Small Gods

[Breakstone]

I've always been interested in running a campaign in which the world is inhabited by small gods- physical beings instead of vast belief systems. These gods wander the world, and are encountered by people every day. Here's some ideas of my own:

An ancient apple tree in the middle of a desert that always bears fruit and watches over a small town of desert-dwellers.

A giant vulture that roams the skies. Legends say that those who he touches with his shadow will die before sunrise.

An ancient warrior frozen in a glacier who now controls the icelands around him.

The fossils of a dragon exposed in the side of a cliff. A wild tribe of kobolds now worship this bones, sacrificing travelers to their god.

The Mother Rat, a gorged female rat at the center of a maze of pipes and sewers who is said to be the mother of all rats.

You get the idea. Post some of your own!

 

[Hardhead]

This is a pretty neat idea. I can't think of any examples... but it's neat.

Of course, from my sig, it should be obvious I like the idea of small gods.

 

[Dirigible]

FFG's Path of Faith has rules for Small Gods. Dragon 293 has an article abou them.

The very wind is a small god, everpresent and evermoving, visiting all corners of the world and carrying rumours of strange lands and vistas.

The wall around the town of Brythmarch is similarly divine, a gentle and simple defender of the people within it.

 

[Dirigible]

Oooh, oooh, I got another one!

A 30' tall statue depicting king Anslaus VII, the Warden fo the High North stands guard in the central square of the land's capital, providing advice to his heirs that now rule there and power to the clergy.

 

[The Goblin King]

You should check out Exalted. All Gods are spirits and all spirits are Gods. It has both large Gods like the Elemental Dragon of Water or Luna and small Gods like the God of a road or a tree or a pond. Every one of them is part of the celestial hierarchy. Spirits are literally everywhere so characters interact with small Gods most often.

 

[Numion]

I've always been interested in running a campaign in which the world is inhabited by small gods- physical beings instead of vast belief systems. These gods wander the world, and are encountered by people every day. Here's some ideas of my own:

An ancient apple tree in the middle of a desert that always bears fruit and watches over a small town of desert-dwellers.

A giant vulture that roams the skies. Legends say that those who he touches with his shadow will die before sunrise.

An ancient warrior frozen in a glacier who now controls the icelands around him.

The fossils of a dragon exposed in the side of a cliff. A wild tribe of kobolds now worship this bones, sacrificing travelers to their god.

The Mother Rat, a gorged female rat at the center of a maze of pipes and sewers who is said to be the mother of all rats.

You get the idea. Post some of your own!

How are those gods then? Whats the Godly part?

I mean that if the cactus on my computer table is really a god-cactus, um, so what? If it never does anything godly, big deal. Hmm.. better give some water to that plant.. But I'm just saying that those sound like just supernatural things, not gods.

 

[Breakstone]

What I figure is that these Small Gods would act like the normal gods, rules-wise. Those who worshipped these Small Gods would get spells and domains and such.

 

[Dirigible]

How are those gods then? Whats the Godly part?

A giant vulture that roams the skies. Legends say that those who he touches with his shadow will die before sunrise.(emphaisis mine)

It kills people. With its mind. If that isn't a god, I don't know what is.

Seems to me you're taking a very western attitude towards what constitutes a god, Numion. Animistic religions would classify all these as such.

 

[Tonguez]

IMC I have a giant feindish dire eel who lives in a sacred pool and is worshipped by the local gnomes - he keeps the spring water pure and running (or so they beleive)

I have a rock which is beleived to be the ancestor of the people of a village. They offer it fruits once a year and children are taken to it when they are born and are blessed by its shadow

Actually my world is full of spirits of every sort - fiendish and celestial animals, awakened rocks, divine mountains, half-elementals, ghosts, ancestors and hivemind-fey

 

[Tonguez]

How are those gods then? Whats the Godly part?

I mean that if the cactus on my computer table is really a god-cactus, um, so what? If it never does anything godly, big deal. Hmm.. better give some water to that plant.. But I'm just saying that those sound like just supernatural things, not gods.

You do realise that the fact that the catcus is sitting there thriving on your desk is a miracle right.

Oh and have you noticed that your computer has never been destroyed by a freak meteor strike? - thats the cactus-gods doing. So you be good to that catcus god okay!