I’ve been using the Greek and/or Norse gods in my own campaign settings, but I want to start making my own deities and pantheons going forward, if you have any advice, I’d love to hear it please. Same for anything you’re willing to say about your own gods and goddesses, or any art of gods or related entities like angels.
I like how shin megami tensei uses the old gods
>>96537281One way to make gods and pantheons feel organic and natural is giving them more than one domain, even if they may clash.To name a real life example: Ishtar is the goddess of war, and sex/love. Does this make sense? Maybe, maybe not. But it made sense to the people that worshiped her. Or they saw how much violence and lust are intertwined, and this formed their idea of this goddess.The characteristics and domains of a god should also always tell you something about the people that worship them.
>>9653728177 Thrones for Within the Ring of Fire is always great for inspiration.
>>96537281>been using the Greek and/or Norse godsI’ve done the same, my players don’t care enough about the gods for it to be worth it to me.
>>96537281Have any of you given your Gods elemental domains? My plan for my setting is that there are for sub-pantheons (or just one God for each element, still debating on that), each with a focus on one of the four elements of Flame, Wind, Earth, and Water, the Gods in each pantheon having a secondary domain or two that has a connection, be it thematic or symbolic, etc., with their respective element. Some of the domains I’m considering for each pantheon are obvious, like the Oceans and Sailors for Water, War and maybe Love for Flame, Trickery for Wind, and Stability for Earth, etc., but what would you suggest? Much appreciated in advance, a bit stuck on this.
>>96537281If you're going from settings, don't start from the gods. Most of the time, it's better to start at the day to day worshipping and beliefs.And diss everything DND does with religion.
>>96542492>Most of the time, it's better to start at the day to day worshipping and beliefs.Why is that, and why only MOST of the time? Also, as someone who tries to avoid DND with a five foot pole, what precisely do they mess up with religion specifically?
>>96542556I think you might end up with decent top-down gods, but my impression is that the average worldbuilder can't really grok religion enough to suggest that approach. He's not Robert Graves.>what precisely do they mess up with religion specifically?I can hardly think of something they do decently, to be frank.This is quite clear from the "realistic" aspects of religion in a pre-industrial setting to what I can only see as the absolute pedestrian "non-mystical" (non-mysterious) feel of its deities.
>>96542471silence bumpfag
>>96542662I swear, people here use that term like a boogeyman and use it to decry posts they don’t like. If he really exists, don’t react to their posts, especially if you might lump multiple anons in one thread together in the process. Just to stay on topic, and because I liked the concept, how about Water gets the unknown due to the hidden ocean depths? There’s a reason Lovecraft has so many tentacles in his books.
>>96537281why are you asking for advice when you haven't even written anything yethow do you expect people to give you reasonable advice apropos nothing? The only real advice you can get at this points is to just write and that the first version you come up with is never the best.
>>96542471Sky Father / Earth Mother is probably the most common divine pairing out there.You gonna copy that or ignore it?
>>96542635>He's not Robert Graves.Never heard of him, what makes his stuff so great?Also, I’d love to hear more about your feelings on this.
>>96537281Something to nail down is how powerful a god actually is. If a mortal or mortal+ can best them in -thing- of if they're untouchable.
If you're an atheist IRL, it won't work because you don't understand religious people.If you're a Christian, best you can do is follow JRRT and just not introduce an explicit religion to your games.If you're neither, you are probably not White, and should go to /v/ instead.
>>96537281What systems (not D&D, as >>96542492 has already stated) handle gods best mechanically? Particularly if you can actually play as gods, especially if creating a world is involved.
>>96546858Good question anon. I know Exalted has rules for playing spirits, but that’s all I can name off the top of my head. Hopefully someone else has something.
>>96546858>>96548364Scion 2e
>>96537281What are some settings that do gods well, especially if the gods actually exist, versus ones that botch things completely? Also, >>96542492 mentions that DND typically does a bad job, but is the approach to the divine in Eberron any better?
>>96546858>>96549125>>96548364There's Nobilis, Tiny Gods, Part-Time Gods, and New Gods of Mankind, if I missed any not already listed please let me know!
>>96551624I am a fan of the way Eberron handles religion. The Eberron method is more "realistic," for lack of a better term: different competing models of the divine, some of which are compatible with one another, some of which boil down to faith in gods whose existence can never be truly verified.A religion is more akin to a real-world religion in that it presents its own "rules of the divine," which may or may not be compatible with other religions. There is no one universal pantheon in Eberron that all gods get filed into.Do you like it when a fantasy setting uses this method for distinguishing its religions?
