03-15-2021, 11:00 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
|
What makes a god?
What makes a god in your campaign settings? Are they a distinct form of being or is there a spectrum? Can non-gods ascend? Can gods "descend"?
I think I'll be going with "might makes divinity". If something can squash you without breaking a sweat, that's a god. That makes what is a god dependent on the "reference frame" - a dragon may be a god to a tribe of kobolds, but he's not a god to other dragons. But of course, there's a standard reference frame - normal examples of the dominant species (humanity). PLEASE KEEP REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES OUT OF THIS!
__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
03-15-2021, 11:34 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Chatham, Kent, England
|
Re: What makes a god?
The way it's understood in our celto-norse campaign, the Gods were once men (and women) who met the spirit of the world when they arrived to make their homes here.
They found and awoke this 'wolf' who is death, fate, the world, etc. and he gave them powers to inspire, lead, heal, cause growth, teach, upset the usual order, etc. as was their way. They had been the crew and advisors on a ship that brought them to the Northern lands, now they were exemplars of the several ways that people could aspire to live in. Many believe that living in the God's ways is more a case of the Gods inspiring us with talents, new ideas, flashes of genius, etc. Some have tales of actually meeting the Gods (a woman who nearly drowned recalls being in a palace with green walls, surrounded by treasures, for example, or a travelling huntsman recalls meeting with an old one-eyed ship's captain who is seeking a crew). Then there's the 'well-appointed warrior' with his 'gentle healing sister' someone recalls saving their life both during and after a battle. These Gods are both real, ideas, and ancient tales. |
03-15-2021, 01:32 PM | #3 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
|
Re: What makes a god?
I find myself using the term in a few situations:
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
03-15-2021, 01:54 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
|
Re: What makes a god?
My campaigns don't usually have gods. For example, Tapestry is set in an animistic world that has spirits all over the place, some very powerful (the spirit of Mare, the interior ocean, for example); but none of them are thought of as something that would translate as "gods." (The big, potent ones largely are unaware of sapient embodied beings.)
But in GURPS terms, I tend to use the distinction from GURPS Powers. A being with Divine powers gets them from a god, but is not itself a god. A god is a being with Cosmic powers. That is, gods are inherently supernatural in their own right, using "supernatural" not simply to mean "magical," but as transcending the order of nature.
__________________
Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
03-15-2021, 03:00 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ronkonkoma, NY
|
Re: What makes a god?
A god is a being that is the personal explanation of why certain things happen in the world in lieu of there being a non-being, physical explanation. In a fantasy world, a god may be real and the cause or governor of these things.
|
03-15-2021, 04:04 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
|
Re: What makes a god?
Gods in my games aren't people who got powerful and they don't become people in any viable sense. They are qualified as beings that don't act with respect to the wants or needs of mortals. They listen to prayer rarely and respond rarer still. Their motives aren't subject to the judgement of men, only to their speculation. They can't descend to be a mortal any more than you or I could descend to be an ant. They become more or less powerful based on worship and if forgotten to time they can die or more often, if their followers think differently of them long enough they can change into something else, take on new names, new mantles of power.
|
03-16-2021, 03:21 AM | #8 |
GURPS FAQ Keeper
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyïv, Ukraine
|
Re: What makes a god?
Well, it's hard to entirely avoid real-world elements when the setting is directly based on it. Since the only campaign with actual gods that I'm currently contributing to is based on Japan-with-supernatural-elements-resurfacing-completely, the five characteristics of gods can be taken right from the wiki:
If this is still stepping too much into real life (is it?), I'll delete this. Last edited by vicky_molokh; 03-17-2021 at 07:22 AM. |
03-16-2021, 06:01 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
|
Re: What makes a god?
It's not too much for me.
__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
03-16-2021, 10:08 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
|
Re: What makes a god?
Quote:
Gods, normally, have at least some supernatural power or capability, usually a significant supernatural aspect. True immortality is usually one of those. Note I agree with Mr. Stoddard, being a powerful mage isn't the same as being supernatural, in a fantasy setting; magery is just another aspect of nature in a gameworld where magic exists. Natural beings who have ascended in any way are "godlike", but probably that means they are "demi-gods" or something like that, not full gods, unless it's a god that gives them such a position (and, I'd suppose, also granting them immortality). |
|
Tags |
campaign, gods, religion |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|