• Lots and lots of player-interaction
• Expect to be writing collabs
• Self-interested player characters scrambling against/with each other for top position
• Loads of opportunities for creativity and designing
• A slow, measured RP
• Hammy, badass, beautiful characters with uncanny powers

A certain amount of lore is coming, but this isn't going to be lore-based - by which I mean, you don't really need to know that shit, just don't contradict it. Essentially, the players will play Hosts, most of whom will think it's time for a new God. Of course, one doesn't simply stab God in the face. Without the support of the others, no one Host will have the power to defeat God - but, since the Hosts are all squabbling amongst themselves, and many of them might rather like to play God, a position which they cannot share. Allegiances, rivalries, egos and betrayals will all come to the fore.

This isn't a game where I want you the players to compete, even though your characters may well. I'd like people to work together when writing posts and be prepared for lots and lots of collaborations; rather than leaving the plot to chance and hope that you like where it goes, I'd encourage you to work out ongoing character relationships from right off the bat and be open and up-front about where you want to go with your characters - it doesn't mean you can't keep secrets if you know where you're going and what you're doing, but does hopefully mean that you won't feel lost. If this kinda way of doing things isn't for you, nor is this game: everybody in this should be happy and comfortable to talk about what they'd like to get up to and to support one another to do it.

The fun part: characters. 'Hosts' are based on humans, but with metaphysical powers. They're not god, but let's say they can work miracles. Their power is an expression of their own individuality: if crazy-lasers suit your character, then crazy-lasers you may have. You know those characters that nobody likes in most other games: the ones that are too cool for school, too OP, unrealistically beautiful? Bring them here. Get your ham on and start chewing scenery, because you're literally only a few steps down from actual goddamn god. Clearly, there'll be many more details about exactly what a Host is in terms of the lore, but it's going to be something along the lines of mortals that refused to die or simply ascended from life on account of being so intense and enlightened.

Since the Interest Check, well, got Interest, I'm throwing up an OoC now. In the next post down, I'll outline Setting, Lore, and Characters.

This isn't Lore-based. I don't expect you or your characters to be able to wax lyrical about the metaphysics of this universe (or though, of course, you may!). I simply want to set context so that you know what you are working with. The Lore will come in the form of Excerpts from the Book of Trouble, which may or may not itself actually feature in the IC. If you have any questions, because you're keen to know more or legit don't understand this pseudo-philosophical twaddle I'm generating, by all means ask: although, of course, if you punch a hole in the logic, I'm not gonna re-write the whole thing, but just suggest your puny mortal brain couldn't possibly ever understand the revelations in the Book of Trouble, but it was really cute of you to try.









I'll work on this bit last, because it's actually kinda the least important bit from my perspective. Just to give you something to work with, imagine a modern metropolis full of burger joints and computer stores and stupid teenagers taking selfies. If enough people indicate they want it, I could actually set it within an equally decadent period, such as the '20s, but I'm assuming modern day is more like it.



So: here's the sheet. It's a bit unconventional and might ask a bit more from you than other sheets, particularly under relationships. Please take this thing seriously, and for the love of god please use the formatting I've laid out. It really really really does make it easier to compare sheets - which I'm expecting everybody to do. There's an explanation hider so you know what each heading means. You know, please read it. :P

Qualities:

Name:
Character:
Flaws:

Appearance:
Essence:
Emblem:
Relationships:


Stats:

Ambition:
Combat:
Essence:
Cunning:
Reputation:

• Talk to each other. This game will be driven by your characters' plotting and scheming and betraying and such, and that'll work best with lots of inter-player communication and collaborative posts. If you're not up for that, this isn't the game for you.
• I shouldn't have to say this, but talk to each other politely and with respect.
• Advanced-standard posts. This is mostly a bit of fun, but basic spelling and grammar are a key component of fun. I don't mind short posts that add content, but you ought to consider a collab for back-and-forth conversations or interactions.
• GM is God. In this case, literally. :D
• Have fun - no, really. Ham up and let your inner megalomaniac free!

For your review GM

Qualities:

Name: Sarcen - the Destroyer, the White Fire, Taker of Life and Wielder of the First Blade

Character: Unrestrained Hedonism is Sarcen’s most key and core essence – they pursue their own enjoyment and amusement to the detriment or even destruction of others and of the self. They are violent, sadistic, self-centred, hedonist and utterly depraved. They live their life as swirling vortex of fighting, drinking, whoring, stealing, killing, and abusing others that sucks in all those around them and spits them back out broken and bruised - and often even worse. However, at the same time as this Sarcen has an intense fascination and interest in humans, their little plans and schemes and intrigues and emotions. So insignificant and weak but crying out for recognition, love, praise and power. Sarcen is sincre in his respect for mankind and their pleasure seeking and often brutal ways (sometimes even he is impressed by their capacity to inflict horrors) but he feels no love for them - or for his own kind of that matter. It's like watching an ant farm... occasionally crushing a few between your fingers to see how they react. And while he can exert his will over many of them for his enjoyment now... its gotten stale... perhaps a larger ant farm to play with is needed?

Flaws:

• Untrustworthy and completely self-centred makes them a poor and unwilling ally
• Hedonistic and self-destructive tendencies hamper effectiveness (permanently hung-over or drunk/high)
• No focus or pre-planning, they act, they don't plan, and if they get bored of something, they will give up and do something else

Appearance: Sarcen is tall man, broad shouldered but slim at the waist. They are muscular but at the same time have a lean and hungry look to them, like they haven’t eaten properly for days or weeks. Angular is their face with high and sharp cheekbones, with a strong chin that always bears a few days’ worth of rough stubble upon it. Unlike his cheeks, his nose is flat and wide, it looks as though it has been broken in the past. Their skin is marred with many scars and pale, like their hair, which is a silvery blonde kept short, tight buzz cut on the sides with low messy spikes on top. Their lips are thin, and pull back to reveal yellowed teeth with long, sharp, canines. Yellower still are Sarcen’s eyes, a bright inhuman and incandescent yellow, with slits for pupils – predator eyes, although normally these are hidden by a set of ever present black sunglasses which themselves rest upon his pointed and multiply pierced ears. A metal bar runs through their right eyebrow.

They dress in an old stained and torn white ribbed vest transitioning down over a black leather belt with a large tarnished belt into ripped washed out jeans and heavy black army boots. Over the exposed part of the his body you can see Sarcen's 'art work', hundreds of different tattoos all in different styles and of different ages, some overlapping each over, some familiar symbols and motifs, others alien and incomprehensible.

Essence: Fire. White Fire, that’s burns hotter than any fire you can imagine, as Sarcen taps into more and more of the flow an essence this heat becomes more focused and more intense – allowing them to create explosions and blasts of superheated air. However, for all the power and strength of their use of essence, Sarcen lacks all forms of subtlety and technique with its use. All he can understand is brute force when it comes to the use of his powers.

Emblem: A silver and black switchblade.

Relationships:



Stats:
Ambition: 7
Combat: 8
Essence: 7
Cunning: 3
Reputation: 1

Will we see a sample character/CS? I have a decent idea of what I want to write up, but I'd just like an example for how it should be quantified.

For instance, I'm not totally sure what the median level of power or influence we should have is.

I'm also curious about how the "supernatural" is perceived/known by mortals. If they even know about it, if it's an underground thing for them, or if they're capable of "magic."

@Kassarock: Looking good at a glance. I don't have time to drill down into it in minute detail (and I will :P) right now, so I'll have a proper look when I can.

@Dead Cruiser: Gotcha. The general rule is that Presences can't perceive Essence occurring at a higher level than themselves. To all intents and purposes, this basically means they can look at the raddest, coolest magical shit you're doing, and straight-up not notice that anything has happened. While they, like everything else, 'have' and emit essence (and you will be able to detect and perceive this: think 'auras'), this is completely a byproduct of their existence and never an intended action. This means that, from a Host's perspective, mortals are stupidly easy to manipulate, and that they can assume whatever role they choose in mortal society, if any, just by kinda 'making it so'.

I've been pretty slow on writing my own character, partly because I'll also have to write up God and Trouble as well, and I know that my sheet will, as you say, kinda be judged as a benchmark for what I'm looking to see. Plus I've got a game in the NRP section that I'm making sure I don't neglect. Expect my sheet today or tomorrow. If you want to risk it, shoot me what you have and I can give you some idea of how close you are to what I'm looking for.

This may seem a bit similar to the previous submission, but this is an idea I've had for a while. Props if you can guess the rather obvious inspiration.

@Dead Cruiser @Kassarock

Yo, so, it's true that Cruiser's character is pretty similar to Kassarock's. If we get enough sheets in, I actually wouldn't mind having two chaotic forces, but since that's all we have for now, I'm gonna suggest that Kassarock gets dibs on the 'chaotic' character, simply by being first. One possible fix is talking to each other and finding/engineering key contrasts that set the two apart and emphasising them - if you can't, then we can wait and see what and who else we get to see if this town is big enough for the two of you. There's definitely room for Destruction!Chaos and Corruption!Chaos, though, if you can refine the concepts between you.

Either way, here are some notes on your sheets on things I've picked up on that could maybe be tweaked or nuanced somehow. Apologies if I'm being picky, but... heh, I'm picky.

Flaws:

• Everyone hates them/is sacred of them

I get where you're going with it, but you don't know who 'everybody' is, yet, so you might be jumping the gun here. Simply saying you have a really poor reputation might give people more to work with - also, I wouldn't be keen to see you eschew contact with other players by creating a character that simply can't be cooperated with. Maybe there's a way to relax this somewhat?

normally these are hidden by a set of ever present black sunglasses
...
were he to take off the jacket you’d be able to see the art work that adorns his body

Note that your character's clothes are literally a part of their physical presence. I can imagine sunglasses being pushed onto the top of the head, but 'taking off' a jacket wouldn't really be a thing.

• Takyon is an unpredictable, despicable creature. Reviled by all, save for his utterly deranged followers.

As I build more of the city, there will be more scope for you to nuance this, and the notion of 'followers' would not be impossible, but the idea of 'worship' might not manifest quite as you imagine it: it'll be more like, you've weaselled your way into a position within the mortal life such that you have 'friends' who may or may not worship the ground you walk on, but it wouldn't be in any way a religious or spiritual worship. Also, I said to Kassarock, he might not be reviled by all, so you should consider giving other players the chance to cooperate with him.

with the occasional presence of a dark, hooded jacket.

As mentioned to Kassarock, appearances in this only fluctuate subtly.

dark forces

I'm not sure 'dark' is really a feature of this game, in the sense of 'holiness': with a bit of tweakery or clarification, this could very easily involve the negative, decadent emotions of the city at large, like greed and hatred? Which I'd ****in' love, personally.

I felt like my original CS didn't quite capture what I was going for, so as of 8:07 UTC 4/20, I completely rewrote the personality and essence section, just FYI

I like the idea, a lot actually. Just looking for a few clarifications.

So, essentially, we're playing figures or entities that are often mistaken for Angels of God, who are just people who willed themselves into existing post-death/enlightenment during life? So we're not all ancient, some of us are, and none of us were created by a single figure?

And what is it exactly we can do with Essence? Only one specific thing each Host, or a variety of things, with an overall effect on the Essence around us just by being there, i.e. each Host is capable of warping reality, but depending on their individuality, just being around Mortals cause them to feel and behave a certain way.

@Jig Maybe if I explain my concept for Takyon it might make more sense to you, for what I'm trying to do.

How he'll be playing in function is going to be something like a "dark messiah." A figure of mystique and veneration, but only by the insane, the chaotic, and those that want to bring the system crashing down. As Donny Darko would say, Takyon is essentially "the fucking antichrist."

I would like to note in regards to "worship," that I intend to form around him a Manson-esque cult, generally comprised of those that he inflicts with madness.

@Jig Cool I'll tweak the things you said although actually now I that I think about it there a few things I might change actually in regards to their personality. This character is ultimately a rework of one I've been writing about since 2009? I think, and the version you see right now is a hybrid of two (well probably more actually) incarnations of them and the more I think about it, the less I'm happy with it.

I want to change to be less destructive/chaotic and more epicurean/hedonistic with a sadistic self serving streak that can often manifest itself in violence, in particular picking on the weak and defenseless for fun. Might tone down the combat level a bit as well since I'm moving away from the whole 'ultimate flawed weapon' kinda conception.

I'd also like to know about some of the Architect's questions too, I thought essentially we were going to be playing as anthropomorphic manifestations of a concept similar to the metaphysical interpretations of Nietzsche's Will to Power. Being's that exist to try and dominate each other and the world, and that exist by force of their own will. Am I much wrong?

----

EDIT: I updated the CS to better reflect what I was talking about

[delete]

Yo. I don't know if anybody has been keeping an eye on my sig, but the shit's about to hit the fan for me, and I'd rather not try to GM right now and focus on the games I'm already participating in in the time I have to focus on things that aren't the aforementioned shit or the aforementioned fan.

Many apologies and thanks to those of you who've already spent time on this and made sheets, but consider this not happening, certainly at least for now. If I give this another whirl, it'll be when I can commit to the time, energy and attention span which I can't guarantee now.

Thanks for understanding.

I like the idea, a lot actually. Just looking for a few clarifications.

So, essentially, we're playing figures or entities that are often mistaken for Angels of God, who are just people who willed themselves into existing post-death/enlightenment during life? So we're not all ancient, some of us are, and none of us were created by a single figure?

And what is it exactly we can do with Essence? Only one specific thing each Host, or a variety of things, with an overall effect on the Essence around us just by being there, i.e. each Host is capable of warping reality, but depending on their individuality, just being around Mortals cause them to feel and behave a certain way.

This is purely speaking academically, as this isn't happening at least right now:

The Hosts exist as a creation, deliberate or not, from the fountain of Essence, ie: God. In the same way you might find yourself with pent-up aggression and can choose to channel that aggression (sport, sex, whatever) or have it spontaneously build up and burst out of you, Essence works the same way. Had I spent more time on this, and had enough potential players, I would have allowed for 'ascension' - mortals that had generated so much essence that they became, metaphysically-speaking, indistuinguishable from Hosts. The Hosts can be either deliberate creations from God or kind of a byproduct of Essence. They are distinct from Mortals in that they understand Essence and can control it, at least to a point, so, yes, there is a point to which they could will themselves to being. It's worth saying that I've read enough philosophy to broadly disregard philosophy that is not based in logically proving things (as in maths) as 'nutters asserting gibberish', so I can't comment on Nietsche beyond the very basics, because I'm so discouraged from the topic as a whole.

If I give Hardly Divine another go, I'll try to be much clearer, but it's been hard for me to focus on this while also avoiding an infodump. This was based on a couple of things, but, particularly, The World Ends With You and Bayonetta.

In The World Ends With You, which is unbelievably tough to summarise, dead people with the sufficient quality of 'imagination' are thrust into 'the reaper's game', where they get to compete for their lives back over a series of missions: typically this involves erasing 'Noise' (negative emotions manifested in this extended plane of existence) but as the game progresses and characters scheme against each other, this develops somewhat. The Reapers are people who, having competed in the Reaper's Game, either don't want or haven't quite been successful in their attempt to get their lives back, but still get an 'honourable mention'. The overall game is based very much in the shallow metropolis of Shibuya in Tokyo, and while the players of the Reaper's game are invisible, they can interact with the overall mood and literal fashions of the city and the actual direct emotions of the living people in the city. Oh, and the whole Reaper's game is orchestrated by heavenly figures from another plane of existence who are basically bickering, and saying any more would be to spoil one of the best games I've ever played: if any of you has a Nintendo DS, I really really really recommend going on eBay and trying to find a copy of the game, because, while it has flaws, it is astonishingly good with a fantastic and ambitious plot.

Bayonetta, meanwhile, is perhaps best explained with an NSFW video: this one. I was basically going for the general content of TWEWY with the style of Bayontta. If anybody wants me to give them a heads up when/if I try this again, let me know.