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This is my first review here. To begin with, Divus Ex was formerly known as Deus Ex, and I am reviewing the third edition of this series by Three Fates Gaming (J.C. Connors). Basically, players play gods and goddesses in the Norse Pantheon, the Egyptian Pantheon,the Greek Pantheon, or the Mystic Domain (a fantasy world that's been the default setting since the beginning of the game). Certain aspects of the deities are related to concepts covered in tarot decks (though that is not necessary to play). You can use regular dice and glass beads (some kind of counters--like pennies), though.

Another interesting thing about the game is that the game can either be played as a table top roleplaying game or as a Live Action Role Playing game (LARP--acted out physically, as well as verbally/emotionally). Gods and goddesses tend to be fickle, easy to anger, self-serving, and proud. All gods/goddesses can enter/leave the Council Chamber (usually the site of a table in a LARP). Also, each god/goddess has a "home plane" which gods/goddesses decide who can enter (without the god/goddess using one of their special powers, if they possess such a power).

One player acts, generally speaking, like a Game Master in other games. He or she is referred to as the Fate-Decider. He/she plays Fate, a force that even the gods/goddesses must deal with in many cases.

Players make the basic stats of their deities, providing a name, their type of home plane (many types are offered), the name of the plane, the god's holy day (a day of the year where a god gains certain bonuses), and four statistics/abilities.

Characters can choose one stat or another for each of the four abilities. Only at character creation can a character choose which version (only two to choose from for each) the god/goddess will possess. For example, Pentacles and Pentacles (Reversed) affects dealing with mortals or dealing with nature, respectively. Chalices are basically godly power/health. Wands tend to be used to power godly magics. Swords denotes the ability to attack or defend one's self.

In game time, one hour of play is one year in the lives of the gods/goddesses, etc. Arcana (the magical powers based on the Major Arcana of the tarot deck & their "reversed" forms) can be either always on (constant) or used once within the hour of play (instant). Each of the 22 powers have a "reverse" form that makes it 44 Arcana. The Reversed form is generally the opposite of whatever the regular form is. For example, the Chariot Arcana also has a near opposite power called The Chariot (Reversed). Generally, gods/goddesses have two of these powers (generally related to their persona/talents), if not more (up to Fate-Decider & generally depends on the kind of game you'd be playing).

The Arcana are one of my favorite parts of the game. For example, if your character possesses The Fool Arcana, the character can (once every hour) whisper to the Fate-Decider an event the character would like to have happen. It can't make any other goddess do anything against their will. However, that covers a lot of territory. The Fate-Decider decides whether to do it or not, though (if rejected) the Fool can come up with any number of other requests until finally one is acceptable (within an hour's time). The Fool Arcana user can never tell anyone else that he/she suggested the event.

The Fool Arcana (Reversed) works like this (and is considered a totally different Arcana for all intents and purposes): The Fool (Reversed) can ask any other player one question that he/she must answer truthfully. After that, the Fool (Reversed) can ask three additional yes/no questions relating to the first question. The Arcana are kind of similar in some ways to the Purviews in SCION.

The players choose what their home planes are like. Fire, nightmares, cacophony, passion, and sand are just some of the kinds of home planes available. They are usually related to the persona/talents/pantheon of the god/goddess.

A simple combat system and descriptions of divine influence on the world follows. Each player also gets at least one Archon and one Hero. Archons are like angels, demons, minor deities, etc. They are weaker versions of their deity and serve as scouts, messengers, and spies. A Hero is a mortal human follower that acts as the diety's warrior or priest. There's more than one page on artifacts (dieties use them as magical items), and one page on monuments and armies (building up power in the mortal world). A map, detailing the Mystic Domains, is also offered for free at the site: www.thalcos.com/divusex.htm This is one of the best free games I've ever received. Also, check out Three Fates Gaming's other games at: www.threefates.com

I like the stylized art on each of the tarot card-based Arcana. I wished I had had a color printer to printer it out on! This is just a very well thought-out game, all in all.