Where I read Part-time Gods (2E)

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Picaroon Jack

Picaroon Jack

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We've been discussing Part-time Gods (2E) in another thread and since I ran it last year, I thought it might be beneficial to do a walk through. I will say when I was looking for a game that could emulate American Gods by Neil Gaiman, the Pub suggested a few and PTG2E was one of the suggestions. However, it is coming from a different place metaphysically than American Gods, and although it didn't have the feel I was hoping for, PTG2E was still a really fun game. It was more like a supers game where everyone has the same origin, which is they hold the spark of old gods from ancient times.

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Here is what it says on the tin:
Long ago, an entity known as the Source visited humanity and gifted certain people with divine power. For a time, the world existed in a state of balance between order and chaos, between life and death, between divinity and mortality. That is, until the gods waged war against the Source and eventually against each other, until the gods were close to extinct.​
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The gods of today are shadows of what the old gods possessed. Their power has been heavily diminished, and many choose to live a regular, mortal life, revealing themselves as gods only when absolutely necessary. The reason for this is twofold. First, fate doesn’t like it when the gods share their secrets with a mortal. Unless they are the god’s worshipper, terrible events and horrific accidents have a way of happening to the people closest to the god. Secondly, divine works attract creatures and monsters called Outsiders, created by the Source (after its capture) to destroy any god they encounter.​
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And so, the gods exist today in a state of flux. They have a mortal life, a job (or career if they’re lucky), friends, family, and everything that comes with being human, and they work hard to protect these things from harm. On the other side of the coin, they also have a Dominion to command and oversee, a deific Territory to defend from intruders, secret societies to which they owe allegiances (called Theologies), and other gods in their pantheon to try to get along with. This becomes their life, the balancing of the mortal and the divine, the normal and the supernatural, the mundane and the strange. The gods belong not to either world completely, and each of them knows that delving too deeply into one means losing pieces of the other.​

I'll go through character creation and then hit things like the intruders, how to use powers in your Dominion, combat and things like that over the next few days. I would note that I have not played 1E and have no idea what the differences are between the two editions, but we talked about those in another thread last year, and I believe they are some what substantial.
 
Character Creation
Here is a brief synopsis of the steps and then I'll go into a little more detail:
  • Step One: Occupation (pick one)
  • Step Two: Archetype (pick one)
  • Step Three: Dominion (pick one)
  • Step Four: Theology (pick one)
  • Step Five: Bonds and Entitlements
  • Step Six: Wrapping it up
Step One: Occupation. It's your regular job (or not). They are divided into fields (academic, blue collar, creative, criminal, etc.) and they give the character their associated skills, how much free time they have, how much wealth they have, their attachments to the mortal world, and a Blessing and a Curse. Free time and Wealth are abstract and basically are clocks to how much time/money they can spend as gods before they have to go back to work. The communal dice pool that players can dip into is called the Pantheon Die and they can add to the pot by role playing things like their curse.

Here is an example of the Business Owner from the Blue Collar field. If you want to own a corporation, that's a different field. I'll keep with the Goddess of the Written Word since I have used it for some other examples in the other thread, but I can show other characters in my game as well as NPCs later. The character's name was Murphy and she owned a bookstore in San Francisco in 1996. This is what she started with from Step One:

Business Owner​
Free Time: 2, Wealth: 3​
Attachments (You Receive): Level 3 “My Business” (L)​
Blessing - Solo Ingenuity: Business owners know how to work with the materials they have, as they are often not able to afford expensive repairs. Gain +1 Crafts to jury-rig an item to work “well-enough” on the fly — a trick they’ve come to master having their own business.​
Curse - Didn’t Hear the Knock: These characters tend to miss opportunities if they aren’t 100% attached to their business at all times. Gain 1 Pantheon Die if the player sacrifices 2 Wealth, representing major income they’ve lost while pursuing other responsibilities.​

Step Two: Archetype
This describes what kind of god are you in practice. Are you the Fool, the Hero, the Lover, the Rebel, etc. It provides the following associated with the archetype: skills, Attachments, and a variety of Blessings and Curses

Murphy was the Dreamer, and chose the options that are in bold

The Dreamer
  • Skills: Craft +1, Discipline +1, Perception +1, Perform +1, Tech +1
  • Attachments (Choose One): +2 levels to Landmark Bond or +2 levels to Relic Entitlement
  • Blessings (Choose One):
    • Freedom in All Things: Not only do they seek freedom of expression and action, they also detest being confined physically. Gain +1 bonus to any roll to resist losing freedom. This could include a Crafts bonus to pick handcuffs or Tech bonus to hack the surveillance tracker placed on them.
    • Keep on Creating: The Dreamer is a consummate creator, whether it is art, music, or new inventions. Gain +2 Crafts to create something that stands the test of time. Stroke of Genius: Sudden brilliant ideas are normal for the Dreamer and can lead to great developments. Once per Session, when taking dice from the Pantheon Pool, each die taken counts as 2 dice for their roll. For example, taking 2 dice from the Pantheon Pool adds 4 dice to their current roll. Afterward, the character is mentally drained, and takes on a Level 3 Dazed Condition.
  • Curses (Choose One):
    • Daydreaming: The Dreamer is always thinking of something and can be distracted by their imaginations at important times. Gain 1 Pantheon Die if the player sacrifices 1 Free Time when performing a task, reflecting the extra time it took due to constant derailment.
    • Perfectionist: Perfectionism is the crux of the Dreamer. They can often get stuck on an activity until they get it just right. Gain 1 Pantheon Die if the character cannot deny their urge to perform the same task again and again until they suffer an utter defeat or get a Style Boost (pg. 184).
(I'll continue later on)
 
The really fun stuff. Your god's domain, sphere of influence, called their Dominion. To me this is what defines them. A couple categories are a little fuzzy like Conceptual, but they included Crossovers to help sort it out. The Blessings/Curses and all the examples help players figure out what is most appropriate. It also provides more skills and attachments but also Manifestations of their Dominion power that they are especially good at.

Step Three: Pick a Dominion
  • Bestial (Examples: Cats, Dogs, Horses, you know, Animals)
  • Conceptual (Examples: Beauty, Vengeance, Justice, Truth, Names, Secrets, Celebration)
  • Elemental (Examples: Fire, Forests, Sky, Sun, Ocean, Mountains, Wind, Storms)
  • Emotional (Examples: Fear, Ecstasy, Love, Anger, Courage, Sorrow)
  • Patrons (Examples: Cooks, Chinese Americans, Artists, Blacksmiths, Dancers)
  • Tangible (Examples: Filth, Computers, Paper, Fertility, Murder, Healing)
  • Crossovers (Examples: Death, War, Music, Trickery, Seasons, the Hunt, Dreams)

The Written Word was one of those tricky ones. Is it conceptual? Is it tangible? We went with Crossover. In bold is what Murphy went with:

Crossovers
Examples: Death, War, Music, Trickery, Seasons, the Hunt, Dreams
  • Skills: Discipline +1, Knowledge +1, Marksman +1, Speed +1, Survival +1
  • Manifestations: Aegis +1, Soul +1
  • Attachments (You Receive): +1 level to Attachment of choice and Level 2 Landmark Bond
  • Blessings (Choose One):
    • Adaptable: Crossover gods are experts at thinking on their feet and coming up with unorthodox ways to handle a situation. After the GM has decided the combo necessary for a check, the player may sacrifice Pantheon Dice to switch one Skill in the combo with another Skill on the fly. This Blessing’s cost increases by 1 per use in the Scene (i.e. 1 Pantheon Die the first time, 2 dice the next use, and so on).
    • Learning from Others: Choose one of the unique Blessings from another Dominion type. This does not apply to Blessings that only grant a Truth.
    • Reactive: Those who possess Crossover Dominions are known for their ability to react quickly in almost any circumstance. To reflect this, the god receives a +2 Initiative bonus.
  • Curses (Choose One):
    • Prideful: Crossover Dominions are sought by many gods for their immense power, and the character knows it. Gain 1 Pantheon Die if the god’s pride or arrogance gets the better of them and causes conflict or friction.
    • Unpredictable: Gods who possess Crossover Dominions are, by definition, unpredictable. Gain 1 Pantheon Die when the god’s dubious nature feeds into others’ perceptions of them and, being unsure whether to trust the character, causes trouble.

Here's more on Manifestations:
Characters receive a total of 10 levels of Manifestations Skills during character creation, and each Manifestation opens up a variety of options for the god. Manifestation descriptions each contain three example effects to further illustrate their scope. How these effects look vary based on a character’s Dominion and are far from the only effects a player can utilize. If a player has a great idea for a different effect than the ones included with the descriptions, they can work with the GM to create it in the moment.
  • Aegis
  • Beckon
  • Journey
  • Minion
  • Puppetry
  • Oracle
  • Ruin
  • Shaping
  • Soul
Here is the description of Journey:

JOURNEY
Journey’s purview is using one’s Dominion for movement or travel. The effects provide three different methods of travel a character can use for themselves or others. With Journey, characters can augment their natural pace, slip through barriers, and pop to aspects of their Dominion. It is perfect for quick travel between locations, so many modern gods find Journey a necessary Manifestation to learn in today’s fast-moving world.

1. Blink​
Blink is the ability to travel instantly to one’s Dominion, disappearing from one place and reappearing in a second in a blink. One may use this effect on oneself or another, using Range to represent the distance between the user of the Manifestation and their target. Area Affected describes the distance between two locations that can be traveled. If the user has not been to their destination before, then every 2 successes counts as 1 success for the Area Affected Measure. The player can elect to travel to a random location to avoid this additional cost, but this doesn’t always end well.​
  • Suggested Check: Journey + Speed
  • Common Measures: Area Affected, Range, Targets Blink Applications
  • Bestial: A goddess of ravens can travel instantly to the nearest aviary to visit her charges.
  • Conceptual: A god of revenge appears before someone who has been wronged.
  • Elemental: A goddess of rivers can suddenly appear anywhere along the course of a river.
  • Emotional: A god of fear teleports into the middle of a haunted house.
  • Patron: A goddess of librarians returns overdue books with a snap of her fingers.
  • Tangible: A goddess of murder arrives at a murder scene well before the cops do.
  • Crossover: A god of music pops up at a random nearby jam session ready to play.
​
Blink Example: Sawyer stops a kid from getting hit by their foster parent by blinking the kid to a nearby safehouse. The GM asks for a Journey + Speed check, giving Sawyer’s player 4 dice. They get 3, 5, 7, 10 (3 successes) and use them on Range 2 (since Sawyer is not touching the kid) and Area Affected 1. The kid teleports to a block away where Sawyer is waiting for him to get him to safety. ​
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2. Phasing ​
Phasing is used to move themselves or another target through people, creatures, walls, or other objects — essentially anything physically present and related to the god’s Dominion. When one uses Phasing, they can move the entire target or elect to move only part of it. For example, a character could phase their hand through the lid of a locked box, root around, grab something inside, and then pull it out. Magnitude determines how much of their body they affect, with a Moderate change sufficient for an average-sized person.​
  • Suggested Check: Journey + Travel
  • Common Measures: Targets, Magnitude, Duration Phasing Applications
  • Bestial: A god of dogs reaches into a dog’s stomach to retrieve a key she swallowed.
  • Conceptual: A goddess of secrets hides a packet of letters by phasing them into a safe
  • Elemental: A god of trees easily races through thick woods, passing through branches, roots, and massive trunks.
  • Emotional: A goddess of pride slips through the walls of an architect’s greatest achievement.
  • Patron: A goddess of travelers rummages around a suitcase without opening it.
  • Tangible: A god of healing massages a friend’s heart through their chest.
  • Crossover: A god of sports ensures a flyball sails through a window without breaking it.
    Phasing Example: Manuel holds up the corpse of his latest victim but doesn’t want to leave any evidence. The GM asks for a Journey + Travel check, and Manuel’s player rolls 5 dice with a result of 1, 3, 3, 5, 7 (1 success). Since they are small, he spends his success on Magnitude 1 to make the bullets intangible. No other successes are needed. He phases the bullets, the instruments of death, out of the body, and he collects them from the street before making his getaway.

    3. Swift
    Swift is the ability to rapidly travel across a space using one’s Dominion, such as enhancing Movement or imbuing an object or animal related to one’s Dominion with the ability to travel quickly. Travelers are assumed to be physically traveling, so they can stop mid-journey if needed or attacked. If done to oneself or a living being, this is a Journey + Athletics check, while Journey + Crafts is used for non-living targets. The Targets Measure determines how many people or objects the effect can affect, or optionally how many people can be brought along for the ride. Modifier provides a bonus to Speed or possibly Movement.
  • Suggested Check: Journey + Athletics or Journey + Crafts
  • Common Measures: Targets, Modifier, Duration Swift Applications
  • Bestial: A goddess of cheetahs matches her personal speed to a cheetah’s.
  • Conceptual: A god of justice can move quickly if chasing a criminal.
  • Elemental: A goddess of wind flies along a jetstream.
  • Emotional: A god of anger can race when furious.
  • Patron: A goddess of cyclists makes a bicycle travel as quickly as a car.
  • Tangible: A god of computers increases the speed of a high-tech car.
  • Crossover: A goddess of time slows seconds to seemingly increase her own speed.
    Swift Example: As Colt chases someone through a crowd, he slips on his headphones and turns to a track with over 200 beats per minute. He wants to match his pace to his music, so the GM asks for a Journey + Athletics check. Colt’s player rolls 5 dice and gets 2, 5, 7, 9, 9 (3 successes). They spend their successes on Duration 1 (to last the scene) and Modifier 2 (for +4 Movement). With this burst of speed, Colt launches at — and catches — his target.
Manifestation Checks
Manifestations do not fail. When a player rolls their dice, the question they are answering is one of power. Each success generated by the check increases the extent and efficacy of the Manifestation.


(I'll add some more on the extent of Manifestation later)
 
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On with character creation.

Step Four: Pick a Theology
This is basically how does your character believe a god should be? They added some more in a supplement, and I actually ditched the cannibal one called "Puck Eaters" since it really didn't fit the game I was running. You get more skills, Manifestations, and Free time associated with the Theology. Some Theologies give extra Attachments, but not all of them. These are part of their Blessing write ups. They also give a full character example for each Theology in a character sheet. Here are the summaries:

  • Ascendants (Inhuman): Ascendants are ideologues whose belief stems from one inalienable fact. Gods are superior to humans in every way. They revel in their power and eschew humanity as much as they can. They strive to be the best and most powerful gods, the apex of their kind. They often take this view to the extreme, some committing terrible atrocities in the name of divinity.
  • Cult of the Saints (Saint): The Cult of Saints believe they are gods in name only. There is a higher power out there, a true God who deserves their worship just as humanity worships them. They take their roots from the Roman Catholic Church, but they accept members from any and all religious backgrounds.
  • Drifting Kingdoms (Drifter): Drifting Kingdoms gets its name from the fact that these gods create small, powerful territories, only to abandon them at the height of their power. Long ago, Drifting Kingdoms decided the true flaw in ultimate power is stagnation. To rid themselves of this flaw, they decided that only constant change could keep them from failure. Now they pass from territory to territory in a matter of months, building up and moving on as fast as they showed up.
  • Kunitsukami (Spirit-kin): The Kunitsukami know they are gods, and acknowledge the divine power within them, but also recognize they are not the only ones with such power. There are not just other new gods, but the Outsiders, and spirits and even greater gods above them. Recognizing this hierarchy to divinity is key to their traditions.
  • Masks of Jana (Masks): The Masks of Jana believe only the deserving should know of the gods. Long have they kept their powers and divinity a secret, and long have they punished those who would carelessly display their power. They hide amongst humanity, keeping secrets and staying hidden. Masks are renowned as assassins and shadow players amid the gods who know they exist.
  • Order of Meskhenet (Inheritors): The Order of Meskhenet believe true divine power comes from the purity of the Spark. They keep strong traditions regarding their Dominions and can trace their Sparks back to their first inceptions. They hold traditional passing of the Spark as the only way to truly create a worthy god and look down on anyone who thinks and acts otherwise.
  • Order of Strut (Hunters) (this one came with a supplement, I think) This organization of gods is dedicated to the Swiss knight, Strut Von Winkelried who was the first human to slay a dragon. They are focused on hunting dragons and other monsters of legend. With the Descending Storm, there has been a rebirth in dragons, and the Order now quests to protect humanity from these beasts.
  • Warlock’s Fate (Wizard): The Warlock’s Fate concern themselves with the why and how of reality. They delve into magic and spend a great deal of time researching manifestations and their effects on the world. They make it a point to discover new magic or create new relics, refusing to believe they’ve found everything there is to know yet about reality.
  • Phoenix Society (Pro-Humanity): The Phoenix Society believes gods exist only for the betterment of humanity. They protect humankind from Outsiders, help them flourish and grow and recognize they themselves aren’t human anymore, even though they spend a great deal of time in the presence of mortals. Their goal is to leave humanity better than they found it.
Murphy, as the Goddess of the Written Word went with the Kunitsukami:

Kunitsukami (Spirit-kin)

Skills: Discipline +1, Intuition +1, Medicine +1, Perception +1, Speed +1
Manifestations: Puppetry +1, Oracle +1, Soul +2
Free Time: +2, Wealth: +1

Blessing and Curse
  • Blessing - Eight Million Spirits: The Kunitsukami understand their place within the spirit hierarchy, with the old gods above and the souls of beasts and objects below. For 1 Fragment, the Kami opens their senses to spirits in the area and can communicate with any active spirit, animal, or object they touch, ignoring any language barriers. They can see and even touch spirits, who are usually invisible and incorporeal, but may also speak to the other eight million spirits, such as the spirit of the floor, their phone, or a tree. With communication channels open, the Kunitsukami can now use their spiritual position to force compliance with these spirits by sacrificing Pantheon Dice. Asking a spirit a question they must answer always costs 1 Pantheon Die. Asking the spirit for a favor, however, may cost anywhere from 1-3 Pantheon Dice, but they must obey the request immediately. This could be anything from commanding handcuffs to unlock themselves (1 Pantheon Die) to asking the bulldozer to ram through a wall for you (3 Pantheon Dice).
  • Curse - In the Middle: Due to their spiritual position, the Spirit-Kin are beset by spirits of all kinds who ask for help in settling scores and finding their final rest. The eight million spirits seldom ask favors, as it would be rude to bother the gods for their petty wants, but other spirits are not so understanding. Instead of spending 5 points on Attachments in Step 5, the character gains a Level 3 “Spirit Community” Group Bond (that does not count toward the character’s Bond limits), which can be used for Shared Lessons, but not Resources or Lead Follow-up. Also, Wealth cannot be used to avoid them. For each Strain this special Group Bond takes on, the god suffers a Level 1 Broken (Influence) Condition, lessening their sway over anyone on any plane. If the Bond ever drops a level, the god permanently loses -1 Influence level in addition to their normal consequences. If they have no Influence, the GM may select another Skill to affect instead. Once the Spirit Community has been notated by the player, they receive their 3 points to spend on additional Attachments normally.
 
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Step Five: Bonds and Entitlements
This is the stage characters sorting out their attachments/entitlements & bonds. At this step, the player must first pick one free Truth for their god. If they have received additional Truths from either the Dominion or Theology steps of character creation, those are in addition to this free Truth. These Truth's are really cool.

Truths are additional abilities beyond those granted by their Dominion, and certain undeniable Truths definitely grant power and purpose to their godliness. These Truths are universal statements connected to the god’s legacy, itself connected to a divine Spark, which passes from one god to the next god who takes over the Dominion. Truths are the very essence of the god.

Once done, each player receives five (5) additional levels to apply to either Bonds (attachments to groups, individuals, or places) or Entitlements (Worshippers, Vassals, Relics, and Truths).

ATTACHMENTS
BONDS: (Scale from 1 to 5 with 5 costing double. Limited to 6-spark in total number)
Relationships:

Individuals
  • Affects Territory: A god’s Territories are intrinsically tied to their Individual Bonds, whether fate has bound their souls or there is just some mysterious connection to be explained later. Assign a point of interest on the Territory Grid for each Individual Bond, granting a +1 bonus to Manifestation checks when around their primary location.
  • Favors (1 Strain): Individual Bonds can cover for the god in their mortal life. If the Bond agrees (some situations just don’t make sense), the character receives 2 Free Time, but the Bond is not available for the rest of the Session. If this Bond is sent to tend to a second Bond with Strained, the player rolls 1d10. On a success, the second Bond heals 1 Strain.
  • Lead Follow-up (1 Strain or 2 Wealth): Individual Bonds can follow-up on leads, and by spending 2 Wealth the player can avoid Strain to the Bond. The player makes an Influence + associated Skill check (Planning Phase), and the Bond returns with whatever info they could find on the lead in (5 - Successes) Scenes (minimum: 1 Scene). Asking them to sneak into a building may be Influence + Stealth, while asking them to plan an escape route may be Influence + Travel. The quality of the information is based on the Bond’s personality, traits, and experiences. Sending the god’s sister, who is an accountant, to stake out a possible crime scene may not yield much but sending her to check into a shell company’s financials is right up her alley. The GM rolls dice equal to the Bond’s level (Execution Phase) against a Difficulty based on the Bond’s ability to complete the task and gives the player up to 1 piece of info per success gained (maybe less if there wasn’t much to learn or if the information has been magically obscured). Successes rolled beyond available information can apply to the Planning Phase result, per GM approval.
Groups
  • Lead Follow-up (1 Strain, +1 Wealth per additional Lead): A Group Bond can follow-up on leads for the god and is widespread enough to track down a number of leads equal to its level simultaneously. The character can ask for one lead for free, but additional leads require Wealth to cover expenses. They are, however, confined to their area of expertise. For instance, asking the Academic Community to check into a lost text suits them fine, but they won’t collect info on the local racing circuit, no matter how much they like the god. The player makes an Influence + associated Skill check for each lead (Planning Phase) and the Group returns with info they gathered in (4 - Successes) Scenes (minimum: 1 Scene). The GM rolls dice equal to the Bond’s level (Execution Phase) for each lead and gives the player up to 1 piece of info per success rolled, based on the available intelligence. Successes rolled beyond available information can be applied to the Planning Phase result, per GM approval.
  • Resources (1 Strain): Group Bonds are often willing to share resources and equipment with others in their community. This nets the character Temporary Wealth equal to half their Group Bond level (rounded up) that is immediately spent to obtain items pertaining to the Group. A god who is part of the hacker community may spend their Wealth to get a system upgrade for a particularly tricky job, while a police officer may use it to pay their fellow cops off the book to seal off a location for a few hours while they search it. Resources can only be used once per Session.
  • Shared Lesson (1 Strain): Trying to complete a difficult task alone is tough, but a Group Bond can act as a support network to help tackle almost any challenge. By tapping into their Bond, the character gains a bonus to a certain Skill for the next scene. For instance, getting tips from fellow dancers who helped perfect their choreography may grant a Perform bonus, while causing trouble with their gang and getting riled up may grant a Fighting bonus. This bonus begins equal to the Group Bond’s level and drops by -1 each time the Skill is used during the Scene until the bonus is depleted.

Landmarks
  • Affects Territory: Each Landmark is connected to the god, whether it is a place they loved as a mortal or a new piece of their Territory granted by their divinity. Assign a point on the Territory Grid to each Landmark Bond, giving the character a +1 bonus to Manifestation checks when around its location.
  • The Hearth (Optional - 1 Strain): If the god spends a scene in their Landmark Bond and rests, they heal +2 damage or reduce Conditions by 2 levels, in addition to any Health or Psyche they would normally recover. The player may cause 1 Strain to double this healing bonus if they choose.
  • Home Turf Advantage (1 Strain): When operating around their Landmark Bond, the god receives a bonus to associated checks. This could be a Travel bonus for knowing the backroads, a Knowledge bonus for researching information (i.e. if the location has a library), or even a Stealth bonus for knowing the best hiding places. The bonus granted is equal to the Landmark Bond’s level to start but reduces by -1 each time the Skill is used during the Scene until the bonus is depleted. The Home Turf bonus only affects standard Skills, not Manifestations.

Losing Bonds
Most of the time a relationship Bond is Strained, the god comes around next time to make it better. If they don’t, they may lose a level or two as the Bond weakens. Sometimes, however, characters can lose their Bond entirely. Here are a few ways this can happen:
  • Level 1 to 0: If the character continues to ignore, use, and manipulate their Bond, causing constant Strain and their levels to continually drop, the Bond eventually drops below Level 1 and is removed from the sheet. Each level that drops, the god takes one 1 Level of a Failing per Normal.
  • Death: Some stories put Bonds in direct danger from outside threats. If circumstances lead to the death of a Bond, this is akin to losing all the Bond levels at the same time, but the sudden nature of the loss (usually quite violent) inflicts +1 Failing Level as well. For instance, if a Level 3 Bond falls from a height they could not survive, and the god was too late to save them, the god would then suffer a total of 4 Failing levels.
  • Excised: When a god grows in their divine power, their connections to their mortal Attachments must be removed to free up their soul for power. Each character can only have (6 - Spark) Bonds. This means that at Spark 1 they can have up to five Bonds, but when they become greater gods at Spark 5, they can only hold on to one Bond. Those from the Ascendants (pg. 68) or Phoenixes (pg. 92) are the exceptions to this rule. Each time the character attains a new Spark level, the player selects a Bond who the god cuts off from their life (i.e. they walk away from their family, torch their family home, etc.). The god suffers all normal Failings for levels dropped, but for each Bond level lost, the character also receives 2 XP to immediately spend to raise any of their divine traits. This includes replacing a Bond with Worshippers or Vassals, spending the XP on Manifestation levels, or combining it with existing XP to grant a new Dominion.
Entitlements (Divine)
Entitlements are vestiges of divine power connected to a god’s Spark, including Relics (divinely imbued magical artifacts), Truths (additional powers connected to the god), Vassals (magical beasts and beings who work for or with the god), and Worshippers (mortals who help the god reach their full potential). These are powers the character is entitled to as a god in command of pieces of the universe.
 
Step Six: Wrapping it up

Enhance Skills and Manifestations
Each player gets the chance to customize their character to their liking now that their initial choices have given them a foundation. They receive 10 points to spend on Skills and 4 points to spend on Manifestations. As usual, Level 1-4 costs 1 point each, while Level 5 costs 2 points. These points can be spent on Skills and Manifestations, even ones the character does not have any levels in yet.

Once done, players may also define two (2) Specialties (pg. 130) for the character, one for a mundane Skill, and one for a Manifestation of their choice. These are written on the Specialties line below Skills on the character sheet for quick reference. An example may include “Singing (Perform),” “Beckon (Summon),” or “Tracking (Survival).”

Specialties (chart pg. 177) are specific uses of a Skill or Manifestation that grant a +1 bonus to the player’s checks. Specialties costs 3 XP, but no Skill can have more than two Specialties and each Manifestation can only have one.
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Derived Traits
Free Time/Wealth
A character’s Free Time and Wealth Scores are based on their choice of Occupation and Theology, combining to give them a total in each resource from 1 to 10. Be sure to check both choices to ensure the player has added up their totals accurately, and to denote how much of that comes from their Occupation; this comes into play whenever the god goes to work. For more info, check out pg. 190.

Health and Psyche
Anyone’s body and mind, even a god’s, can only take so much punishment before they break. This is represented by two different damage tracks:
Health: This displays the character’s physical condition and how much of a beating their body can take. Physical damage takes away from Health. Characters begin with (Fortitude +5) Health.
Psyche: This is the character’s mental condition, showing the strength of their mind. Mental damage takes away from Psyche. Characters begin with (Discipline +5) Psyche.

Each damage track has its own section and ranges from 1 to 10, though some Blessings allow the character to exceed this number. There are two rows for each tracker, the top showing the maximum Health or Psyche the character possesses, and the bottom row being used to mark damage taken. Damage is recorded with a “/“ through one of the bottom bubbles, going from the left-most bubble to the right.

Initiative
Initiative represents the character’s reflexes when something bad is occurring around them, whether it be a trap or an ambush. Intuition + Speed becomes the character’s Initiative bonus for determining turn order during a Round. Each player rolls 1d10 and adds their Initiative bonus to the roll result. Highest number goes first, followed by the next highest, and so on. More Initiative info is on pg. 198.

Movement
Movement is the character’s speed at which they travel on foot. Characters have a Movement of Athletics + Speed + 5, and this value represents how many feet can be traveled with a single Move Action. They can also move half this distance without an Action. More Movement info is on pg. 189.

Spark
A god’s Spark is the representation of their current divine power, ranging from Spark 1, a fledgling god, to Spark 5, a greater god. Characters begin play with Spark 1 but go up by +1 Spark for every 50 XP they earn throughout the game. Each step brings them closer to their eventual godhood and raises their power, but also leaves behind their Bonds, which once made them human. It is suggested that all gods within the pantheon start at the same Spark level to help with game balance. One’s Spark gives the following abilities:
  • Fragments: A Spark can be split into Fragments, giving accessing to 3 Fragments per Spark level. These Fragments recover at a rate of 2 per Session and can be spent on a variety of purposes (pg. 137).
  • Legendary Act: Each Spark Level gives the god access to an epic and Legendary Act (pg. 138).
  • Power of Fear: Gods with a higher Spark also receive a +1 bonus to Influence (Intimidate) against lower-Spark gods for each step they are greater. For example, a Spark 3 god would gain +2 Influence to intimidate a god with Spark 1.
  • Truths: Gods receive one new Truth for free each time they achieve a new Spark Level. This follows normal Truth rules but should reflect events of the story. If the character has spent a large part of the game hunting and slaying giants, granting the Bane Truth (pg. 117) against giants is an easy choice.

Strength
Strength represents the character’s raw power for lifting, pushing or breaking things. Characters have a Strength equal to their Athletics + Might. More Strength information on pg. 188.
 
Ronnie Sanford said:
Picaroon Jack, what do you see as PTG’s biggest strengths and weaknesses?
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To me the #1 strength is the manifestation of their Domains. Like the Journey one? The God of the Written Word would teleport around San Francisco from bookstores to the libraries to magazine stands. The God of the Suckerpunch would use the same power to teleport into combat from no where. It has a lot of room for creativity.

To me the weakness was the abstract use of money. Like it was more of a rating than cash on hand. For example, you can use it to make things better with the people in your life after you have created Strain in the relationship, but other than "Hey, mom, take a cruise to Alaska on me!" it was a bit too loosey goosey. There were some similar abstract rules on territory that I don't think we paid much attention to.

The NPCs were pretty stellar too, I made the Goddess of Chinatown who was really cool as a senior, but detached member of the San Francisco Pantheon. And the God of Asphalt who's brother the God of Bridges had been mysteriously killed, and so was super defensive. His day job was working for Metro patching potholes, but he knew everything that was happening on the streets of San Francisco.
 
I started reading the rulebook yesterday and read the first chapter. So time for my WIR.

Chapter 1 - The Descending Storm

What does it cover? It's the setting fluff basically. It's a fairly succinct breakdown of the key setting elements: The Source, The First Mother, God Wars, God-Killers, Outsiders, The Descending Storm, and how the Part-Time Gods actually become gods.

It's quite a decent background and it's not overly long. This is great for me as, while i enjoy a good gazetteer, I really dislike complex backgrounds which i know some of my friends will remember better than me and, as a result, cause tedious debates.

The setting reminds me a a little bit of parts of Demon The Fallen, Vampire the Masquerade and the latter seasons of Angel. Yes, there is a hint of American God's too but it's not too strong a hint. Also, it's got that great idea of public life/secret life balance and maintaining a level of normalcy while also dealing with a wide variety of mythical beings and gods. It's basically a Silver Age Marvel supers setting with occult/magick stuff replacing the powers and super science elements. It also seems to be opening the setting up to doing anything from The Warriors to The Godfather to Game of Thrones (but with powers!) with it's description of Pantheons And Territories.

I skipped the fiction bits. They are short but I rarely enjoy game fiction.

So far the game has set up a potentially interesting setting. There's plenty of elements that I can de-emphasise or over-emphasise, flesh out or ignore, as I see fit. There's also plenty of clear, inbuilt conflicts to get the players engaged with. It's also a fairly loosely defined setting (at least at this point) so I can easily reskin it with my own setting if I wish. For me this is exactly what I really want in a game. As already mentioned, I'm no fan of Setting Lawyers!

Key Takeaways at this point: It's succinct, clearly written, has nice layout, good art, and conveys it's setting in a way that makes it sound very fun to play.
 
Now I'm part way through Chapter 2, which is Character Creation. It's a loooong chapter but it's broken up into decent sized sections so it's easy to take a break and come back to without losing your place.

As it's long, I'm going to break this up a bit.

Chapter 2 - Spark of Divinity (Occupations & Archetype)

There are 6 sections in this chapter overall: Occupations, Archetypes, Dominion, Theology, Attachments, and Final Touches.

So far I've read Occupations and Archetypes.

These both give a broad selection of character types common in modern settings. There's a decent amount of choice although it leaves plenty of room for expansion (either official or homebrew).

For Occupations there are several parent groups (White Collar, Blue Collar, Creative, Criminal, etc.) that each have three options below. For Archetypes there are several personality types based somewhat on the Tarot (The Fool, The Lover, The Wanderer, etc.).

Combining the Occupation and Archetype gives you a good selection of different Skills and a number of abilities to make use of in the game. They also help define your mortal life and give you a score for both Free Time and Wealth. The use of these two scores, while somewhat self explanatory, isn't clearly defined in the rules just yet.

I've found the various abilities (Attachments, Blessings, Curses) to be fairly simple to grasp mechanically and the titles and descriptions of each have plenty of flavour. I should note that the Occupations only give a single Blessing and Curse but the Archetypes allow you to choose one of three for each. This sounds like it will lower the odds of two characters of the same Archetype, or even Occupation and Archetype, from having much overlap. Overall, it's reading well and it's making me look forward to creating a character (or characters) later on.

Key takeaways: Seems straightforward but flavourful so far, options seem transparent enough that home-brewing should be simple enough.
 
So, continuing from where I left off...

Chapter 2 - Sparks of Divinity (Dominion & Theology)

Dominion, as the name suggests, is covering what your God has power over, or in, or what-have-you. There's several categories here (Bestial, Conceptual, Elemental, Emotional, Patrons, Tangible) that are, once again, pretty broad but there's also one (Crossover) that is exceptionally broad! While the other Dominions are fairly obvious Crossover is less so. It's basically for any Gods who cover 2 or more of the previous Dominions or, I guess, who don't fit into one of the other Dominions at all.

Like the earlier Occupations and Archetypes, Dominions provide a number of benefits. These are mostly the same categories we've already seen (Skills, Attachments, Blessings, Curses) but also throws Manifestations into the mix. These are apparently ways that a God manipulates their Dominion but the rules for that will come later.

Each Dominion gives you +1 to two Manifestations. For the Dominion's Blessings and Curses you again get a choice from 3. These choices along with the specific nature of the Dominion keep the 7 Dominions feeling different without overwhelming us with rules it seems to me.

Next up is Theology. These are a selection of Secret Societies that the Gods can belong too. There's a couple of pages of description and history for each society. They're all fairly generic and obvious really. They sound very much like things I've seen a lot before but they are also flexible enough that you can use them in a bunch of different ways within your game's setting. So that's no bad thing really.

Once more, each Theology provides a bunch of stuff for your character. This time you get Skills, a single Blessing, and a single Curse as well 3 Manifestations and an adjustment to your Free Time/Wealth scores. You can of course choose not to have a Theology at all and then you get a bunch of points to spend freely in Skills and Manifestations and +3 to their Free Time score.

I think Theologies are the weakest part of the game so far. There's nothing wrong with them but I think there needs to be more choice here as the No Theology option doesn't seem a great one to take and the provided ones, while okay for the setting, don't inspire a lot of excitement in me with my Player Hat on. From what I understand the other sourcebooks do add some more so that's good.

Key takeaways: It's good to see some example characters here and get a feel for how everything is coming together. Nice to get a sense of the Gods' powers too but the mechanics of Manifestations aren't clear yet.
 
NinjaWeasel said:
I think Theologies are the weakest part of the game so far. There's nothing wrong with them but I think there needs to be more choice here as the No Theology option doesn't seem a great one to take and the provided ones, while okay for the setting, don't inspire a lot of excitement in me with my Player Hat on. From what I understand the other sourcebooks do add some more so that's good.
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I agree. When I ran it, I had NPCs of the same Theologies as sort of mentors, but it seemed clunky. It might be better to talk to players and just come up with one or two that are in play since all the players make up a city's pantheon it stands to reason they would share ideas on what it means to be a god.
 
Chapter 2 - Sparks of Divinity (Attachments)

Okay, so, Attachments. These have been there in the Occupations, Archetypes, etc. But now we get a bit more explanation about them.

Firstly, at this point you get 5 points to spend on improving existing Attachments, or creating new ones, but you also get to add a Truth. This is one of the Attachment types and it seems, at this stage, to be a bit like an Instinct in Burning Wheel - a universal truth about who that character is that is "always on'?

What are the other Attachment types? Individual Bonds, Group Bonds, Landmark (i.e. location) Bonds, Relics Entitlement, Vassals (non-human followers), and Worshippers (human followers).

Bonds are the things that anchor the God's mortal life. The less powerful a God is the more Bonds they can have (the more powerful they are the less in touch with their mortal life they are) and these Bonds provide a number of benefits. Such as carrying out favours. However, these Bonds need attention or they will degrade over time and can be lost. Each Bond is also tied to a point of interest on the Territory Grid. This Grid has not been discussed until now and I suspect it won't be properly defined until later.

One thing of particular note is that using Bonds can incur Strain. Too much Strain and the Bond drops a Level and the God gains a Failing. Another thing of note is that while none of the individual mechanics here are complicated, in and of themselves, there is more going on here than I expected. I think I'll be referring back to the book a bit for the first few sessions!

Next the book gets into Entitlements. These are things that define your God life as opposed to Bonds which are things that define your Mortal life.

First up is Relics. As you can probably guess, this means items of great power. They can represent anything from Thor's Hammer to a magical bag of sausages. There's rules about whether or not you can wield them as opposed to just posses them. There's also a list of different example relics and a page of rules on creating your own.

Next we have Truths. Initially I thought these were like Instincts in Burning Wheel but they're a little bit different to that. They are a player-defined descriptor, or short sentence, that gives an ability that can be "always on" (Passive) or activated for a cost (Active). Unlike Burning Wheel's Instincts, there are 22 specific mechanical effects that can be applied to a Truth. Each Truth has only one effect.

Lastly, we have Vassals and Worshippers. Both of these function similarly to Bonds. They offer, essentially, the same mechanical benefits as Bonds as well as a few others besides. The big difference between the two, other than one being Outsiders and the other Mortals, is that there's only 1 type of Vassal rules-wise while there are 7 types of Worshipper. Also, Vassals are not added to the Territory Grid.

Okay, thats the end of Attachments and it was a lot more to process than I expected. There's a lot of options there. I'll definitely need to re-read that section at some point and make some cheat sheets for how to use things in play.

Key Takeaways: This isn't a hugely lengthy section but there's a lot going on in these pages. Mechanically speaking. Earlier on it didn't seem like these Attachments were such a big deal but now it feels like they're actually a very important part of the game.
 
Chapter 2 - Spark of Divinity (Final Touches)

This is the final section of Chapter 2 and it's a pretty short one. It's basically covering some odds and ends to finish off character creation but it also introduces a bit more info on 2 important concepts as well.

There's a bit of info on extra points that players can spend on Skills and Manifestations. Thus allowing you to customise your character a little further. Then there's a bit on Derived Traits. There's quite a few of these: Free Time/Wealth, Health, Psyche, Initiative, Movement, Strength, and Spark.

The last of these, Spark, is pretty important. It represents the characters current divine power. It has an affect on several things and can also be used in a number of ways too (such as getting bonuses to Influence rolls against lower Spark god's).

The other important concept that gets touched on is the Territory Grid. There's more info elsewhere in the book but we get some detail on how to fill out the Grid and why it's important and how it can be used in game. It's essentially creating an abstract map of your game world.

Following this we get a breakdown of how to award and spend XP to change your character. There's a couple of free ways to do this too but one, consuming the soul of another god, sounds like may business to be avoided!

Finally, there's a few reference pages for character creation.

Key takeaways: This wraps up character creation and fills in a few gaps. Most of it is fairly standard stuff to RPG veterans but there's a couple of central concepts here that are unique(ish) to this game which get a bit more illumination.
 
We used the territory grid some, and it help show the gods parts of the city and how they could move around, but we didn't use it as much as I thought. We just did one adventure that lasted 6 or 7 sessions and I think the territory grid is for much longer campaign play.
 
Picaroon Jack said:
We used the territory grid some, and it help show the gods parts of the city and how they could move around, but we didn't use it as much as I thought. We just did one adventure that lasted 6 or 7 sessions and I think the territory grid is for much longer campaign play.
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Hey Jack! The grid is about location. If your game took place in the same location for 6 sessions, it’s not impossible but does seem odd. Moving from their job to the park to the junkyard to the school, those are all utilizing the territory grid to get from one place to another, either with set points or through randomization. It’s to reinforce that “I go to the graveyard” sometimes means driving all the way to the edge of town which can take a while or when you luck out and a crucial clue is actually right around the corner.

Also, the map helps to track when and where they receive manifestation bonuses based on their current location, which can create new strategies (ie “let’s lure them to the school, where we’re at our most powerful”).

Hope that helps to clear stuff up. I’ve run the game a lot, obviously, and the grid really is a key part of the system in my mind.

cheers!
 
FirstOni said:
Hey Jack! The grid is about location. If your game took place in the same location for 6 sessions, it’s not impossible but does seem odd. Moving from their job to the park to the junkyard to the school, those are all utilizing the territory grid to get from one place to another, either with set points or through randomization. It’s to reinforce that “I go to the graveyard” sometimes means driving all the way to the edge of town which can take a while or when you luck out and a crucial clue is actually right around the corner.

Also, the map helps to track when and where they receive manifestation bonuses based on their current location, which can create new strategies (ie “let’s lure them to the school, where we’re at our most powerful”).

Hope that helps to clear stuff up. I’ve run the game a lot, obviously, and the grid really is a key part of the system in my mind.

cheers!
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Oh they moved around! They just never left the city. They were actually loath to even consider leaving it because of the threat of outsiders. Talking about it is making me want to run it again. :smile:

Welcome to the Pub, FirstOni FirstOni !!
 
Picaroon Jack said:
Oh they moved around! They just never left the city. They were actually loath to even consider leaving it because of the threat of outsiders. Talking about it is making me want to run it again. :smile:

Welcome to the Pub, FirstOni FirstOni !!
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Thanks for the welcome!

But yes, the map IS their city. So if they’re moving around a ton, then the map comes into play almost constantly. If you go outside the city, that’s when they would leave their own map with their divine territory and into a fresh map representing a different city where they likely have zero domain. I have run sessions where the gods literally stayed in the same location the whole time, but that is pretty rare. usually they’re running around herding cats! ‍⬛

And I’m always looking for opportunities to run this game. It’s so fun!
 
FirstOni said:
Thanks for the welcome!

But yes, the map IS their city. So if they’re moving around a ton, then the map comes into play almost constantly. If you go outside the city, that’s when they would leave their own map with their divine territory and into a fresh map representing a different city where they likely have zero domain. I have run sessions where the gods literally stayed in the same location the whole time, but that is pretty rare. usually they’re running around herding cats! ‍⬛

And I’m always looking for opportunities to run this game. It’s so fun!
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My players stayed close to their places of business (art studio, book store, tabloid publisher, nightclub) except the God of Cats who basically wandered all over the city. The God of the Written Word teleported all over the place there was books.
 
Okay, so yesterday was a busy day and I took a break from reading PTG 2e. I was back on it this morning though...

Chapter 3 - Divine Expressions

This chapter is going to get into some of those things that make a god, well, a god. The Powers section basically.

First up is a discussion of Spark and how gaining and losing it affects the character. The higher the Spark the kess human they are but if it sinks to 0 they become mortal again. We also get an explanation of Fragments, which are fragments of Spark, and can be spent a bit like Fate Points in other games. Every level of Spark provides 3 Fragments but if you permanently lose 3 Fragments you reduce your Spark by 1.

Next up is Legendary Acts. These are reserved for special moments and allow a Character to act as a more powerful god by giving them narrative control of the scene. There are some some consequences to using them though.

Then we get an explanation of worshippers' Prayers, and how they affect gods, followed by a discussion of Immortality. The latter section explains a number of things about the aging process for player characters and the effects of gods being killed or having their souls devoured.

Manifestations is up next and this feels like a big one. Essentially, Manifestations have, up til now, looked a lot like Skills and that's because they are. When you use one you combine it's value with a Skill's value and a dice roll but there is no target number. The Manifestation always succeeds. You just need to work out factors such as magnitude, area of effect, range, duration, etc. It's also important to note that any Manifestations you perform are directly linked to your Dominion.

There's a lot going on with the Manifestations and we get details on what happens when they go wrong (Backlash), how other gods resist them, and how a player can get Bonuses to their rolls. The latter can include sacrifices. Most importantly, we get descriptions of the 9 Manifestations themselves and three example ways that each can be used. All together these give a lot of possible options and cover most of the ground I think you'll need. It does make it clear that these are examples though and that the players and GMs can come up with other uses too.

Closely related to Manifestations are Rituals. They function similarly to the aforementioned Manifestations (Skill + Manifestation) but you also add some of your Fragments and Free Time to this too. This is because Rituals take some time to prepare. Three types of Ritual (Territory, Spark, Otherworldly) are described with examples. The interesting thing is that Rituals, unlike Manifestations, do not have to be tied to your Dominion.

Divine Expressions ends with a description of Other Realms and how to travel to them.

Again, like the last chapter, there's quite a lot going on in this. There's a fair number of concepts dealt with and quite a number of mechanics to get your head round. There's also numerous references to Pantheon Dice and there's still no explanation on what these are. The next chapter is called Blessing The Dice so it will, hopefully, cover these Pantheon Dice.

Key takeaways: Lots of powers! Lots of ways to use 'em!
 
Back to my read-through...

I had a migraine yesterday and that meant that while I read Chapters 4 and 5 I only managed to really take in 4. I'll have to re-read Chapter 5. Ugh.

Chapter 4 - Blessing the Dice

This chapter gets stuck into more of the mechanics of the game and finally explains what the much mentioned Pantheon Dice actually do! I mean, I had my suspicions anyway but it's good to actually know. Blessing the Dice is a pretty short chapter but it's obviously a very important one. The basic mechanic for PTG is a dice pool, made up of D10s, that works very much like that of Chronicles of Darkness/New World of Darkness. That means 7s, 8s, and 9s are successes. If you roll a 10 that counts as two successes. A 1 is a bad thing but I'll come back to that.

Firstly it covers Blessings and Curses and how they work. The part about Blessings is a single paragraph but Curses get a bit more detail. It basically runs through the different ways they can affect the story. Despite the use of the word "story" in the definition these have tangible, objective mechanical affects within the game. It's all fairly straight-forward stuff here.

The following section delves more deeply into the Skill Combo system. This is a much lengthier section, mostly because (as you probably expect) it gives descriptions for each of the Skills, and it covers a few important concepts. As the traditional Attributes are merged into Skills, a bit like Fate-powered games, you don't perform tasks with Stat + Skill instead you do it with Skill + Skill. This chapter gives examples of when to use individual Skills and ways to form Skill Combos. There's also examples of different Critical Failures. These occur when you roll a 1 but don't roll any successes. The Difficulties, or Target Numbers, are between 0 and 5 just like the Skill ratings. We also get explanations of Modifiers, Opposed Checks, Extended Checks, and how to handle Ties.

A number of slightly less obvious concepts get described in this Chapter. The first that gets an explanation is the Fate Die. If you don't have any Skills to form a Combo, or too many penalties, you can roll a Fate Die - a single D10 that succeeds only on 10. Then there's rules on how multiple Characters can work together on a task. Basically each participant provides one of the Skills for the Skill Combo with more that two joining in at a cost. After this we have Boosts. You get a Boost for every 3 levels of success above the Target Number that you achieve. There are descriptions of 10 possible Boosts that have effects like reducing the time of activites, increasing damage, as well as having "Epiphanies". Lastly, for this section, we get Tools and these are pretty simple. They give bonus dice to your dice pool. There's a little more to it than that but not much.

After Skill Combos we finally get the rules on Pantheon Dice. These are basically what I expected and if you've played the Cortex Plus/Prime family of games then you'll know roughly what to expect. It's a dice pool that is a shared resource and operates a bit like a meta-point system. There's a pool of dice that is eual to the number of players at the start of every session. Throughout the course of the session you can take actions that add dice to that pool but you can also, with the agreement of the other players, take dice from the pool to add to Skill Combo checks or to power certain abilities.

Next up we have the derived attributes. Firstly, Strength and Movement. They're self explanatory really. Then we have Free Time and Wealth. These require a bit more explanation to understand how they work in the game. Wealth is a little more easier to get your head around but Free Time works in a similar way but helps structure game sessions. There are multiple ways that you can both spend and earn these two resources and they very much interact with your mortal life. Run out of, or get low on, Free Time then you need to go to Work. Working will also earn you Wealth. Maintaining healthy Bonds also involves your Free Time.

The latter section leads us into two brief final sections about interacting with Attachments and the Territory Grid. These also involve the use of your Free Time and Wealth resources.

Key takeaways: We get the mechanical core of the game explained at last, with the obvious exception of Combat (but that's up next). A lot of it is fairly obvious stuff but the Pantheon Pool and the Free Time/Wealth stuff is a bit idiosyncratic, although not complex, and the latter is clearly a key part of attaining the Part-Time Gods experience.
 
It's been a few days since I did another update and I've read two more chapters since the weekend. I started a new job this week and I've not had much time to jump on here and write a new WIR post. So I'm going to keep this a little briefer than previous posts.

Chapter 5 - Divine Battles

This is the chapter I always like the least... combat. I'm not a fan of tactical combat and lots of combat options. Just laying that out there so people know where I'm coming from.

This chapter covers two forms of conflict: Fists (aka physical combat) and Wits (aka social and mental conflicts). I will say that I am pleased that the social/mental side gets covered and it doesn't really matter to me that it's just a variation on the physical combat rules. Many games I like handle it this way (particularly the more narrativist leaning ones like Other Worlds). Luckily the basics of turn sequence and resolution are simple. As is grasping the concepts of Quick Actions and Standard Actions. However, there's a fair number of these actions and they all have different ways of working. There's a lot of stuff here that I'll have to keep referencing as I'll never remember it all. It's not excessively complicated just a lot to have to know. Personally I prefer a fairly limited set of options.

The basics of Damage are, thankfully, shorter on the rules and, thus, easier for me to absorb. There's a few different types of damage roll and they aren't intuitive but the short list makes it easier to recall. What makes the Damage rules a little more complex is that there's Conditions. I actually like these a lot in principal. There's three main types: Physical, Mental, and Crossover. There are several sub-types listed for each and, again, they all have different mechanical effects. I reckon these would be best printed onto a series of playing cards that the player's can reference to save on constantly referring to the book.

Healing is fairly brief and straightforward so I was relieved. It feels simple but there were a number of possible variations that could increase the complexity in play.

Healing is followed by Battle Modifiers. This is basically about Armor and Weapons, and the positive and negative Qualities they might have, as well as Range. A lot of these Qualities have different mechanics. Some will get remembered but once again there's too much going on here for my liking.

Lastly, the chapter contains a few pages of useful Battle examples.

Key takeaways: It's a more tactical and detailed conflict system than I was expecting. It isn't poorly designed (and some people are going to love it I'm sure) but it isn't really to my taste. Not as GM anyway. I'd be more comfortable as a player with a GM who knew the system well. For me it is too specific and I would prefer it to be a little more streamlined and abstract. Anyway, it's a short Chapter but there's a lot going on here.
 
Chapter 6 - The Opposition

This is a longish chapter but one that I'll only spend a brief time describing. It's a good chapter and it covers what it says in the title: The Opposition. This is a bunch of creatures, monsters, and NPCs. Specifically the categories are: Animals, Mortals, The Touched, Other Gods, and Outsiders. There's a good few examples in each category and covers all the setting-specific antagonists. There's examples for each of 5 scales, or perhaps levels, of opponent. Firstly there are three scales that are power levels: Warriors, Masters, and Grand Masters. Then there are two scales for number of opponents: Squads, and Legions.

The stats and abilities for these NPCs and animals are actually nicely streamlined compared to PCs. There's a pleasing simplicity to them and they are certainly not full write-ups. While I'll need to reference the book, or record them on sheets, to use them I find looking at the write-ups it's really fast for me to spot the info I'll need and this is a boon. I was never a fan of monsters with two pages of special abilities and rules exceptions. Naturally, the presence of the Opposition will still lead to compleity due to the nature of the conflict rules in the previous chapter.

It's also worth noting that The Outsiders that are listed includes many beings from traditional Fantasy as well as Greek, Indian, and Japanese mythology. It's a small but nice selection of the most well known.

Tha last part of the chapter is a very brief section on using Custom Antagonists. There is a table giving basic stats for 5 different power levels. These basic stats can then be customised.

Key takeaways: This is a nicely written and presented chapter that gives plenty to keep players occupied with.
 
I want to note that I like the Truths as well. It's nice when RPGs add a few "things you can do automatically if you have the skill at any level" to the skill section, like in UA3...:thumbsup:
Obviously this is adapting the concept to reflect metaphysical power, but then it's par for the course, given the type of game that this is:angel::devil:!
 
AsenRG said:
I want to note that I like the Truths as well. It's nice when RPGs add a few "things you can do automatically if you have the skill at any level" to the skill section, like in UA3...:thumbsup:
Obviously this is adapting the concept to reflect metaphysical power, but then it's par for the course, given the type of game that this is:angel::devil:!
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I am a fan.

"The Goddess of the Suckerpunch always hits first." That is Truth. :smile:
 
I haven't gotten around to reading the final Chapter yet. It's basically a combination of GM advice and some Setting advice/tools. Or so it appears. I might get round to reading it this weekend but we'll have to see. I'm tinkering with a cyberpunk setting, using a house-ruled version of Thousand Suns' system, at the moment and that's taking priority.

PTG 2e is a cool system. For every bit that's a little too fiddly for my liking there's also something I really like (such as the Truths). Combine that with the fun premise of the (mostly implied) setting and it's a game I'd like to run... but perhaps I'd ideally prefer to play it first though. Just to get the hang of it.

Overall though, I think I'd rate it 4 stars out of 5. It came close to 4.5 stars too. (For context, I very rarely give a game 5 stars)
 
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