[Mercator]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

I think it sounds interesting. Isn't the Peleponnesian war going on at this time?

That's something I left out of my post because it was getting already too long ;-). I am not sure about the course of Greek history after the Return. If the gods exist and are active, I don't think they would allow the Peloponessian War to happen (as the author of GURPS Greece points out, they have worshippers on both sides!). I think that, if anything, the greek polis would stop fighting among themselves and turn their attention to the outside, perhaps unified under a strong leader (Sparta?). That could lead to a war of world conquest by a God-supported pan-Hellenic army; I don't want that to happen, because the setting world would change beyond recognition. It wouldn't be the Classical Greece we know and can relate to.

A solution is to substitute the all-out Peloponnesian Wars with a constant low-level warfare: each god patronizes a different city, which leads to constant rivality between them: sabotage, spionage, cattle raids, the ocasional skirmish between small units... something to keep tension high (and add to the bleak atmosphere of the setting), but nothing like the real-history events.

As an aside, I can imagine that the Spartans, after having become the Saviors of Civilization and Instruments of Zeus, become even more arrogant and obnoxious than in real life.

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

What do the gods think of the democracy/aristocracy debate that raged in Greece at this time?

Excellent question. To keep the setting close to historical Greece, I decided that the gods would mostly tolerate the new order as long as the proper sacrifices and ceremonies are performed in their honor (which they already are anyway) and people adequately faithful. The main difference is that failing to properly worship the gods will have consequences...
Also, blasphemy becomes a high-risk practice.

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Are there gods in other places as well?

That's one of my main concerns. If the Greek Gods come back, why shouldn't the Persian, Phoenician (Moloch! I want Moloch!), Egyptian... gods return too? For the moment, I want to keep the game more local and centered in Greece; that's why I came up with Zeus' Aegis. Within it, the gods affect the world and magic works. Outside, it doesn't happen (it also reflects the likely view of the time that nothing interesting happened outside of Greece...;-)). If my players like the idea enough to keep playing, I could make the other pantheons begin to appear over time. That would make an interesting investigation campaign: what is making the gods become real? Hmmm...

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

For magic and so on: You really want to get Fantasy - it's a great world-building book. Magic is IMO less essential. Remember that the gods didn't really intervene very much in old Greece, except when there were young maidens to pursue... :)

I do indeed want to get Fantasy; unfortunately, my short-term gaming budget has been sucked up by Powers and Transhuman Space, but Fantasy is my next target (GURPS Space? What's that? ;-))

Thanks very much for your comments!