Games of Divinity Addicts Anonymous

[Aasharu]

How would you run a story with the goal of breaking the Games of Divinity's addictive hold on the Incarnae? I mean, I realize it would be possible, given high enough dice pools, to convince the Incarnae to pay more attention to Creation, but in terms of actually finding some way of completely ending the Games' hold on the gods, how would you do it? Obviously, given the lack of knowledge as to what the Games actually are, this will be heavy speculation.

 

[Kyeudo]

I think that it isn't that the Incarnae can't get away from the Games. I think they just don't want to.


Look at it this way: The Unconquered Sun has every Solar Charm, which includes Transcendant Hero's Meditation. He could turn and walk away from the Games and never give them another thought again.


So why doesn't he? I think its because of his nature. He is the God of Triumph. He needs to win against all odds like the wind needs to blow. That nature is part of what caused him to advocate the Primordial War and the creation of the Exalted. Now, he has conquered the greatest of challenges possible. He overthrew the makers of the world! Only the Games of Divinity now offers an actual challenge, an actual chance to be defeated, because only in the Games can he challenge beings as transcendantly powerful as himself.


What possible event in Creation could entertain his fancy when compared to the chance to test his wits and skills against beings that can end his every winning streak, that already know his every move before he makes it? How can he resist the chance to try to out-think Luna's ever-changing, ever-evolving strategies and Mar's brilliantly executed plans?


I'd say he still cares about Creation, but that he's still hurt over the poor treatment he recieved from his Chosen back in the First Age. He either doesn't know about the magnitude of the threats that exist to Creation or he doesn't consider them something that his Chosen can't handle on their own. He even might think himself doing his Solars a favor by leaving such lesser challenges for them to entertain themselves with.

 

[Ker'ion]

Read Glories of the Most High: The Unconquered Sun for more details on the G.O.D. and the Incarnae's addiction to it.


The Exalted can use a Perfect Mental Defense and break the addiction, but because of the way the Games were made, the Incarnae cannot use a Charm to break their addiction.

 

[Nerrin]

I think its because of his nature. He is the God of Triumph. He needs to win against all odds like the wind needs to blow. That nature is part of what caused him to advocate the Primordial War and the creation of the Exalted. Now, he has conquered the greatest of challenges possible. He overthrew the makers of the world! Only the Games of Divinity now offers an actual challenge, an actual chance to be defeated, because only in the Games can he challenge beings as transcendantly powerful as himself.

The Exalted can use a Perfect Mental Defense and break the addiction' date=' but because of the way the Games were made, the Incarnae cannot use a Charm to break their addiction.[/quote']
It'd be one hell of an effort to make (but isn't that the point?), but I think if I got in there with a large enough dice pool for social combat, I'd see if I could appeal to that very nature as the god of triumph. Convince Sol of another challenge he has yet to succeed against -- not the other players, but the very Games themselves. He will not have truly won until he can break away and destroy the Games like he did his creators. Only then will he be truly unconquered, and until that happens he is still just a slave playing out something else's programming.


A thought. Don't know if it's come up elsewhere, but it just occurred to me. (Bearing in mind that I don't have much beyond the core, and everything else I know is mostly gleaned from going around online.) Somewhere, I read a description of the Games as a "Platonic ideal of fun," to explain why they're so addictive. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand, the Primordials by their nature and existence defined various aspects of the world. Slaying the Primordials completely was a bad idea not simply because you Do Not Kill things so vast and mighty, but to do so was about as smart as tearing down your home in mid-winter.


So... How possible is it for the Games to be another Primordial? As She Who Lives In Her Name is called the "Principle of Hierarchy," might there be/have been one that is the Principle of Fun? One whose form is the Games of Divinity, and is only tolerated because he/she/it enjoyed being the Games too much to side with its brethren. All it cares about is being played (akin to a permanent sexual ecstasy, intoxicant high, and thrill of victory all at once, but better), and doesn't care whether its players are gods or Primordials. In fact, it may even prefer its players being gods -- maybe the old geases are still in place, allowing the Games to command the gods to play them. The Primordials, after all, could set the Games aside if they wanted to, but the gods seem to have something of a problem with that...

 

[Kyeudo]

The Primordials did not define any concept by their nature. They invented those concepts based upon their nature. She Who Lives In Her Name does not define Hierarchy, but Hierarchy was her masterpiece creation, to the point where she could not bear to destroy it from the world when she burned other concepts she favored from existance. If SWLIHN was to die, Hierarchy would live on without her.

 

[Nerrin]

The Primordials did not define any concept by their nature. They invented those concepts based upon their nature. She Who Lives In Her Name does not define Hierarchy, but Hierarchy was her masterpiece creation, to the point where she could not bear to destroy it from the world when she burned other concepts she favored from existance. If SWLIHN was to die, Hierarchy would live on without her.

Thanks for the clarification. It was something I was (obviously) rather fuzzy about.