NEXUS PREMISE You are a Nexus, a creature that's escaped the dream realm, a simple little thought whose taken material form. Now, all you have to do is convince people to believe in you, and you can become more powerful than any dream. You can become a god. You have an Ideal you wish to pursue and promote and a Nemesis, a Nexus who was born at the same time as you who wishes to promote the opposite Ideal. CHARACTERS AND LEVELS The Nexus' goal is to promote their Ideal. An Ideal is something that the Nexus values above all things and wishes to spread throughout the mortal world. It could be something like Art or Life or Nature, or something narrower, like Archery or Marriage or Stomach Aches. A Nexus gains power to promote their Ideal by convincing people to pay them Tribute. A Tribute is anything that a human creates in honor of the Nexus, from a story to a temple, from a prayer to painting. As the Nexus' Tributes gain Fame, the Nexus gains power. As a Nexus gains power, they grow from small, nearly immaterial creatures (not unlike Tinkerbell from Peter Pan) into mighty deities who manifest as forces of nature. This change in power is represented by Levels. All Nexus begin at First Level and acheive Second Level when they acquire 2000 Fame. To acquire subsequent Levels, the character will have to achieve (Next Level x 1000) Fame. Each Level a Nexus gains, they gain an additional Power. A Nexus begins with the following powers: Force, Indestructability, Manifestation, Movement and Perception. Powers Apparition • The Nexus can have their forms appear as anything they'd like within the limits of their size. • If the apparent form is smaller than their actual form, the appearance is perceived at the center of the Nexus' form. • This form replaces the usual signs of the Nexus’ presence (at the Nexus’ discretion) potentially making them harder to detect. Abjuration • The Nexus can cause any non-Nexus, either mortal or supernatural, to cease to exist, as long as they are within the Nexus’ being. • The Nexus can cause another Nexus to cease to exist if their beings overlap, but to do so must permanently lose a number of Levels equal to the Level of the Nexus being destroyed. Control Basic Forces • The Nexus can distort the way the primary forces of the universe (electromagnetism, gravity, weak and strong nuclear forces) work within (10’ x Level) of their manifested form. Conjuration • The Nexus can call things to him from elsewhere in the world. • Any inanimate object that is no larger than the Nexus can be summoned inside the range of the Nexus’ perception • Any animal can be likewise summoned. • Any person with an Influence less than the Nexus’ Level can also be summoned in this way. • The summoned thing is returned to its previous location as soon as it leaves the Nexus’ perception. Counter Spelling • Whenever the being of two or more Nexus overlap, the Nexus with Dispelling automatically cancels out the other Nexus’ ability to use their powers within the area of their being. Dispelling • Allows the Nexus to return anything another Nexus has come into contact into the state it was in before said contact as long as the original Nexus is no longer actively effecting the thing. Can only be used on things within the Nexus’ being. Force • A Nexus can move (push, lift, carry) anything that comes into contact with its form that weighs less than their Level in lbs. • They can also inflict that much damage (in lbs of pressure) on an object they can touch, either by "knocking" or "rending" the object. Indestructability • Nexus cannot be destroyed or even damaged by human means. Illusion • The Nexus can create an image of anything the viewer has seen or can imagine within the radius of their being. • This image looks, smells, tastes, feels exactly like the real thing, but any consequences of coming into contact with it (like being burned by the image of a fire) disappear as soon as the affected person can no longer perceive the image. • Inanimate things are unaffected by images. • The Nexus can create a number of images equal to their current Level. • The Nexus’ current form is completely visible while using the Illusion Power. Manifestation • A Nexus can create a physical form that acts as the center of their being. • This form is as detectable to sight as a bright light of the same size. • It puts off a powerful odor and sound detectable out to the same distance as the light, all things being equal. • This form can fill/reach roughly one cubic foot per Level of the Nexus. • A Nexus can divide its form into a number of lesser forms, manifesting no more individual forms than its current Level. Movement • A Nexus can move its form a number of feet per second equal to its current Level. • This movement can be either horizontal or vertical and is unimpeded by terrain. Obfuscation • The Nexus can choose to be undetectable even when creating a physical form. • The Nexus can block the ability for anything with (10’ x Level) of its center from being detectable by the senses. Perception • Nexus are aware of all physical forms, sounds, etc... inside a (Level x 100)' radius surrounding their Form. • Terrain and normal obstructions do not affect this awareness. Possession • The Nexus can temporarily dissolve its form and take over the form of any other object no more than twice its normal size. • While in possession of another form, the Nexus retains access to all powers as well as acquiring the capabilities of the possessed form. CREATING A PANTHEON The players will all be creating a single Pantheon (allied group) of Nexus. Have everyone right down an Ideal they’d like their Nexus to have in secret. Then, reveal the Ideals and discuss and modify them until it’s clear to all the players how the Ideals fit together and support each other. Some players may have to change their initial Ideals entirely. If at any point a stalemate is hit, start over, but this time everyone must come up with a different Ideal than the one they originally proposed. After that, the GM creates all of the opposing Nexus and their Ideals. Now the players and the GM discuss where and when they’d like the game to be set. Nearly any setting is possible as long as it supports the Ideals that the players and the GM selected. The game starts with all of the Nexus (including the opposition) coming into being in a single location. DETERMINING FAME Each time the Nexus convinces a mortal to pay Tribute, that Tribute is assigned a value between 1 and 10. This number reflects how lasting the Tribute is and how influential the maker is, with higher values representing more permanence and influence. Example Permanence Table 1 An unrecorded speech or prayer, made in the presence of others 2 Something drawn, painted or written on paper or similar materials, textiles 3 A digital file or other form or reproduceable data 4 A small stone or metal object 5 A building or other edifice Example Influence Table 1 A criminal, outcast or other despised person 2 A child or person of questionable reputation 3 An average person 4 Someone famous but not respected, or someone well respected but not famous 5 Someone respected and famous For every week that passes in the game, roll a number of d10 equal to the value of all the Tributes the Nexus has acquired. The total value of all rolled dice are added to the Nexus’ Fame. Any die that comes up a 1 or 10 permanently degrades the value of the associated Tribute by 1. Game Play The game is freeform and almost entirely diceless. It should be based on exploring what the PC’s do with their powers and seeing how they get mortals to Tribute them. The Pantheon should cooperate in as much as promoting one Ideal of the Pantheon promotes them all. The opposing Nexus are there to add as much conflict as needed to keep the game interesting.