Avatar: The Godhead

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World of Darkness -- Pax Romana ~*~ PANTHEONS

In The Beginning

Creation.jpg

The Primordials

From Pantheon to Pantheon the story of creation varies greatly. Yet all share a common belief that at the beginning, Something stirred the universe into motion. What that something was remains a topic of hot debate between divine entities within each Pantheon. Wars have even started between the Pantheons over this subject and all now generally agree to disagree with the goal of avoiding pointless violence.

One thing all the Pantheons can agree on is the existence of primordial deities, like: Chaos, Darkness, Day, Earth, Light, Night, Sea, Sky, and the Underworld. Other potential primordial deities include: Fate (one or more), Life and Death, Time (or Eternity) and Love (or Misery). A few of the Pantheons include negative aspects of the previously mentioned primordial deities and can include personifications, animals or stranger things.



Creation: The First Age

At some point, after the the awakening of the Primordials, they procreated with one another and gave birth to the Elder Gods and the world as we know it. These amazing beings had few if any limitations and many represented unrestrained elemental forces. Some were intelligent after a fashion, but many were thoughtless entities who were ruled by their passions. During the first age, the Primordials and their children shaped creation to suit themselves, giving birth to the stars, separating landmasses from the sea, creating mountain ranges and giving birth to the origins of all life. Their battles and lovemaking created the world and universe as we know it now.



The Second Age

After unrecorded ages, the Elder Gods rebelled against their Primordial parents. From Pantheon to Pantheon the reasons for this the first War of the Gods vary and likely the true story may never be told, if indeed those who were present during the conflict and survived it, still remember. From the remnants that have come down to us through ages uncounted, the Elder Gods felt mistreated and or grew jealous of their progenitor's power and authority. The war was long and epic, but the Elder Gods ultimately won with the aid of a few turncoat Primordials. The fate of every Primordial remains a mystery, but the greater host were banished to a distant realm of suffering and imprisonment. This first true war did have casualties, and revealed to the Gods for the first time that they too could die at each other's hands or to divinely forged weapons. This sad truth led to a complete end to the hostilities and all the divine weapons were destroyed or hidden away leading to a golden age of peace and prosperity.



The Third (Silver) Age

The Elder Gods took dominion of the universe for themselves and partitioned the governance of the varying layers of reality between the strongest of them. Those original Dominions went to the leaders of the newly established Pantheons and lesser Dominions were handed out to each of the surviving deities as spoils of war. Of course the leaders of each Pantheon had their favorites and cronyism and nepotism were rampant, but the Elder Gods knew no better and in the celebratory mood which followed their victory they cared little. The leaders among the gods did not notice the disparity as they received the lion's share of the spoils and for an age all the gods were agreeable.

After the First War the various Pantheons drifted apart and most lost contact with each other. The third age was a silver age in that the Elder Gods perfected their parent's crude Dominions into lesser Powers that could be taught and traded. It was during this time that each Pantheon established for itself earthly abodes in places of of power that were often remote and difficult to reach. These Sanctuaries served as both communal gathering places and refuges against those few threats the early Pantheons would acknowledge.

With the fate of the universe settled and the First War over, the Elder Gods found room for love and relationships and in time to the birth of a third generation of Golden Gods. It was also during this age that humanity rose above the animal kingdom, but this event largely went unnoticed by the Elder Gods as they drew the fuel for their Dominions directly from the cosmic ether. During this time, mankind and the deities interacted infrequently, but mankind's need to imitate the divine and to worship the gods created a foundation for a later relationship.



The Second War of the Gods

The twilight of the Third Age began with the birth of a third generation of gods, the Golden Gods. These callow youths knew nothing of want or suffering and the world was their playground. Learning at the knees of the Elder Gods their parents, they were born to the Dominions and Powers and possessed a skill with them that surpassed their progenitors. Initially this created delight in the Elder Gods, but as time passed fear and resentment began to manifest.

Indeed the Golden Gods were not only virtuoso with the Dominions and their Powers, but they also found Humanity fascinating in a way the Elder Gods could not. Initially, the youthful gods just watched mankind, but in their playfulness and curiosity they began to interact directly with humanity who idolized them and offered them Worship and Sacrifice. During this time the Elder Gods began to bicker among themselves as families are wont to do. Their grievances ranged from genuine to the imagined and long festering resentments over the apportionment following the First War created deep divisions among them that could not easily be resolved.

What specifically began the Second War remains a mystery, some say it was triggered by a murder carried out with ancient divine weapons or that the hubris of the Elder Gods created Strife between the generations, or that someone within the Pantheons betrayed the Elder Gods by teaching the golden generation secrets that should have remained secret. In all likelihood, all of these things created an explosive situation that the gods failed to resolve in time. One theory above all others reappears in motifs across the bounds of all pantheons, that towards the end of the Third Age the Golden Gods were cut off from the quintessential divine fuel or Aether used by the Elder Gods and in their weakness they turned to the Worship and Sacrfice of mankind to fuel their divine Dominions.

What we know for certain is that one or more of the Golden Gods turned to the imprisoned Primordials for aid and released them in a bid to usurp their parent's place within the pantheons. Once released, the Primordials unleashed havoc on this this and all other worlds. A few of the more thoughtful Primordials sided with each of the younger generations of gods creating a three way struggle for the universe. The earth was laid waste and mankind in their hour of need prayed and offered up massive sacrifices to the Golden Gods granting them the fuel the youngest generation needed to battle their elders, but it also revealed to that their relationship with mankind was a symbiotic one. If the ravages of the Primordials were to extinguish humanity, it would also doom the younger deities to irrelevance or possibly oblivion.

Imperiled by this unwanted knowledge, the Golden Gods husbanded their followers, selected able leaders, struck alliances with key Primordials, unearthed ancient Divine Weapons, and banded together for an age to bring the cataclysmic Second War to a conclusive end. Once the war was over, the majority of the Primordials and the Elder Gods were again imprisoned, this time together and a handful of the loyal Primordials were made their jailers or allowed to wander free with the caveat that the Golden Gods were now the rulers of the universe. This situation did not suit everyone, but all those who dissented were likewise banished to the realm of imprisonment.

The new regime likewise partitioned control of the universe in similar fashion to their progenitors and reorganized their respective pantheons as they saw fit. With the advent of peace, the Golden Gods returned to their games and contests, entertaining themselves with their mortal followers and for the first time, begetting upon their mortal lovers semi-divine children, half human and half deity, the demigods were born.



The Fourth (Golden) Age

Like the gods that gave birth to it, the fourth age was a golden one. The gods and mankind freely intermingled and it was a time of great and terrible deeds. As a result of the Second War, the golden generation created new Dominions and Powers that they perfected in the fourth age. The fourth age saw the birth of organized religion and with the growth of mankind, its spread across the world. The Golden Gods looked upon this and were pleased.

During this time, the gods initiated many relationships with their mortal followers spawning a new kind of deity, the demigods. The demigods represented the golden generation's love for humanity and these half-breeds often acted as intermediaries between the divine pantheons and their mortal followers. Sadly the demigods were a symptom of a time when mortals were the playthings of the gods, who often took them as lovers willingly or no. Rape and incest were quite common among the golden generation in the fourth age and this unbridled passion often mirrored the Primordials in its destructiveness.

The fourth age also saw the gods moving among mankind and teaching them mundane versions of the Dominions and their Powers. Some of the gods did this more directly, like the gods of magic, while others helped mankind perfect their own arts and crafts. Mortals became surrogate children to the gods, loved, but not dangerous enough to be feared, humanity became pets to the golden generation. Likewise the the demigods became a safe alternative to more divine children, loyal and loving, but not powerful enough to threaten the established order, the demigods became the preference for gods who wanted progeny.

The presence of gods on earth, made the fourth age one of miracles, but also one of divine atrocities. Humanity's need to worship the divine would inevitably lead to mortal competitiveness and human hubris, pride would come before the fall. Great mortals and sometimes demigods would struggle and brag of their prowess in all the arts and crafts, quickly followed by divine retribution. It was an age of wonders and great terrors as the gods sought to ever increase their follower's numbers, first through miracles and then by intrigue, and followed by war. The proxy wars of mankind allowed the golden generation to compete with each other without the need for divine conflict, allowing mankind to pay the bloodly price instead.

It was also an age of divine justice when the gods acted upon the prayers of mortals who sought everything from justice, love, vengeance or wealth. And the gods found common cause with humanity against one another as well which often lead to more strife, suffering and warfare. Still, mankind perfected the science of religion and gave back to their gods a thousand fold, allowing the golden generation to create miracles that would inspire Legends.



The Heroic Age

The Age of Heroes was one of magnificent deeds, it saw the god's slow withdrawal from the world to replace direct divine intervention with influence peddling and indirect manipulations through dreams, omens, prophecies and revelations. Epic quests led demigods and heroic mortals to seek out unimaginable danger in the hope of fame, power or wealth, but what they created for themselves and those who would come after were legends. The birth of Legend created something new in the world or perhaps something just previously unseen by the gods, demigods who could ascend to true godhood and mortal heroes whose legendary spawned cults of their own and elevated them to the position of demigod.

Lengthy recitations, mostly genealogical poetry, created cycles of stories which followed the deeds of heroes and their relationships to one another and then extending to the relationships of heroic families. Epic sagas created a chain of divinity from the golden generation through demigods to the heroes of the age. The birth of hero cults both weakened and strengthened the gods by turns as they found themselves bound hand in hand with heroes in daily prays, oaths and during sacrifices. This revolution happened quite slowly at first and went unnoticed initially and once discovered, it could not be undone.

As the trend in gods creating demigods to be their progeny or to act as divine emissaries increased, the number of true new gods being born declined to nothing, seemingly overnight mortals began to deify their heroes and new heroes had a way of being raised up from the endless army of the dead. The fourth age gave birth to something else as well, monsters, the results of divine atrocities committed by the gods on individual mortals or entire races spawned obscene or profane creatures whose existence was curse to both themselves and the human settlements closest to their lairs. Demigods and heroes could gain legendary status if they could rid the people of these horrors and sometimes in the process they managed to offend one deity while amusing or pleasing another god. Each deed created a new legend which fed the cycle of myths which were no longer specifically about the gods and sometimes occurred despite their preferences.

The greatest demigods or heroes created powerful family lines which came to dominate the next age, blending legends with and inspiring new deeds both great and terrible to become history.



The Age of Empires

The current age of is one of empires.



So You Want to be a God?

"Being a god is being able to recognize within one’s self these things that are important, and then to strike the single note that brings them into alignment with everything else that exists. Then, beyond morals or logic or esthetics, one is wind or fire, the sea, the mountains, rain, the sun or the stars, the flight of an arrow, the end of a day, the clasp of love. One rules through one’s ruling passions. Those who look upon gods then say, without even knowing their names, ‘He is Fire. She is Dance. He is Destruction. She is Love.’ [...] they do not call themselves gods. Everyone else does, though, everyone who beholds them." — Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light



Lexicon

  • ATTRIBUTES: Attributes are a group of permanent traits that govern mental, physical and social interactions or challenges.
  • DIVINE ATTRIBUTES: Divine attributes are a group of nine permanent traits that mirror standard attributes, but they are supernatural in character and are considered Dominions.
  • DOMINIONS:
  • PROVINCES:
  • REVERIE: The sleep of the gods is not like that of man. In Reverie, gods commune with their disciples and receive prayers and sacrifices.



Character Creation

Avatar ~ Character Sheet
PANTHEONS



Innate Powers of Divinity

Beatific Reward: The bestowal of divine powers upon mortal followers as a gift or in return for faithful service.
Benefit of Xenoglossy: Is the divine phenomenon in which a person is able to speak or write a language he or she could not have acquired by natural means.
Celestial Awareness: A sixth sense and divine ability to detect supernatural beings and forces at work in the nearby area.
Divine Immortality: All Avatars are immortal and un-aging, while their physical form can be destroyed, they cannot truly die unless slain by another divine being.
Imbue Divine Progeny: All Avatars can create divine progeny by mating with a mortal or another Avatar.
Immunity to Possession: As divine beings, Avatars are immune to acts of possession and mind control, which is not to say their minds cannot be influenced.
Orison Ken: All Avatars can hear pleas or prays offered to them, they can even detect when their names are spoken even in casual conversation regardless of distance.
Otherworldly Communication: Avatars can answer prayers or pleas directly with spoken words or visions, or indirectly with portents and signs.
Resistance to Lethal Damage: Avatars can soak lethal damage with Stamina alone, but need ENDURANCE to resist aggravated damage and even this divine attribute offers no protection against each divine entities' anathema.
Superior Healing: While Avatars do not have regeneration per se, they do heal far faster than mere mortals.



Backgrounds



Divine Virtues



DOMINIONS

Introduction

The term dominion means the power or right of governing and controlling; sovereign authority. But with respect to deities, the term dominion comes to mean something similar, but different. Here dominion refers to sovereign authority over a given aspect of reality, such aspects cover a wide variety of material phenomena such as: animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains or rivers or other entities of the natural environment, including thunder, wind and shadows. The deity's divine authority allows him or her to command these diverse phenomena through their spiritual element and each deity's dominion over their chosen phenomena grants them nearly uncontested control of those phenomena.

Classifications

There are three classifications of dominions: common, pantheon, and sacerdotal. Common dominions are available to all deities regardless of their pantheon, sacred band or parentage, provided they are not anathema to the deity or violate that deity's taboo. Pantheon specific dominions are only available to deities who belong to a specific pantheon and cannot be taught to another deity outside the pantheon. Sacerdotal dominions are very specialized dominions that govern the more mysterious powers of the universe like: fate, magic, prophesy and sacrifice. Most deities with sacerdotal dominions are perceived as having a greater power over their progeny, sacred band or pantheon and as such, they are usually loath to teach these secret dominions to other deities regardless of their relationship.

Character Creation

At the point of character creation, players may take up to three Dominions, one gained from their Divine Progenitor, one gained from their Pantheon and one jointly learned in tandem with their Sacred Band. Those Dominions taken by the Sacred Band must be agreed upon by the group of players before hand.

Powers

Each dominion is further broken down into classifications of potency known as the lesser dominions and the greater dominions. Lesser dominions are available to demi-gods and lesser deities, while the greater dominions are only available to full-fledged gods. Within each delineation of the lesser or greater dominions, individual acts of dominion are called powers. For example, the first power within the Lesser Dominion of Beasts is Beast Speech which allows the deity in question to converse with most animals. Both lesser and greater dominions are broken down into five powers ascending from weakest to strongest, so the fifth and strongest power of a given lesser dominion would be slightly weaker than the first and weakest power of the greater dominion. Despite this arrangement, there is a considerable jump in potency between the lesser and greater dominions.

COMMON DOMINIONS

Common Dominions
ALLURE
APPREHENSION
ARTISTRY
BEASTS
CHANCE
CHAOS
CORUSCATION
DARKNESS *
DEATH *
DECEPTION
EARTH
ENDURANCE
FERTILITY
FINESSE
FIRE *
FORGE *
FROST
GENIUS
GRACE
GUARDIANSHIP
HEALING *
JOURNEYS
JUSTICE
MIGHT
MOON
ORDER
PASSION
PROSPERITY *
REVELATION
SKY *
SLEEP *
STARS
SUPREMACY
SUN
WAR *
WATER
WILD

UNCOMMON DOMINIONS

Uncommon Dominions
LONGEVITY
WINE

Dominions by Pantheon

Dominions of the Aesir -- The Norse Gods
BLOD AF JOTUNNUM -- Secrets of the Aesir *
Dominions of the Dodekatheon -- The Olympian Gods
EPIKRATISI -- Mysteries of the Dodekatheon *

Dominions Sacerdotal

FATE -- The powers of the Dominion of Fate, read and or alter the destiny of the individual upon which they are targeted.
MAGIC -- The Dominion of Magic is something of a catchall for a wide variety of powers that take the form of spell which aid their caster or injure their caster's target.
PROPHESY -- The powers of the Dominion of Prophesy are similar to the Dominion of Fate, but differ in that they predict what will happen, not what could happen.
SACRIFICE -- The Dominion of Sacrifice is a particularly unpleasant collection of powers that require the user to give up something or someone he cares about in return for power.

Errata

Powers Prototype Page



EXPERIENCE

EXPERIENCE COSTS
Trait Increase Cost
ABILITY rating x 2
ABILITY favored by divine Progenitor (rating x 2) – 1
ATTRIBUTE rating x 4
DIVINE ATTRIBUTE (associated with divine Progenitor) rating x 5
DIVINE ATTRIBUTE (not associated with divine Progenitor) rating x 7
DIVINITY rating x 10
DOMINION (General) rating x 7
DOMINIONS (Pantheon Specific) rating x 6
DOMINIONS (Pantheon Specific & Associated with divine Progenitor) rating x 5
DOMINIONS SACERDOTAL (associated with divine Progenitor) rating x 8
DOMINIONS SACERDOTAL (not associated with divine Progenitor) rating x 9
MOMENTUM (Momentum can never be rated higher than Divinity) rating X 10
New Trait Cost
Ability 3
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TABLES & CHARTS

~ Avatar: Feats of Strength Table
~ Avatar: Movement



COMBAT

ACTIONS

TAKING AIM

When she really needs to hit Achilles’ heel, or when she just has the leisure, your character can try to take aim. The player declares a target, which his character must be able to see. For each round spent aiming, the player adds one die to the attack his character unleashes upon that target, to a maximum of three. This bonus applies to only the next attack on the declared target, not on more than one roll or on any other target.


SITUATIONS

BEING PRONE

Characters can be knocked prone after an attack, fall prone in slippery circumstances or intentionally hit the deck. Being prone does the following: A prone character cannot take Move or Dash actions until she spends an action to rise . Prone characters gain a one die bonus (+1) against ranged attacks and explosives, this being the key reason for a character to throw herself prone. (This bonus does not apply to stupidity. Throwing oneself to the ground in the middle of the street doesn’t protect one from the sniper on the rooftop. Throwing oneself on a grenade offers no protection from it.)

Prone characters suffer a one die penalty (-1) to close-combat attacks and a two-die penalty (-2) to attacks and most other actions.



FATE

Even the Gods must bow to Fate. 

Whether it is called Destiny, Kismet, Karma, Judgment or the Way of Heaven, nothing in the universe can escape
it. Fate is the loom that weaves all elements of Creation into a unified whole. Even chaos has a place in its pattern,
and it often seems to some that destruction—Armageddon, Ragnarök, Apocalypse, the End of the Kali Yuga—is its
ultimate end point.
Or is it? Legends from around the World tell that Creation does not end, it only changes. The End of All leads
to the birth of the new, even if Gods such as Baldur are the only ones who live to see the new World. The Age of
the Titans gave way to the Age of the Gods, which gave way to the Age of Man. Is this current era, with the release
of the Titans, the beginning of yet another Age—the Age of Heroes—or it the last days of the old Age, leading to
an epic doom for Gods, men and heroes alike? Only the servants of Fate—the Moirae, the Norns the Morrigan
and others—might know. ''Might'' know, for they do not answer when asked these questions. They do not smile, but
neither do they frown. Perhaps the truth is to be determined not by their weaving, but by the deeds of heroes.

THE LOOM OF FATE

The most common metaphor for Fate is that of a loom from which the pattern of history—including mortals’
lives—is woven. The Greek Moirae, the three Fates, were called the “apportioners,” for they spun, measured and
cut the threads that make up mortal lives. But this brings us no closer to understanding just what Fate is and how
and why it operates as it does. Grasping the whole of Fate—or even many of its parts—is like trying to understand a
higher-dimensional object. Imagine if a two-dimensional line were conscious. It could not reasonably understand
a higher-dimensional object, such as a three-dimensional sphere. Trying to understand Fate is similar, for it is
intimately tied to time, the fourth dimension.
Some thinkers have posited what a three-dimensional being might look like from a fourth-dimensional
perspective: a single object, perhaps like a tube, with the being’s “birth” at one end and its “death” at the other,
with all the moments of its life in linear sequence down its middle. The tube curls back and forth throughout space,
weaving complex knots on top of places to which the being often returns.
In fact, it’d be much like a thread in a woven pattern, with the whole pattern only visible to those with fourth-
dimensional consciousness.
Or this thread might instead be envisioned as a serpent, such as the Titan known to the Greeks as Ananke, or “Necessity,”
who was birthed at the beginning of Time. In this view, history is not an inert thread that is set in place once it has been
woven, but a nest of wriggling, writhing snakes ever changing their positions—and continually changing both the past and future
as they do so. But such thinking leads to madness, so perhaps the loom analogy is easier to grasp for mortal minds.
Fate influences all, from Gods to mortals to even Titans. Understanding its manipulations is vital to predicting its ordained results.
Where does one begin? With the measure of all things: Man. While the Gods do not fully understand Fate, they know that it is somehow<br>
tied to mortals. Before they began interfering in the lives of these beings of clay, the Gods were relatively free of Fate’s invisible hand,
but now, their very essences are entwined with mortal expectations. Their forms rely on mortal beliefs to keep them coherent and free from merger
with their Titan parents. What is this amazing power that mortals have, of which they are entirely unaware?
In short, it’s Story. The human mind craves stories.It makes stories out of the chaos of events, carving order from randomness. Not simply order
characterized by reason and efficiency, but the loose, metaphorical, poetic order of the imagination, the unfettered free association of the mortal 
mind. “This happened, then that, and it ended like this...”
Mortal egos are tragically fragile, as paper boats bobbing on a huge sea of greater human consciousness — of unconsciousness, a vast realm of imagination
unknown to the waking mind. As Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and other 20th-century psychologists discovered, the human mind is often a puppet to its own hidden
influences, deeply buried instincts and repressed desires. Both Freud and Jung linked this vast region with divine legendry, for it seemed that here the Gods
still spoke to mortals, in dreams and visions welling up from within. Jung went further and posited that not only did each individual have his own unconscious 
region of the mind, but there was a collective unconscious shared by all members of the human race. This repository of ancient instincts was the source of the 
recurring motifs of classical legend, so similar the World over.
Jung did not realize how right he was, and not in the way he suspected. The Gods certainly still spoke to mortals now and then through dreams, or in actual
encounters that were only remembered later, uncovered through hypnosis or meditation. But deeper still, the collective unconscious itself guided the Gods,
ensnaring them in its story-making net. They had become interwoven with Fate, the vast, hidden collective psyche of all mortals.
In a universe born under the rule of Titans, mortals need to make the cosmos their own. They do so with their imagination, the collective expression of which is
Fate, and once someone gets caught in Fate’s story, she is no longer in full control of her destiny. The story of which she is now a part works to determine what
happens to her, even to the point of turning her decisions against her own desires and showing how actions that at first seemed to be expressions of free will were,
in the end, secret agents for Fate.
Fate is not a conscious agenda on the part of human beings, directed by them to make the World into what they want it to be. Indeed, what Fate demands and what
mortals want is often at odds, just as an individual’s unconscious instincts and emotions can war with his conscious reason. The question arises: Is Fate directed
by anybody? Nobody knows. Not Gods, not Titans, not the servants of Fate itself. Its ultimate reasons are beyond the scope of what any single mind can grasp, and
even the collective musings of the Gods has yet to yield any tangible clues. Fate transcends the known cosmos, as the third dimension transcends the second dimension.

FATE BINDING

An Avatar’s ''Divinity'' exerts a sort of gravity around which people, places and things might be drawn into orbit, turning them into a supporting cast or props
for his exploits and deeds. This doesn’t just happen by accident; the Avatar himself initiates it, though not directly. Whenever he draws upon his Divinity
to bend Fate for his benefit or to energize a Power, those affected by or witness to his action might be caught up in the strands of his epic life, for good
or ill. They become ''Fatebound'' to him, even if he doesn’t like it. He can’t control who or what is Fatebound to him—that’s up to the whim of Fate.
Fate is forging a story about the Avatar’s exploits, and probabilities (and people’s behavior) will be altered to fit the story. The Avatar still has free will, 
but those affected by his Divinity don’t. Fate moves them like chess pieces. They might consciously realize this and resent it, and even try to resist it, but
Fate gets its way in the end.
While a mortal might occasionally exert such an effect on others, it’s rare. A Avatar’s divine lineage and connection to the Overworld provides the metaphysical
force needed for him to stand out in the skein of destiny and draw others to him. As he treads the World, he inadvertently bends and tears the threads of others’
lives, sometimes getting tangled in them and pulling them with him on his forceful march through history.
The following conditions might cause a ''Fatebinding'' to occur:

● When a Avatar spends his Divinity points to alter the outcome of an action. 

The target of the action (or possibly a bystander who is affected by the outcome, such as
someone the Avatar saves by attacking the bystander’s oppressor) might become Fatebound.


The Storyteller—not the Avatar character’s player—secretly
rolls the Avatar’s Divinity as a dice pool. The difficulty for
any given scene begins at 5. If any character present in the
scene spends Divinity points and the resulting Fatebinding
roll yields at least one threshold success (that is, five or
more dice showing a 7 or higher, with 10s counting twice),
the difficulty for everyone on the scene drops to 4. The
same thing happens again the next time a Fatebinding roll
achieves a threshold success, this time reducing the difficulty
to 3. The difficulty can go no lower than 3.
If no Fatebinding roll equals or exceeds the difficulty,
no Fatebinding occurs. If any rolls do succeed, however,
one or more people (or things, or even the place in which
the action occurred) become Fatebound to the Divinity. The
Storyteller allocates the number of successful rolls between
the Fatebinding’s strength and the number of people it
affects. The Fatebound individual is called the Fated.
The Storyteller might deem that a given scene is
already weighted with the gravity of Fate. Perhaps the
Avatar’s rival has lured him to the scene of his mother’s
murder or the place where he first discovered his heritage.
In such places, pregnant with classic story motifs, the
Storyteller might begin the scene with a lower difficulty
for Fatebinding rolls.


"Example: Carla, a daughter of Hermes, spies an unconscious child lying on the train tracks at an intersection with a train is barreling right toward him. She launches forward, hoping to beat the train and snatch the child out of the way. The odds are against her, but she spends Divinity points to more than even them, giving her automatic successes. She saves the child and rolls to safety as the train rockets past, horn blaring."


"Since Carla spent Divinity points to alter the odds of an action, she has effectively challenged Fate. The Storyteller rolls her Divinity score of 3 as a dice pool and gets 7, 10, 10 — matching the difficulty of 5, since 10s count twice. Since there’s only one reasonable target here (the child she saved), the Storyteller assigns one point (for the number of successful rolls) to the strength of the Fatebinding. Doing so ensures the child’s connection to Carla for the rest of the day. (See the “The Pull of Destiny” sidebar.)"


● When an Avatar spends Divinity points to energize a Power or Flair. 

The Storyteller secretly rolls the Avatar’s Divinity score against difficulty 5. This difficulty 
does not change, as when a Avatar spends Divinity to alter the odds of an action; it is always rated 
at 5. The Storyteller divides the number of successful rolls between strength and the number of 
affected people, as described previously.


● When a Scion uses magic spells. 

The target of the magic is automatically Fatebound to the magic’s caster with a strength of 1.


THE PULL OF DESTINY

The strength assigned to a particular Fatebinding is a measure of the range and duration of the bond.

FATEBINDING STRENGTH
Strength Effect
1 The Fated assumes his Fatebound Role (see “The Fated” for the odds of this occurring) only in the Scion’s presence and only for the next 24 hours at the most.
2 The Fated might assume his Fatebound Role when the Scion is within the same vicinity (a small town or city district). He is subject to the binding for one month.
3 The Fated might assume his Fatebound Role when the Scion is within the same region (a state or geological watershed). He is subject to the binding for one season (three months).
4 The Fated assumes his Fatebound Role for as long as the binding lasts (at least one year), no matter where the Scion is (or even if he is alive).
5 As with Strength 4, except the binding is permanent, although it is dissolved when the Fated dies (his ghost is no longer Fatebound).
6+ As with Strength 5, except that the binding lasts beyond death. The Fated ghost maintains its Fatebound Role even in the Underworld (although it can do very little to help or hinder the Scion from there).


THE FATED

The lives of the Fated are tied to the Avatar to whom
they are bound in ways both subtle and grand. The course
of everyday events brings them—seemingly coincidentally—
into contact with the Avatar again and again, no matter
how much distance they try to put between themselves
and the godling. Although the Fatebond’s strength
applies only within a certain range, the Fated are often
simply unable to travel outside that range for as long as
the binding is active. They might take a bus out of town,
only to wind up walking back in after the bus has broken
down. Their plane flight might be indefinitely delayed, or
they might find themselves on the “No Fly” list, but only
for as long as the Fatebinding has put them there.
Once a mortal has been Fatebound to a Avatar, he
assumes a certain role in relation to that Avatar’s exploits.
The Storyteller chooses the role based on the context in
which the Fatebinding occurred. Some examples are listed
below, but this is in no way an exhaustive list. Storytellers
are encouraged to create new roles as needed.
The Fated mortal is not always under the spell of this
role. He acts in accordance with it only under certain
conditions, as explained in the “The Pull of Destiny”
sidebar. When those conditions are at hand, the Storyteller
can assume that the Fated mortal will assume the role. If
he wants to add some variability to the matter, he can roll
the Avatar’s Divinity as a dice pool to see whether or not the
role is activated. The difficulty is usually 1, but if the stars
don’t feel aligned, he can raise it to make it more unlikely
that Fate will play a hand in the Fated’s behavior.
Once a Fatebound Role is active, the Fated mortal
behaves according to that role’s motivations rather than
his own (although they don’t necessarily always differ).
He believes that the role’s motivations are his own. He
is unaware that he is a puppet to Fate and believes he
is exerting his own will and desires. If the conditions
are right and the Avatar spends a Divinity point for any
reason, it might be enough excuse to activate the Fated’s
role, even if a great distance separates the two. 
It’s not just mortals who can become Fatebound to a
Avatar. Anyone can be Fatebound—a Avatar, a titanspawn,
a God. Unlike mortals, however, supernatural beings
don’t succumb to Fatebound Roles; they retain their free
will. Sort of. Odd “coincidences” still conspire to bring
such a being into the orbit of the Scion to whom she is
Fatebound, regardless of her own opinion on the matter.
At the Storyteller’s discretion, certain supernatural
creatures or beings might come under the effect of a
Fatebound Role, but Avatars and Gods never do.

FATEBOUND ROLES FOR MORTALS

(Note that while these roles are given handy titles for the Storyteller’s use, neither Scions nor the Fated use said titles in-setting.)


Apprentice
The Fated greatly respects the Avatar,
so much so that he wants to follow in his footsteps.
He models his own behavior and ideals on the Avatar’s
(as he understands them), sometimes to an annoying
degree. Examples: The fresh-faced kid, the guy with the
mid-life crisis, the over-achiever.


FATEBINDING OBJECTS AND PLACES
Although people (or even animals) are more
common targets for Fatebinding, it’s not unusual
for an object or even a place to be Fatebound
to a Avatar. These subjects can assume Fateful
Roles similar to those mortals do. A wrench can
become a Weak Link (breaking at the wrong
time) or a Martyr (it stops a bullet for the Avatar,
but is broken by doing so), while a place might
cause Catastrophes or be a Balm to the Avatar.



OTHERWORLDS

THE NINE REALMS

Realm Description
ASGARD Protected Realm and Home of the Norse Gods
ALFHEIM Realm Description
SVARTALFHEIM Realm Description
MYRKHEIM Realm Description
NIFLHEIM Realm Description
MUSPELHEIM Realm Description
VANAHEIMR Realm Description
MIDGARD Realm Description
JOTUMHEIM Realm Description

REALMS OF THE THEOI

  •  :OLYMPUS -- Fortress home of the Olympian Gods
  •  :INFERIS -- The classical Underworld ruled by Hades



PANTHEONS

Celtic Pantheon

~ Cruach
~ Déithe Eile
~ Tuatha Dé Danann


Greco-Roman Pantheon

~


Germanic Pantheon

~ Aesir
~ Vanir
~ Drittir


Titans

~ Cronus
~ Rhea



ANTAGONISTS

  • Banshee -- A Wailing Woman (Originally known as Ban Sidhe...sounds the same.)
  • Baobhan Sith -- A female vampire, not of Caine's brood.
  • Berserkers -- Warriors who bind themselves to animal remains in order to fight with bestial fury. (Cults = Bear, Wolf & Wild Boar)
  • Dracolich -- The Undead dragon {Sárkány}.
  • Draugr -- Norse Undead
  • Ljósálfar --
  • Panes -- Creatures of the forest with the heads and torsos of men, the legs and tails of goats, goatish faces and goat-horns.
  • Pitys -- A pine Nymph {Eirene}
  • Laestrygonians -- Man-eating giants
  • Spartae -- Malevolent spirit born from violence. Spartae are normally depicted as a skeletal being with some form of a weapon and military attire.
  • Valkyrie -- A host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live. {Hrund}
  • Vanargand -- Monstrous wolves


DIVINE STORIES



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