Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-29-2012, 06:20 PM   #11
roguebfl
Dog of Lysdexics
 
roguebfl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Melbourne FL, Formerly Wellington NZ
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by dchsknight View Post
The demi gods I was thinking of, are like the greek Demi gods.

like Hephestus, Achilies, Sapredon, Heracles.
So are the demi-gods of Camp-Half blood... Percy Jackson and the Oylpoains is based on the fact the Greek gods are still having kids with mortals
__________________
Rogue the Bronze Firelizard
Gerald Grenier, Jr. Hail Eris!
Rogue's Weyr
roguebfl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-29-2012, 07:34 PM   #12
Stripe
 
Stripe's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Midwest, USA
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by dchsknight View Post
Ok so powers would still work best. what about limiting the powers to make sense with the parents. Like a water god only passing on water like powers. or a fire god passing on fire powers and so on and so on?
Back to going with Powers. Any help or hindrance from the actual gods would just be part of the game and not part of the character builds.

The players should be able to handle keeping powers within reason, but I agree, there's little hope of that.

So, again, I suggest templates.
Stripe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-29-2012, 07:39 PM   #13
David Johnston2
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by dchsknight View Post
Ok so powers would still work best. what about limiting the powers to make sense with the parents. Like a water god only passing on water like powers. or a fire god passing on fire powers and so on and so on?
That would probably be common, but bear in mind that major gods in reality were ascribed multiple portfolios and there are some surprising lineages. Apollo the sun god is Asclepius the healer's father, and while three of Asclepius's daughters were typically medically oriented, the black sheep of the family was a goddess of cosmetics and fashion accessories.
David Johnston2 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-29-2012, 07:45 PM   #14
Flyndaran
Untagged
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
Default Re: Demi God Question

Real world mythologies sometimes acted like they first invented the heroes in encapsulated stories, then back traced their lineage to whatever god seemed at least vaguely appropriate.
Flyndaran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-29-2012, 10:02 PM   #15
jeff_wilson
Computer Scientist
 
jeff_wilson's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, Texas
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
Real world mythologies sometimes acted like they first invented the heroes in encapsulated stories, then back traced their lineage to whatever god seemed at least vaguely appropriate.
That's syncretism. "And when Heracles's spears and arrows kept bouncing off the snake's metal scales, he got so mad he picked it up and choked it to death, then made it into a belt." "Hey! We worship Heracles, too, only we call him Strongbad, son of Zeus Parnassus."

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
That would probably be common, but bear in mind that major gods in reality were ascribed multiple portfolios and there are some surprising lineages. Apollo the sun god is Asclepius the healer's father, and while three of Asclepius's daughters were typically medically oriented, the black sheep of the family was a goddess of cosmetics and fashion accessories.
"I call upon the mistress of moisturizers to drive out the eczema demons!"
__________________
.
Reposed playtest leader.

The Campaigns of William Stoddard
jeff_wilson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2012, 03:38 AM   #16
demonsbane
 
demonsbane's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Spain —Europe
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by jeff_wilson View Post
That's syncretism.
Or synthesis: I find it much more common when it's about ancient myth.
__________________
"Let's face it: for some people, roleplaying is a serious challenge, a life-or-death struggle."
J. M. Caparula/Scott Haring

"Physics is basic but inessential."
Wolfgang Smith

My G+
demonsbane is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2012, 04:19 AM   #17
Danukian
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: MI
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Johnston2 View Post
That would probably be common, but bear in mind that major gods in reality were ascribed multiple portfolios and there are some surprising lineages. Apollo the sun god is Asclepius the healer's father, and while three of Asclepius's daughters were typically medically oriented, the black sheep of the family was a goddess of cosmetics and fashion accessories.
(Bolded for emphasis) Apollo had very broad portfolio, including the sun, music/poetry, healing, and prophecy. So his son Asclepius inherited some of his healing portfolio; Ialemus, Eleuther and Orpheus were renown musicians; and Delphus, Iamus and Mopsus all had the gift of Prophecy. I could see Demi-Goddess of cosmetics and fashion accessories as a 'skipped a generation' granddaughter of the god of poets.

Of course, Scylla was a terrifying beast of mismatched animals, so you know.... not everyone lives up to daddy's expectations.
__________________
"My Dirty Girls on Bikes Calendar ends in December: it doesn't mean the world is going to end, it means it's time to order a new calendar!" ~Burt Chance
Danukian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2012, 05:59 AM   #18
sir_pudding
Wielder of Smart Pants
 
sir_pudding's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by dchsknight View Post
like Hephestus,
Usually an actual god, so far as I can tell.
Quote:
Achilies, Sapredon, Heracles.
None of which are really spell casting types. I'd do Achilles' invulnerability with abilities (probably with a Divine PM) for instance.

Last edited by sir_pudding; 03-01-2012 at 07:20 AM.
sir_pudding is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2012, 07:04 AM   #19
Peter Knutsen
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by dchsknight View Post
What is the general opinion of this?
Back before monotheism, it was common for gods to interbreed with mortals, although in something like 99% of cases it was a male god (yes, polytheistic gods have defined sexes - although some of the males one did cross dress once or several times) doing it on a female human.

So that's another possibility, if you want to use it. That there can be some magical power in some humans. A lot of power in the direct son or daughter of a god, and more and more dilluted for each generation, until all that's left is a Perk (can do one neato thing on a Will roll for 1 FP) or a Skill Talent (and since Skill Talents can also occur as normal human variation, having one is not proof of divine ancestry - except if it's a strange Talent that cannot occur naturally, i.e. one that fits he portfolio of the god).

Some pagan kings were also said to be of divine ancestry, but although it was often remote (4th geneation or often worse) they were believed to have supernatural powers, and sometimes functioned as priests (priest-kings) as well as as rulers. They'd actively take part in rituals, or in some cultures their presence and tacit approval was simply required for sufficiently grand rituals to be proper. You see a trace of this in Tolkien, with Aragorn's Healing Hands.

I'm just throwing ideas at you if you want to use them, though.
Peter Knutsen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-01-2012, 07:06 AM   #20
Peter Knutsen
Banned
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Europe
Default Re: Demi God Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stripe View Post
No way would I use the Magic system, and I'm a big fan of it. It would be 100% magic as powers. PI makes even less sense since the PCs are not worshipers.
I'm a big non-fan of GURPS Magic, and just took for granted that the OP had Advantage-built powers in mind.

What's PI, though?

Any system that makes the character look like a worshiper, i.e. something based on Patron, can work for divine ancestry, since the character is simply petitioning mommy or granddad for help.
Peter Knutsen is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
character concept, religion

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:49 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.