[maximara]

Originally Posted by Greg 1

That's an interesting idea. Lots of great ideas in this thread for me to think through.

You guys are really forcing me to think about how I want people in the setting relating to the gods, and that's a good thing.

The form the gods take, and the gods' ability to mess around with the world, both depend on human thoughts, including beliefs, but also dreams and imagination. Almost nobody knows this, including among the gods. Gods seek worship because they want to be worshiped.

That's deliberately kept ambiguous. Many of the new gods have elements of gods that nobody has believed in for millennia. Since the setting is a future post-apocalyptic Earth, these old gods are the gods we know.

Good question! I need to think about this.

Some of this reminds me of the thought forms of the Five Earths setting.

Terry Pratchett's gods of the Discworld have a similar mechanic - belief made manifest. The more people and the more intensely they believe the more powerful the deity is. Also how people view the thought form changes the thought form itself.

The flavor vignette The Confrontation gives an insight to what may be running around. Time Trapper and Kyubey may be insanely powerful in their respective franchises but they aren't as powerful as they think they are in the Five Earths reality though they might give some ideas on the power of lower level deities.