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Part-Time Gods
 

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Average Rating:4.3 / 5
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Part-Time Gods
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Asen G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/27/2020 14:57:42

That's a great modern-day setting! That's what I wanted Scion to be. I like this game (in this edition) better, though!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Amelia V. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/25/2015 10:38:18

By far the best modern-gods themed RPG, Part-Time Gods manages to nail down the thing that neither of its contemporaries in the genre can: The human life that godhood is stapled onto. The big mechanic here is balancing your mortal and divine lives with one another. Go too far in one direction, the other degrades. This is brilliant and I don't understand why nobody's come up with attaching that to being a god before. I was sold just on the concept. It helps that there's an actual game in there, with a simple but powerful system that could probably be explained over lunch. The writing is solid, creating an intriguing setting and presenting it well. I wholeheartedly endorse this product and/or service.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Michael C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/06/2011 19:44:29

My first thought looking at Part-Time Gods was that, if White Wolf were to make a superpowers game for the World of Darkness, it would look a lot like this. It has many of the same ideas: supernaturally-endowed people hiding amongst humanity, split into several societies that they hang out with, all with different agendas. It works there, and it works in this game as well.

First off, the book is pretty to look at. The illustrations are nice, and I like the side borders. It adds a nice gothy/dark feel to it. The layout is easy to read and nicely written. There's a good history on the world and people in it that's not too lengthy big gives you a good idea of what's happened and what's going on now.

The point of the game is that you're playing ordinary people that have been given the divine Spark, which makes them gods on the level of the Asgardians or Olympians. However, they need humanity to keep them grounded, some kind of attachment to a person, group or location (no items - there's a good explanation why), otherwise they're overtaken by their divinity and the basically go insane, becoming more a force of nature than a god who listens to followers.

I like this take on the achievement of godhood. In a lot of games of this sort, you have to separate yourself from humanity because you're no longer one of them. Here, you need them in order to keep being the person you are.

In reading it, we get to my biggest gripe about the game: It really needs to be proofread. There's no spelling errors to speak of, but a lot of cases where the wrong version of words were used: accept/except, they're/there, picque/peak, etc. Seeing that is kind of jarring to me.

The mechanics are nice and simple: Attribute + skill +d20. You use that for everything, and it works quite nicely.

Making characters can be a little lengthy, but that's because it requires a little forethought. Like I said before, human attachments are required to keep your sanity, so you have to decide who or what you're attached to, like a parent, sibling, best friend, organization, whatever. Names are good, too. So you have to plan out a little ahead of time.However, the creation system is fairly straightforward, so it's not a problem at all.

My only other problem with the game is in the setting setting. When you make your character, you pick which group you're a part of, like Clans in Vampire. In this case, they're called "Theologies." I had some trouble sympathizing or finding something to like about most of them. While they all do have some strengths that are good for characters, most of them seem like a bunch of right bastards. This is a minor thing, however, and might make for a good role-playing challenge.

All-in-all, though, I enjoyed looking at this game and I look forward to playing it with my group. The setting is clever and nicely thought out, and the mechanics are simple and easy to do. Characters are complete with a little preplanning and balanced out well. I'd definitely recommend Part-Time Gods.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Aaron H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/26/2011 21:03:55

Part-Time Gods is the latest DGS-powered game by Third Eye Games, although this uses the new DGS-Lite system. It is properly placed within modern day, essentially today, filled with characters that carry divine characteristics. Gods and goddesses are now found everywhere, although not quite with the strength you would think. Part-Time Gods is not only a romp through the streets with divine power, but a struggle of balance between becoming a full-fledged god and retaining a semblance of human-like qualities such as devotion to your family.

This is not a game that simply turns humans into gods, it places responsibility into their hands (or rather forces it upon them without their knowledge) and allows the player to role-play their life as they balance being human and exhibiting godlike abilities. These ideas are developed directly into the mechanics with everything tying together flawlessly.

OVERALL

Part-Time Gods is a richly created system with game mechanics that are designed into the theme rather than the theme being simply placed on top of pre-existing game mechanics. The move to DGS-Lite is advantageous to the style of play concerning combat as the setting is meant to be focused upon much more than just regular combat. In fact, after reading through it, I wonder how often typical combat would actually come into play. There are lots of role-playing opportunities and stories will be filled with depth and flavor. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to broaden their role-playing horizons.

RATINGS

Publication Quality: 10 out of 10 Third Eye Games consistently produces high-quality books. Not only does Part-Time Gods follow that same idea, but it also contains some very interesting illustrations. While picturing characters as unstoppable gods or goddesses, there are plenty of illustrations that give the illusion of being characters that are almost superheroes or at least very powerful spellcasters. However, when you move to the multitude of pre-generated characters, the illustrations show a different picture. These illustrations depict regular people who don’t appear to exhibit any fantastical powers. This is what the game is about. Regular people who have been given fantastical powers and abilities (as they travel the road to godhood) that make them feel or appear as though they are almost superheroes. It’s brilliant!

Mechanics: 9 out of 10 Part-Time Gods presents the players with a number of new mechanics that link their character to the real world along with the divine world. While the divine mechanics are fairly simple relating to divine powers, theologies, and worshipers, connecting characters to the real world through means other than role-playing is not quite as easy. Characters are kept grounded with mechanics that ties them directly (either emotionally or mentally) to people, places, and/or organizations within their regular lives. The mechanics present bonuses and penalties for using these connections in addition to mechanics that allow you to break these ties (through force or desire) thus creating new bonuses and/or penalties. Essentially, instead of just allowing you to role-play your connection to the human world, the mechanics create those connections and give them in-game effects giving the player a reason to role-play and continue their human-life connections.

Desire to Play: 10 out of 10 Part-Time Gods is extremely unique. You’re not playing divine beings in the middle ages nor are you playing spellcasters in modern times. This is modern divine fantasy like no other; you are playing regular people in the modern day that have been given divine abilities and can strive toward godhood. The game is full of flavor and the characters are full of depth. If you’re looking for something completely different, this definitely fills that niche.

Overall: 10 out of 10 One of the greatest strengths of Part-Time Gods is how the mechanics tie the player characters not only to their divine abilities but also the real world and the regular men, women, places, and things they live with. There is a sense of dramatic role-playing along with fantastical combat and basically everything in-between.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Thomas B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2011 22:16:35

WHAT WORKS: Again, the art and layout are a step beyond anything Third Eye Games has produced to date, and maintaining the same cover price as the previous two corebooks. The Manifestations cover a wide range of standardized effects, with details from Dominions being used to keep them from all being identical. The backstory is crazy, but cool, and does a nice job of explaining WHY the Part-Time Gods need their humanity. The Source being the fueling power behind The Outsiders also pretty much provides any excuse to use any kind of monster you want, really. Once more, Eloy Lasanta sets up a great premise without a metaplot driving it.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: Not a fan of the cover art. Something about the artist's style just didn't click with me. Interior stuff? Fantastic. Exterior? If I wasn't a big fan of Third Eye Games already, I'd probably overlook this just looking at the cover. Also, I'm not a fan of the "buy your way into the game" thing that's so common in Kickstarter. I get WHY it's there, but it's my least favorite part of the book, easy. Cool for the people represented in the book, I'm sure, though. None of the Theologies really "jumped" out at me the way they were presented. I don't mind the concept, but in "faction" RPGs, I can usually find something that would REALLY appeal to me as a player, and none of the eight did that.

CONCLUSION: If I had to go to a deserted island with just one Third Eye Games book, it would still be Wu Xing. That's not a knock against Part-Time Gods, that's just how awesome I think Wu Xing is. That said, Eloy's distinctive voice as an author again hits a home run, this time believably humanizing Gods in an RPG setting, and providing new mechanics that reinforce the need for the newly Divine to hold onto their mortal ties for as long as possible. He has now released a trifecta of great corebooks, each with a similar feel but still very much distinct from one another, and the streamlining of the Combat should go a long ways towards swaying some folks who found the other two games too cumbersome in combat.

For my full review, please visit: http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2011/08/tommys-take-on-part-time-gods.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Erathoniel W. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/07/2011 19:55:09

Part-Time Gods is awesome. It's well-written (with the occasional mistake- but that could be attributed to sleep deprivation (misspellings, homophone misusage, etc) or just plain not having enough editing), has lots of content, good art, and enough fluff to smooth things along but enough crunch to get things going.

Now, I liked Wu Xing, one of Third Eye Games' other games, so I wanted to see how this compares. Part-Time Gods focuses a lot less on martial arts, but comes out the better for it (mind you, not if you wanted martial arts), with a d20-based system with modifiers (normally I'd whine endlessly, but for gods I'll make an exception) powering a smooth narrative gameplay. It takes what I like about d6's advantage/disadvantage system, adds in a non-obtuse magic system, and ports it to d20, more or less, if you want a general feel of how the system works.

There's also a focus on nice, consistent styled art. It's good, but there are a couple times when I feel that the proportions are just too horrible to comprehend (almost every woman in the book has a midriff that would imply a 45 degree turn away from the viewer in relation to the rest of her body, without appropriate cues for this). All in all, though, it's well done and interesting without being intrusive.

Admittedly, it really depends on what group you could get in when roleplaying, but with the right group Part-Time Gods is wonderful and excellent, and a definite go for a group that doesn't like overly dark and oppressive settings, but does enjoy a nice grand conspiracy and checking under the bed once in a while.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Celestial D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/05/2011 08:26:52

Part-Time Gods is an excellent game, in my opinion. It's one of my favorite roleplaying games to date (this coming from someone that has gamed two decades) and I can't wait to start playing it.

In this game, you play a god on modern-day earth, empowered with the powers of divinity... and you inherit the responsibilities and epic dangers of that station as well. You must face rival gods, mythical being called Outsiders, and quasi-divine people called Touched. You must also manage followers, protect your territory, and form pantheons (alliances) with trusted gods. Of course, while doing all this you have to maintain your job, pay your bills, make sure your kids do good in school, and get the oil changed on your car on Tuesday. (Wait, what?) See, that's where the "part-time" comes in: Your human life and its concerns don't just disappear when you're invested with godly power, and you must balance both halves of your life.

Each god has a Theology, which describes his basic beliefs and approach to divinity; unlike pantheons, which are local, Theologies are greater movements inside god society -- they are "splats," so to speak. You also have a Dominion, which determines what kind of god you are: Are you a goddess of storms, the lord of hawks, or the patron spirit of honor? Dominions are very open-ended, allowing you to play any sort of god you want. The system behind Dominions is one of the game's strongest points.

One of the biggest draws of the game in my opinion is the writing. Matters of theology and faith can be weighty and controversial, and some games (like Demon: the Fallen) spin that angle well. However, PTG's approach is more lighthearted. The game has a sense of humor woven throughout, making it an enjoyable read. Not that this is a comedic game or parody of itself; there's serious subject matter in the book, and being a god isn't always fun when an enemy god and his Outsider minions are trying to kill you. But the game doesn't take itself too seriously, and doesn't impose an overarching theme too heavily -- you can play up the drama, or comic relief, or whatever you want without compromising the game's intent.

I don't have the space or time to write a full review here, but I do have one on my blog if you'd like to read it: http://ihatealllife.blogspot.com/2011/07/part-time-gods-game-review.html



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Part-Time Gods
Publisher: Third Eye Games
by Jay S. A. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/05/2011 06:31:55

Part-Time Gods is well thought out, and presents a perfectly feasible urban-fantasy rpg about gods hidden among mortals. While it feels very familiar to the World of Darkness, I didn’t feel that it was derivative or a half-hearted copy. I’m pleased with it, and the system is simple enough to teach to new players and GMs and get them started right away.

I’d be very happy to recommend Part-Time Gods as an RPG for any group as it has a little of everything. Tacticians will enjoy the options in combat, story driven players will delight in the Bonds and Passions, and GMs won’t feel like they’re unprepared. Part-Time Gods is a solid RPG that can support one-shots and long term play, with just the right kind of crunch to keep things interesting.

After being burned by Scion, I think that this might just be my go-to game for urban fantasy gods.

For my full review, please check out http://philgamer.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/review-part-time-gods-by-third-eye-games/



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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