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Old 02-18-2002, 07:32 AM   #1
Link
Jack Burton
 

Join Date: May 15, 2001
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I just had to ask this question. When you're making up a world (some of you might know about my ideas [img]smile.gif[/img] ), how many gods should there be. I have figured out something already (including somewhat of a hierarchy), but I'm not sure what should be added and/or deleted.

I've read Memnoch's thread about all the Demon Lords with great interest; if I think logically, my conclusion is that there must be a lot of gods and demi-gods in Faerun. I've only come up with 25 gods so far, but I will think of more (lesser gods/ demi-gods, or something like that).

I appreciate all help. Thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Old 02-18-2002, 07:58 AM   #2
Garnet FalconDance
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Seems as there should be as many gods as needed for the society......depends on the sovreignity of each. Ex. is the god of nature ruler of any other realm (birth, death, whatever) or does a separate entity take that 'job'? There might be only one or two, period. Or there could be a deity/semi-deity for everything imaginable (the ancient Egyptians were good for that--there were the main gods, then the locational gods, the situational gods, then the strictly local gods and finally the patron gods who may or may not be the same as any of the other categories!)

So, how elaborate do you plan to make your world's culture?
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Old 02-18-2002, 08:39 AM   #3
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Well, it's not my intention to make a very complex world, i.e. not too many gods. I mean, basic gods, like the God of Death, and the Goddess of Life or something like that are present already. My question is more or less, whether or not I should make up something like the Egyptians did; powerful gods, demi-gods, local gods etcetera.
I mean; the Forgotten Realms have an enormous variety of gods, but I'm afraid that's a bit overdone(Who needs a God of the Toiletseat anyway ). It's also not my intention to make different Gods for every race; not Halfling-gods, or something like that. Maybe you think different, and please feel free to make any comment, so I can think about it, and mayhaps change my ideas.
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Old 02-18-2002, 08:44 AM   #4
Yorick
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quote:
Originally posted by Link:
I just had to ask this question. When you're making up a world (some of you might know about my ideas [img]smile.gif[/img] ), how many gods should there be. I have figured out something already (including somewhat of a hierarchy), but I'm not sure what should be added and/or deleted.

I've read Memnoch's thread about all the Demon Lords with great interest; if I think logically, my conclusion is that there must be a lot of gods and demi-gods in Faerun. I've only come up with 25 gods so far, but I will think of more (lesser gods/ demi-gods, or something like that).

I appreciate all help. Thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]



Pantheons are so 'done' Link. Why not get really creative and have no gods, or one God with different names, or a world with four vastly differing ideologies that contradict each other?

Anything other than yet another world with a pantheon that coexists nicely within the one worldview.

[ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: Yorick ]

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Old 02-18-2002, 08:54 AM   #5
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quote:
Originally posted by Yorick:


Pantheons are so 'done' Link. Why not get really creative and have no gods, or one God with different names, or a world with four vastly differing ideologies that contradict each other?


But why are they 'done', Yorick? Every world has its gods in order to explain things, that they cannot understand (yet). As I said, it was not my intention to create a massive amount of unnecessary gods (read my second post).
And yes, I might consider creating one almighty God, but is that fun? I mean; isn't it more fun to have a conspiracy among gods, or something like that? A conspiracy isn't possible when having one god, unless that particular god is schizophrenic. [img]smile.gif[/img]
quote:
Originally posted by Yorick
Anything other than yet another world with a pantheon that coexists nicely within the one worldview.




I didn't say that it needs to coexist in the one worldview. But your ideas are welcome Yorick. Thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: Link ]

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Old 02-18-2002, 12:28 PM   #6
Blade
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Yorric what you discribed is this reality [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] i think we are trying to create an imaginary world here, 4 major religion that don't agree thats what has caused most of the violence on Earth IMHO.
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Old 02-18-2002, 12:54 PM   #7
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it depends on the premise in my games. One setting I created with the 16 vital essences of existence (my Old Ones). Another I have 9 deities as follows:

Spirit compliments Thought
Creation compliments Destruction
Destiny compliments History
Energy complimens Matter
and, in the middle of this 8-pointed star, Miracles
 
Old 02-18-2002, 03:11 PM   #8
Legolas
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We're still talking about Legend here?
The planet on which all life was spawned only to be mostly driven away to other worlds?

If we are, there are several options for you.
The one which may be most interesting is to create not a number of layers between gods, but rather to make camps. Each race has it's own beliefs and therefor it's own god or gods. Some may overlap, for who knows if the goblin's god of war and the orc god of conquest are not one and the same.
This way, you'll get a lot of gods which are divided into a good number of groups. There's some overlap between groups, and some races may worship only one, or no gods.
Between the groups, there would be a constant struggle for power. No one group would ally itself with another, for the other gods are 'different', because they belong to a different race. It is likely though that the human gods and the elf gods get along better than the orc gods and the elf gods. It's not unlikely that they argee not to attack one another for example.

As for the balance of power of the entire group, you could make each group as a whole equally strong as the next, or make it depend on intensity of worship, belief or the size of the race.

In each group, you could then create a hierachy including your higher gods and demi-gods.


Following that, you could also proclaim that each group of gods can only influence it's own race directly, while other races could be influenced through the gods of that other race, at a time when the one group holds more power, or has found a temporary gap in the other group's defences.


The main disadvantage is that you'll get so many gods it'll be extremely confusing.
On the other hand, by using the direct influence 'rule', you can limit your talk of the gods to only the one of the humans. Additionally, since the humans there are new to the halfworld, you can restrict it to the ancestor of the main character's earthly god, while making references to other gods as you go along.


If, however, you want to limit the number of gods, you should keep it small. At most, make a distinction between greater and lesser gods, and keep the total below twenty if you can, with at least two lesser gods for each greater one.
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Old 02-18-2002, 06:19 PM   #9
Yorick
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quote:
Originally posted by Link:
[QBBut why are they 'done', Yorick? Every world has its gods in order to explain things, that they cannot understand (yet). As I said, it was not my intention to create a massive amount of unnecessary gods (read my second post).
And yes, I might consider creating one almighty God, but is that fun? I mean; isn't it more fun to have a conspiracy among gods, or something like that? A conspiracy isn't possible when having one god, unless that particular god is schizophrenic.[/QB]


'Empyrion' (Stephen Lawhead) had an interesting take, where one God had different "aspects" isolated with devotees of that "aspect".

What I'm getting at is why limit yourself to this?
"Every world has its gods in order to explain things, that they cannot understand (yet)."

You're thinking inside the box. You've created a limitation, a boundary before creating at all.

Why can't they all be gods? Why have they invented gods to explain what cannot be explained? Why can they not know all there is, rather than not know? Why can't they have no desire to know the unexplained?

Why do they not worship a God here and objects there, and the self in a third place.

Blade, what I described is indeed based on reality, as is the pantheon Link brought up. The reality I brought up covers more cultures, whereas the pantheon is just one aspect of our reality (Hinduism, Greco-Roman Religion, Norse/Celtic/Germanic Religions)

There is also ancestor worship (Africa, China) and Emperor worship (Japan, Rome) to consider.

Try making an amalgam of different ones. Whatever you do BE CREATIVE! Don't just settle for following in the usual fantasy-world recipe because repeated imitation is mediocre. Done. Boring.

It's like the innundation of aliens on Sci shows these days.
They're all bipodal. All have a face, eyes, all breathe oxygen and speak. Where is the true adaption to another worlds environment? Why are there no Sulphur breathing/eating gaseous aliens that communicate using sonar on T.V. shows? Why do they all look human except for having say, purple skin and prosthetic eyebrows!

MEDIOCRITY!

To be creative you need to first understand, that we cannot create from nothing. Ex-Nihlo. We only create from wihin our experience (which is why I believe humans could not have 'invented' the concept of a creator awareness with no beggining and no end, because it's totally outside our experience, and very difficult to fully comprehend)

Anyhow I digress. Grasping that fact, you can then harness greater creativity, which is about making hybrids. Amalgams. Drawing on what you see and experience, combining unrelated things and creating new ways of describing something old.

For example finding a new ways of presenting a justifiable culture (that makes sense) by combining previously unrelated aspects.

Think outside of the box.

[ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: Yorick ]

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Old 02-18-2002, 06:38 PM   #10
Yorick
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Has there ever been a case of "emotion worship" society in history?

A cult devoted to anger?
A large mainstream culture centred around Reason?
The huge loveist reform movement that broke away from Reasonism?

A mysterious sect that glorify envy?

These emotions have societies centred around them. The Angerists are power orientated, chaotic reactionaries against what they percieve a cultural repression from the Reasonists.

Anyhow this is an example. Don't go using this because it's my idea, and now that I've thought of it, may put it into a book
Unless of course you can live with plagiarism.

Anyhow that's what I mean. Think outside what the usual setup is.
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