[dungeoncrawl] Re: Gods of Conflict

Actually, I have to admit that while I read over the emails, I didn't go
over them too much.  I hadn't even noticed that Quasit wasn't in there and I
forgot that Matt didn't want to make Carpathia a deity.  I thought he fit
great where Jim put him.

-----Original Message-----
From: Johnathan Detrick [mailto:jdetrick@xxxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 9:18 AM
To: dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [dungeoncrawl] Re: Gods of Conflict


    I really think that Jim's idea of only one Greater Power works well.  I
like
the idea of Dennis as the head of the pantheon.  It's basically makes him a
Zeus
or Odin.  By making all of the other deities lesser powers, it also ensures
a
lot of squabbling and conflict, especially among the neutral and evil
powers,
which is much more interesting.  But that's just my take.
    As for your other question, I think we should do a combination of both.
For
example, if you didn't notice, Jim's pantheon didn't include Quasit.  That
was
one of the big omissions I noticed.  So we would fit him in somewhere.
There's
a case of knowing someone is a deity and fitting them in.  At the same time,
it
doesn't include nature deities.  That may be an example of deciding the
pantheon
and finding a character that fits.
    I'd like to see the pantheon grow as organically as possible.  I'm
resistant
to taking a hard and fast approach in either of the directions you
suggested.
Either way it seems we will either be cramming in characters that should not
be
gods, or cramming in gods that don't make sense.
    I wonder if your question does not stem from Carpathia being a deity?  I
know that Matt was not planning on him becoming a god, yet Jim placed him in
the
pantheon.  However, he fits so perfectly that I'm hoping Matt will decide to
leave him there.  However, if he doesn't, that's fine.  No hard feelings.
Matt
has been characteristically quiet during all of this.  Matt, your feelings?

Damon Kline wrote:

> Hey guys!  I like what I have read so far.  The idea of breaking down the
> gods is cool and I think we can make it work.  I'm undecided on the idea
of
> only having one greater power.  On one hand, it seems cool and on the
other
> hand it seems like we're missing out a bit.  I just don't know yet.
>
> I don't know if we talked about it before, but does it make sense to find
> out which characters will be deities and then decide where they will be in
> the pantheon or does it make more sense to decide the pantheon and then
fit
> characters in?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Johnathan Detrick [mailto:jdetrick@xxxxxxxxxxx]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 8:33 AM
> To: dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [dungeoncrawl] Re: Gods of Conflict
>
>     Actually, I had nothing at all to disagree with in your comments on
the
> war
> gods.  I agree they should be demipowers, and couldn't agree more with
your
> comments in that regard.  I know that we are missing some powers in major
> areas.  We have no one that is concerned with nature, and we also have no
> real
> magic deity.  I hope to speak more on this later.
>     Thanks for the explanation on Iludriss though.  That does help me
> understand
> him better.
>     I think you have crafted a unique and interesting pantheon.  Now we
just
> need to tweak it.  Of course, we haven't heard from anyone else, on
whether
> or
> not they think this system would work.  Anyone?  Do you like breaking the
> gods
> down like this?
>
> Jim and Karen wrote:
>
> > John, I definitely agree - we need some more coverage.  And this is
> actually
> > better than if you had given the same feedback at the time - I like the
> > comment in Shawn's one forwarded web page that talks about leaving
things
> > sit for two weeks and then going back to them.
> >
> > One thing, though - about the war gods.  I never explained my views on
two
> > things:  Iludriss and why I made the war gods demigods.
> >
> > With Iludriss, I always imagined him as a person of average intelligence
> and
> > exceptional fighting skill who suffered a tragic magical calamity.  When
> the
> > group encountered him, he'd already spent several years in constant pain
> and
> > torment from his transformation, and sought a release from it.  He was
> > insane and enraged, but not necessarily dumb.  This might help to
explain
> > why I saw some potential for godhood.
> >
> > With the war demigods, I came from the point of view that warfare is an
> > important part of mortal life, but sort of a limited or "specialized"
> part.
> > The lesser war gods are important during war, but not necessarily at
other
> > times or in other situations - their portfolios are very limited.  I
kind
> of
> > like the idea of these supremely powerful warriors who compete with one
> > another to influence the outcome of conflict - they're extremely
important
> > to mortal combatants, but their power level reflects their specialized
> > portfolios.  Again, just my opinion - I'm just throwing out ideas for
> people
> > to "munch" on.
> >
> > Another thing to mention - even though Gadget is lawful good, as the
> > proponent of "order" versus Magnus and Amrikol, he might not always be
the
> > staunchest ally to Dennis.  After all, Dennis is NG - he prefers
> moderation,
> > and wants to let the gods keep each other in check.  Gadget may find it
> > impossible not to work at cross purposes with Dennis from time to time -
> >
> > just some ideas to keep the conversation flowing!
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Johnathan Detrick" <jdetrick@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > To: <dungeoncrawl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > Sent: Monday, October 21, 2002 4:41 PM
> > Subject: [dungeoncrawl] Re: Gods of Conflict
> >
> > >
> > >     I've finally begun to examine Jim's idea in more detail.  I like
the
> > > way he grouped the gods, and I think it may just be the way we want to
> > > proceed.  However, he is missing a few characters, and I think we may
be
> > > missing a few important areas of life.  I'm leaving now, but I hope to
> > > send out some more e-mails on the subject tomorrow.
> > >     Sorry it took so long for me to respond to this.
> > >
> > > jimkaren@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > >
> > > > I'm just going to shoot a few ideas out
> > > > for feedback -  I'm picturing a world
> > > > with only one "true" greater power
> > > > (Dennis), and a number of intermediate
> > > > powers that struggle with each other
> > > > for dominance.  Here's the first one -
> > > > again, I'm trying to find a way to do
> > > > things differently than they did with
> > > > FR:
> > > >
> > > > Baish - God of War (Intermediate Power)
> > > >
> > > > The Faces of War:
> > > > Sir Baran (LG) *
> > > > Talosaard (CN) *
> > > > Cinilac (LN(e)) *
> > > > Drake (NE) *
> > > > Iludriss (CE) *
> > > >
> > > > Actual portfolio TBD. Basically, they'd
> > > > be Demi or Lesser powers who represent
> > > > a different aspect of war.  They
> > > > wouldn't necessarily report to Baish
> > > > (since I'm avoiding a FR mindset) but
> > > > he'd be the one to govern them and keep
> > > > them from destroying each other.
> > >
> > >
> > >

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