Placing this here for reference, but it is now out of date.
Cost Breakdown
The Creation Forge uses Motes, small concentrated essences, in order to create new objects, effects, and life. Motes can be used to craft all kinds of things, and in some cases, can be used to craft anything.
Common items can be created from motes, generally at 1-2 cost per 10 item. For example, 10 iron swords could be created from 1 iron mote. Generally these create non-artifact level equipment for mass use, and are therefore mundane or only slightly magical.
Common items are crafted, either enmass by the Creation Engine, or by the citizens of your nation. Regardless, these are the bulk of all items created, and represent generic items. Metal weapons and armor from iron and other metals, medicines from herbs, and buildings from wood and stone.
Appropriate resources can be used to create buildings or sublocations. These are smaller locations within Lands, often with defining geographical locations (A forest, lake, river, mountain, so on) and in some cases, a geographically isolated magical effect. They appear slowly over the course of a turn. These can be used to change one of the Mote incomes in the area.
15 Material Type Motes: A set of buildings or a landmark of small size, used to transform two mote incomes into another type present in that Land.
15 Material Type Motes and 15 Appropriate Motes (30): A set of buildings or landmark of large size or complexity, used to transform two mote incomes into another of a type relevant to your input motes.
10 Material Type Motes and 10 Appropriate Motes (20): A set of buildings or landmark that combines two or more motes into a new kind of mote.
Creation Forges can also create all manner of powerful creatures, artifacts, and magical effects. The following lays out some general guidelines for these creations. As always, the Mote types used should align with what you're trying to create. Failing to take this into consideration may have strange and unexpected effects.
Effect Costs for Actions.
Distance/Range
0: Touch distance
5: 10 feet
15: 50 feet
15: Range of 100 feet.
25: Range of 1000 feet.
40: Range of 1 mile.
Effect
5: A weak effect. For example, a small flame, a mild rehabilitating or debilitating effect, a bright glow, or other minor effect of similar power.
10: A mild effect. For example, a flash of fire, a mild medicinal effect, a strong light, or other effect of similar power.
15: A moderate effect. For example: a jet of flame, a healing or draining effect, a blinding flash, or other moderate effect of similar power.
20: A forceful effect. For example: a long range fire ball, a clensing or cursing effect, a other similar power.
25: A strong effect. For example: a torrent of fire, a powerful healing or strengthening effect, a magical curse or harmful effect, or other strong effect of similar power.
40: A powerful effect. For example, a wall of fire, resurrection (with limitations), nigh uncurable deadly curses, or other powerful effects of similar power.
50: A very powerful effect. For example, a giant wave of fire, resurrection (with almost no limitations), curses and blessings which establish a permanent hold on their target, or other powerful effects of similar power.
In contrast, effects could be simply an increase to particular traits, personalities, mentalities, or physical attribute of a target or set of targets. In this case, each 1 act increases that stat, or personality trait by 1%.
Radius of Effect
0: An effect which has no radius/aura.
15: An effect which encompasses an area of 10 feet.
20: An effect which encompasses an area of 50 feet.
25: An effect which encompasses an area of 100 feet.
30: An effect which encompasses an area of 1000 feet.
50: An effect which encompasses an area of 1 Land.
Disasters and Acts of God
Blessings and curses are powerful but temporary effects that affect a set of targets across an entire Land when used. Blessings cost 10 plus the effect cost. For example, one could case a 10+40 mote blessing that increases your soldiers strength by 40% before a battle, this would affect all of your soldiers (the set of targets specified) in the Land, but would not effect the enemy soldiers even if they're in the Land.
Artifacts
Artifacts use the three factors above, Range, Effect, and Radius. Pick the value of each one to determine the abilities of your artifacts. The optional artifact template is a good place to get started on making an artifact.
Artifact Name:
Physical description:
Distance/Range:
Effect:
Radius of Effect:
Lore/Additional Info:
Servants:
Servants come in two broad types: Uplifted and Invented.
Uplifted servants are servants which are selected from your followers and are elevated to the position of divine servant. This need not be anyone in particular, and enhances their capabilities above and beyond the common rabble. When up-lifting a servant from the population, you can design them as you see fit. The only caveat is that their description needs to possibly exist within your followers. So if you are humans, tying to uplift a dwarf with green hair and a false liver, is going to get shot down. But if you want to generally uplift a human and their traits and lore are reasonable, then it's copacetic.
For uplifted servants, you have several means with which to improve. The first method is simply investing more Essence into their uplifting, bringing them closer to you and making them generally better in several ways.
10: This would get you a servant who is twice the average of your race in one particular trait (wisdom, intelligence, strength, leadership, archery, magical power, so on and so forth) and generally on par in all other ways. Alternatively, you could choose to not specify a particular trait, in which case, they're slightly above average at generally all things. A well rounded servant.
20: This would get you a servant who is twice the average of your race in two traits, or three times the average in one trait, or generally 50% above average in all traits except one specified trait.
30: This would get you a servant who is thrice the average of your race in two traits, or four times the average in one trait, or generally twice the average in all traits except one specified trait.
The second type of servant are Invented Servants. These are servants which you create from nothing and were not previously members of your religion. Examples include, angels, demons, elementals, beasts, non-standard humanoids, so on and so forth. They operate on a sphere system. A servant's sphere relates to their purpose and their abilities. Example spheres are: fire, water, nature, healing, speed, justice, and all other manner of immaterial concepts, though spheres can be as narrow as mountains or hammers or farming.
Servants created in this way can be highly customizable. The base cost is 10 motes of any kind, and for every 10 motes added, they can increase in power similar to Uplifted servants. However, you may opt to devote those motes towards providing abilities to the creation, using the Effect Costs above.
For both types of servants, at the time of creation additional abilities from the effects table may be added for their cost. So a Servant without a sphere (10) with weak effect (5) with a range of touch (0) and a radius of fifty feet (20) would cost me 35 Acts total.
The optional servant template is a good place to get started on making an servant.
Servant Name:
Physical description:
Personality:
Base investment:
Mundane traits: (Things that don't effect overall power, but affect the way a servant may act or what they're capable of. Such as charisma, intelligence, or being skilled at a particular thing.)
Special traits: (These are traits which have an associated cost but give the servant special abilities. Such as control over an element, future sight, or being magically gifted at a certain thing).
Lore/Additional Info:
Creation of life:
While this metric divides plants and animals into distinct species, players need not. In this case the distinction is how complex the creatures are. If you plant can do everything an animal can do, pay the animal cost. If your fleshbeast is basically a photosynthetic immobile blob, pay for a plant.
15: Create a small population of a new mundane species animal.
25: Create a large population of a new mundane species of animal.
35: Create a small population of a new magical species animal.
45: Create a large population of a new magical species of animal.
15: Create a new species mundane species of plant in part of a Land.
25: Create a new mundane species of plant over an entire Land.
35: Create a new magical species of plant in part of a Land.
45: Create a new magical species of plant throughout an entire Land.
35: Create a population of mundane mortals.
50: Create a population of magical mortals.
Introducing new life to a Land may affect it's Mote production. In some cases this may add to the total production beyond the standard 5, but in many cases it may replace a Mote income.
Alteration of Life
These actions affect a Land.
25: Change an Land's ecosystem type towards a similar biome. For example, it can change a woodland into either a grassland or a dense forest. This will change your Mote Income for these regions drastically and may spark unrest.
45: Drastically change an Land's type of ecosystem towards a new unrelated or fantastical biome. This will change your Mote Income for these regions drastically and may spark unrest.
10: Alter a small section of a species to promote a specific preexisting trait within that species.
20: Introduce a new mundane trait into a species on a wide scale.
30: Introduce a new magical trait into a few members of a species.
30: Introduce sapience/intelligence/"mortal status" into a preexisting species.
40: Introduce a new magical trait into a species on a wide scale.
Magical species include a free moderate effect (15), or it's equivalent in lesser abilities, though players can add additional Acts to increase this effect from 15 to the desired level.
Unless special precautions are taken by you, other players, or other in game forces, most species will follow natural laws. They will expand to new Lands when they can, and go extinct in Lands they cant survive in.
Land Creation
New Lands can be added to your kingdom for 100 motes, with the geography, resources, and other elements of the land being determined by the motes used during creation.
Magic and Magic Branches
In this world, magic is classified on three levels: Spells, Fields, and Branches.
A Branch of magic would constitute large definable sections of magic such as: Spoken Invocation, Magic Circles/Circuits, Rune Writing, Omen Reading, Summoning, and so on.
A Field of magic is a subcategory within these branches, such as fire, ice or other elemental magic, druidism, necromancy, witchcraft, or other definable practice of magic.
A Spell is a specific magical procedure within a field of magic, such as spell of fireball, entangling vines, raise a zombie, or other procedure which results in a magical effect.
Branch of Magic: 60
Field of Magic: 40
Spell: 20
Magic created at a Divine Engine will infuse itself in a population(s) of their choice, affecting individuals to various degrees depending on their sensitivity to magic as well as affinity for the magic that's been purchased. Generally, this will follow a skewed bell curve, with many individuals receiving no or little magic power, many individuals gaining minor to moderate magical power, and a decent number gaining strong magic power. In the case of specific spells, the number of individuals who are able to perform the spell will follow a similar curve, many can't do it, but a good number of individuals could.
Magic spells do not require a field or even a branch of magic to exist. They can perform a spell if they know it's words or rituals, but they cannot understand the principles behind the spell until a field of magic is created that the spell belongs to. At that point, similar magics to that spell will begin to be researched, taught, understood and spread throughout the magical population. Once a branch of magic houses a field, deeper understanding of magic will allow for more powerful mages who may even discover new fields of magic.
In this way, the magic system is akin to deeper and deeper understanding of how magic works, with fields and branches being able to propagate new advances in the level of beneath them.