Incarnate Ascension
A fairly blunt, systemic look at The Shattering. For flowery prose, look elsewhere ;)
0: The Shattering can refer to both the explosion of energy and the explosion's location within the current universe.
A: The old Universe was the one that was Shattered- what existed of it now only persists as Shards.
B: The new Universe is not only the Shards, but Oblivion, Conflict and Existence (the Shards) combined.
1: With the Shattering, the Universe was rent. Reality consists of Shards, separate but connected realities.
2: Shards float in space and time, all of which is contained within the force of Conflict.
3: How close a Shard is to the epicenter of the Shattering determines multiple facets of that Shard.
A: The magical power available to a common man on a shard increases with proximity to the Shattering, as energy from the Accident is imparted to the people to affect their own environment.
B: Time began moving for Shards closer to the epicenter of the Shattering. Technology is generally more advanced on such worlds.
C: The theoretical maximum allowed to an individual who is not part of The Conflicted Ones, an Incarnate, or a God is generally separate from the levels of power determined in 3-a.
D: Thus, realities vary widely. In some, the populace has extremely low magical potential, but technology allows each individual great control over the world. Others, psionic and magical talent are latent within almost all invididuals, but capacity to effect change may be limited.
4: Once a force within the Universe has grown powerful enough, that force must gain intelligence.
A: Usually, this intelligence takes the form of an Incarnate. Incarnates are mortal beings, either born or raised to the station.
B: In becoming an Incarnate, they are entrusted with the full power of the force they represent.
C: This however, does not mean they have to literally embody the aspects of the force they represent- the Incarnate of Flame most certainly does not live his existence as a man immolated perpetually.
D: Incarnates are generally limited on a Shard-to-Shard Basis.
E: Incarnates are not always human, or living. This is generally the extremely rare exception.
5: Certain Incarnates may come to represent a force present on enough Shards to transcend the barriers between realities.
A: Once an Incarnate has shown the ability to enter the Conflict that exists between Shards, they are considered the deity of their respective force.
B: These Gods generally don't replace incarnates already extant, only supplementing them on the cosmic scale.
6: Due to the Shattering, Shards are imbalanced.
A: This imbalance means that every Shard in existence has two possible futures: Continued Existence, or consumption by Oblivion.
B: Existence is all that was, will be and is. Oblivion is nonexistence, the exact opposite of Existence.
C: Due to this fundamental conflict, between being and not being, Conflict exists within the Universe.
7: All that can possiby exist, can not exist. This is the Fundamental Conflict of the Universe.
A: As such, The Unvierse is wholly within the realm of Conflict.
B: The Shards are said to float within Conflict in most spirtual takes on the structure of the Universe.
C: Conflict's Incarnates are known as The Conflicted Ones. They differ from all other incarnates in that they are not limited to stay within a single Shard.
8: The Conflicted One is God of Conflict.
A: The Conflicted One is the singular most powerful individual alive within the Universe. His command of reality is absolute.
9: Oblivion does not exist.
A: Oblivion is a possible future.
B: Truly, Oblivion consists only of the self-destructive imbalances created by the Shattering.10
10: Morality can be loosey defined with regards to the Fundamental Conflict.
A: What brings a Shard further from Oblivion can be construed as Good.
B: What drives a Shard towards Oblivion can be construed as Evil.
11: The continued existence of a Shard does not depend on other Shards.
A: That is, should only one Shard exist at the end of time, that Shard will encompass ALL of existence.
B: Such an occurence would lead to an abhorrently limited Universe.
12: Forces within the Universe are extant not only as Elemental Forces (Fire, Water, Lightning, etc), but also as the ideas of sentient mortals.
A: As such, Incarnates and Gods exist for such abstract ideas as Love, War, Creation, and Truth (and more).
B: The Elemental Forces exist as remnants from the Shattering.
13: New Forces may come to being if the mortal beings of the Universe concieve of it.
A: Once the Force has reached sufficient strength, it may spawn an Incarnate.
B: Forces may influence across Shards, given that Shards are within proximity of one another.
14: Incarnates and Gods all act as the Sentience of a Force.
A: A God can be viewed as the conscious portion of a Force's awareness.
B: Incarnates operate more along the lines of the subconscious.
15: Humans are inherently Conflicted beings.
A: This is due to the Left-Right hemisphere split within the Human Brain.
B: For GM Convenience, this can be expanded to all mortal races.
16: Those sufficiently powerful within Existence may control the power of Oblivion.
A: There is a world of different between blowing someone apart and causing them to not exist.
B: Overuse of the capability to control the Force of Oblivion may have dire consequences.
C: The Conflicted One is loathe to take actions for this reason.
17: Player Characters are generally Conflicted Ones.
A: This explains their unique capabilities to effect change in their environments.
B: Whether this is forced upon them, just a natural fact of their being, or something they attain can widely differ.
18: Not all Conflict immediately involves Oblivion and Existence.
A: Telling whether such conflicts are going to push Existence closer or further from the event horizon leaves many a Conflict Incarnate awake late at night.
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? Responses (6)
Wow, complex. I'll need to take some time to read and think through this before I vote.
Might I suggest you combine this with the more "artisitc" Shattering sub? I feel like both are lacking something, and the something would seem to be each other. This is highly functional with little artistic flair, and the other is all style with little substance. Don't get me wrong, I think the ideas presented here are really interesting, but I think you leave something to be desired in terms of organization.
I'll link the two together.
I agree with Dozus on the linking. If a shard is a reality/universe what have you, how an incarnate gain the "power" of several shards. How much power does an incarnate have over the reality.
This could be a very compelling religious system, if it answered a few more questions. First, is this the actual reality of the universe, or just something taught by a religious sect? Second, if this is reality, how aware are the people of the varying shards? Do they have legends about other shards? Are there accounts of visitors from nearby shards?
Could make a really interesting game, but it's a bit too 'high-concept' to really make it to the table.
It looks good, but a bit to hard to implement. There are a few looses ends, and it looks generaly like you are overcomplicating the raw stuff. And some points are pretty weird.
EX: 8: The Conflicted One is God of Conflict.
A: The Conflicted One is the singular most powerful individual alive within the Universe. His command of reality is absolute.
AND:
14 Player Characters are generally Conflicted Ones.
So then. The conflicted One is a singular man? All the players are gods of conflict? Are there other Conflicted Ones or the players are Way to over the 'Normal Character' .... and What happens when a PC dies?
