to change their modus operandi? I have a game idea that partially revolves around the idea of Odin abandoning his normal methods to try the novel approach of honesty and good faith in order to avert Ragnarok. Is this plausible?

Question: Can you elaborate on the relationship between the Yazata and the Deva? Why do they see each other as enemies?

Question: You always talk about gods leaving the World because of Fatebonds. Why did they stay in the first place? They would have known about Fatebonds during that time. Was the risk just worth the reward?

Question: Would it be accurate to say that pantheons that have more Virtues in common (such as the Aesir and Nemetondevos) would be on better terms with each other than those that have few in common (like the Anunna and Theoi)?

Question: Every god has a rivals and enemies listing on their page, but what does that MEAN to them? To be specific, Odin has enemies - does he hate them, or are they merely names on his "to kill list"? When you say a god has enemies, does that mean hatred and active attempts at murder and sabotage, or something less intense and more passive?

Question: I've got a Scion game coming up where all the PCs are either Kami or Teotl. I was wondering if you had any ideas for ways in which those two pantheons would interact, as I'm currently drawing a blank.


Just be nice, everyone. Is that so hard?!

29 comments:

  1. The last question makes me want to see Tezcatlipoca and Susano-O go on a Ruin Everything superstar tag-team

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    1. And then only Japan and Mexico remained.

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    2. Hey, I'm the one who asked the Kami/Teotl question. if you guys are interested the band is made up of scions of Quetzalcoatl, Mictlantecuhtli, Susano-o and Ameterasu... I'm worried im going to have an incredibley fractitious band on my hands xD.

      Thank you so much for answering my question by the way, I feel almost star-struck.

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    3. Hrm, Mictlantecuhtli can't be happy with Quetzalcoatl thanks to the bone-stealing escapades, and we all know how Susano-O and Amaterasu get along... so you're in for lots of fun between parents within pantheons as well.

      I'm gonna throw some ideas out, feel free to take or leave them as you will.

      If the parents interact due to their children's actions, Mictlantecuhtli is not going to be looked on favorably by the Japanese. Horrifying mummified skeletons tend to be shunned by many people, but the Japanese would be extra-disgusted, what with their insistence on spiritual cleanliness.

      Quetzalcoatl is in a decent position, since his beastier form resembles an Eastern dragon. Not to mention that he used to be a king, which, combined with his wits, will make him able to at least presentable to the Kami. I can see him and Amaterasu, if not necessarily being friendly, then at least being civil to each other. The question becomes whether or not he and Susano-O can play nice. They're both sky-gods, but Susano-O is a wrecking ball where Quetzalcoatl is more of a creator and a maintainer. Not that the Feathered Serpent hasn't been known to murderfrenzy at times (ask the Centzon Mimixcoa, when they're not being hunted down by Mixcoatl). Basically, if Susano-o wrecks the wrong thing, shit can potentially go down.

      I agree with John's assessment: Duty is key to keeping things running smoothly. It's not a perfect solution (a Kami's Valor acting up when a Teotl tries to sacrifice is a sticky situation) but it keeps everything from breaking down.

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  2. I'm not entirely familiar with the different levels of divinity in Zoroastrianism, but if the Yazata call themselves the Ahura, why not call them that officially? It just seems too good to pass up.

    Also, while I love that marathon vlogs ensure that I get my vlog fix every week, I realized this means we won't get our weekly project update. Would it be possible to include a little footnote in the posts when you upload about the state of the projects?

    Speaking of, when you guys do the Illusion Titanrealm, are you going to be discussing the Maya-Druj dichotomy?

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    1. "Ahura" is a general name for "god" in Zoroastrianism, but the gods themselves, subordinate to Ahura Mazda, are collectively called "Yazata", which means "the worthy ones". They're all ahura, but Ahura Mazda is not a Yazata, so hence the difference in terminology. :) I imagine the Yazata refer to themselves by their collective name, but probably call other non-daeva gods ahura.

      That's a good point - if we have a project update, I'll try to make sure we get it to you guys!

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  3. "You recognize the car pulling up as your ex-wife's." "COME ON, TODAY WASN'T BAD ENOUGH YET?" Zoe Vrontopoulos

    Uh, I don't want to sound like a degenerate but does that mean what I think it means? If so, then ballsy character, Anne. You don't see a lot of LGBT PC's played by straight players.


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    1. Haha, although that game does have its fair number of LGBT characters(several played by straight players) I knew that tweet would be confusing. The first quote was me talking to Anton. The 2nd quote was zoe's reaction, knowing that anton had had a very bad day so far.

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    2. Not gonna "spoil" her exact sexuality, but no matter what it is, zoe isnt the settling down and having an x-wife type.

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    3. I don't see how playing an lgbt character as a straight roleplayer is really "ballsy"...I kind of see it as taking less balls than playing a character of another race or sex than yourself.

      Like this character and you can relate on every level, except you're also attracted to the same gender or otherwise. Unless you think that's "gross" it shouldn't be that hard?

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    4. Yeah the Gangs group in particular seems quite diverse by the looks of it when it comes to sexual preference/life style choices, but that's what happens when you have a large group of people from the modern era, New York in particular, you get a larger pool of diversity to draw from I suppose.

      I know when I create a character their sexuality if not tied into how they act normally I usually keep it quiet and let the other players discover it through play, for instance Michael being a prostitute is much more malleable in who he seeks as a potential partner compared to Russel who just can't deal with the extra stress relationships bring and is kind of celibate in order to distance himself from other people.

      But we all know the most beautiful romance of the Gangs universe was snuffed out before it could blossom.
      #AlanXSimon4eva

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    5. It's true, every time I think about Alex and Simon I play sad songs in my head. Their love will never be forgotten.

      Zoe was in fact quoting Anton in that tweet, but nobody actually knows anything about her own love life. Other than that her mother keeps trying and failing to get her to marry a nice Greek boy.

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    6. ...I totally meant Alan and Simon, but apparently I also ship you with Tom's characters, Alex.

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    7. Yes Zoe's mother is hilarious, and Russel loves her cooking.

      You heard it here first, Tom and I are destined to be folks.

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  4. Sweet, the Gangs of New York fiction isn't even out yet but I'm still getting a chance to learn about awesome characters!

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  5. ''My god, we're awesome''
    Okay John, please enlighten me, if you prayed to ONE god, which one would you pray to?
    Which one would you tell of your awesomeness?

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    1. Haha, when did I say that? Or rather, what was i referring to?
      Never just one....thatd be just....just asking to get my ass kicked by the others.

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    2. A very valid point.
      I seem to remember that it was when you were ending the video and realised that it was blog 53.

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    3. 21:07 in the video for the closest i can come to telling you when you said those words, for i do not know the date and time the video was actually recorded.

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    4. Haha, thanks. Completely forgot about that.

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    5. On a completely unrelated side-note: are you still going with that ''St school''? or did that stop? (and if it did, why?)

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    6. We had one. It went very well, but there wasnt really enough interest for another one. Ive had short classes on specific things with past students every few months, but although I enjoyed it, there really wasnt enough interest for a full new class

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    7. How many people would a full class be?

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    8. 5? Maybe 4. We started with 4 last time. But due to peoples schedules had only 2 consistently. It was a great time, but I guess didnt seem as much like class sometimes as hanging out. Which can be good. I guess it was more like a masters class type enviroment. But Id say before I put a lesson plan and got stuff together Id prefer 5.

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  6. Hey, speaking of weird cross-pantheon shenanigans, how about the Aesir and the Orisha? They share two virtues and they both have major hard-ons for learning about fate and destiny. Think it would be a good mix? Can you give any neat suggestions on what Gods between two would get along the most or the worst?

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    1. Hrmm.....I got nothing. Anne?

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    2. I feel like Oshun and Freya should totally hang out and be a terrible force of sexiness to be reckoned with.

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