notes-games-multiDmRgp

instead of the DM having a plot in mind, each player is a mini-DM who can make up plots, and they also play characters. The Referee (DM) is merely an arbiter who can veto the other players' DM-like actions if they seem too out of balance. The DM also assists with administrivia and makes suggestions.

PCs are not constructed from a preset list of attributes, skills, and equipment; rather, each player may make up whatever axes of abilities and whatever skills, with whatever game mechanics, they feel are appropro, subject to the DM's approval. Of course, in many cases players will simply draw on the character attributes and skills from existing published systems.

Each player plays at least one PC, many NPCs (which may be construed similar to PCs, or may have simpler game mechanics, e.g. why bother to make a complete character sheet for the shopkeeper the PCs will talk to once?), and at least one Power (god).

The creation of a Power is announced merely by announcing the first action of the Power. Powers do not have to announce their name. Powers may attempt to mask the provenance of their actions from other Powers, but this is itself a special power.

The Powers have no set game mechanics, but are restrained merely by the Ref. They do, however, choose Spheres. Within their sphere their power is great; however, as almost any action can be construed to affect multiple Spheres, almost no Power can behave completely unchecked (and, even if an action could be found which does not impinge at all, if it sufficiently unbalances the game, the Ref would forbid it nevertheless).

The affairs of the Powers are governed by will, by conventions, and by the Ref; the mortal world, however, is governed by game mechanics and by dice (and by the Powers, and by the Ref). The game mechanics are conventions which may be modified by the Powers with the consent of the Ref, or by the Ref. Dice may affect the affairs of the Powers with the prior consent of the Powers affected (that is, a game mechanic for the affairs of the Powers may be established by universal consent, and any subset of Powers may make a wager decided by dice). A new game mechanic convention may be imposed on a dissenting Power by other Powers by force at the Ref's discretion.

The Powers, being entities of vastly different minds, they share no common language. If a flower should appear on the beach, is that just a flower, or is Posidon trying to say something to Aphrodite? A common language may be developed, but this is an act of major Creation (one that will certainly be undertaken, however, since the PCs will want to talk to each other), and even then, the powers must communicate via the physical world somehow, whether by secret meetings of avatars, messages couried by priests, or by letters appearing in the sky. Powers may only communicate more freely (telepathically) if they happen to be compatible, in which case the adoption of a common private language is similar to mating and the compatibility may (or may not) be expressed as opposing genders.

They can affect not only physical reality but can also create metaphysical rules, conventions, and patterns. For example, a Power might choose, as one action, to bind the world to a D&D-like metaphysics in which Law and Chaos are not just optional abstractions but physical phenomena and unavoidable classifications of moral behavior. However, such metaphysical constraints do not affect the other Powers themselves, only everything else (if a Law and Order dynamic has been imposed upon the universe, but one of the other Powers follows a personal ethical system that does not fit cleanly into these classes, mortals cannot conceive of that Power's ethical system except in terms of unintuitive symbol-crunching, and may regard it as inscrutable or even fundamentally immoral in a horrible, mindblowing, eldritch way). If a Power attempt to rule a metaphysic that another Power personally embodies as out-of-bounds, this is equivalent to a physical attack on the other Power's person, expressed as a crippling or a binding, or perhaps even murder (taking inspiration from Water Phoenix King, in which Gurahl's creation of Tamantha binds Okidesha, and Ailari takes revenge). Metaphysical rules can be absolute physical laws, as with Law and Chaos in D&D, or they can be conventions which can be ignored with difficulty/punishment or by special ability (as with Tamantha in Water Phoenix King). Such conflicts are resolved by the players, with the Ref stepping in if agreement cannot be reached rapidly enough to preserve the fun of the game.

Powers may attempt to subvert the actions, followers, etc of other Powers. Since such actions are generally via intermediaries, the potential for subversion is there.

Lesser conflicts between the Powers are generally resolved via adventures of the PCs.

Whether a Power is a sentient entities or a mere force of nature is up to each player to decide, as is the Power's goals, if any.

The players' PCs may be priests of their own Powers, and may even favor their PCs with power, but this is a rather Melkorish thing to do, akin to tooting your own horn rather than playing in harmony with others. Players who play this way shouldn't be surprised if the other Powers balance against them, writing them into the narrative as 'evil', even if they don't see themselves this way and feel it is a mischaracterization. Or not; perhaps we are in an Olympian setting where abject egoism is assumed and encouraged; or perhaps half the Powers feel one way and half feel another; this is exactly the sort of metaphysical convention that is up to the players to create, or not, as they see fit.

One way for each player to have multiple Powers would be for each player to have no more than one Power per Pantheon. E.g. the World of Darkness's Wyrm, Weaver, Wyld would be one Pantheon, as would the three Fates, the seven Endless, etc. All can coexist. It is not against the rules for one player to play more than one Power from a Pantheon, just less fun.

Each player is expected to take on a "DM"-like role in plot creation and world creation.

If the Ref wills it, Powers may "die", but what death means for a Power may be different than for a mortal, perhaps more like a point of no return. It is not necessarily the case that the metaphyics, minions, avatars, demipowers, and priest of a Power disappear or lose potency after the death of a Power, not that new Priest may not (effectively) worship a dead Power.

On PC mechanics: skills and abilities are unified into a system with subskills; you proceed from the root to the leaf node and add up all modifiers traversed. E.g. if you have Intelligence -1, Lore (Science) +2 and Lore (Neuroscience) +3, you get a +4 on Lore (Neuroscience) checks.

Players do not have to but may choose to role for character creation.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribute_%28role-playing_games%29 and similar for mechanics ideas.

nomic-ish systems: