Alright, let's do a thing. By which I mean, let me pitch an idea.
21st century. Highly modernised city-state that's definitely not the usual cardboard copy of New York or Tokyo. Some characters with boring lives board a bus together one day, each doing their own thing. And following on with the trendy Roman tradition of only deifying someone after they're no longer attached to this mortal coil: The bus crashes off-screen (or gets hit by a holy meteor, what do I know), and everyone dies. If you were looking for a nice backstory, I apologise, but not very sincerely.
After the death of the characters, for reasons convenient unknown, they all receive powers comparable to that of an unspecialised god- Details about the limitations of that later- But their psyche remains largely the same. They can now change the shape and nature of matter with their imagination, produce life, perform magic or grant it to mortals, change the landscape, and what have you. The city, and ultimately the world, becomes their plaything. However, each god-character has their own goals and ideas, and as such it also becomes subject to their differences. Some may want to be worshipped. Others will seek to serve the humanity that once fostered them. Yet more will care nothing for people, and ignore them as they create something new for themselves.
The only change common to the minds of all characters is that they now have a strong, semi-conscious attraction to the other gods, so while they may hate one another, they will still try to interact with each other on a personal and emotional level. Until the GM gets bored and decides to introduce a World Eater-type construct to scare the shit out of all of them, this rapidly developing network of relationships, and the enormous effect that they could have on the mortal population of the city, will drive the story.
This makes this one of the few roleplay concepts in which trashy, unsolicited, pretty much randomly selected romance and rivalry is not only supported but actively encouraged. You're a god! Do what you want! Half of the characters will probably be rampantly hormonal teenagers anyway, so stupid relationships are already practically a given. Be petty. Pick fights. Have a crush, or three. Disagree with everyone over the aesthetic style of their creations. No one is really around to keep an eye on you or judge you for your opinions anymore. Put life in your bong and smoke it, if you will.
And now for the only part of the idea that's really relevant: Power Mechanics. The gods are identical in both initial and potential power. For a baseline on what they'll be able to do easily and without any practice, provided they are in close proximity with a subject:
The limitation to most divine powers in such a roleplay will be based on proximity and knowledge. Your character might have enormous power, but their awareness of the world remains limited to themselves and any spies they might employ, though they are much more perceptive in their immediate vicinity than a human would be. Any organism with a soul retains free will that cannot be directly controlled. Gods cannot kill one another, because they cannot die without choosing to do so, but they can hurt, trap, and confuse, and upset one another. Remember, however, that gods are pretty much evenly matched, especially early on. This ties in to the idea of potential power and specialisation, which comes from the following source: Divine realms, or heavens.
Divine Realms are the gods way of specialising themselves and producing a domain all their own. Every god has one, and every realm starts off as an empty, lonely blank slate. Divine realms can only be reached through interdimensional travel- Any god can travel to any realm, though travelling to their own is faster, and exiting a realm is instant. Within their own realm, a god's power is considerably higher than usual. Here they can sculpt the landscape and wildlife much more easily, although souls must be imported from the mortal plane. Each god can open physical portals to their own realm, or, with time, others. The only limitations on each divine realm is space- They are sizeable, but not nearly as large as the human city, and only expand based on the number of souls that inhabit them. These realms can be fitted out to be whatever you want. A cyber palace with hundreds of robot servants? A garden of whimsical sculpture and life? A fiery hell where the souls of wrongdoers are punished? A realisation of the Internet in which memes roam free? Do what you want.
The major function of realms are that in addition to reflecting the gods that created them, the gods themselves will change based on what their realm is like. A god in possession of an afterlife littered with graveyards and decaying bones will find it much easier to kill mortals on command. An realm full of shining golden towers will make it easier for its god to reproduce the same architecture in the mortal plane. An oceanic heaven makes a god more capable of fancy water-bending and turning people into merfolk. Don't spend too many posts alone in your realm specifying the creation process- There will probably be time skips for that. Feel free to instead steal souls from each other's realms, establish alliances between them, set up cults in the mortal plane to supply your realm with souls, use your realm to breed dragons and then unleash them en masse upon the unwitting population of Earth.
Ultimately, what I want to do with you is create drama.
Any questions?
21st century. Highly modernised city-state that's definitely not the usual cardboard copy of New York or Tokyo. Some characters with boring lives board a bus together one day, each doing their own thing. And following on with the trendy Roman tradition of only deifying someone after they're no longer attached to this mortal coil: The bus crashes off-screen (or gets hit by a holy meteor, what do I know), and everyone dies. If you were looking for a nice backstory, I apologise, but not very sincerely.
After the death of the characters, for reasons convenient unknown, they all receive powers comparable to that of an unspecialised god- Details about the limitations of that later- But their psyche remains largely the same. They can now change the shape and nature of matter with their imagination, produce life, perform magic or grant it to mortals, change the landscape, and what have you. The city, and ultimately the world, becomes their plaything. However, each god-character has their own goals and ideas, and as such it also becomes subject to their differences. Some may want to be worshipped. Others will seek to serve the humanity that once fostered them. Yet more will care nothing for people, and ignore them as they create something new for themselves.
The only change common to the minds of all characters is that they now have a strong, semi-conscious attraction to the other gods, so while they may hate one another, they will still try to interact with each other on a personal and emotional level. Until the GM gets bored and decides to introduce a World Eater-type construct to scare the shit out of all of them, this rapidly developing network of relationships, and the enormous effect that they could have on the mortal population of the city, will drive the story.
This makes this one of the few roleplay concepts in which trashy, unsolicited, pretty much randomly selected romance and rivalry is not only supported but actively encouraged. You're a god! Do what you want! Half of the characters will probably be rampantly hormonal teenagers anyway, so stupid relationships are already practically a given. Be petty. Pick fights. Have a crush, or three. Disagree with everyone over the aesthetic style of their creations. No one is really around to keep an eye on you or judge you for your opinions anymore. Put life in your bong and smoke it, if you will.
And now for the only part of the idea that's really relevant: Power Mechanics. The gods are identical in both initial and potential power. For a baseline on what they'll be able to do easily and without any practice, provided they are in close proximity with a subject:
The limitation to most divine powers in such a roleplay will be based on proximity and knowledge. Your character might have enormous power, but their awareness of the world remains limited to themselves and any spies they might employ, though they are much more perceptive in their immediate vicinity than a human would be. Any organism with a soul retains free will that cannot be directly controlled. Gods cannot kill one another, because they cannot die without choosing to do so, but they can hurt, trap, and confuse, and upset one another. Remember, however, that gods are pretty much evenly matched, especially early on. This ties in to the idea of potential power and specialisation, which comes from the following source: Divine realms, or heavens.
Divine Realms are the gods way of specialising themselves and producing a domain all their own. Every god has one, and every realm starts off as an empty, lonely blank slate. Divine realms can only be reached through interdimensional travel- Any god can travel to any realm, though travelling to their own is faster, and exiting a realm is instant. Within their own realm, a god's power is considerably higher than usual. Here they can sculpt the landscape and wildlife much more easily, although souls must be imported from the mortal plane. Each god can open physical portals to their own realm, or, with time, others. The only limitations on each divine realm is space- They are sizeable, but not nearly as large as the human city, and only expand based on the number of souls that inhabit them. These realms can be fitted out to be whatever you want. A cyber palace with hundreds of robot servants? A garden of whimsical sculpture and life? A fiery hell where the souls of wrongdoers are punished? A realisation of the Internet in which memes roam free? Do what you want.
The major function of realms are that in addition to reflecting the gods that created them, the gods themselves will change based on what their realm is like. A god in possession of an afterlife littered with graveyards and decaying bones will find it much easier to kill mortals on command. An realm full of shining golden towers will make it easier for its god to reproduce the same architecture in the mortal plane. An oceanic heaven makes a god more capable of fancy water-bending and turning people into merfolk. Don't spend too many posts alone in your realm specifying the creation process- There will probably be time skips for that. Feel free to instead steal souls from each other's realms, establish alliances between them, set up cults in the mortal plane to supply your realm with souls, use your realm to breed dragons and then unleash them en masse upon the unwitting population of Earth.
Ultimately, what I want to do with you is create drama.
Any questions?
