Dawn of Worlds: We are as gooooods

Four of us gathered together with only a pdf of the Dawn of Worlds rules set and a leaf of 15x15 paper, blank but for this outline (or a close variation of it).

That is, if you're interested, a modified drawing of a methane sea on Titan. I'm fond of using interesting natural/extraterrestrial shapes as map outlines.

First things first. As we were supposed to be gods creating this world in our respective images, we thought we'd go a little bit beyond the scope of the rules and give ourselves some spheres of influence. How we came to these spheres was created and decided by the lot of us, and quite neat in my opinion.

Dawn of Worlds divides the timeline into three ages. The First Age is largely land form creation and tends to be very long, with each turn being approximately 500 years. The Second Age is the big time civilization period, with each turn being approximately 100 years. The Third Age is the recent timeline, each turn being anywhere from 1 to 25 years.

We decided that, for the First Age, we would each randomly roll for two spheres of influence. We decided on eight spheres that we thought of as universal enough to be the basis for budding, prehistoric gods.

Light

Darkness

Nature

Death

Wind

Earth

Fire

Water

The combinations were . . . interesting. These were:

Light and Water

Nature and Darkness

Earth and Wind

Death and Fire

I rather liked how this turned out. These are not typical combinations for most gods you find out there. They do, however, set the imagination a'going as to what kind of world this is gonna be. Nature and Darkness? Man. That right there told me that the natural world is probably going to be at least slightly hostile and twisted.   Earth and Sky gives me the image of an Earth Mother sorta goddess. Light and Water? Would not have seen that coming, either. And, of course, Death and Fire (which was rolled up by none other than lil' ole' me). That...that's just awesome. Oh, the mind churns all sorts of wonders that could arise from that!

We would each bear these two spheres for the first age, keeping in "character" with our decisions as we forged the earth. More on that later.

At the turn of the Second Age, we decided each god would, in turn, decide upon a new sphere to give to him/herself. We appraised our actions of the First Age, the results being:

Light and Water and Change

Nature and Darkness and Conquest

Earth and Wind and Strength/Endurance

Death and Fire and Conflict

...it was a mean First Age.

The (highly tumultuous) Second Age came to end, and we decided to add a final sphere to our portfolios. This time, however, the other three gods would decide amongst themselves as to what would be an appropriate sphere. 

Light and Water and Change and Pride

Nature and Darkness and Conquest and Corruption

Earth and Wind and Strength/Endurance and Vengeance

Death and Fire and Conflict and Fertility

...yeah, the rest of the game wasn't much nicer, actually.

Stay tuned for an abridged version of the actual game play, and how we each earned these appellation. Feel free to guess in the meantime.

On Fourth Edition and Girl Genius.

I didn't care for either when I first checked them out. However, time and circumstance has sent me back into the edition fray, and a lark brought me back to Girl Genius.

I've been doing this whole gaming thing for almost twenty years. I was leery about switching from my beloved AD&D 2nd edition and from the adored TSR in favor of those card pushing fancy boys over at Wizards of the Coast and their 3rd Edition. I remember standing in the local comic shop overhearing how higher AC was new nomenclature and being filled with righteous indignation. ( "No THAC0? What is this demonry!?" ) Feats? Double Bladed Orc axes? What is this crap?

I got over it. I got over it, adapted, blew the dust off of my Planescape Boxed set, picked up the fantastic Iron Kingdoms setting, and had many a good time rolling twenties and never shedding a tear for THAC0. Then . . . then 4e came out. Oh, the weeping and gnashing of teeth. Fortunately, I missed most of that nonsense. I don't think that the game somehow damages the role playing factor. Sure, the combat feels less like "this is my gentle slayer guy" and more like a a board game or, dare I say, HeroQuest, but everyone's more useful than before. I can't stand the new fluff, but that's easily remedied.

Besides the board game aspect, my biggest issue was the spirit of the PCs themselves.  The PC of 4e is set a world apart from the average person. Certainly, PCs in D&D have always been powerful, comparatively speaking, but the PC of 4e is downright superhuman. In 2nd edition, a 1st level mage was had only one spell per day and, after blowing that, was at the mercy of a lone kobold. Or a house cat. Or a stiff wind. Compared to earlier editions, the 1st level 4e wizard is a monster. At will powers that never go away, an encounter power that "refills" every encounter, AND a spell that can be cast every day. And a load of hit points to boot. The two just don't compare.

This, at first, was a turn off to me. Too much. Too much like World of Warcraft (cooldowns? the devil! harumph!), too much reliance on the map grid (slip sliding bollocks), too superhuman PCs.  The first two issues dissolved for me when I realized that, A, I use a map anyway and I should quit bitching, and (B), it's a different game. It's not 3.5. Things change. Don't be a conservative NeckBeard.  The superhuman problem, however, dangled over my sense of realism like that blasted blade that kept bothering that Damocles guy.

This is where Girl Genius comes in.

Girl Genius, if you aren't aware, is a delightful comic by the highly skilled Phil Foglio. He has created a wonderful world, parallel to our own, steeped in "Gaslamp Romance," which is similar to steampunk.  It's funny. It's weird. It's gold.  Now, how this ties in with 4e for me is that the power players of the world, called "Sparks," are, in every way, superior to the common man. They command respect.  They are ridiculously powerful. They have massive egos. They are also targets, both socially and politically. To the Powers that Be, they are problems. These are the people that would be kings. If there's a powerful Spark in town, the local lord is gonna be falling all over himself to cajole, control, or kill this upstart, because there's a good chance that the new guy is gonna wreck the local lord's shit. They are the Big Damn Heroes. Or Big Damn Villains, whatever the case may be.

Interesting. Immediately, since everything apparently comes back to gaming, 4e came to mind. This, to me, frames how I should be looking at Fourth Edition. The PC is the equivalent of a Spark. A Grecian Hero. A mover and a shaker who will, if he lives, soon have people wanting to be on his good side, sliding a knife into his back, or writing incredibly puffed up and ribald operas exploring his exploits.

Thanks for the idea, Mr. Foglio.