A heartfelt thank you to all of the following, without whom Divinus would not have lived and thrived for close to a decade at this point:

@actraiserthereturned, for being the one that created the very first Divinus. Without your creativity, this game that has brought joy and entertainment to dozens of people throughout the years would not have existed.

@Kho, for bringing the game back to life after its original version’s death and thus marking the start of Divinus as we know it, a multi-iteration God Roleplay where people can let their creativity run free.

@Cyclone, for being one of the pillars that propped up Divinus in its earlier years by assisting Kho at first and then evolving to be the Game Master behind Mk. III, one of the biggest iterations.

@Rtron, who took it upon himself to play the difficult role of antagonist in the early iterations. Vestec (as well as Voligan) was a fun character and it was great to write alongside you.

@Antarctic Termite, for your original writing, friendliness, approachability, and fresh take on the Divinus formula by developing your own branch called Godspeed, which was enjoyed by many (including me), thank you.

@Lord Zee, for your great work in Mk. 4, as well as your continued presence in the games up to the present day. You are a fellow veteran of Divinus now, and your presence is more appreciated than you may be aware of.

@Double Capybara, for your unorthodox writing at times, which was a breath of fresh air in what could otherwise become a bit of a stale environment. That, and your willingness to collaborate and write great things along with others has for a long time been one of the highlights of Divinus from my point of view.

As well as others such as @Enzayne, @BBeast, @Muttonhawk, @Lauder, @Kalmar, @Chris488, @Commodore, @Zurajai, @Goldeagle1221 and @AdorableSaucer.

To all those I’ve mentioned, I wish to extend my most sincere gratitude and admiration. You are all dear friends of mine and will always be welcome back into Divinus should you choose to return.

On the Universe and the World:

Just remember, what we currently have is an empty 'World'. Before we can begin creating things (or, indeed, destroying what has been created or bringing about chaos, untold misery and destruction), we must create a 'Universe' within this world. The universe is basically the skeleton which we can then begin building meat upon, the husk which we slowly fill up, the empty cell membrane which we must fill with all those fascinating things which complete it. In the beginning all there would exist is a 'World'. A completely empty world where nothing exists - space, time, the universe as self-contained 'thing', 'plane of existence', or 'dimension', the laws of nature, physics etc. All that doesn't exist, it's not even a 'void' or 'vacuum' in the sense that outer space is a 'vacuum'. What must be created, first and foremost, is the 'Universe' as a new dimension or plane of existence within 'The World', Time must begin, Space as a thing must be created, the Laws of Nature and Physics must be brought about (default as they exist in our world). If you are confused, then think of 'The World' as outer space in god-terms, and 'The Universe' as planet Earth in god-terms, and a god's personal plane of existence as a separate dimension within 'The World' i.e. something like a satellite.

On Creating the Universe:

Now, for a universe to come about, all the gods must pool their power into the Scroll (named the Codex of Creation) present at the center of all things and creating a 'Big Bang' effect. The process of adding one's power consumes 4 Might, which may seem like a lot considering it's the entirety of your MP pool at the start of the game, but consider that you're funding the creation of a brand new Universe and the price will start to seem small! Plus, I will be giving everyone a hefty amount of bonus MP once the Universe has been created, so you won't feel strapped for God dough when it comes to creating all those neat mountain ranges and mud pools.

In any case, through this Big Bang each god can then will things into being, such as galaxies, stars, planets etc. The power of the pooling together of energy, this moment of divine unity, as well as the Big Bang, carries their will forth and a universe is born which can then be built upon. For instance, once the universe is complete, we may find that something like water does not exist, or seasons, or fire. We can then go our separate ways and do as we like. While not necessary as the game develops, we might want to all focus on developing one planet first, and bring life to others later by replicating the first.

The 'big bang' experience may well be different for each god, but one defining feature of it is that it will be BIG (hence, BIG bang). And it will be a bang (hence big BANG). Huge and noisy is the way gods like it! To qualify this, the very experience of the 'Big Bang' will be different. This is as much a physical 'creation' as it is a spiritual, ethereal, intangible one. This isn't just the beginning of the universe as a physical 'thing', this is the coming into existence of infinite timelines and futures, lives, tragedies, seasons, and so on. A god like Vowzra (god of Time), for instance, may find it to be an awe-inspiring, overpowering thing, he may be carried off, mentally, into a thousand futures and see a thousand flashes of lives that could be. One like Escre (god of Spirits) may suddenly sense all the lives that will ever be within him, Vestec (god of Chaos) may be engulfed by all the powers chaos can muster and so on. It may create an epiphanic experience. On the other hand, it may be purely physical, perhaps the raw power and ear-piercing sound may drive a god to near madness, it may fill them with joy to know that this is their doing, they may be filled with inexplicable terror and so on.

On the Scope of 'Creation' in Rules 1 and 2:

When we speak of 'Creations' in these rules, we mean important creations. Heroes, specific monsters, entire races, major temples, etc. If you create a race that naturally reproduces, another God could play around with a faction of that population (until another God chases them off that is) without seeking permission. If Astarte creates an entire race of Ug the Cavemen, Vestec can convert a portion of them to his religion. Or turn them into forging cyclopes. Or just smite a portion of them. Maybe drive his own race to war with them. Whatever suits his fancy. Naturally, this might irritate the creating god and they can retaliate if they so wish. Vestec cannot, however, exterminate the entire race without prior permission. Nor can a god meddle with specific characters deemed important by a player without permission.

In summary, you have to get permission to screw with major creations of a Player, but not for minor things. (If you feel something is minor, and the creator says it's major, talk to a GM. They'll mediate.)

Now, for the sake of maintaining OOC peace and order, when you agree on something via PMs or OOC, use clear language which leaves no space for doubts. Things like 'Yes you can do that,' and 'No you can't' are examples of clear language. Things like 'Maybe,' 'You can try,' 'That sounds like it could happen,' 'Hmm,' are not clear.

Moreover, if a player does godmod or goes beyond their remit or does something that requires permission, try not to post a revenge post of godly godmodding to get them back. Godmodding is an issue dealt with OOCly, attempting to take vengeance won't sort it, and the RP could easily devolve into godmodding bonanza if enough like-minded people are about.

A Comment on the Roleplay's pace:

Divinus games typically start out FAST, but do not be intimidated as the pace usually slows down to very manageable levels after a couple weeks. These games last quite a while too, so do not feel as if you are in a rush to do anything. We’re here for the long haul and to have fun, not to make RPing feel like a job. For reference, Divinus Mk. 2 started several years ago and is still kept alive by a core playerbase.

On Considerations for Combat:

Might - The more of it you have, the more powerful the strikes you can deliver. An attack which uses 6 Might could very well obliterate a large portion of a continent if not deflected properly. If an attack using higher Might, or an army with higher Might, goes against one of less Might, it will generally win out, unless tactics and strategy are also at play.

Tactics and Strategy - This is really about the individual and how smart they can be about their battle. If they are very intelligent about it and deliver one act of genius after another, then things should swing in their favour due to their cleverness, brilliance, or due to some kind of divine intervention no matter if they are physically stronger or weaker than their opponent.

Writing quality - This is just a matter of pure writing quality. Is it gripping? Does it make sense? Is it well thought out? This will be a factor a GM considers when deciding who should win in cases where players cannot decide between themselves.

Plot line/Player agreement - If the players have agreed what the result will be, then that will override all the above (yes, that means that a tiny gecko could steamroll a Hero of War if both players agree to that result.)

A Comment on Creating Species:

No completely new species, upon being created, will have a fully functional social order or knowledge. Species must either be created and developed ICly, or the first post (detailing their creation) must also detail their development/evolution/growth to the present day. For instance, when humans are first created, they will have no knowledge of 'society' or 'magic' or even something like 'self', 'identity' etc. unless they are taught it or naturally develop it over time.

These things can either be given them in the creation post (meaning the player would have to detail their growth, giving a reasonable time-frame) or they can be allowed to develop naturally ICly, with contribution from the original creator and other players. If a new species has evolved from a previously existing species, then it can be assumed that they have all the knowledge of the original species, as well as anything new that has been given them either directly by a god or by virtue of their evolution, and said evolution must be detailed in their creation post.

Try, as much as possible, to ensure that we do not have cases of creation ex nihilo when it comes to species, intelligent or otherwise. In general, try to logically build things up and based on what was there beforehand, or if you are creating something entirely new then do try to make them fit in nicely with what’s already there.

Of course, it is not expected that every planet will follow such a route, but the point is to develop and build upon what others have done. This is not a rule, merely an expression of preference by myself, for whatever it is worth.

On Balancing Game-Play, Plot & Character Development, and Technological Advancement:

Natural technological advancement should be slow and there should be a focus on the development and growth of the various civilisations in existence (growth of nations, conflicts, godly politics etc.) When granting technologies, players should be aware of the seismic consequences this will have on the game-world as a whole. Sometimes it is far more interesting to explore a certain technological period in depth before allowing for advancement in technology but I do understand the draw of the magitech or even sci-fi aesthetic, especially when mixed with more traditional fantastical civilizations so do reach out to me and other players if you want to create something that may be unorthodox.

On Using More Might than you have:

Technically possible, but consider the possible consequences of such an overextension of your God’s essence. Temporary mortality, permanent injuries, ripping of the fabric of reality, etc. are all possible when pulling off crazy stunts.

1. I wanna join.

Introduce yourself in the OOC, and once a place opens up, you can play a Godling. Feel free to join in all our very serious conversations, heated philosophical debates and other very, very serious stuff we tend to very seriously do in this very serious thread about very serious things.

And on that very serious note, don't forget to read the entire OP! If you have any ideas concerning your potential future character, or what you would like to one day unleash upon the universe, have comments on anything or any questions at all, don't be shy and talk to us.

2. I want to make a few creatures another character made loyal to me.

You can convert a small number of another character's creations without asking. Bigger actions against important creations require that you seek permission from the player in question.

3. I want to create a species which is mega-loyal to me and is immune to the approaches of other gods.

You can create races which are blindly loyal to your character, whose loyalty is basically gene-encoded. You cannot make them immune to being messed with, converted or in any other way affected by another god.

4. So, is there any posting order or can I just get working on my post?

There is no posting order or limit, you can post in any order and as many times per turn as you can. Do try to allow two players to post after your last post before you post again though.

5. I want to create a species that goes 'Harungamunga' upon emerging into the world.

That is scientifically impossible. The Inherent Laws, the Fundamentals of Existence, and the Alpha and Omega all dictate that the first thing any creature can say upon emerging into the world, is 'Wow'. Your creatures can say 'Harungamunga' all they want, but their first sound must be 'Wow'. This is MANDATORY and failure to comply will result in your species being cursed with universal lactose intolerance.

6. How do I know a new turn has started?

An IC post will come up which will say 'Turn [insert turn number here]' in big writing with a summary of how much Might each character has available.

7. I want to create another planet!

You can if you so wish. There are billions of barren planets out and about however, so creating a new one from scratch may just be a waste of Might...

8. Do we have a sun?

Yes.

9. Do we have a moon?

Not at the start. That will be up to you, the players, to create.

10. Does the planet Galbar rotate? Does it have gravity?

No it doesn- OF COURSE IT DOES YOU, MINION!

11. I want to do more than one thing with 1 Might Point.

It is entirely possible to do more than one thing with 1 Might. You can teach an intelligent species more than one idea, concept or technology using 1 Might alone, and create a few fantastical non-sapient species with 1 Might. Feel free to experiment in-game in this regard. For example, I won’t bat an eye at someone teaching Humanity about Fire, Stone Tools, and Shelter-making for 1 Might, but might be a bit concerned if I see someone trying to teach cavemen about Quantum Physics, Rocketeering, Steam Engines and Teleportation for 1 MP.

12. How long are the days and years on Galbar?

Assume Earth-like statistics unless otherwise specified in-game. So days are 24 Earth hours, a year is 365 Earth days.