[general information]
Avatars are the mortal incarnations of lost gods. They emerge from artifacts containing the essence of the lost god when they find a Believer, someone who is capable of giving the avatar enough power to manifest on the physical plane. This person is then responsible for caring for the avatar and nurturing it to its full potential.
Growth: Avatars have a total of six stages, or power levels, each stage having a totally unique image and somehow greater than the last. As avatars reach new power levels, they obtain new clothes, skills, and sometimes weapons or armor. In addition to power growth, avatars also have physical growth, called "apparent age."
Apparent Age: Some gods were known to appear eternally as young women, or old men, or children. While all avatars have six unique images, some avatars stop growing physically at a certain point. They still grow mentally and acquire new powers and appearance upgrades, but do not seem to age in years. Apparent age varies from one avatar to the next. The variables for apparent age are infantile, childlike, adolescent, young adult, mature adult, and wizened. Infantile avatars look like babies or very small children their entire lives; childlike avatars resembles children; adolescents resemble teenagers; young adults look to be in the prime of life, mature adults look wise and experienced; wizened avatars look old. Most avatars stop their physical growth anywhere between adolescence and mature adulthood. Avatars who stop aging as infants or children or age into a wizened state are the exception.
If you don't want your avatar to grow into a mature adult or wizened individual, please see the section titled "Stage Halting".
. Power Levels .
n. Artifact
[image]
An avatar artifact contains within it the essence of the god and all of the god's powers. In artifact form, everything about the god is sealed. The avatar remains sealed in the artifact until found by someone who believes in the spirit of the god. At that point the avatar will Manifest.
Stage Requirements: none
i. Manifest
The first physical form of the avatar, the Manifest, is small and defenseless. A Manifest requires the aid of its Believer to grow and learn. A manifest physically resembles an infant or toddler and needs to learn things like walking and language and numbers. The Believer must care for its every need.
Stage Requirements: 2 Solo RPs, 1 RPs of any type
ii. Neophyte
Thanks to good care and nurturing, the Manifest has grown into a Neophyte, a larger, older form which allows the avatar to do and learn more. At this point, the first of the avatar's powers appears.
Stage Requirements: 1 Compiled Shop RP, 3 Solo RPs, 1 Private RP, 2 RPs of any type, Neophyte Quest
iii. Ascendant
Older, wiser, and stronger, an Ascendant has more experience and ability now. An Ascendant may aid in the Forging of a new avatar, and has unlocked a second power.
Stage Requirements: 3 Compiled Shop RPs, 10 Solo RPs, 3 Private RPs, 5 RPs of any type, Ascendant Quest
iv. Transcend
With three divine powers unlocked, a Transcend is a formidable foe, experienced and skilled.
Stage Requirements: 6 Compiled Shop RPs, 20 Solo RPs, 8 Private RPs, 10 RPs of any type, Transcend Quest
v. Deus
At this point, the avatar now commands five divine powers, the maximum they are capable of using.
Stage Requirements: 10 Compiled Shop RPs, 30 Solo RPs, 10 Private RPs, 15 RPs of any type, Deus Quest
Artifacts: All avatars possess an artifact which grows and changes with the avatar. This artifact is a worn item which cannot be removed from the avatar. If an avatar even tries, it will cause immense pain. If an avatar's artifact ever were removed, the avatar would separate from the physical plane and need to be re-manifested.
Divine Powers: All avatars have divine powers, but as they will never again have the followers they once had, an avatar cannot control more than five divine powers in their mortal guise. An avatar gains one power per stage starting at the Neophyte level and two powers at Deus. Every avatar's powers are different, unique to that particular god or goddess. Powers are up to the Believer to determine. When you submit your growth request for Neophyte, Ascendant, Transcend, or Deus, include one or two powers that you think your avatar should have which are i) relevent to your deity and ii) fit the stage you are requesting. This means that you should not request a giant huge power at Neophyte stage, wait until Transcend or Deus. All powers should be described so other roleplayers know what they are. Include the following: area of effect, duration, limitations, effects, appearance. You may also increase the limits on existing powers with each stage. If you cannot come up with a power, PM and ask for suggestions.
Sample Power Request
Stage: Ascendant
Power: Telekinesis
(Avatar) can lift objects up to twice her own weight for up to ten minutes. She can lift up more than one object at a time so long as the total weight does not exceed twice her own weight. To use this power, (Avatar) just waves her hand in the air and the object she is pointing at moves. She can do this to any object that is not bolted to the ground. She can throw the objects around but not hard enough or fast enough to break bones. Her range for her telekinesis is forty feet.
Also, I would like her Light technique to be increased so that she can summon up to five orbs of light, make them up to five feet in diameter, and change their colors and shapes.
Remember that you want your powers to be described so that
other players will know what they are! Also remember that you can increase powers with each stage, so start your powers off weak and upgrade them at each level instead of giving your avatar full power at Neophyte stage. Also try not to make your powers too powerful or you will be asked to change them.
Attributes: In addition to divine powers, all avatars have at least one attribute. This can be a mental or physical quirk, an additional small power, or an ailment. Examples include blindness, immunity to burns, the ability to breathe underwater, allergies, or even colorblindness.
Strong/Weak Points: Every avatar has one listed strong point and one listed weak point, taken from the following list: power, dexterity, constitution, charity, wisdom, intelligence, speed, luck, charm, leadership, obedience, artistry, initiative. If it is a weak point, the avatar does not have a great deal of the attribute, e.g. an avatar with charity as a weak point is greedy, an avatar with weak leadership could be a follower or a lone wolf type, and an avatar with obedience as a weak point might be rebellious. Strong and weak points may change with each level of growth and can be affected by roleplaying.
Alignment: Everyone, be they man, woman, or child, has a moral alignment. Most humans change their alignment as they age and develop, but for an avatar, alignment is a key part of the avatar's being. There are two parts to alignment, discipline and morality. Each of these has three variables.
Discipline: Discipline governs how an avatar follows rules, be they the rules created by society or a personal honor code. The three variables for discipline are lawful, neutral, and chaotic.
i.
Lawful avatars believe in rules and in following them. They are orderly and principled. A lawful avatar never compromises the rules they live by and seeks to enforce the rules on others. Being lawful does not mean one cannot be evil: a lawful evil avatar might simply believe in enforcing a different set of rules than society does, or might take advantage of loopholes in the rules for nefarious purposes.
ii.
Neutral avatars might have a personal moral code and follow the rules, but not always. While they do not go out of the way to break rules, they are willing to bend rules as the situation demands. A neutral avatar does not feel
compelled to enforce rules on others. An example of a neutral person might be a cop who sometimes lets people slide on speeding tickets.
iii.
Chaotic avatars hate rules and will either totally disregard them or make it a point to break them. They have no personal code and are generally undisciplined. A chaotic avatar can still be good, for example a thief who steals from the rich for charity, or merely a maverick anti-war protester.
Morality: Morality governs the personal goals of an avatar. There are three variables for morality: good, neutral, and evil.
i.
Good avatars seek to help others and make the world a better place. Good avatars think about other people when deciding actions.
ii.
Neutral avatars aim to survive, or help themselves without hurting others. Neutral avatars think about others, but usually put themselves first.
iii.
Evil avatars want to hurt others or succeed at the expense of others. Evil avatars always put themselves or their goals first, and either don't care about or enjoy hurting anything that stands in the way.
Combining discipline and morality yields nine possible configurations for alignment. These are by no means concrete guidelines; you can interpret your character's alignment any way you please. This is just to get you started.
i. Lawful Good - righteous, realizing that law and order is necessary to protect others and preserve freedom and quality of life
ii. Neutral Good - rules might be beneficial or in the way; helping others justifies bending the rules around
iii. Chaotic Good - unfettered freedom fighters who believe that the human spirit is good and should not be shackled by rules
iv. Lawful Neutral - follows a personal moral code or "the letter of the law" if not the spirit, sees good and evil in all things or ignores such abstract concepts in favor of shades of grey
v. Neutral Neutral - rules might apply sometime, but are not absolute; all things are both good and evil and it's important to weigh the choices; or there is no good and evil, only shades of grey
vi. Chaotic Neutral - rules are nonexistent or in the way; good and evil exist everywhere or do not exist at all
vii. Lawful Evil - realize that law and order are tools towards controlling others and restricting freedoms
viii. Neutral Evil - neutral evil avatars are neither law-followers, nor anarchists; they may follow only those laws which suit them, or ignore laws, or operate by a loose personal code, or simply be willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals
ix. Chaotic Evil - total anarchists dedicated to the destruction of the establishment, rules are obstacles to be destroyed
Roleplay Requirements: In order to unlock the next stage of development, you must complete a set of roleplay requirements, listed above. In order to move from Artifact to Manifest stage, you must complete a minimum of 4 RPs. Then, to move from Manifest to Neophyte, you must complete seven more RPs. These are only minimums! You can roleplay more if you like. When you are ready to advance to the next stage, PM this account and title your PM "Avatar Growth Request." We will then check your journal to see that you meet the requirements and reply back with your quest. RPs are classified as four types:
i.
Compiled Shop RP takes place in the main Avatar Forge thread. You must then copy the text posted by all the participants into one post for your diary. This is called compiling. Compiled Shop RPs must be a minimum of 1200 words to count.
ii.
Solo RP can take the form of a story written by you or a diary entry. Solo RPs must be a minimum of 300 words in order to count.
iii.
Private RP can take place on or off Gaia and involves you and one or more other friends. You must post the compiled story in your diary. Private RPs must be a minimum of 750 words to count. If you cannot find anyone to RP with you in private you may use a Compiled Shop RP instead (but it must meet Shop RP minimums).
iv.
Quests are specific tasks related to your avatar that you will receieve upon growth. A quest might be to retrieve an object or visit a special location. They are not specific and most of the details are up to you. You then roleplay the quest however and whenever you see fit. Quests must be a minimum of 1000 words written by you. (You may have another roleplayer with you, but you yourself must write at least 1000 words.) You can complete your quest before the other RP requirements or after.
There are several types of avatars. These are not species of avatars, but general classifications. An avatar may possess traits from more than one class and might not display
all the potential traits of a class. (An Animus, for example, might not have cat ears and cat claws and a cat tail. An Animus might have only the ears or only the tail.)
i. Animus - These avatars possess traits of animals, be it ears or tails or paws. For example, Egyptian gods, or anthro characters.
ii. Celestial - Celestials seems to radiate an inner tranquility. Celestial traits include feathered wings. Celestials are fairly rare.
iii. Elemental - Specially attuned to natural forces, elementals display traits relating to their element, for example a fire elemental who has fiery hair or an earth elemental with rocklike skin.
iv. Fay - Fay may have insect-like wings and pointed ears and are of a spritely nature, generally smaller than their fellow avatars and relying more on speed and dexterity. They often have inhuman skin tones.
v. Infernal - Infernals can have demonic wings, tails, and claws, and are sometimes draconic in appearance.
vi. Planar - Planar avatars do not seem to have any special traits, mostly humanlike in appearance, but they are always more than meets the eye. They are noted for being very versatile.
Names: All avatars come with names, but if you for some reason or another feel compelled to call your avatar by something different for some reason, it can be placed on the cert. PM the shop account with your request.
...
Forging: New avatars are "born" when two or more avatars combine their powers in the Forge to call forth a new artifact. This can be done regardless of an avatar's gender or orientation. The only requirement is that all avatars participating have the same goal. Thus, an avatar may only forge a new avatar with another avatar who is of a similar alignment.
Avatars may also reproduce the old-fashioned way, provided both partners have the necessary equipment. The offspring will not, however, be an avatar, but a Demi. Demis are not reincarnated gods and do not have divine powers, though they may have some of the powers and skills of their parents.
Death: Having survived for several eons in a state of nothingness, there is nothing that can actually kill an avatar. Anything that would kill one simply destroys its current physical body; the avatar can then re-manifest.
Stage Halting: Your avatar has six total images, but you may decide that you like one image best. Once you have unlocked all six stages, you can change your avatar to any stage you like by re-completing the RP requirements for just the stage you want, minus the quest. So you could do the RP requirements for Neophyte after you do Deus and have the Neophyte image again, and then next skip forward to Transcend by completing the Transcend requirements. Because your avatar is already a Deus you will keep all five Divine Powers in all of the stages and if you return the avatar to an artifact, wearing or using the artifact can confer onto you the associated divine powers. So if you had Lemas and grew him up to an artifact you could then wear his circlet and have his powers. If you really wanted to. You are only allowed to do this after you have unlocked the Deus level.
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