To kill a god...

[Drobney Falcor]

So, what would be the mechanics of finding a suitable replacement? And if I, as the Evil deity, assumed all the Good portfilios and needed to find somebody to elivate to godhood to pass the portfolio along, can I determine that new, Good god, be of a very low divine rank? Can I be the rank 19 Evil god and see that a rank 2, Good patsy be created to maintain the "official" balance, while really just ruling to universe?
I ask the annoying mechanics questions with the intention of helping you flesh out what all the rules are, so it's balanced before you dive into your campaign. I think this is going to be an awesome adventure, enjoy!

I understand completely and am glad of your contributions. The evil god would choose essentially any good-aligned creature, even a humble peasant. When the being rises to godhood the divine ranks of the gods' powers he is "absorbing" will still be intact. The evil deity will then have to take out the followers to reduce the power held by his good rival (If that is how divine ranks are determined, I'm still unsure on how the divine ranks are earned). No small feat that is for sure.

why give it a time scale at all? the cycle should be beyond time (since time is relative and all)

just simply start off the ENTIRE campaign like this

"They say that when the stars are right in the night sky the gods become restless and vulnerable, that with the stars in JUST the right pattern it opens the gates of power and the gods drain away, for a time.
As you sit outside the tavern on this perfect night, you look up and see the stars in a pattern you have never seen, as you and your comrades gaze upon the stars, you feel their brilliance strike you, somehow, you know, the stories are true."

An interesting concept. Time is a fickle thing on a cosmic scale and the period between the gods time on the material plane could very well be unpredictable at best. One thing i do want to make sure of is that the deities have time to prepare for the event and won't necessarily be whisked off into the land of mortals while enjoying a night of hard drinking and revelry. It could be that only the gods know and understand the cycle of mortalness and that it seems arbitrary and chaotic to mortal views (the stars being right or whatnot).

The discovery of the now mortal beings will be something, at least in my brainstorming so far, that is a bit more fleshed out than that (Not calling your idea a bad one); I just want to run a session or two before any god killing business is introduced, maybe to throw off the players' views of what my campaign will be about. And it is key that hardly any know of this occurrence. When the PCs find out they will probably feel pretty cocky with the newly found information but there will still be those with the knowledge as well. What it comes down to is kind of a rat race for the ultimate treasure of any adventuring party's mind: Godhood.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I understand completely and am glad of your contributions. The evil god would choose essentially any good-aligned creature, even a humble peasant. When the being rises to godhood the divine ranks of the gods' powers he is "absorbing" will still be intact. The evil deity will then have to take out the followers to reduce the power held by his good rival (If that is how divine ranks are determined, I'm still unsure on how the divine ranks are earned). No small feat that is for sure.

Being a new god and all, how would one have any followers? Your name wouldn't be known. Or would you simply inherit the followers of the god who held that portfolio before you?
I'd have an issue with this, if I was a follower. "Wait, where did Pelor go, and who's Jimmy, God of the Sun? this isn't my god, dammit!"

 

[Summer-Knight925]

They aren't.

I'm speaking of the long run, obviously they aren't gods right away, I mean thats obvious (thats a fun word to say, obvious obvious obvious, ob-vee-us, anyways), but in the end one might become a god or demigod or super human or awesome sauce cattle rangler, you get the point

do you think frodo was willing in the beginning? he didn't choose it as much as it happened (there was a part where he chose but it was sort of throughout the parts before that it chose him)