Making my own gods

[Grimmjow]

I am working on making my own campaign setting for 4e. What kind of gods could you guys suggest to me for my game?

thanks

edit: im going to use the domains in divine power to give each god 3 domains.

 

[Grimmjow]

Konec used to be a mortal man, a human. He was a judge from an anceint, forgotten empire. Aside from his being a anceint judge, not much in known about Konec's mortal life.

Domains
Death-Konec rules over the death domain as a judge. He looks into the dead's past life and then determines if they deserve a life where they go next. The souls of the virtuous go to Maa-Hyve, while the souls that have been tainted by a life of evil are sent to Maa-Pimeys.
Fate-Konec rules over the fate domain in the same way he rules over the Death domain. As a judge, sending the souls of the dead where they should be sent.

Justice-As Konec is a god of Death and Fate, he is also a god of Justice. He was a judge in his mortal life and he continues to judge the souls of the dead as a god./QUOTE]

any more ideas?

 

[Ferghis]

I'm actually curious about this as well. To be able to steal all published crunch, what "active" deities and other "higher" immortal "roles" are necessary? For example, I know I need a main good god and a bad one, and each domain needs to be assigned. I'm pretty sure there needs to be a cataclysm or god war of some kind at some point.

What else?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

There's a pretty good list of portfolios in the 2E Complete Priest's Handbook with some ideas as to what their respective priesthoods would be like. Do you have access to that book?

Anyway, here are your basics:

Agriculture
Civilisation
Darkness
Death
Fate
Justice
Magic
Moon
Mountains
Nature
Sea
Sun
War
Weather

 

[Grimmjow]

There's a pretty good list of portfolios in the 2E Complete Priest's Handbook with some ideas as to what their respective priesthoods would be like. Do you have access to that book?

Anyway, here are your basics:

Agriculture
Civilisation
Darkness
Death
Fate
Justice
Magic
Moon
Mountains
Nature
Sea
Sun
War
Weather

i have the devine power book which looks like its the same thing

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Cool. I did those ones from memory so I am sure I missed some key ones.

I had forgotten that Divine Power had such a list. It's also probably in one of the DMGs. Anyway, I like the 2E book because it also gives ideas about building the specific priesthoods so that not all clerics are the same (and my pet hate in D&D is the generic cleric).

 

[Keldryn]

GURPS Religion (for third edition) is a really great resource for building your own religions.

Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous has a fantastic per-made pantheon but serves as a great example to model your own after.

The AD&D 2e Works Builder's Guidebook also covers the topic at a fairly broad level.

 

[Jester David]

I am working on making my own campaign setting for 4e. What kind of gods could you guys suggest to me for my game?

thanks

edit: im going to use the domains in divine power to give each god 3 domains.

What's the world like? Do you have a theme or hook? What do you want out of your gods?

Are you looking for the standard Pantheon of deities, good and evil, human and non, or would you like gods with a twist? Do you want your gods to be born gods or were they mortals who ascended to godhood or a mix of both?

Do you want your gods active and vocal, like in Dragonlance or the Forgotten Realms, walking the land, causing problems, and speaking directly to their followers? Or do you want distant and silent gods, akin to Eberron, who may not even exist>

 

[aco175]

I'd think about groups of gods, say good, neutral, and evil. Have one or two main gods for each side and maybe just one for neutral gods. After these big/ greater gods, you can fill in what you need in terms of lessor and minor gods. I always liked concepts like ancient Greek gods being mostly related to each other. Hades trying to take over from his brothers, Poor Hermes being cought in the middle making peace. Some gods that embody these concepts such as peace and wisdom may not actively fight, or ponder longer than the war god before going of to fight.

I also like having fewer gods, but giving them more names and aspects for each race or tribe that worships him. The elves call the magic god one thing and the humans something else, but in the end it is the same god. There can even be strife in the same church as different aspects of a single god are held in higher esteem by each group and each of the proclamations are viewed in a skewed light.

 

[Ratinyourwalls]

I too am currently in the process of designing my own pantheon. The biggest problem I'm having at the moment is thinking up their names. Naming stuff seems to be a skill that is easy for everyone else but escapes me. What process do you use for thinking up names for your gods / goddesses?