From: Neil Asato <[n--sa--o] at [wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu]> Subject: BTRC: deities To: jerry (Jerry Stratton) Date: Wed, 7 Apr 1993 14:57:49 -1000 (HST) Variant Rules on Deities and Related Subjects copyright 1993 by Neil Asato GM note: The following rules are for campaigns where there has been the equivalent of TL 16 developments including magic. GM should decide which, if any, of these apply to their campaign. Background The history and background is essentially identical to that given in the Warpworld book. Power is derived from the complex structures and the faint electrical impulses occurring in them. This "Power" exhibits characteristics similar to quantum mechanical effects on a macroscopic level, in that they can be used to create localized distortions in reality (generally referred to as "magic"). This use is what allows deities to exist and why different types of magics are incompatible, since they attempt to alter reality differently. Likewise, Power can interfere with base effects, since the base effect is imposing a gradient in reality that the Power interacts with. When a being of sufficient Power dies, it is possible for that person to use Power and sheer Willpower to continue the existence of that person's essence without the body. This requires that the person has at least 10 Power and makes a Willpower roll to make it to Power form (there is a way to bypass this mentioned later). Another requirement is that the being's Power is not too bound up in the life processes (for this reason elves do not normally make the transition to spirit form). Where the spirit "appears" is dependent on that reality. In some realities, the "spirit world" is the same as the "live world". In other realities, the spirit has to make it to another nearby reality, if the "live world" does not support the existence of such beings. Those called deities are those with at least 100 Power. Since those beings are now composed of pure Power, they have some different characteristics than when alive with corporeal bodies. The beings mentioned above use a type of magic called Deity Magic. It functions essentially as described in Warpworld. All Power used to get a base effect is "permanently used", though those beings with a Meddling Rating of one or greater can regenerate their Power without outside sources at a rate of one meddling point per day (24 hours), with the maximum recovered being up to their Meddling Rating. For every 100 Power that the being had upon death, the being gets an innate Meddling Rating point. There are some other features that apply to Deity Magic that differs from other magics. 1) The "base area" is 1-km^2. Like other magics, this can be changed. 2) All use applies as a "highly enhanced effect". (Shape and other features being determined at will). 3) Automatic base effect of 20 per Power expended. 4) Duration of 24 hours without maintenance or concentration. 5) Can be applied to any effect that the deity can clearly imagine and has the knowledge to do so. The ability to make a manifestation of themselves is best thought of as using a micro-construct in cyberspace in SpaceTime game. It allows the deity to interact with a real body and unlike other uses of Power only requires a one-time payment of Power until destroyed or has its consciousness withdrawn (the body requires food, water, air, etc. like any other living being). This body gets for "free" any Advantages and Disadvantages that comes with the deity (see later about how these can be acquired through merging with other Power). Most deities though prefer to just possess a willing priest for minimal use of Power. A limitation to a manifestation is that its characteristics may not exceed the deity's own (in the case of physical abilities, this is the potential physical ability). A favorite use of Deity Magic is the ability to enchant huge areas for temples and even small cities (as well as artifacts). This is fairly efficient, as they can do the entire enchantment all at once, and they are relatively permanent (requiring heavy firepower to break the enchantment). Another permanent use of Power (Meddling Points) is the changing of a person's Power into extra abilities as described in WarpWorld. That application does not drain the deity, though the deity will only do that service for "devout followers". There are other beings composed of pure Power, too. Though they have somewhat different properties. One type of beings are referred to as "Spirits", which is what Spirit Magic deals with. Unlike deities, spirits do not merge with the Power being consumed (like when deities merge with their followers). Instead, they "digest" Power, just as a human would digest organic material for energy and materials. For similar reasons, they do not use up Power like deities do. Spirits generally consume a cumulative amount of Power equal to their Power per day, or suffer the effects of starvation (decrease in Power, etc.). As mentioned in the Warpworld book, they normally have characteristics equal to their Power, including movement. They have a base effect equal to 20 times the Power being applied, which is not lost in the same way as deities do. The spirit weakens as if the Power being used was as if a human is exerting strength (which in some sense it is) in a similar amount. Also, the temporarily weakened spirit can regain its "strained muscles" by resting, just like a human recovering from over-exertion. The magic used by spirits otherwise conforms to Generic Magic. They usually only have one spell-like ability. There are some common features feature of beings composed entirely of Power no matter what their nature (spirits, deities, etc.). They all have a Perception, Movement (m/s), etc. equal to their Power (deities and other dead mortals have characteristics outside of movement being what they had in life though). They can all feed on Power. They have a true physical size as if a Generic Magic spell of base effect of 20 with their total Power (the rule of 1 Power = 20 base effect for beings of Power applies here). Due to the nature of Power, they express themselves as a bizarre form of electromagnetic energy, which can be detected and manipulated as such (note that once it is used in a base effect, this no longer applies as it is converted into an alteration of reality). They cannot penetrate conductors (iron/steel or better), though they could use magic to counter this effect. They can be harmed by electrical and sometimes other energy-based attacks that disrupts their energies, though they can counter this if they can create the appropriate base effects. For this reason, these beings have difficulty in passing through plasma "wind" created by stars, magma flows in planets, electrical (security) grids, and similar areas. For every point of damage (not the DV itself) done, the being suffers a loss of 1 Power (this is not the same as impairment losses, though the damage from the DV is found the same as in normal combat). If it is stunning damage that brings the being to 0 Power, then it is forced to return to its "home" reality or closest equivalent (a kind of "banishment" effect). If it is lethal damage that brings the being to 0 Power, then it is destroyed (this is similar to being reduced to 0 Power through expending all of one's Power). An interesting result of the nature of Power is that machines would perceive these sorts of beings different from living beings. Living creatures would perceive them primarily by how that presence naturally interacts with their own Power. This results in a hallucination-like impression with elements that might vary depending on ones subconsciousness and will often include contradictory sensory information as well as strange perceptions (like overlapping smells, tactile feelings, external memories and feelings, shifts in sense of proportions and directions, and other less definable senses; none of these normally affect a normal person's actions, since it is not difficult to sort the interactions against one's Power against the physical body's signals). Non-magical sensing devices would only perceive a strange electromagnetic disturbance which might be considered to be a malfunction, if the cause is not realized (some technological civilizations go to Magitech oriented developments after detailed studies are made on the nature of Power and how to manipulate it). They suffer resistance against other Power, in that their abilities are reduced as when getting a modified effect against the Power (example: a deity 1000 Power in a forest with Plant Magic of a 100 Power would have a movement of only 10 m/s). There are creatures which prey upon beings composed pure Power. They usually have physical bodies, and their bite is accompanied by a type of electrical attack (this is stunning damage versus beings with physical bodies; against Power without a physical containment, the Power is lost as if it was lethal damage and is absorbed by the creature). The DV of the attack is dependent on the size of the creature and groups it forms. A common evolution result is a flying ant-like creature that attacks in swarms (similar creatures could result in termite-like and locust-like animals that evolve from feeding on Plant magic related Power). Such creatures feed on organic materials normally, but Power is used as a high energy source for their metabolism when possible. The one aspect that makes deities particularly powerful, is their ability to literally merge themselves with Power of other beings, with the main requirement being that the Power being absorbed be lacking in a body. This absorption results in an actual mixing of the Power, and therefore the personalities, too. If the deity has a Meddling Rating of 1 or greater, the Power becomes extra Power outside of the Meddling Rating (this extra Power does not regenerate like those apart of its Rating, but it does count toward resistance to magic, movement, etc.) Another aspect of this is that the characteristics of the absorbee becomes apart of the absorber. Basically, for living Power, characteristics and skills (including personal advantages and disadvantages) are converted from levels directly into points (example: a psych limitation of level 10 is converted to points for the same psych limitation), except for Power (which only results in 1/10 of the Power as in the usual case, but include fractions to the nearest 1/100 when the Power is received over a period of time). For the above reason, there are many deities that do not absorb "souls" out of fear of changing their personalities, and those that do are very picky of those that they absorb. Nearly all deities generally have their priests (or equivalent) use conversion type spells when sending Power to their deities, even when the original energy is Power, to "purify" the Power, so that the deity does not risk undergoing personality changes when absorbing Power from followers. An extension of the above ability is what allows deities (including those with a base Meddling Rating of 0) to have "followers/ devout worshippers". To get "devout worshippers" (for getting enhanced Meddling Rating) is not as hard as one might expect. Basically it is a kind of bonding of Power. A mortal creature must be willing and knowingly allow the bonding to be qualify (this not completely mandatory, though Psych Limitations might occur as a backlash if the deity ever absorbs an unwilling being's Power). The deity then spends Power equal to the would-be worshipper's Power to make the bonding. After that, a permanent link connects the worshipper to the deity. This has its advantages and disadvantages. This link allows the worshipper to use Religious Magic, if the deity is inclined to allow its usage by that person. This is normally only allowed by those designated as "priests" or equivalent. This link makes the worshipper be treated as a Power of 1 for any use of Power by that deity or the Religious Magic of that deity (whether beneficial or not). It also allows the dead worshippers with less than 10 Power to remain intact as being of Power, and they automatically go to the designated "home" of the deity. The deity can use the link to keep track of all worshippers to nearly all realities. If someone were to spend their Power to 0, even a "devout worshipper" of a deity, their essence of Power ceases to exist (this applies to deities, too). As simplification, death rate for most populations are 1% per year, and birth rate is 2% per year. The link can be destroyed by using a spell to negate the effect (requires a modified effect of at least 20) or establishing a link to another deity. Unlike other magics, Religious Magic is very dependent on the deity. All spells must be researched solely by the deity, since they are keyed to only that deity. For this reason, deities specialize the spells for their interest (fire, cold, light, etc.) Usually, deities will give "free" spells to their priests (in particular, those that allow the priest to send Power to them [discipline of ceremony] and act as a representative). Deities will generally expect their priests to regularly send them Power. The priests use of Religious Magic does not drain the deities resources, since deities just make it easier for them to use their Power. As might be expected, the older the religon is, the larger the availability of the spells (the deity would develop more spells with time). Areas of Power There are conditions in which an area has a Power greater than one. This can be due to natural conditions that result in the creation of Power in the area. Another cause is due to those caused by living Power or the trauma of its release in death. Typically, areas where Power is created by natural conditions are "pure" in that they are not "tainted" by personality traits or other features like the Power of living beings, and they usually tend to have a bonus base effect toward some effect, since there is usually a cyclic process involved that produces effects like that of casting spells (the Power is converted into a distortion in reality). Examples of effects include: gates to other realities (usually caused by inducing "nearby" realities to interface with the area), healing (physical and/or mental, by enhancing recovery processes), and giving the Magical Aptitude Advantage (this normally requires practice for the user to get the benefits of the Advantage). The base effect is generally 5 points per Power. Often the magically inclined build their homes or bases on them, so they can set up Power Tap spells on it. In some cases, if the resources of the area is great enough, it can be used to supply the Power for enchanting magic items. This type of area can generate Power generally in the range of 1 to 10 Power per day, but only up to whatever limits exist on the system (normally in the range of 2 to 10 Power). They can be artificially augmented (often by the use of some sort of electromagnetic field generation device designed to constructively interfere with system). This can be dangerous, as the Power and base effects can increase exponentially until something crashes. A similar system is one in which an area has been the location of repeated emotional deaths of beings whose Power has not remained cohesive, though they have the prerequisite Power. In this case, the residue of Power ("tainted" by personality) gradually builds up in the area until it can manifest itself. It is in some ways similar to deities, with its own properties. It is quite diffuse, so the overall Power is relatively low (usually 2, though it is possible for it to go as high as 20). The personalities that make it up are generally almost like "snap-shots" of who they once were (often replaying their actions over and over like a movie) up to flat lines (expert systems derived from living minds with little learning ability). Their ability to use the Power is more like Generic Magic in limitations, though they do not have to research the spell to get an effect, and they normally get a base effect of 5 per Power. Due to the diffuse nature, it is extremely difficult to get rid of. Even when it appears to have been completely exhausted its resources, it can regenerate Power at a rate of 1 Power per hour. The only real way to get rid of them is to completely convert the Power into a "purified" form to destroy the minds giving it will (the Power will dissipate on its own after that), or after ionizing the area (disrupting the Power; this usually occurs with time after lightning strikes the area over the years). This type of area makes up most areas considered to be "haunted". There is a third type of area of power, but this is not really bound to an area. It is called Belief Magic. It has some similarities to deities in that it feeds off the Power of a population. This condition affects only certain species (who may by sentient or not) who evolved this type of magic (it is actually a parallel evolution to Plant Magic applied to animals). The general Power takes tangible form, controlled by the general beliefs of the population. In terms of range, use the size of the interacting population (basically, the size of the city for technological beings). The range outside of the population area is generally 10 times the average radius of the population area. This condition protects the population from outside forces, and the population is usually very religious, regarding the effect as deities (which is not too far from the truth). Every minute that threatening (perceived or real) factor is within range there is a 1 in 20 chance (5 %) that it will be assaulted, with a base effect of 1d10 (1 Power) for each population order of magnitude over 10 ( 1d10 for 10; 2d10 for 100; 3d10 for 1000; etc.). This can be cumulative as multiple attacks gang up on the threat. The effect, if possible, uses information taken from the beings greatest fears for the type of attack. The types of possible attacks include: suck Power, darkness, telekinesis, energy attack (electrical, heat or flames), mental control (pain or possession), or mental illusions (inspires fear). Whether or not the population regards something is a threat depends on many factors like culture. In times of plagues or war, virtually anything out of the ordinary is a potential target (due to hysteria). Similarly, this effect can be beneficial for the population (creating mental calm, healing, etc.) These types of beings have their Power bound up in their life processes (no afterlife). There have been rumors in which musicians/singers of these beings can by using songs and music to influence the people, to create directed and concentrated effects (so that the effect is roughly 1d10 per 100; range is increased by a factor of 10; checks for an "encounter" is increased to 50% per 10 seconds; effects determined by the theme of the music and song). Supposedly, most songs in those areas tend to be of love, dreams and hopes; but they do have rather passionate war songs for those who would consider attacking them. Avatars These are beings who, as mortals, died with less than 100 Power (and usually have more than 10). They only get a Meddling Rating is they somehow manage to link themselves up with some "devout worshippers". They usually work for someone else who pays them Power for services (sort of like Spirits). They usually have 3 to 4 Meddling Points in reserve. These often make up the bulk of family ancestor worship, to whom they act as guardian angels. Normally, the magic used is more similar to Spirit Magic, in that there is no bonding between the worshippers and the beings in the afterlife. The usual case is where a member of the family is assigned a relative whom they are responsible for, for both sides, with the living relative supplying the (converted from non-living energy sources) Power and the one in the afterlife providing advice and the occasional deity magic. While they are somewhat weak, these type of religions tend to be fanatical towards family matters (which is what this is). "Standard" Deities These are as described in the rules. They usually have around 15 to 4000 Meddling Points in reserve. They usually do not take any Power directly from living beings out of fear it will affect their personalities. They usually have lots of followers in the afterlife, and they usually have an organization similar to a corporation with the deity delegating power and (paying Power) to the avatars (some gets more than others, depending on rank). Conceptual Deities They were once standard deities, but that was centuries to millions of years ago. This type of deity is what happens when they keep absorbing Power of living beings directly for long periods of time. They literally become a combined mentality (a sort of collective intelligence). If they are careless with what they merge with, they usually end up insane. If they only merge with personalities compatible with their beliefs, they gradually become fixated with those beliefs and become totally identified with them (like nature, good, and evil). It is not too uncommon for those with similar enough beliefs to cooperate and merge with one another, effectively merging their followers into one religion too. This limits their numbers. They normally have followers in the billions to trillions across many worlds. These religions has only one deity doing everything (no avatars) for obvious reasons. They normally have over billions of Meddling Points in reserve, and it is constantly increasing (due to merging). Fortunately for others, they act only on the "big picture" are often countered by another with opposing beliefs. They are the closest known things to omnipotence (due to all that Power) and omniscience (due to the constant absorption of skills and knowledge, especially Area Knowledge), though they have rather alien hive mentality. They do not treat events like a game, the way standard deities do; instead, they view it more as a struggle over which concept will prevail among the contested realities. Since decisive events can be swayed one way or another by Meddling Points, all sides generally hoard it, preferring to use intermediaries to do most of the work. Their religions are superficially set up like corporations like standard deities, except that they are very cause-oriented. Universal Deities These are regarded more as myth, as no one really knows if they exist. They are what conceptual deities could eventually become. Basically, they somehow acquire an effectively infinite amount of Power (possibly converting a reality's potentially infinite amount of energy into Power) and expanding outward. In some respects, they become apart of that reality, although they can still acquire Power from followers, gradually filling up that reality. Rumors persist that "non- magical" realities are actually the result of being inhabited by a universal deity, since it is "everywhere" in that reality and all modified effects of spells are zero due to its near infinite Power (how they would resist things like the plasma of stars is probably due to the use of Meddling Points to resist their effects). They supposedly view the events in their reality as an entertaining never-ending story which they will only indirectly influence (the effects of all that Power and perceiving the entirety of reality all at once seems to have the effect of making them almost desireless, a kind of never-ending mental "high"). By their natures, there can only one universal deity per reality, and they cannot expand beyond to other realities.