I had a think after the discussion on E! (
http://www.atitd.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8878) and tried to come up with something that's group-oriented, large scale, unaffected by timezones and would fit in place of (or alongside) Festivals. While I didn't think about it while designing it, the Test has a mix of the Worship Initiation ceremonies with a Festival-like mechanic, but with a reward for continuing to help out, and with a dash of the Visions Test ;)
Like Corwitep in the other thread, I rather enjoy the larger scale Worship Tests (including Festivals, though I concede it has issues).
Comments are very welcome (there's several places that need filling in a lot) :)
At the very least, it should give us something to contrast the other Test proposals to when we talk about them (hopefully this weekend after the Hathor Festival).
The Test of the Hallowed Ground
Some places in Egypt are blessed by the presence of the Gods, touching the spirit of anyone that goes near them.
These hallowed grounds deserve the reverence of the people, who will earn the favour of the God residing there.
With a small group of friends, venerate the sacred ground with simple ceremonies, prayers and an offering appropriate to the God, as the immortals only linger for a few short days.
When the God moves on, they will recognise the effort of all the faithful that came to pay homage.
Those who remain devoted, showing true belief and abiding respect, will continue to receive the rewards of the Gods' grace.
Detailed mechanics:
1. 7 Gods appear in various areas around Egypt and stay for one week
- Gods should appear near concentrations of people, but not so close that the place is 'lived-in' since that won't feel very spiritual
- ie. not at chariot stops (too easy) but not miles out in the wilderness (too hard)
- Gods should appear in areas suited to them (Bastet likes grass?)
2. People signed up to the test run around, attempting to find the places where the Gods are that week
- Probably by a special meditation that tells you how 'spiritual' a place feels? (closer = stronger feeling)
- Perhaps have a mini ceremony to identify the god when you've found the spot? (could be too much)
3. Areas with Gods have been found, now people choose which to worship
- It should be ok for people to worship separate Gods, but it might be nice if there was a (small) incentive (by cost or by % rewarded) to focus on one or two Gods per week
- i.e. a reward for large group organisation
- This could simply be something like an altar (medium cost) must be built at the spot before people can worship or which gives a small boost to the % earned
4. Small groups of friends come to the area and perform a ceremony appropriate to the god, focussed in some way on the ground
- Groups of 3: one to pray, one to make an offering, one to do several emotes, all interwoven together
- e.g. Bastet:
- Opening prayer while one person dances (sequence of emotes) and the other emote:blesses
- All emote:bless
- Offering of milk on grass with prayer
- All emote:bless
- Closing prayer while one person dances (sequence of emotes) and the other emote:blesses
- This bit needs work ;)
- Maybe an incentive for larger groups at once? (small/limited % multiplier for more people?)
5. At the end of the week, the God moves on and everyone that worshipped at the site gets N% towards that God
- Set over a week, so no timezone problem
- If big groups get a small % multiplier, the smaller groups that worship later will still gain the % from that, so no harm for them to be separate
- You should only be able to get credit for one God per week (but should be able to help out with others for no credit?)
6. When you pass, you gain a reward that should be useful in regular use, but you only get 7 uses of it. To 'recharge' it, you must help in any one ceremony (ensuring continued participation)
- Rewards could be aimed towards things that people can (in theory) get deep into concentration doing or in a state of relaxation (zen!). It would be nice to link them to the Gods in some way too, eg.
- Blacksmith (Ra?) +343 points on a quality item like a carp blade/hatchet (or something that scales with the item quality to prevent people using it to get 9999s all the time, but is still worth having)
- Gardener (Bastet or Isis?) N mins of improved chance of getting a flower bulb while ferting
- This bit needs work too ;)