Communion

Ego Communion, or more commonly (and its opponents would say, more arrogantly) known as just "Communion" represents Communion with the super-ego of the collective unconsciousness of the galaxy's sapient alien races.  Those who communion with this super-ego can connect with the very concept of connection itself.  They gain access to higher powers of self-restraint, community, interconnection, and the way things out to be.

Communion uses the rules from GURPS Powers: Divine Favor as their base.

Building Paths

Communion on its own would be enough, but I find Divine Favor somewhat bland-as-written, at least as far as it goes when it comes to defining a character.  If you have Divine Favor, you have Divine Favor. The paladin might have Stoicism as his Learned Prayer and the Priestess might have Lay On Hands, but nothing actually stops them from using the each others'prayers as generic miracles.  Divine Favor tends to define God and your relationship with him MORE than it really defines your character's role.  This is evident in Star Wars too.  If I say "I wanna play a Jedi,"  someone might ask "Light or Dark?" But there's little else to ask.  That's essentially the defining feature: Light or Dark.  In my version of the Force, we have Ego, Id and Psychosis (Communion, Dark Communion, and Broken Communion), but two characters who follow Ego Communion have effectively the same powers. That's not too much of a problem ("I'm a telepath with Communion" is sufficiently different from "I'm a psychokinetic with Communion"), but I wondered if you could do more.

Yesterday, I referred to this idea of characters "channeling" the Force, letting it flow through them, but rather than have a generic form of the "force flowing through you" I want something the players can better customize and control, to allow them to define how and in what way they interact with Communion. I thought I might have a power based on the "Powerful Convictions" prayer, a divinely-inspired talent, but that they players could choose which talent... only that might be too broad, too flexible.  How could I make it more mystical? Finally, there's a one-line throwaway in Divine Favors:

At the GM’s option, the mandatory and significant mod-
ifiers from GURPS Thaumatology (pp. 82-89 and 244-255)
may apply (to Petition and Reaction rolls) as well. 

-GURPS Powers: Divine Favor, page 5

What does that mean?  Whatever I want it to, I suppose.  But the bonuses in thaumatology were derived from using very medieval symbolism.  What about symbolic imagery more appropriate to science-fiction?  But on what structure could I hang that?  Trying to build an entire symbolic structure from scratch is difficult, plus you need to sell it to your players.  I'd much rather steal.  What could I steal from as a structure for this symoblic imagery?

Then I discovered Carl Jung's primordial images: his archetypes.

Building Communion

The second half of the Psi-Wars power set is based on Divine Favor.  I chose Divine Favor because it allows a great deal of GM discrection, which assists the narrative nature of our chosen genre.  I also chose it because the inherently mystical nature of Divine Favor balances out the pseudo-scientific nature of Psionic Powers.  This lets me have my cake and eat it too: I can have psi-clones and crazy psychotronic tech, and still have sages who mutter that scientists cannot possibly understand the forces they play with, and that they'll never truly understand what Psi really is, unless they have partaken of Communion.

Divine Favor poses a few problems, though.  As written, it's meant to be a stand-alone powerset (that is, one would expect to have either psi or divine favor, and if one had both, they would be unrelated), and its powers aren't particularly Star-Wars-y.  I could, of course, discard that Star Wars connection, as I have with psi, but we're still trying to stay more-or-less close to Star Wars, at least in overall feel.

Furthermore, Divine Favor means God and God doesn't sit idly by in a setting.  God represents Cosmic Order, a fundamental truth to the way the world works (Or how, at least, it should work).  How you define God fundamentally defines your setting.  Many fantasy games, for example, are defined by Gods who fight one another, or a screw up the Gods did a long time ago.  Star Wars is no different, defining all conflict as a struggle between the Light and Dark sides of the Force.  Thus, how I define Communion, how I build it, will instantly set the tone for the rest of my setting.

In particular, I had to be careful to not too perfectly capture the Force.  If I ran a game with Space Knights wielding "the Psi" and Force Swords, then in short order, my players would be calling their Space Knights "Jedi" and "the Psi" would become "the Force" and they'd roll their eyes at me when I corrected them.  However, Psi-Wars is not Star-Wars.  This is not a meaningless distinction!  We must maintain this split, because without it, we run into the very problems that leads me to recommend creation over conversion. If this is just a badly converted Star-Wars, then everyone will hate it.  If it's a clever, new take on the genre, then people will appreciate it.

The Faith of Psi Wars

• The Force as Divine Favor
• The Faithful Space Knight
• The Other Side of Space Faith

We've taken a thorough look at Divine Favor as the core paradigm for the Force, so now, let's reflect on how well it turned out.

In a way, I find it the best fit.  As stated in the very first post, it allows for very dramatic effects, while still maintaining surprising balance.  In scenes where the GM wants the Space Knight to shine, he just unleashes Divine Favor and lets the player go nuts.  In scenes where he wants to spotlight another character, Divine Favor becomes more muted and subtle.  As alternative powers, the costs for learned powers remain pretty low, putting it somewhere between Psionics and Magic for cost.  It also maintains the concept of consistency among Force users, as most learned prayers are pretty similar.  Finally, it makes a great deal of cosmological sense when discussing the Force and how the typical Jedi treats it, and the Dark Side also works well as a force of moral evil.

But it has a few problems.  First, if a Jedi's power is determined entirely by his faith, then what's the point of all of their training?  Faith powers just work.  A priest needs to worry about living well, but he doesn't need to worry about perfectly controlling his psychokinesis, because it's not his psychokinesis, it's the Force's, and the Force, being divine, will never get it wrong.  This is in contrast with the Jedi, who need to learn to "control" the Force from a young age.

Second, Divine Favor is not innate. A Jedi might have a connection to the Force, but at least some of that power seems to come from himself (hence the training).  In particular, Jedi can innately do things, like sense danger and detect a blaster bolt before it reaches him.  Divine Favor doesn't allow for things like that.  It doesn't power Precognitive Parries, or grant Sense Danger.  This isn't necessarily a failing of the Divine (after all, God can up and warn people of things), so much as an element of how the system seems to work.

Third, this is not an action-packed system, and a Jedi is a warrior, while Divine Favor is meant to emulate priests.  True, Divine Favor has higher reaction bonuses during pulse-pounding moments, it doesn't actually require much action on the part of the petitioner other than faith and time.  I've adjusted some of it to make it a little more dynamic, but it still remains a passive and patient system.  Saints with Divine Favor stand around praying for hours, and God answers their prayers with the destruction of their foes.  Jedi, by contrast, are men of action, and given that Psi Wars is itself an Action game, it follows that they should be able to behave like Action characters.

Finally, Divine Favor assumes that God is a being that does what He wishes.  The Force doesn't act like that.  It doesn't punish you for breaking its strictures, nor does it act in an inconsistent way: A Jedi can know that his powers will work, over and over again without fail.

• Divine Favor requires no training
• Divine Favor does not support Danger Sense or Precognitive Parries
• Divine Favor is too passive.
• Divine Favor assumes personality that the Force does not have.

The Other Side of Space Faith

New Powers

While we have plenty of “appropriate” powers, we're missing some key components. We can see the future (Divine Guidance), see into the hearts of men (See Evil, Sense True Evil), but we lack psychokinetic effects, and quite a few of the common tricks Jedi often do, such as sense danger. A few new Learned Prayers might be:

Minor (Neutral Reaction)

Poltergeist

Learned Prerequisite: Divine Favor 4
Learned Prayer Cost: 3 points

A minor telekinetic effect occurs, perhaps moving a force-sword hilt to you, or pulling a key to you, or even granting you a +4 to pick a lock.

Statistics: Telekinesis 3 (Divine Favor -10%) [13.5]

Major Blessing (Good Reaction)

Ghost Motion

Learned Prerequisite: Divine Favor 7
Learned Prayer Cost: 7 points

Gain obvious, if not particularly strong psychokinetic effects, including pushing things over, throwing stones at people, etc.

Statistics: Telekinesis 7 (Divine Favor -10%) [32.5]

Miraculous Power (Very Good Reaction)

Invisible Might

Learned Prerequisite: Divine Favor 10
Learned Prayer Cost: 14 points

Gain psychokinetic effects that exceed the power of an individual human, including lifting someone off the ground, or yanking large objects off walls and flinging them at people.

Statistics: Telekinesis 15 (Divine Favor -10%) [67.5]

Divine Message

Learned Prerequisite: Divine Favor 10
Learned Prayer Cost: 12
Send a single message or vision to another character, regardless of distance. This message transcends culture and language to ensure that the target always understands it.

Statistics: Telesend (Divine -10%, Cosmic (No Die Roll) +100%, Universal +50%, Send Only -50%) [57]

World-Shaking Miracles (Excellent Reaction)

Unseen Titan

Learned Prerequisite: Divine Favor 14
Learned Prayer Cost: 27 points

Gain psychokinetic effects that exceed the maximum power of a human, including blowing gaping holes in walls, moving vehicles slowly through the air, or tearing apart a cavern.

Statistics: Telekinesis 30 (Divine Favor -10%) [135]

Alternate Forms

Avatar State

I've noted that Ten Monros has given us some pretty cool tricks without really going all the way into a Full Alternate Form, likely because their interaction with Alternative Ability frameworks are confusing, but I've addressed that very topic on this very blog... precisely because I was working on this power set at the time.

The concept of the Force flowing through someone, guiding their motions, seems to me a good example of a deep connection to the divine, something a character with a great deal of Divine Favor could certainly do. While I cannot, off the top of my head, remember anything like that from either Star Wars or the Expanded Universe, I think the Avatar State from Avater: the Last Airbender is an excellent example of what that might look like (especially given its Chinese-inspired mysticism).
The Righteous Fury powers certainly cover that sort of thing nicely, but I'd rather explore an alternate form, because it allows me to add even more powers and also to balance it with some disadvantages to create a distinctly inhuman character: You can let the Force in, let it strengthen your limbs and burn in your eyes, but then you are guided by Its will, to serve as Its agent of change in the world. When you become a Force Avatar, you serve the Force, it does not Serve You.

The inspiration behind the build comes from GURPS Thaumatology, Spirit Vessels, starting on page 211. The idea is that this “Alternate Form” is more spiritual and mental rather than physical: the character looks the same (mostly), but becomes something else.

It might look something like this: It takes one second of concentration and a cost of 5 HP (the strain of channeling so much Force takes its toll) to enter the Avatar state. Once in it, he is driven by the Force to do a particular thing (chosen by the GM), must do so in a predictable and obvious fashion, without harming others. Furthermore, the strain costs the character 1 HP per second. Fortunately, while in the Avatar State, the character is nigh unstoppable: He feels no pain and is immune to unconsciousness and will not die unless reduced to -5xHP (The Space Knight's flesh is just a shell for the Force, and while the Force animates it, it cannot die, only be destroyed). Heightened awareness gives him perfect knowledge of all danger that faces him, and the Force allows him to reach out and interact constantly with his environment around him (to a maximum range of 10 yards). Finally, the Space Knight is obviously possessed, with glowing eyes and echoing, multi-tone voice and burning strands of power lashing out around him as he floats around. This is marginally attractive, but it's as much terrifying as it is pleasant.

Force Avatar

Learned Prerequisite: Divine Favor 16
Learned Prayer Cost: 200 points

This alternate form does not include Divine Favor. The character loses access to Divine Favor for as long as it lasts. This imitates the nature of other Alternative Abilities, which also preclude the use of Divine Favor. Otherwise, all other character stats remain the same and the rest comes in addition.
Alternate Form (Divine -10%, Reduced time (1 second) +80%, Limited (Once per day) -40%, Costs 5 HP -50%) [12]

Jedi Avatar Form:

Attractive (Impressive +0%) [4]
Danger Sense (Cosmic, No Die Roll +100%) [30]

Immune to Pain [30]

Indomitable [15]
Penetrating Voice [1]
Telekinesis 21 [105]
Unfazeable [15]

Unkillable 1 [50]

Dependency (Return to own form, constant) [-25]
Hidebound [-5]
Obsession: A goal chosen by the Force [-10]
Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-5]
Unnatural Features 5 (Brilliant, Glowing Avatar of Power) [-5]

The Dark Side

Of course, if Divine Favor represents a Good God, the Light Side of the Force, we should be able to represent an Evil God, the Dark Side, in a similar fashion. Divine Favors actually discusses this at length on page 12.

The rules for Petitioning are the same, though you're not required to maintain the -10 points worth of religious devotion. We can continue to use the Meditation rule for the Dark Side, but we could also say that if the character is willing to fail a self-control roll for certain appropriate psychological disadvantages (Bad Temper, Berserk, Bloodlust, Lecherosness, Overconfidence, Sadism or Selfish) and/or to act it out in detail, he gains a +1 for the duration of being under that disadvantage. Instead of using the Fatigue rules, though, consider using the Black Magic rules: Each +1 costs 4 points of Corruption, rather than 4 fatigue. The Dark Jedi will pay the price, but only later, and from his form and sanity.

The Reaction Roll works  as the side-bar suggests: How much does the Dark Jedi's proposed action facilitate the Dark Side's objectives? And what are the Dark Side's objectives? Generally death, chaos, ruin and the fulfillment of the Dark Jedi's baser needs: the Dark Side will absolutely help someone fulfill their ambition or kill those who insulted him, but it won't generally help him save the life of those he loves, or sacrifice himself for the greater good.

Finally, when the Light Side faces off against the Dark Side, the Dark Side always loses. For example, Consencrate beats Desecrate.

Minor (Neutral Reaction)

Poltergeist

Eyes of Hell (Pyramid #3-36, page 10) the Dark side can see in the dark of course. Explains why they're always lurking in Shadows.

Servant of the God of Lies replaces Sermonize (Pyramid #3-36, page 10)

Divine Guidance

Stoicism

Mantle of the God of Lies (Pyramid #3-36, page 10) is a bit of a stretch, but I could see the Force reshaping someone's face to deceive others. Also, shapeshifters are practically a cliché in space opera.

Major Blessing (Good Reaction)

Ghost Motion

Eyes of Hell (Enhanced) (Pyramid #3-36, page 10) the Dark side can see in the dark of course. Explains why they're always lurking in Shadows.

Power of the Abyss (Pyramid #3-36, page 10) “Good. Good. Let the hate flow through you.” The dark side parallel to Righteous Fury.

Corrupting Touch (Pyramid #3-36, page 10) The ability to destroy life with just a touch seems appropriate to the Dark Side and makes a good parallel for Force Healing.

Sense True Good (Pyramid #3-36, page 11) the reverse of the Light side's ability: the Dark Side can as readily sense the Light Side as the reverse.

Guide My Hand: (Pyramid #3-36, page 11)

Dark Glory (Pyramid #3-36, page 12) The ability to inflict fear on an opponent definitely fits the Dark Side of the Force.

Desecrate Ground (Pyramid #3-36, page 12) one of the things that supposedly tainted Dagobah was the presence of a Dark Lord. This suggests that those who follow the Dark Side of the Force can certainly “taint” the world around them.

See Good (Pyramid #3-36, page 12) This allows a Dark Lord of the Sith to look into the heart of another and see the Hate and the Hope roiling around within them.

Holy Fire (Pyramid #3-36, page 12) A Jedi never uses the Force for attack... but a Sith certainly does. Holy Fire won't work... but we could create a variation for Lightning blasts.

Miraculous Power (Very Good Reaction)

Invisible Might

Corrupting Touch (Enhanced) (Pyramid #3-36, page 12) The same as the above, but better.

Power of the Abyss (Enhanced) (Pyramid #3-36, page 13) As above, but better.

Vampiric Touch (Pyramid #3-36, page 13) The ability to drain energy from others. This expands on that concept to include the draining of life to feed the character. While this is a stretch for classic Star Wars, the Expanded Universe does contain straight up vampires, and it fit the idea of having pyshic vampirism in Psi Wars.

Holy Fire (Enhanced) (Pyramid #3-36, page 14) As above

Desecrate Ground (Enhanced) (Pyramid #3-36, page 14)

Dark Glory (Enhanced) (Pyramid #3-36, page 14)

World-Shaking Miracles (Excellent Reaction)

Unseen Titan

Eclipse pushes the bounds of what might be possible: I can almost see the Force altering the orbits of planets slightly.  And if anyone would bring darkness to the sky, it would be a master of the Dark Side.

Dark Metamorphosis: (Pyramid #3-36, page 14). As Avenging Angel, but Dark!

Drain Soul: (Pyramid #3-36, page 15). The expanded version of Vampiric Touch.

Earthquake

The Faithful Space Knight

Making a Jedi with Divine Favor couldn't be simpler: Take Divine Favor 8 [45], and you have 5 points for whatever character-candy you want... probably learned prayers, but we'll come back to that.

So how does it work? When the Jedi needed to invoke the Force, he'd spend 1d6 seconds concentrating and then roll against his Divine Favor. On a success (that is, on an 8 or less) he'd invoke the Force, and he'd roll a Reaction roll. A really bad result means the Force lashes out against him or causes him problems. On a decent result, the Force does something and it benefits the hero, but it's often a minimal intervention. On a really high roll, the Force might do something spectacular, but only if the Force feels it's warranted (thus, it only ever does as much as the GM wants).

Consider, for example, the following scene: A dark Space Knight needs to get at a fabled force sword that has fallen far from him, while another novice Space Knight is also trying to get at the fabled force sword. The dark Space Knight invokes Divine Favor by closing his eyes and concentrating for a few seconds and holding his hand out to the force sword hilt. He rolls and successfully invokes Divine Favor, then rolls for a reaction. On a high reaction result, the force sword would fly to his hand and then instantly ignite, burning with a baleful glow that terrifies all onlookers, as though to say “This is my chosen champion. Fear him.” On a more modest reaction, the force sword hilt would merely fly to him. On a really bad reaction, though... it might even fly to his opponent, landing in the hands of the female novice, as though to say “The Divine chooses this person as your slayer, you filthy patricide.”

Of course, this model instantly shows a few flaws. First, 8 or less seems rather difficult to come up with, which makes the Force rather unreliable. Let's look at that first.

The Force as Divine Favor

Jedi Cross

For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is 

-Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels' hidden fort... 

-Motti, A New Hope

I see Star Wars as taking all of the issues that religion represents and trying to distill them down into a more modern and more easily accessible construct that people can grab on to, to accept the fact that there's a greater mystery out there 

-George Lucas, The Mythology of Star Wars

The Force is best depicted as Divine Favor.  While you can overstate religion's influence on Star Wars (the first sentence before George Lucas's quote above is "I don't see Star Wars as profoundly religious"), it definitely bears some of the trappings of faith.  It features desert hermits, prophecies, immaculate conception, celibate warrior-priests, knightly orders and a moral metaphysics.

As Obi-Wan teaches Luke the Way of the Force, he spends a great deal of time persuading Luke to give up his agency and to put his trust in the Force, in the same way religion often asks us to put our faith in God. In Empire Strikes back, Yoda discusses a matter of size, leading to the quote above, which suggest that anything that depicts the Force as an internal power, coming from the Jedi himself, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Force.  The Force might "come from all living things," but a Jedi is connected into and aware of that larger interconnection. He calls upon it, channels it and is guided by it.  When Yoda stretches forth his hand and Luke's X-wing floats into the air, Yoda is not lifting it, the Force itself is.  Yoda petitions the godlike power of the Force to act, and the Force does so.  That was the core of Yoda's lesson to Luke.

On the flip-side, when Darth Vader says "You do not know the power of the dark side of the force," he does not mean the power gained by following a particular philosophy, or the strength of particlar powers, but the power of the dark side as an entity.  When you let "the hate flow through you," you channel the Dark Side, become connected with it in a primal way, the way a voodoo cheval connects with his Loa: You become possessed and driven by this greater cosmic power, something greater than all of humanity, and also something fundamental to all humanity.

The Light and the Dark Side of the Force also make profound theological sense.  The Force is the incarnation of good: God.  The Dark Side is the incarnation of evil: the Devil.  Though, perhaps, we're better off viewing it through the dualistic lens of Zoroastrianism than the monotheistic lens of Christianity, as both sides are equal and necessary.  The balance spoken of in Star Wars isn't a true balance between Light and Dark, but the day, the final day, when evil is purged from the universe and good will reign at last.  Anakin, who was immaculately conceived, was meant as a Messiah to deliver the universe from the threat that faced it, but he fell, and it was up to his (forbidden!) children to carry on that mantle of Messiah.

The Jedi fit the pattern of Warrior-Monks.  They study an ancient philosophy and maintain it throughout time. The Jedi Order, including the position of "knight" and "master," its independence as a military order, its importance to the world order, and its sudden and precipitous fall followed by its legendary status, closely resembles the Order of the Knights Templar.  The Jedi must have no attachments and must remain celibate, just as priests did, a major plot-point for Anakin Skywalker, whose submission to love and lust began his first true step down the Dark Side.

The Force as Divine Will immediately solves many of the problems of Star Wars.  Just how powerful is the Force?  How much weight can a Jedi lift?  How reasonable is it that Rey is able to perform a Jedi Mind Trick without any training at all?  Why can't you genetically engineer Jedi?  What's all this about Destiny?  Divine Will answers all of these: A Jedi doesn't lift anything, the Force does, and the Force will lift as little or as much as It wants.  Of course Rey can perform a Jedi Mind Trick, if the Force wills it.  You can't genetically engineer Jedi because the Force chooses with whom It has a connection.  And Destiny is the Force making that choice, laying out Its plan for the life of someone.  No matter how scientific a universe gets, the Force must necessarily remain mystical, because a mercurial, psionic god-force does what It wishes, even whimsically, rather than following predictable physical laws that can be codified and applied.  It also explains why people use terminology like "I can show you the ways of the Force" or why people should "Trust in the Force."

Finn: We'll figure it out. We'll use the Force.
Han Solo: [irritated] THAT'S NOT HOW THE FORCE WORKS.
-The Force Awakens

The Father of Mortis, Clone Wars

This model does create a few problems, however.  First, the Force seems relatively reliable in Star Wars.  Once a Jedi has learned to shove over some battle-droids, he can always shove over some battle-droids.  Anakin violated his religious vows and his Force-God didn't abandon him.  Furthermore, religious power can create passivity: Why wield a lightsaber when you can just pray to your Force-God to strike your enemy dead?  The Force doesn't seem to work that way: It works through people, rather than on its own... though sometimes we do see Force Miracles and Force Spirits (The ghosts of dead Jedi, the "Dark Spirit" of Dagobah, and the Father, Son and Daughter of Mortis in Clone Wars) and such... but Psi Wars is an Action Game, not a Sit-Around-And-Pray-For-A-Miracle game.  Finally, Divine Favor usually assumes some kind of relationship with a divine figure, while Star Wars depicts an, at best, impersonal God. The Force doesn't seem to want anything. It just is, this great and terrible, dualistic Energy Field that pervades the universe. It does what it does in some kind of unfathomable way.  Why it bestows its favor on someone seems to have little bearing on moral principle.

GURPS Divine Powers as the Force

Even so, a Divine Powers model has some merit.  In particular, it works very well for GMs.  Rather than fussing over the exact power levels of the Force, characters can roll for a miracle and get one.  Need to grab your force sword?  Sure, Force-God allows it.  Need to lift your Starhawk out of a swamp?  For the faithful, Force-God allows it.  Need to yank an Empire-Class Dreadnought out of orbit with nothing but furious pulling gestures? Force-God is feeling generous today, so what the hell, why not?  But if the Space Knight is too cool and the the GM feels like emphasizing the lockpicking skill of the scavenger, then suddenly Force-God can't be bothered to help the Space Knight unlock a door.  Why didn't the Space Knight know about the ambush, even though he regularly sees the future?  Force-God just didn't feel like telling him, you know how it goes.  The Force is mysteeerious. By modeling the Force with Divine Powers, we fundamentally institutionalize GM fiat, which goes a long way to modeling the narrative nature of Star Wars.

Divine Powers, as a variant of Patron, tends to keep the costs of your powers down as well.  Since your power all comes from a single source (and additional powers tend to be relatively cheap offshoots), you can model a fairly powerful Space Knight on a decent budget.  We might run into a few problems in that the Divine Powers tend to be very Christian in tone and theme while the Force is very oriental, more Daoist... but Daoism is also a religion and, after a fashion, the "Universe" is the "God" of Daoism: One should trust in it, it can "provide" for the faithful, and Daoist priests can certainly work miracles, after a fashion.  We'll need to modify Divine Powers to make it work, but it can work.

Obviously, for this cycle, we'll rely entirely on GURPS Powers: Divine Favor.

Going Forward

As usual, tomorrow we'll take a look at Divine Favor, which powers work well out of the box and which powers don't, and what a Jedi with 50-points of Divine Favor might look like.  Wednesday, we'll adjust those powers and expand them out into Light and Dark and touch on some alternate systems to make that work.  Finally, Thursday we'll take a look at the results and see what a Divine Universe might look like.