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View Full Version : Steps to build a god (Age of Unrest DO NOT READ)



Mauril Everleaf
2009-08-20, 01:38 AM
Return to the Age of Unrest players, if you are reading this, please don't let it affect your "characters".

So I am running a nation game over in the PbP section (links in sig) and I am wanting to do something fun with my Kobold nation.

Currently, no one has even discovered them so they have some time to work in the secrecy of their island. What I am wanting to do is have them create a god. They currently don't have one and none of the three existing deities really appeal to them, so I decided to have them create one.

Essentially, a couple thousand years ago, a great Kobold sage had a vision and wrote down a list of a thousand or two steps that the Kobolds would take. None of the little reptiles know what the list is for and none but the high priest even know what the next step is. The list, more or less, is the religion of the Kobolds and they will do whatever they need to do to fulfill their current task on the list.

I want the list to seem random and almost nonsensical. I'll take as many ideas as people want to give. They can be simple, they can be complex, they can be odd. Just try to keep them non-genocidal, if possible.

When the list is revealed, I'll start in the hundreds and have each update on their progress have the steps advanced at random intervals. Thanks!

BobVosh
2009-08-20, 02:44 AM
Should they be guidelines or directives? Or a mixture?

Guideline: You should never attack a smiling, bald, old man.

Directive: Upon finding the nev-rack rock, bow, and give a prayer of gratitude. One will search out this rock on thier 24th year.

I'll make a list of some random stuff like that once I know how you want em.

Mauril Everleaf
2009-08-20, 11:02 AM
I was thinking more like civilization wide directives. Stuff like "move out of the caves and establish four cities" followed by "every day for the year upon reaching this step, every household leader is to build a small tower of stones" which is later complimented with "go now and paint the mountain yellow, when you have finished, sacrifice two donkeys".

Things like: "Capture a one-eyed wyvern, attach a small bag to it, release it and wait for its return. When it returns, remove whatever is in the bag and cast it in gold."
"Strap two pigs to the sides of a donkey and send it into the forest. Watch for it to be attacked and eaten. Whatever kills the pig-donkey-pig collection, hunt it and use its rib bones to build a chandelier."
"Bring every kobold from the island and have them line up in order of height. Take the one in the very middle. He is to become the next priest."

I'm just spit-balling ideas, but I need things that are really random. Don't be afraid that it'll be too weird, because, if nothing else, it will help me with ideas. Try to keep them relatively tame. I want the players to be :smallconfused: and not :smalleek:.

Krrth
2009-08-20, 11:05 AM
Well, it did occur to me that you can take any set of "do it yourself" instructions and implement those.

Imagine the fun if the next step was "Insert tab A into slot C".....with no diagram or explanation.

Umael
2009-08-20, 11:51 AM
I'm not sure I agree with doing a thousand nonsense things, let alone two thousands, unless there is a reason for it. Sounds like a joke - one being put on the kobolds by one of the existing gods who has a twisted sense of humor.

On the other hand, I CAN think of a few reasons why doing a lot of nonsense things works.

1) All that is needed is steps A, B, C, & D. To make sure they don't realize this, a lot of nonsense steps are added to obfuscate the process.
2) All of it is nonsense because the instructions are a little... garbled. They know the truth is there, doing all 1300 bizarre things will result in the creation of a god because steps A, B, C, & D are hidden among them.
3) The overdeity only allows the creation of a god if the race is willing to devote itself so totally that they would do hundreds and hundreds of nonsense things.
4) All that is needed is steps A, B, C, & D, but instead of doing them expressly, each one is broken down into many steps. These smaller steps are not actually combined to do one of the larger steps, but rather done "in-passing".

For example, if it was necessary to make a 50-ft high statue of the deity, there might be a dozen steps that just create a 50-ft high block of stone. The steps might be something like:

1) Create a clearing
--a) burn down a patch of forest 500 yards in diameter
--b) consecrate the ground by having 22 people, all with ages in prime months, no one repeating the same age dance in the ashes
--c) make a clay pit formed from mixing the mud taken from the grave and the water of a virgin
--d) collect the ashes from the ground (b) in a clay urn made from the pit (c)
--e) dance on the ground for 31 days and nights, without stopping, dancing only on the clearing and not one hundred steps closer to it

etc.