Especificación del Modelo de Casos de Uso

When you cast a Miracle, do you roll dice? If you create a fi re to burn a forest, and no other god does anything to stop you, does the forest burn? If you make a gigantic fl aming meteor plummet from the sky on a collection of barbarian tents, do the barbarians automatically get smashed?

Th e answer: It depends. If your Miracle does not aff ect people (or other creatures), you don’t need to roll dice.

It’s not a confl ict. If no other god counters your forest fi re Miracle, the forest burns.

If your Miracle does aff ect people (or other creatures), and the eff ects would be harmful or change them in some way they might not like (like converting them to your worship), you do need to roll dice; the barbarians have a chance of leaping out of the way before the meteor clobbers them.

Consult “ Confl ict,” above for information on how to resolve such confl icts.

If your Miracle causes such a confl ict, it is most likely a matter of mortals resisting what you try to do to them. Th e mortals roll dice according to their appropriate statistic: for example, Body for leaping away from a meteor or resisting a poison, Mind for resisting mental control, or Spirit to keep their faith in the face of hardship or fear.

Th e size of the die (or dice) you roll depends on whether the Miracle is an alteration or an innovation and on the

Miracle’s power, as shown on the table below.

You can also cast Miracle’s that grant bonuses (or apply penalties) to mortals’ die rolls; these are also shown on the table below and are always alterations (for obvious reasons). Whatever you create or alter gets the indicated dice (or the indicated bonuses or penalties) for its Body, Mind, and Spirit scores.

Th erefore, if you cast a legendary innovation to create an enormous, Neanderthal giant, it has d12s for Body, Mind, and Spirit.

INNOVATION MIRACLES

Miracle’s Power Die Size

Trivial d4

Minor d6

Signifi cant d8

Major d10

Legendary d12

ALTERATION MIRACLES

Miracle’s Power Die Size Increase or Decrease Steps*

Trivial No eff ect

Minor One step

Signifi cant Two steps

Major Th ree steps

Legendary Four steps

Miracle’s Power Bonus (or penalty) to Die Roll^†

Trivial No eff ect

Minor +1 (or –1)

Signifi cant +2 (or –2)

Major +3 (or –3)

Legendary +4 (or –4)

† Th e maximum bonus or penalty for any die roll is one-half the maximum number on that die. So, a d6 can have a maximum bonus of +3 (and a maximum penalty of –3). A d10 can have a maximum bonus of +5.

If you want to be assured of your Miracle’s eff ects (you really, really want the meteor to smash the barbarians), you can increase the Miracle’s scale (see “Step 4: Determine the

Miracle’s Cost,” Miracle Cost Step 2: Cost Factor);

see “ Confl ict,” Step 3: Determine Die Size, above, for how such a change aff ects the confl ict. (It reduces the mortals’ die size.)

When aff ecting up to a hundred mortals, roll separately against each group of 10 (or portion thereof ). When aff ecting from a hundred to a thousand mortals, roll separately against each group of 100, and so on. Th us, some of the barbarians might make it out alive while the meteor crushes the rest.

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You can combine several Miracles into a single Miracle.

For example, if you want to the miners’ coal to form into humanoid shapes and mine the nearby gold ore, and want to give these constructs a Body of d8+2, that’s a signifi cant innovation (to create the coal miners with a Body of d8) and a signifi cant alteration (to give them a bonus of +2).

Calculate the cost for each one separately, then add them together.

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Five saboteurs are sneaking into tunnels beneath your city’s walls in order to bring them down. Your awareness happens to be there, so you do something to stop them:

Th e ceiling drips down to absorb them, then retracts. You cast the Miracle as a signifi cant innovation. It’s individual scale, so the saboteurs will be rolling 5d6 (their Body is d6) to resist. You’ll be rolling d8s… but how many? Just one?

In general, when you cast a Miracle that creates a confl ict, your number of dice is equal to the number of dice the other side rolls. (So, in the above example, you roll 5d8.) In cases where you compete against more than one side, you roll a number of dice equal to the largest dice pool among your opponents.

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One particular sort of confl ict is when you attempt to convert people to your worship. Since followers provide gods with power, you’re likely to want more of them.

Whenever you attempt to convert a person or group of people to become new followers, the result is a confl ict.

Th e mortals roll their Spirit to resist, no matter the method

by which you attempt to convert them; (sending priests who can perform “ Miracles,” sending them dreams, appearing as a face in a tornado, or whatever).

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After you determine the Miracle’s base cost, determine its cost factor. Th e Miracle’s cost factor is unrelated to its base cost, but you’ll use it to determine its total cost.

Th e Miracle’s cost factor depends on its duration, your domain, your inclinations, the location in which it occurs, and its scale. Table 5-5: Miracle Cost Factor summarizes these costs; an explanation of each element appears below.

T^ABLE 5 - 5: M^IRACLE C^OST F^ACTOR

Aspect Cost Factor

Duration

Instant +0

One confl ict or one week +1

One season (three months) +2

One year or permanent^† +3

† Permanent Miracles require a constant expenditure of Belief.

Domain

Th e Miracle is within your primary domain. –2 Th e Miracle is within one of your secondary

domains. –1

Inclinations

You are in harmony with the Miracle’s style.^† –1 You are in balance with the Miracle’s style.^† +0 You are in opposition to the Miracle’s style^.† +1

† See the “Miracle Styles” sidebar for an explanation of Miracle styles.

Location

Th e Miracle occurs on or in a location you or your followers control.

+0 Th e Miracle occurs on or in a location that

no god controls. +1

Th e Miracle occurs on or in a location that another god (or his followers) controls. +2

Scale (Maximum Number of People Aff ected)

Individual (1) +0

Household (10) +1

Village (100) +2

Territory (1,000) +3

Nation (10,000) +4

Continent (100,000+) +5

* Th e cost factor cannot drop below 1.

Duration: Duration represents how long the miraculous eff ects persist. In the case of +1, the Miracle lasts for the duration of a confl ict if used during confl ict resolution, or one week outside it.

A permanent Miracle requires Belief expenditure every year.

Each year after you cast the Miracle, you must spend Belief to maintain it. Th e Belief you spend in this way is the same amount you would spend to cast the Miracle again, except the cost factor is 1 less.

Domain: Domain represents the increased ease of casting Miracles that fall within the domain of a god—this is the very aspect of the world that they were brought into being to exert control over, and as such it resonates through their very being, and responds to their touch. Th is reduction in cost factor is applicable to both Miracles that fall under the primary and secondary domains (though it can only be applied once per Miracle, even if the Miracle should happen to fall within two overlapping areas of domain).

Inclinations: Inclination gives a reduced or increased cost depending on the style of Miracle and your inclinations—

whether you are in harmony with the Miracle’s style, in balance with it, or in opposition to it. See the “Miracle Styles” sidebar for more information.

Location: Location represents the fact that a god fi nds it easier to cast Miracles in regions he controls—the faith of his followers saturates the land, making it respond more readily to his touch. In contrast, when casting Miracles in lands controlled by a rival god, the caster must overcome this same aura of belief, making it more challenging to use

such powers.

Scale: Scale represents the size of the target you want to aff ect, given in terms of the size of population such a Miracle would aff ect (though Miracles can also target lands or any other appropriate subject of a commensurate scale). For instance, during a confl ict, aff ecting 100 soldiers would be a Miracle with a scale factor of +2. Aff ecting more than one such resource would require a factor of +3.

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Four types of Miracles exist, called the Miracles’ styles:

creation, destruction, transformation, and control. Each has a diff erent eff ect.

Creation: Th e deities who specialize in it consider Creation the purest form of Miracle. Miracles of Creation do not work with existing matter or circumstances, instead sculpting new and complex forms from base elements or from pure will. To excel at the matter of Creation, a deity must cultivate an enormous depth of focus to allow them to mould every tiny detail exactly as they desire it, coupled with a total understanding of every aspect of the form they seek to create.

Th ose deities who disdain the art of Creation often consider its practitioners too divorced from the mundane world, creating their own beings from scratch rather than using the entities and materials available. Some even consider the artistry and focus required for Creation wasteful and ineffi cient, preferring the elegance of simply altering the existing situation.

Streams erupting from the ground, divine golden armor appearing on the faithful, clay warriors rising from the ground to oppose an invading enemy, and a vision of their God appearing before their chosen people are all examples of Miracles of Creation. Note that almost all Creation Miracles are innovations.

Destruction: Miracles of Destruction are unmatched for the spectacle they provide. Th e powers of Destruction focus on getting the job done in the most direct way possible.

Gods who make use of Destruction rarely need to concern themselves with exactitudes or perfection, focusing instead on raw power. Th at is not to say there is no room for skill—some Gods make Destruction a veritable art, knowing just when and how to best apply force.

Deities who prefer Destruction over other forms of Miracle are often dismissed by other gods as ignorant or overly destructive, solving every problem through destructive brute force rather than fi nding a more intelligent solution.

While undeniably impressive, many gods fi nd the showy and overpowering Miracles of Destruction wasteful of Belief, and a crude method of instilling fear and loyalty in their followers.

Rains of fi re falling from the sky, weapons crumbling into dust, a shoelace breaking, and a terrible storm tearing the roofs from houses are all examples of Miracles of Destruction.

Transformation: Gods who make use of Miracles of Transformation work by molding existing substances into new forms, reshaping it to better suit their needs. More than any other type, use of this style of Miracle requires fl exibility on the part of the deity, determining how to make the smallest possible change to achieve their ends.

However, its practitioners consider it the most artful of Miracles, with a skilled God able to turn things to his end with a few subtle tweaks and changes.

Th ose deities who dislike Transformation Miracles tend to consider the gods who practice too dependant on mundane resources and unable to fully impose their own will on reality, depending instead on perverting existing forms. As such some gods consider it beneath them to traffi c in the mundane to this extent, and avoid the style as distasteful. Miracles of Transformation can only be used when an analogous substance is present: a Miracle of Transformation could turn a rock into ice, but not into a rat—the diff erences are too great.

A mouse transformed into a beautiful woman, a forest coming alive to grapple and crush a scouting party, a hastily

erected wall of soft mud becoming as hard and unbreakable as stone, and falling rain turning to acid are all examples of Miracles of Transformation.

Note that, while it may seem that Transformation Miracles should mostly be alterations, that is not the case; remember, any Miracle that creates dice in a confl ict where none existed before (such as a toad turning into a burly wrestler) is an innovation, not an alteration.

Control: Widely considered the most subtle of styles, deities who prefer Miracles of Control specialize in the art of domination and enhancement of the senses and of the mind in all its forms. Th e gods who make use of these Miracles tend to be those who pay the most attention to mortals and to the mundane realm: a skilled deity can completely alter thoughts, emotions, and memories without the subject ever suspecting a change was made.

Such gods often consider deities who prefer diff erent styles to be ineffi cient and inelegant, expending enormous eff ort when a simple “attitude adjustment” could get the job done.

Gods who shy away from Control usually do so because of the need to so fully understand the minds of mundane creatures, fi nding thinking in such a limited fashion alien or demeaning, while a few prefer not to meddle for ethical reasons, disliking with the idea of tampering with the thoughts of those who trust and worship them.

Granting a prophet the ability to scry nearby locations, turning a loyal regiments’ minds to mutiny in an instant, giving a weapon the ability to speak and reason, and removing all memories of an attack on them from the minds of a village are all Miracles of Control. Most Control Miracles are alterations, but those that aff ect mindless creatures and objects (such as the speaking and thinking weapon described above) are innovations.