[GB] God Themes

[Eliahad]

This occurred to me so I want to get it down before the thought escapes me. Each God should have a theme and flavor to their powers. This will also need to be brainstormed, but I was kind of headed in that direction anyway. This is what I came up with on first attempt:

Zeus - Balanced (slight lean toward Attack and Defense)
Heremes - Movement and Speed
Poseidon - Terrain Manipulation
Hera - Card and Hand Manipulation
Athena - Imbuement (Planning and Wisdom)
Aphrodite - Champion Mainpulation

[edit: These 2 are no longer in the initial set:
Hades - Deception and Barriers
Ares - Attacks and Defenses

[Mike]

Excellent thought.

[Eliahad]

Now that more of the elements are back into the game, it's time to start thinking about the themes of the Gods again. What is each Gods' focus? How has their focus changed because of the changes to the game? This will be helpful as we start to build each God and Godesses' individual deck.

[Eliahad]

Also, oh my, have things changed since September!

It might be worth it, also, to consider all 12 Gods of Olympus as we do this. Even if 6 are in the initial set, it wouldn't hurt to start looking a wee little further afield, at least when it comes to God Archetypes.

[FlameBlade]

Especially Bacchus.

[Mike]

Dionysus is offended.

[FlameBlade]

Today I learned...

[FlameBlade]

Oh. TV Hercules had both Bacchus and Dionysus!

[Mike]

I agree we should explore at least 12 gods.

Aphrodite
Apollo
Ares
Artemis
Demeter
Hephaestus
Hera
Hermes
Poseidon
Zeus

That's 11, plus probably Dionysus to fill out the dozen.

Also look at Hestia and Hades

My vision here is that we'll come up with a whole bunch of cards in our master deck. Some will become "universal cards"--the basics that are seen in pretty much every deck. But a bunch of the rest will naturally suggest themselves towards particular goda. Then it's just a matter of filling in the gaps.

I know there's no way it will be that simple, but I'm a dreamer.

[Mike]

Hermes... probably the easiest.
Travel
Trade
Thievery
Messages
Athletics
Herds and flocks

Allow 2 sprints in one turn
Cheap/free move
Extra move
Trade hands
Steal HP
Steal Godball
Ignore terrain
Clear terrain
Then definitely summon a herd of sheep

[Mike]

Viscous killer sheep, of course.

[Eliahad]

Battle Sheep

[Eliahad]

Poseidon is going to be all about terrain manipulation, and not just water.

Though I imagine his epic water power will create ocean in the six tiles around his Hero and then they will move out one hex from there, flooding everything.

[Mike]

Agreed.

I imagine Hera as more focused on straight-up blessings and curses. Especially curses. She should also have some nasty responses to anyone who has just attacked her.

Aphrodite is about manipulating the actions of others. Choosing the results of other people's actions. Changing the target of a shove or grab. Changing where the ball lands. Even going so far as "after an opponent declares a move action, Aphrodite chooses what hex they move to".

Ares is about the Godball. He's strong in attacking the Hero with the ball. He's strong in moving the ball to his goal. Very direct.

[Eliahad]

Zeus and Apollo are more balanced in their approaches, while Zeus is a little more direct in his methods (a little like Ares, Hera and Poseidon), Apollo is a little craftier (following after Athena, Aphrodite and Hermes.)

[Mike]

If we stick with our original six, that's 3 male, 3 female--3 direct, 3 sneaky. Some more moderate than others. Good mix.

[Mike]

Demeter is harder, but I see her as being a manipulator of terrain (goddess of earth and agriculture) as well as a healer--manipulating HP totals.

[Eliahad]

I can see Demeter as having a lot of board elements. So yes, she has terrain control (forrest probably) but also having lots of those barriers (that aren't barriers).

[Bluedevyl]

I think Hades might be a bit easier to work out than Hestia, but that could just be me.

I also think that it would be interesting if there were interplay between the Gods. A God card for Demeter that gives a special additional blessing if her Hero is opposed by Hades could be really interesting.

There wouldnt have to be too many, but one opposing God for each of the twelve could be really fun. They wouldnt always come up, but if/when they did they'd be super interesting... but perhaps too powerful.

While our Heroes aren't going to "die", per se, Hades could "resurrect" a hero to their starting point if they are way out of position.

[Eliahad]

I think Hades would be wayyyy easier. But we had a conversation at one point where we realized that Hades isn't actually on Mt. Olympus. Now, this might become a moot point, since we're planning on including other pantheons later down the road, and Hades is certainly part of the Greek/Roman Pantheon, but for now, leaving him off has a certain appeal to me.

Also, since he's been left off, he's pissed off about it. When we get a set of the next 6 gods together, I want there to be a HADES deck, where each round a card is drawn. Sometimes, it's nothing, but sometimes it has an event that affects everybody on the board, because he just wants to MESS with people.