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[Zantan]

I have decided to work on writing a god game, and I would like some suggestions of things that people might want to see in it.

I have two goals for the giame: firstly I would like the game to be able to create interesting and non-repetative stories using only the game rules and AI, with no player present.  Secondly, I would like a player to be able to take the role of a god in a randomly generated pantheon, with a randomly generated history and be able to have meddling sandbox fun.

The game would be roughly turn based, with turns based more on which entities have something important to do than any even order.  It is partly inspired by the openness and detail of DF, but also the story driven nature of Nobilis, a pen and paper god game where the extreme power level forces gameplay to focus more on fulfilling personal goals, navigating the social world of the gods, and making an interesting story.

I have a fairly good idea of some of the things that should be able to happen in the game, but I'd also like some inspiration from everyone else as well.  What parts of your favorite myths do you find compelling?  If you were playing a game as a god, what kinds of interactions would you want to have with other gods? your followers? other mortals?  which god would you be most likely to emulate?

[Freak]

Well I know that I would like the ability to butcher helpless people and cute little animals.

After all there's nothing like setting a rabbit on fire just to hear its horrible screaming before punting its charred corpse at someone.

[Servant Corps]

In this god game, do gaining followers make you get more power? In that case, having a random generator to let me know how worship work in the world would be very useful.

Also, a list of sects that follow you, and any wars between your sects.

[Pathos]

Automate the civilizations etc, and allow the god to issue broad commandments (ie. go burn down / conquer that people or city) which any worshippers follow. Also, miracles and magic of all types must be involved.

That's all I want, really.

[Zantan]

the ability to butcher helpless people and cute little animals.

That seems a little lowly for a god to be doing, at least as a specific action. I could see two possibilities: setting animals on fire in public places to mess with a god responsible for animals/a benevolent god responsible for fire, or listing it as a regular activity of your god (the effect being fairly similar to the first).  Both would also flavor the opinion people have of you, and could lead to a public conflict between you and any angered gods, which would affect your reputations.

Automate the civilizations etc, and allow the god to issue broad commandments (ie. go burn down / conquer that people or city) which any worshippers follow. Also, miracles and magic of all types must be involved.

In this god game, do gaining followers make you get more power? In that case, having a random generator to let me know how worship work in the world would be very useful.

Also, a list of sects that follow you, and any wars between your sects.

I plan to give Civilizations and various groups within them basic powers of action.  Worshipers will come from various groups based on how they feel about you.  Your mandates will affect the size and quality of your worshiping population, so the more you demand of them the fewer there will be, but they will also be more devout (and more willing to make sacrifices to you, go on wars, etc.)

Worshipers will have a subtle effect on your importance as a god, but will not make you more powerful.  They will be good for amusement, earthly actions such as conflicts and service work, and you can stock your domain with them or the souls of the devout (which may annoy any gods responsible for the afterlife, if present in the pantheon). 

Miracles can always be used in major events (or to create major events), but there are two major drawbacks: mortals may come to expect your intervention, and get cocky if you don't, which can damage your image especially if you don't put them in their place, and the more actions you take in a given event, the more likely other gods are to get themselves involved.

[Zantan]

I would also like to add that some attention will be paid to your god’s home.  You will be able to decorate it with artifacts, wealth and other stuff, create and recruit servants to guard/entertain/maintain the place, hold parties for other gods, and imprison your enemies in it.  Gods will judge you on how grand it is, and their reaction will be even more extreme if you host parties there.  Others may break/sneak into your home to steal artifacts and wealth, rescue prisoners, or bribe/interact with servants.

Does anyone have suggestions for what you would want to do with your godly palace?

[Freak]

I would also like to add that some attention will be paid to your god’s home.  You will be able to decorate it with artifacts, wealth and other stuff, create and recruit servants to guard/entertain/maintain the place, hold parties for other gods, and imprison your enemies in it.  Gods will judge you on how grand it is, and their reaction will be even more extreme if you host parties there.  Others may break/sneak into your home to steal artifacts and wealth, rescue prisoners, or bribe/interact with servants.

Does anyone have suggestions for what you would want to do with your godly palace?

Will I be able to decorate it with the dismembered corpses of all the foolish mortals that manged to annoy me?

[ProZocK]

Make the actions on the Mortal Plane really affect the gods. If a city wages war in the name of a god of ocean, the god of war should also gain a little power, merchants buying out most of the city enpowers the god of wealth, this kind of stuff.

Also would be interesting to have the world start taking aspects of the most powerful gods, undead roaming the plains if a god of death is powerful, people becoming more violent if a god of war is the same way, even the forests growing and taking back villages if the god of nature is the boss.

The nice thing about a god game is seeing your plans affect the lives of the mortals and the world they live in. The mortal plane should be the battleground of the gods in that way. No avatars in my opinion, your church should be your representative.

[nenjin]

I would recommend checking out Afterlife.

Pay attention to the actions you can take as a demiurge in the real world. You can inspire the belief values of the population, and their corresponding behavior changes how they act. So, increase their "Lust" value, they breed more. Increase their anger value, they fight more. Increase their greed value, they're consume more resources. Ect..

This has play in Afterlife because you want to control the morality of the souls that come into the afterlife, as they are like population segments.

So, for your game.

Do the same thing kind of. It should be about manipulating worshippers to create the kind of society you want. What they believe should have an impact on how they behave. The tough part is having an acceptable game play reason for, say, having a society of violent people who just like to randomly murder each other. That's maladaptive (although it wasn't in Afterlife.) So maybe you could tie some aspects of the society you're watching over back to the god; say in what kind of title they have, what the scope of their powers are or something that makes it feasible to create bad societies as well as good ones.

[eerr]

the founding of rome is particularly great.

Creation myths are supposed to be really, a piece of work.

so just spring for one that actually happened.

CYOCM
choose your own creation myth.