PBEM Olympus - City of Gods

Luthor_Saxburg

Vassal of Civilization
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Messages
4,454
The beginning

Cronus sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon. But he swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own son as he had overthrown his own father;an oracle that Rhea was to hear and avert.

When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed.After reaching manhood, Zeus forced Cronus to disgorge his siblings in reverse order of swallowing.

After the War of the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead (the underworld). The master of the skies then built a magical city: Mount Olympus!





The War of the Titans II

Hades, tired of his brother rule, has emerged from the Underworld to defy Zeus, his brother! :eek:

The second battle of the Titans had began! Gods, Cyclopes, Dragons, Griffins, Unicorns, Nymphs, Wraiths, Undeads, Trolls, Gnomes, Medusas, Basiliks, Succubus, Wraiths, Mermaids, Manticores and many other foul creatures were involved in this complex war!





The fall of Olympus

The Underworld Master was able to overthrow the Lord of the Skies and took control of the magical Olympus! :evil:

With Zeus fallen, the city of Olympus was not able to hold in thin air, as it did before! And so Olympus fell! Literally! With high speed it came down from the skies only to crash into the ground! There was a very loud bang that has heard everywhere in Kyrll... the only reason that it did not crumble into bits was because it is a magical city.



The challenge

When Gaia heard of the fallen city, she became to worry... Hades was now in control of the underworld and the skies... soon enough hordes of undead became to emerge from the deeps of the earth... she knew that he hated mankind and was set to destroy them. Unable to interfere directly, she started to look for different humans, ones that could have the abilities to challenge Hades. She started to prepare magical weapons to help this special humans fight against the resentful God...

After a hard search she has identified 4 heroes that could match her desired profile. They are soooo different that she is not sure on which one she should bet. Therefore she decides to test them all to see which one is the fittest! She has designed a serie of challenges and rewards to see wich one deserves to be a Demi-God! She is willing to give fitting prizes for each of her challenges. It will start with simple tasks and modest rewards but it will increase as time goes by... until it reaches the ultimate Quest: to conquer Olympus! And what more fitting reward then to be transformed into a Demi-God?

But one question is worrying Gaia: is Olympus inexpugnable?



End of Story?

No, it is just the beginning! If you want to see the next episodes click here!


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SETTINGS
MOD: none (basic Bts)
Planet: Kryll
Map: Huge
Human players: 4
Game Master: 1
AI: a few, not many
Barbarians: hordes!

VICTORY CONDITIONS
- To please Gaia by conquering inexpugnable Olympus and becaming a Demi-God
- To please Hades and destroy all humans, thus being converted into a powerfull Ringwraith
- To ignore the Gods and build flying machines to escape this wretched world (Space Victory)

HEROES
01. Richter Scale, the crippled lunatic Engineer - Eclipse Phylhom
02. Dionys Biliades, the gorgeous disorganized semi-Dark Elf, loved by men, hated by women - Nighthawk Sinimusta
03. Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the immodest puritan Leader - Knoedel Rodrigo
04. Uncle Flower, the beloved rich&naive Hippie - Ruff

All heroes have been blessed by the Gods, therefore they has very special powers and can do things that no one else can do. Also their intrinsic characteristics will allow certain benefits to their Tribes. If he dies, the Tribe will certainly continue, but it will surely progress at a much lower rate, so heroes must be used wisely!

For a human to enter the city of Gods it is said to be impossible unless he is blessed by the Gods, as the heroes are. So it is highly unlikely that a common humanoid could even see Olympus, let alone enter in the city...

If a hero dies, there is a possibility for new ones to rise from within the Tribe to lead them. However no leader will ever be as strong as the first one! And also, each Tribe has a maximum of 3 special leaders.


TRACKER
http://www.ruffhi.com/php/tracker_v6.php?game=pbemOlympus

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GENERAL HOUSERULES
- Houserules are rules set by the GameMaster so they can not be broken. Breaking them is considered CHEATING.
- There can be no outside communication (email or similar) of players until they meet each other in the game
- Giving cities must have a prior approval by the Game Master
- Humans can not trade techs among themselves
- Humans can trade techs with the AI (unlikely but allowed)
- When you complete a Quest you must inform the GM about it (or risk not getting the prize)
- If you lie in the thread regarding a Quest please send an email to the GM stating this fact (it is not forbidden to lie to humans or Gods, but it is forbidden to lie to the GM!)
- Anything that is not forbidden is allowed...

HUMAN RULES - RICHTER
No public rule

HUMAN RULES - DIONYS
No public rule

HUMAN RULES - GAIUS
No public rule

HUMAN RULES - UNCLE
No public rule


GOD's RULES
- God's rules are rules set by the Gods. They can be "broken" by humans but this will mean defying the Gods... it could be very unpleasant for the humans that go down this path...
- The God's rules are dynamic so the Tribe leaders should give indication to their advisors to keep a constant look out for the God's orientations.
- Humans can not give away their starting location or to show large maps that reveals their position (rule to be altered later on).
- Humans should not give away general information about their starting position (in the first 10 turns).
- There will be (subjective) bonuses for good story telling in the story thread.


IMPORTANT NOTES
- Keep an eye for the map. There are some clues of hidden dangers and treasures in it.
- Explore the map but beware that there are many dangers.
- Check out the unit names. If you find units that have "GM" written on them it means a possible (off Civ game) interaction with that unit so write an email to the GM.
- The SAM Infantry unit represents a Talos (Bronze Giant), which is a non-agressive mystical creature. Off course if attacked they will defend themselves but usually they are peacefull, unless feeling threatened...


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QUESTS
In order not to annoy Hades, Gaia has decided to communicate secretly with humans, so she is using her powers to communicate to them through their dreams or using Sages and Prophets. She is aiming to gradually test the humans by giving them quests and rewarding them with magical weapons to defeat evil magical creatures. Slowly, she expects that the natural selection will lead to one brave hero, one that might be able to conquer Olympus and send Hades back to where he came from.

There are different type of Quests in this game. Most of them are public, but a few will be private (secret). Completing a Quest will lead to a certain reward. This reward can be a small quantity of food to help the journey, a magical weapon to fight magical creatures or it can be something truly overwhelming! Some Quests are generic, which means that everyone that achieves it will be given a prize, but the first one to achieve it will always receive a better reward. In some cases, the Quests will be specific, which means that there will only be one prize.

It is important to note that, to receive the Quest reward, you must claim that you have completed the Quest goal! If you do not claim it, you might lose the reward.

The heroe can go to an Oracle and ask for a Quest.


Quest 1
Type: Generic tiny Quest
Goal: kill an undead creature
Bonus: if the hero does the 1st kill
First: Dionys
Status: Completed by all


Quest 2
Type: Generic minor Quest
Goal: kill a Manticore
Bonus: if the hero does the 1st kill
First: Dionys
Status: active (some have completed it)

Quest 3
Type: Generic minor Quest
Goal: kill a Troll
Bonus: if the hero does the 1st kill
First: Dionys
Status: Completed by all


Quest 4
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: to build a Temple in the capital
Bonus: if the 1st Temple you build is not of the same religion of your Civ
First: Uncle
Status: active (some have completed it)

Quest 5
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: Save the Princess
Bonus: bonus if you carry out the Princess wishes
First: Gnaeus
Status: Completed by all


Quest 6
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: to overcame Hades special unit
Bonus: get the unit to join your side
First: Uncle
Status: Closed


Quest 7
Type: Specific Quest
Goal: to own 4 cities
Bonus: if at least one of the cities has been conquered
Status: Completed by Richter


Quest 8
Type: Specific Quest
Goal: raze a city
Bonus: if it is a "human" city
Status: Completed by Richter


Quest 9
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: find out the location of one Oracle
Bonus: if it is a non-scout unit to detect it
First: Uncle
Status: Active (some have completed it)

Quest 10
Type: Specific Quest
Goal: to find out the name of all the Oracle cities
Bonus: To be the first to state publically the number of existing Oracle cities
Status: Completed by Dionys


Quest 11
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: Heroe to go the Oracle
Bonus: no extra bonus
First: Uncle
Status: Active (some have completed it)

Quest 12
Type: Specific Quest
Goal: to have the most number of cities by the end of year 5
Bonus: if at least one of the cities has been conquered
Status: Completed by Uncle and Gnaeus

Quest 13
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: to see all the Oracles
Bonus: no extra bonus
First: Uncle
Status: Active (some have completed it)

Quest 14
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: build a coastal city
Bonus: no extra bonus
First: Dionys
Status: Completed by all

Quest 15
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: build a boat
Bonus: if it can carry units
Fisrt: Uncle
Status: active

Quest 16
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: win a naval battle
Bonus: against a superior ship
Fisrt: Uncle
Status: active

Quest 17
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: to see Olympus
Bonus: if discovered by a land unit
Fisrt: Uncle
Status: active

Quest 18
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: not public yet
Bonus: not public yet
First:
Status: active

Quest 19
Type: Generic Quest
Goal: not public yet
Bonus: not public yet
First:
Status: active

Quest 20
Type: Specific Quest
Goal: to conquer Olympus!
Bonus: if done against the odds
First:
Status: active
PRIZE: WIN THE GAME!!!



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The Quest Prizes have varied!

Gold

Overall, more than 10 000:gold: has been given in prizes

Military units
More than 50 units have been distributed.
There has been a variety of units, such as Elephants, Catapults, Settlers, Immortals, Grenadiers, RedCoats, Infantry, Conquistadores, Ironclads, East Indiamen,

Great Persons
More than 10, including 5 Great Generals.

Technologies
Around 10 techs have been set out as prizes, including Poterry, Mansonry and Currency.

Special items
8 special items have been given. This includes maps, resources, answering secret questions and carrying out spying missions in favour of human players.
 
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Wait, how exactly is Gaius greedy? Puritan I can see, but greedy is one of the last things I would call him.
 
His goal is to unite the entire world under his banner, (...) but because he genuinely believes that everyone will be better off under his rule.
He is greedy for power... maybe ambitious would be a better word, but he desires power to make the world a better place. One thing is certain... he is not modest!

It reminds of other characters... Hitler also believed that he was the best ruler for Germany. In the end, he wanted the German people to die because he came to the brilliant (!) conclusion that the German people was not good enough for him!

So I see Gaius as a type of Padawan, that can be easily tempted into the Dark side, just because he wants very much the world to be a better place...
 
Meh, alright I can live with that.

Question: Do our characters get force powers? Because if that is the case I throw everything out of the window and want to be a Sith Lord.
 
Ok I'm confirming my subscription 3,2,1 with the powers invested in me, load dynamic code, code loading, oh no the blue screen of death "Gaia reboot me please"
 
I opened my turn just to look at the starting situation... awesome! I will think of a story tonight and get through the turn tomorrow most likely.
 
I played my first turn, put a nice story in the thread and also completed the first minor quest ;) GREAT JOB with this Luthor, this game is going to be amazing, every turn will be special in this one!

sent to Knoedel!
 
Great story, as I've come to expect from you Nighthawk. One question though on Dyonis' backstory: How exactly could she have grown up in a welfare state during the Iron Age?
 
Meh - welfare state in modern terms, there must have been some sort of equivalent back then that I'm not bothering with researching ;)
 
I don't really think you will find the equivalent of a welfare state in ancient times, unless you count the Roman panem et circenses.

This turn really couldn't have come at a worse time, especially since it now is my turn in most of the PBEMs I participate in and it's freaking Tuesday. Unfortunately I won't be able to play until Thursday since I organized my schedule in such a way that I'm at University almost the whole day from Monday to Wednesday but have a nice four day weekend discounting a single class on Fridays in return.
 
Yeah I've been having a similar problem not playing on weekends and then having a huge list for me on monday and not enough time to do them all. no worries!
 
I just hope I'm Rome, everything else would be ridiculous given the setting and my character.
 
I still have the turn but won´t play until tomorrow. I planned to do it today after my first DominEarthion turn but as you are well aware it´s just soooooooo tedious and I´m too exhausted for proper diplomacy or roleplaying there, let alone beginning a whole other game and writing an epic introduction story for that today.

Sorry for the delay.
 
Well you really did a swell job Luthor, Hammurabi of Holy Rome does make sense for my character. I still would have wanted more Praetorians as my bodyguard to send them on important missions, but I guess it´s only logical if my bodyguard always stays by my side, and I also got Landsknechts.

Some of your decisions seem strange though, why do I have Superconductors but not Code of Laws for example? :crazyeye: I get that modern techs stand for some fantasy concept and we have to play make-believe here, I´m totally fine with that, but how can I build a society around law and order if my civilization doesn´t know the first yet? I think it would have been more flavorful to give me Communism, Fascism or Assembly Line.

Two questions: Can I trade techs with Gaia and/or Hades? Can I give an oral description of my area to other players once we have met? (Because one of the rules is not to share maps for now)

I furthermore don´t think giving regular units Barrage promotions is good for anything. +100% Collateral Damage of 0 is still 0.
 
Just wanted to change my name when this happened:



What the frack Luthor? :crazyeye:

Anyhow I GPS'ed my first turn and will post my introduction story shortly, just give me a few hours.
 
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