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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lewpuls" data-source="post: 9539482" data-attributes="member: 30518">[ATTACH=full]390111[/ATTACH] <a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/monument-sculpture-3388941/" target="_blank">Picture couresty of Pixabay.</a> <h3>What Flavor of God?</h3>Are your fantasy role-playing game gods all-powerful, and are they omniscient (they know everything, which implies they are omnipresent as well)? Monotheistic religions tend to have one deity along these lines, but that's not how many of the ancients thought. The gods of the ancients tended to be something like very powerful humans or like comic book superheroes, in groups (there is also a point of view called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolatry" target="_blank">monolatry</a>, belief in the existence of many gods but with a consistent worship of only one deity). Here’s a list of characteristics to consider when creating your fantasy pantheon:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Extent of their knowledge (which includes, their presence)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Limits of their power (if any)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">On a scale from benign to malign, where are they (See “<a href="https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-rpg-gods-benign-or-malign.690526/" target="_blank">RPG Gods Benign or Malign</a>”)?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">On a scale from engaged to aloof, where are they? That is, do the deities meddle in the affairs or mortals (Greek Gods), or do they rarely if ever engage with them (Cthulhu)?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">What is the relationship with other gods?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Nature of worshippers (if no worshippers, can the “gods” truly be gods?)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How do they treat their worshippers? Are they merely a a means to an end, or do they love, honor, and care for their worshippers?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">How do they treat their “spokesmen” (priests)?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Are they absolutely immortality (cannot be destroyed). or conditionally immortal (can be killed (with much difficulty) but won’t die naturally) or not immortal at all?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Can a god be stuck in one plane of existence, or does the god need to be able to travel to many planes, or perhaps to anyplace within a plane?</li> </ul><h3>Divine Traits</h3>When you draw the line between gods and not-gods, immortality is the first thing that comes to mind. And yet, J.R.R. Tolkien’s high elves had a form of “conditional” immortality, living until someone killed them. Unusually, Tolkien’s elves continue to exist after they are killed, in a sort of waiting area in Valinor. And in some cases “gods” can die, e.g. Baldur in the Norse mythos. But gods are usually immortal until someone kills them, just like Tolkien’s elves. And their worshippers are necessarily “mortals.”The second criterion for godhood that comes to mind after immortality is great power. So are all very powerful monsters also gods? Some of these are only conditionally immortal, some may be subject to death by very old age (dragons, in most cases). Is a thousand years close enough to immortal? Or can we not care about immortality if the “monster” is sufficiently powerful?What about gods as “monsters,” that is, as opposition for adventurers? I don’t let player characters gain godlike powers, so I don’t put them up against godlike opposition. On the other hand, you could say that if a “god” is so wimpy that mortal adventurers can defeat it, it isn’t much of a god (Hulk: “Puny god.")! Some GMs may prefer to have their adventurers fight “gods” sooner or later.<h3>Edge Cases</h3>This brings to mind my “monster” <a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archomental" target="_blank">Elemental Princes of Evil</a> that originally appeared in the Fiend Folio. Are they gods? They’re immortal, perhaps more than conditionally (that is, they respawn if killed). They’re very powerful, such that the only time my player character in a powerful party ran into one of them, we grabbed what we came for and fled post-haste. Do they have worshippers? There’s a tradition in fantasy that “old gods” who no longer have worshippers either fade away, or hang around in obscure ways – as “monsters,” more or less. Or in this case, never had worshippers, so they’re monsters, not gods?We can also talk about Demigods. These are common in ancient Greek/Roman mythology, the result of a union between god and human, such as Hercules. In most cases they are conditionally immortal, but much less powerful than full gods, resembling comic book superheroes, or demons. So sometimes they’re treated as mortals, sometimes as gods.<h3>Choose Wisely</h3>Defining your deities and the extent of their influence will have significant repercussions on your campaign: for your divine spellcasters, for your fiendish and celestial monsters, and if the player characters are powerful enough, even as potential foes.Your Turn: How powerful are the gods in your campaign?</blockquote>

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