OVA ARENA GAME

Some call it the nexus of all realities, the holiest of places, the wellspring of eternity or the court of the mad gods. To those who live there, the city-state of Non is simply home. No one knows how the vast sprawling city came to exist, but all agree it would be famous even if was not the most famous place in all the universes. Billions of gates link it sporadically to every location in space and time and travel to it – and even from it – is a thing of legend in many places. Every story of a portal ends up here.

All portals lead to Non. That alone is fame enough. But there is also the Arena. And this elevates it into myth and stories almost no one dares believe. Because every few years there are a series of battles in 12 Arenas on Non, fortunes rising and falling until there is a victor. The victor replaces the last one in the Manifold Palace. They step in, become a living God, and remake the multiverse in their own image.

Sometimes everything is altered, or perhaps just their home dimension. No one knows. It is said, by those who work in the palace, that the god does not move. They sit, thoughts and will on matters that nothing mortal can understand, until the energy that made them is used up and another God replaces them. The time between Arenas varies: this much is known as truth. And also that no one has been able to wake one of the Living Gods, though few have been foolish enough to even try.

The Living God seems unable to get rid of Non, or the Arenas. Or perhaps, knowing of some wider world, they simply have no concern for such small things.

Not all who come to Non to fight in the Arena seek to win. Some arrive by accident and seek only to find a way home. Others see cures for other ailments or allies in different quests. The reasons are as varied as the fighters. Some are veterans of battles in far-off worlds. Others pacifists pushed to the breaking point. The universes they come from are as varied as their reasons for doing battle and as more and more battles are won, the press of Non begin to zero in on prospective winners and seek to learn about them. And, sometimes, learn enough to try and sabotage the changes of some would-be God.

Nothing is simple in Non, but perhaps the Living Gods would have it no other way.

GM Notes:

This is intended to be an Arena-style fighting game using OVA 2e. PCs begin with 5 free points, and can get up to 5 more by taking weaknesses accordingly. No ability can begin higher than +3 and OVA uses the [u] dice with Sparkie. The GM has developed a cheat sheet to explain how some abilities mesh and overlap.

Characters can be from any setting and genre you wish – making characters who are genre-savvy to other genres than an Arena one is also a recipe for fun. Motives and goals are entirely up to the players though making sure there aren’t too many cross-pollution of powers is a good idea. (More than 2 PCs with teleport etc. could get silly.) Unlike most games, the family of a PC is unlikely to be involved so the relations made among contestants and other PCs in the Great Game becomes a springboard for other adventures.

There will, naturally, be far more to the game than battles in arenas. More info. will be added this this in a few days.