Gods in Eternity

[PsychoBlonde]

It sounds kind of like we're going to have Greek-style gods in the sense of meddling, quarrelsome, vindictive, not-necessarily-benevolent super-powerful entities. This sounds fine to me, but this sort of situation DOES prevent you from having actual RELIGION in the game. Oh, sure, people obey the gods, worship the gods, follow the gods, hide from the gods, curse the gods, occasionally Overthrow the Gods . . . but they don't really BELIEVE in the gods. It would be like BELIEVING in sauerkraut. So you wind up with a deity-infested but also incredibly secular world where people are matter-of-fact about all kinds of weird magical happenings

 

I don't have a problem with this--I like it when people are matter-of-fact. It might even be an interesting reversal if your average clergyman is a completely non-mystical hard-headed practical dude, while your crazy mystics are atheists.

[metiman]

Are you implying that if, for instance, the Christian god, I am that I am or whatever, would actually appear for real in a public place and start announcing commandments that people would become less religious? Surely not. Believing in a proven God who has actually shown himself is still believing in him.

[hideo kuze]

It sounds kind of like we're going to have Greek-style gods in the sense of meddling, quarrelsome, vindictive, not-necessarily-benevolent super-powerful entities. This sounds fine to me, but this sort of situation DOES prevent you from having actual RELIGION in the game. Oh, sure, people obey the gods, worship the gods, follow the gods, hide from the gods, curse the gods, occasionally Overthrow the Gods . . . but they don't really BELIEVE in the gods. It would be like BELIEVING in sauerkraut. So you wind up with a deity-infested but also incredibly secular world where people are matter-of-fact about all kinds of weird magical happenings

 

I don't have a problem with this--I like it when people are matter-of-fact. It might even be an interesting reversal if your average clergyman is a completely non-mystical hard-headed practical dude, while your crazy mystics are atheists.

How is this different from what you have in D&D?

 

 

 

PLEASE let's not derail this into a religious discussion and get the topic locked.

Edited September 24, 2012 by hideo kuze

[twincast]

I've been meaning to make a thread about this for days.

 

I'm game for pretty much every number, size(s) and kind(s) of pantheon(s), from simply nonexistent to actively interacting.

 

The only thing I demand is that they are properly thought through.

 

Pantheons are families. Too often creators of fantasy worlds forget that or (even worse) only pay lip-service to it with some fragmented relation(ship)s sprinkled throughout.

 

And most importantly make the names of all* members of each pantheon believable to be of the same language (not saying culture as there's been quite a lot of borrowing of a couple of deities going on between neighboring (or even not so neighboring) peoples without full-blown conversion even when they shared few to no common backstory). There's some considerable leeway (based on theoretical different declensions and possible basis in another language for any given god), but when creators have no solid grasp of the matter, names often drift into the ridiculous, so please no X-means-evil names in pantheons that otherwise don't use X's (of whatever pronunciation) for example. Also, using real world names isn't necessarily bad in and of itself, but don't just throw a Baldr or Apollon or two (let alone both) into your pantheon of Moradins and Lolths. Stick to one or the other per pantheon.

 

*Well, some Roman deities amaze with their main names being decidedly Greek (with slightly changed endings), but that's fairly unique and honestly not too jarring in most cases since the two languages look even closer related to each other than they actually are. IMHO only (much changed, but originally Persian) Mithras really sticks out, but then again, they always thought of him as foreign themselves.

[Gurkog]

The god of storms and fire should be.... Tim.

[Tychoxi]

I want gods that'll

.

[limaxophobiacq]

What I'd really want is Animism were pretty much everything has a god, from forest streams to mountains and oceans to the sun moon & stars, but given that we'll probably see something more DnD-ish, I don't really have a preference as long as they're interesting.

 

I don't want them to be both active in the mortal world and insurmountably powerfull at the same time though because that tends to make the actions of humanity including the characters you play as kind of irrelevant.

[Fire13ringer]

Are you implying that if, for instance, the Christian god, I am that I am or whatever, would actually appear for real in a public place and start announcing commandments that people would become less religious? Surely not. Believing in a proven God who has actually shown himself is still believing in him.

"Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn't believing. It's where belief stops, because it isn't needed any more." - Terry Pratchett.

 

If the game is about souls, then I'd like it to have one or several deities presiding over the afterlife/astral realm, with, for instance, eaters of souls being lawful evils, reapers for chaotic neutrals, a king of souls as the lawful good, etc.

[limaxophobiacq]

Actually, what I really I want is for them to make something new and cool that I didn't think of.

Edited September 25, 2012 by limaxophobiacq

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Also, it would be fun to betray a god in some way or the other

 

And outwit one would be... priceless ^.^

[rjshae]

I think the developers should decide the nature of the gods and their pantheon, based on the cultural setting they develop.

Edited September 25, 2012 by rjshae

[OldRPG'sAreGood]

I don't really have any preferance when it comes to god(s), and the only idea I can think off the top of my head, is that there'd roughly be a god per race + some with no defineable race. I'm sure Obsidian can pull off something good regarding gods.

[Starglider]

Awesome, unfathomable and to a large extent alien, yet still flawed, emotional and even petty.

[BruceVC]

There are some good idea's on this thread, I would like the Gods to be similar to Greek Gods but they are only as powerful as long as they have followers, this doesn't mean they would be defenseless but just reduced in power if no one worships them. Also at a later stage as the series progresses it would be nice to have a showdown with a Fallen God or some cult attempting to resurrect there diety.

Edited September 25, 2012 by BruceVC

[The Sharmat]

I don't really have any preferance when it comes to god(s), and the only idea I can think off the top of my head, is that there'd roughly be a god per race + some with no defineable race. I'm sure Obsidian can pull off something good regarding gods.

Also shared Gods and alternate, conflicting stories of the same Gods. And cultures regarding some foreign Gods as just being alternate names for their own deities.

[hideo kuze]

Agreed on having gods similar to the Greek ones.

But I disagree with the need for followers. However, having followers and having them do their bidding would be an advantage.

[Cryticus]

The game is about souls something that can easily be connected to gods. Personnaly I was always in fantasy games more interested in religion as organization than center being of their belief.

If I would have to chose hover I woudl like to see maybe something in vein of one big oversoul (Brahman ,Manitou) but with rennesance catholic pomp . But as I say this is supposedly game about souls, so they may use one god like being, DnD style gods of everything, pantheon that is one but know under diffrent name and combination with diffrent cultures, or maybe oversoul thing.

Tl:Dr As long as they don't go lazy route of god of fire, god of water, god of earth I am happy

[septembervirgin]

I think it was implied that they're all relatively sapient, but I hope that's not true. I'd like some of the gods to be not. Just so that it can imply that there's this whole other ecosystem to the godly realm that interacts recklessly with the mortal one.

 

I understand what you're saying! That's something I can identify with! Mindless deities that devour people! Ia! Ia! I am being talked to with that statement. My views seem to be included!

[choasrepeated]

The lady of pain has come up a bit and I have to chip in on that.

 

On other notes I'd like to see lovecraftian gods, warhammer 40k gods, even fun entities love the american gods.

Tricksters and bullies. Creatures of madness and pain.

 

Just like you cant become a ceo without breaking a few laws, I doubt you could become a god in a fanastasy setting without being dark at the core.

[NOK222]

Quezatcoatl.

[Jigawatts]

D&D style gods. One (or rather, three) of my favorite D&D supplements ever are the 2E Forgotten Realms deity books, Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, and Demihuman Deities. They were so jam packed full of juicy flavor and lore (not to mention fun priest kits).

[septembervirgin]

The Inviolate Prayer : An mouse-sized deity that is entirely mouths each bearing rows of razor sharp teeth. It whispers to all its worshipers constantly and so its priests are all deaf.

 

Joy of the Fire: A cloud of ashes that seem to contain skeletal bats lofted on intangible winds, knocking against eachother with a clattering rhythm. A sole crouched figure seems to slide about in the midst of this cloud, lit luminous and visible as if with an internal flame. This being keens softly, answering inquiries and pleas by fluttering its fingertips against the ground with the sound of silver drumming on glass, swift chimes ringing sharply. This being is worshiped by some rangers who despise the wilds but live there to master it.

 

Mary of the Foremast: A sea green robed woman, blindfolded with limbs and body aneath the robe wrapped in blue and white burial ribbons. She floats about the foremast of ships at sea. The third woman ever born, she perished in the ocean, arising from the caverns below as she tried to escape the raging waters she assisted her children in releasing. She is boneless and writhes about like an octopus aneath her robes, the ribbons never releasing her. She is worshiped by those who dream of her and become bound to a life at sea because of their dreams of her. She is said by some to be faceless and only a gelatinous substance in the shape of a woman, and their are proofs in ancient scriptures that these sayings are truth (but some do say she is whole and has a face and is actually self-same to a goddess of beauty and love).

 

String: A line that grows in unhallowed graveyards, slowly etching through wooden coffins, marble mauseleum, ceramic jars. This string binds cadavers together and dissolves their remains, leaving only dolls of string connected by its binding length. Should any cut the string, it reforms, stretching hundreds of miles aneath the soil to reunite to itself. It cannot be burnt nor destroyed but powerfully enchanted blades can cut it. It seems to seek no vengeance for any harm that comes to it, because it cannot be destroyed and moves as if through dreams, taking as much time as it desires, going deep underground and at times sprouting up like a watchtower for unknown reasons. It answers prayers and respects the dead that have been blessed by any faith. It does not disturb the undead nor the corpses of ghosts.

Edited October 4, 2012 by septembervirgin

[melkathi]

For me it depends on what role gods will play in the setting and how the writting around them is handled. Also how much the story involves them.

A pantheon of capricious, selfish 16 year old rich kids could be very interesting if one or two gods were inserted who in fact aren't just that. While everyone is partying on mount Olympus, no one knows that Apollo's next ride in the sun chariot will be his last, because his sweet sister Artemis has sabotaged it, cusing the sun and the god to fall into the ocean. The seas boil and the sun is extinguished, the god's remains lying on what once was the ocean floor but is now a dry waste. As eternal night falls, everyone blames Nyx, while a psychotic deranged Artemis hunts poor souls under a killing moon...

Ok, I got carried away there.

 

Gods are often just a dull afterthought it seems. Religion needs to be taken serious if it is to be worth the mention in the story. Though that may cause it to become too important. I dont want dull copies of ancient pantheons, but I am also slightly bored of theocracies, holy wars and witch hunts.

[Yaskaleh]

I'd like something based upon the pantheons of the norse, greek, slavic and celtic. Mix in a bit of monotheistic faiths and you'll have a good mix.

[Kronos]

Deithebile - Eldest world tree with acquired sentience, acquired diety status over millenia as fauna waxed and waned over the course of time.

 

Diethebile is a peculiar diety in a sense that it is bound by its gargantuan fixed physical self and has a purpose that is barely know. What is know is that the area surrounding the mighty tree is densely vegetated and contains the treetop citadel of Bile Crannog.

 

Diethebile has on occasion communicated with certain druids and rangers - the first know occurence of this was during 'the awakening'; which is the first recorded instance of sentience. During this time Bile Crannog was founded, and the various principals on which the town still bases itself were established. Some scholars speculate that the young god required a symbiotic relationship with the sentient races in order to ensure its security as it is on one hand one of the most vulnerable of dieties as it can simply be razed to the ground but on the other hand can potentially be one of the most powerful in that it has an incredibile loyalty from the denizens of Bile Crannog due to actually providing for them a bountiful livelihood. Some of the more sceptical scholars believe that it is Diethebile's intention to gradually spread its presence over the entire known world; although most aren't concerned about this prospect as it will surely take many more mellenia until such an outcome could occur.

 

Bile Crannog is a peculiar place where the doctrine is to 'live off & with the land'. People don't interfere with the vegetation; however with the intervention of Deithebile, the surrounding lands tend to 'accomodate' the increase diversity and size of the population of Bile Crannog by revealing new treetop and ground clearings to construct various buildings and by revealing new and larger pathways in the surrounding forests to accomodate increased logistics needs. Contrary to the usual trend of increased deforestation that follows in the path of a growing city, the forested lands tend to expand in size to support the increased needs of the town as in turn the influence of Deithebile slowly increases.

 

The town consists only of those that live in tune with nature and also has a strong economy that exports the famed and scarce sap that comes from Deithebile - the sap is famed for it's healing properties which is a very rare commodity in the world and fetches astronomical prices. It is anticipated that Bile Crannog will eventually swell to this size of a city. One of the stranger customs of the land is to 'bury' the recently deceased of the city by dropping them into a mighty tree hollow that exists in Diethebile, it is veiwed that by doing this the spirit of the deceased has more likelyhood of making there way back to Diethebelle in the next life, some wonder as to what the real implications of this tradition might actually be.

 

Please like this idea, it came to me and I think it could be really cool and a concept around this could be interesting in terms of potential future conflicts as well as just a really neat environment.