I’ve been tinkering with a hack to play in something much like Mythic Europe using the system from Dogs in the Vineyard. I’m coming to the conclusion that for mechanical reasons I may need to treat the four Realms as actual characters. But if I do that I need a sense of what each of the Realms might “want.” As I have a hard enough time coming up with what normal human characters want I could use some help here.
So, brainstorming here, no rules, but if the Realms had some sort of intelligence/personality behind them, what might they want? Any ideas?
Off topic, but I read that as "Canis in Vietnam..." which made me wonder if you were in a campaign somehow transported to the far east
The fairy realm's pretty easy, it wants to exist, it wants stories to be told so it can exist...
The divine wants worship and faith. At least, that's the general impression. God himself/herself/itself may not care, the angels do.
The infernal wants to corrupt and taint and despoil. Simple enough.
I read guernicus in vietnam as well, and imagined a guernicus moving in the jungle, which was weird. Oh well
For some reason I see the divine and infernal realms in femenine. I am thinking in victorian terms, more or less. Another weird ocurrence, hehehe, so my girls wear umbrellas and resemble alice in wonderland, just gigantic in size....
Faerie. Gigantic child (4 years old) that wants to hear a story before going to sleep. Childish and destructive if you frustrate it (like not telling him a story). Chaotic and with mood swings. Like a spoiled child with the weakness flaw for stories.
Divine. Teenage girl. Aloof, regal and haughty (14-15 years old). Wants to be worshiped, told how pretty and perfect she is (actually, she is quite nice looking) and be treated as a superior being. She wants to be the target of courtly love, basically (weakness: courtly love). Pissed off if you ridicule it. She never rewards you with phisical items, but worship can end up with you getting some sort of ethereal reward.
Infernal. Teenage girl (12-13 years old). Envious of the Divine. Wants the divine to be shown she is not sooooooooooo perfect. She will help you to ridicule the divine and offer rewards if you do that regularly. She does not like being thwarted either, though, so careful here or she might turn on you. Spitefully and full of malice.
Magic. A slightly older teenage boy (17 years old). He is extremely handsome, but is totally oblivious of that fact. He is concerned about order and perfection and gets annoyed at chaos (specially the one created by the Infernal girl and Faerie child). The Divine girl and the infernal fancy it, but he disregards both, finding them childish. If you search perfection he will reward you, but iff you mess up he will stomp you under his foot and only grimace for having to clean the mess.
Xavi's onto something there. Then that made me think of the Fates, and my brain spewed this out:
Faerie: Definitely a child, young and willful, not spoiled so much as lacks the capacity to withhold gratification (OK, maybe spoiled), wants to play and be told a story.
Divine: Like an old woman (or man, I suppose), willing to impart her wisdom to her younger daughter but aloof enough to let her make her own mistakes.
Infernal: Middle-aged, full of their superior wisdom: feels superior to the youngsters but jealous of their youth (and that they're grandma's favorite)
Magic: In the prime of life, full of optimism and ability, feels like he can do anything and change the world.
Well, Guernicus in Vietnam might just be my next mash-up.
These are all neat ideas and good thoughts, anyone else have any?
And how about a more specific question-- One of the reasons I'm wondering what the Realms might want is because all die roll conflicts in Dogs has to be opposed by someone. If there is no one in particular to oppose a role the conflict is with the "Demonic Influence" of the town--how much sinnin' been goin' down. I want to keep seasonal lab work, and I want to get dice involved but that means there has to be an opposition. It makes a certain sence to me that the roll would be in opposition to the Magic Realm, but why would Magic want to prevent a magus from inventing a spell or enchanting an item? Is there some other force that would be better opposition?
Each spell cast, or each item created might strip Magic (as a being) of part of his power. Say, -1 Might for every 100 spells cast per season (recoverable), and -1 Might per 25 levels of effects in an item until the item is destroyed. So, items are even mnore dangerous than spells, but both drain the Magic's Might pool. He can have a pair of millions of might points, just to be safe here. If he goes out of Might, magic stops working until the next solstice or equinox (except the magic of magical items).
The divine might oppose selfish spells, or the infernal might. Or faerie if they are dull utilitarian spells instead of cool "magically awesome" spells of stories. In that case Magic would oppose flashy spells because it attracts atention to him, and he wants to be left alone. A little of a cloistered dude, that Magic guy, isn't he? ).
