God(s) in your campaigns, how do you prefer them? 1. Existing,

>>49937725
Option 1, without a doubt. As distant and mysterious as possible to the point where people can live their entire lives without seeing evidence of the gods, and that there could be other explanations for the powers wielded by those chosen by the gods.

Whether or not they really exist depends on what setting I'm running, though.

>>49937725
I generally use 2. I like the gods to feel distant but for the world to very clearly bear the marks of their shaping it.

>>49937725
>2. Existing, occasionally interfering in mortal affairs.
Can bring up some interesting events.

>>49937725
>1. Existing, but completely uninterested in mortal affairs.
What's the point of this? If they're never going to come up, why have them in the first place?

>>49937725
In my setting as it stands now, it was at one point 2, then a mini-Armageddon took place and bumped it up to a 1.

>>49938104
because people want to play clerics/paladins but don't want to have the god in question actually start interfering

I prefer 4 or 6.

1 or 2 are only good if your trying to go for an SMT type deal.

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>>49938148
>D&D

>>49938104
Because all the holy powers, magic and other otherworldly things have to come from somewhere. In most cases the people of a world will believe that the gods made it.

A paladin usually goes to war believing his god is behind him and that his powers are directly granted by him/her. And as it turns out, he's right. His god is real, said god just does not give a shit about the paladin or what the holy power is used for.

>>49938148
>because people want to play clerics/paladins but don't want to have the god in question actually start interfering
What the fuck is the point of playing a divine class if you don't want to deal with the divine?
>>49938189
>memes

>>49938202
If you follow a god, and this gives you power, then that is proof that said god exist. Hence the power.
But that same god would never speak to anyone, not even his most devout followers, nor directly or personally do anything.

The god in question might just want to watch and observe what the mortals do with the power he bestowed on them. Maybe he gave them powers as a prank and is having a great laugh while watching them fumble around and try to interpret the will of a being that has never communicated with them.

>>49937725
Typically 1, but for this one campaign I'm running, making the gods active (but enigmatic) figures makes for some very interesting politics among plane-travelling PCs.

>>49937725
For more grounded fare, I leave it ambiguous between 5 and 1, occasionally 4.

Sometimes, though, you have to go full Greco-Roman epic on that setting. Have the characters get caught up in a divine pissing match or two, journey to the divine realms, all that great shit.

2's a middle ground for fence-sitting pussies like I sometimes am.

3 is just a descriptor of what they are, unlike the others, so apply as necessary.

>>49937725
>6. Dormant(?)

Alive, but for whatever reason has lost any means by which to interact with mortal affairs.

I've been thinking up a setting where there is two gods, the creator god responsible for all cruelty in this world as it was made as an experiment of sorts and a redeemer god who "saved" the world in a battle which shattered both gods, sending their shards across the world and, as a consequence, influencing the regions they find themselves in and at some places merging with shards of the other god.

It still needs to be fleshed out a bit and it feels a bit too morally binary so it's subject to change.

Any notable settings that employ #3?

Where ALL the deities and divine beings were once mortal shmucks?

>>49938348
Not that I remember, but both TES and Discworld have great examples of it.

TES has Talos, the God of War who ascended to godhood from being human. The entire conflict in Skyrim is based around the elves not recognizing Talos as a god, because he was human.

Discworld has a great approach to Gods. They are all man-made. They start as incorporeal little amoeba and gradually grow and take shape the more followers they gain. Their form and abilities are directly given by what their followers believe, so if someone believes in a god that can banish them to hell for being bad, then that's what that god can do. Even holiday spirits like the Hogfather (Santa) are sort of gods in their own way. Made and kept alive by the belief if people, and doing what they do because people believe they must. With faith and gods being so malleable, you can imagine what happened. Eventually there was a guy who believed that he himself was a god, and he managed to get others to believe in him as well, so he became a god. Simple as that.

>>49937725
2, with the rare possibility of 3 happening to create new gods.
I have a massive boner for divine politics, so that means I like to have them interact with mortals enough to let some of that shine through.

>>49937725
A mix of 1 and 2. I like them interested in mortal affairs and the fate of the world, though somehow unable or unwilling to act directly. Thus the need for Paladin's and clerics to hear their teaching and spread their will.

>>49938104
Prolly not OPs intent but

As long as ants stay out of my house I'm generally uniterested in them but chances are I crush a few as a walk around and destroy a few nests digging in the garden.

Uninterested in mortal affairs != has no impact on mortal affairs.

>>49938195
That doesn't make enough sense, there's a disconnect. If the god is uninterested in mortals why does the god grant powers to mortals?

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>>49938489
Take inspiration from the Nordic gods. Odin would stealth rape and inseminate mortal women as a prank (arguably so did Zeus and God), Loke would play tricks on peasants and kings alike and send entire kingdoms to war out of boredom and Thor would sometimes just go down and ask random warriors to join him to fight some trolls or other insane shit in Udgard.

>>49937725
>2. Existing, occasionally interfering in mortal affairs.

This is the one that allows the most freedom in how the TTRPG can play, so this is often my default. The other options have to have warrant to be used, like a decaying future abandoned by the gods, or no gods because aliens instead.

>>49938556
Maybe the god once gave a shit.
Maybe it's simply what you're supposed to do as a god.
Or maybe it's just an unintentional side effect of the god existing. Just like the sun gives life to everything on earth, the sun probably didn't get a choice in the matter.

>>49937725
why does "former humans" merit it's own entry but "existing, but interfering in mortal affairs on a semiregular basis" fall under other? your pattern makes no sense

>>49938660
Because people (where the fuck did you get "humans" from?) who ascend to godhood are a separate category from gods that has always existed, regardless of whether they ignore the world around them or actively interfere.

>>49937725
Still working on that...

How would a sci-fi setting with real gods that sometimes interfere work?

>>49937725

Number 3 with a sprinkle of Soulborn.

One of the Gods is currently using himself as an eternal battery to empower his Kingdom. Two are currently in a tense truce/stalemate and then you have various powerful spirits and Eldritch horrors style gods sprinkled here and there.

I feel like 3. would mean that the once-mortal gods relate much more to other mortals, for better or for worse.
Imagine a god who takes sides and openly backs a certain empire or people.

"We literally have god on our side, what are you going to do?"

>>49939218
Lovecraft made it work

>>49938455
>Eventually there was a guy who believed that he himself was a god, and he managed to get others to believe in him as well, so he became a god. Simple as that.
You mean Chris Roberts?

>>49937725

I prefer them to be tulpae or memes given form. For example, the legends about the god are true by virtue of those being the legends about the god. It is a culmination of thought energy and primordial magic. This does create the potential for war between crosscultural pantheons.

>>49937725
2 with the origin of 3 i think is a good mix, having gods basically be incredibly rare supermen of their profession is interesting because it allows you to write the gods with more character and relevant physical stuff like the god of travellers walking stick.

>4

In the beginning, the Elders created the world, the gods to shape it, and the race of dragons to guard it. This was the First Age when the Elders danced in the natural places and the gods formed the mountains, plains, and oceans, and brought forth life upon the world.

The Elders saw the beauty of the world, and once all dark corners of the world had been touched by the light of creation, left. This was the Second Age, when the gods brought forth the Speaking Races to tend the world and glorify it.

The gods saw the beauty of the world as the Speaking Races shaped the earth in the image of the gods. They granted wardenship of the world to the dragons and left. This was the Third Age.

But the race of dragons could not see evil rise inside the hearts of the Speaking Races until it was too late, and watched as a mortal sorcerer built a tower above the clouds to make himself a god and fill the void in heaven. The dragons united to defeat the sorcerer, but for every twenty dragons that heard the call, nineteen were slain. This was the Fourth Age.

Or at least that's what the Testament of the Gods says; in reality, the gods sold the life force of the world to the dragons before leaving, and the sorcerer gave his life to stop the dragons from eating the world, killing all things that walk upon it. Men commanded by the few remaining dragons conspire to kill the remaining followers of the sorcerer, branding him and his followers an evil cult...

>>49937725
6. All of the above.

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What do you guys think about the concept of a god which prefers to be in close contact with its followers, but not as the object of veneration. Rather, the god takes the form of simple priests, acolytes or similar within the faculties of its own faith and lives out those lives mundanely and without ever revealing itself. Simply to observe, partake and enjoy what its followers create and believe without ever directing, dictating or advising in any way or form. The god remains completely objective while following the faith dedicated to it, and does it for seemingly no other reason than finding true happiness in it.

But then, the players somehow manage to find this out, and the god stays chill with them.

>>49939681

So what you're saying is:

The god sets the groudwork for it's own worship then slips itself into the hierarchy disguised as a human and simply observers for no other reason then the fact it enjoys watching humans worshipping it?

Why make it a thing then? As a side distraction, sure I suppose but nothing to build a campaign off of.

>>49939832
No, see the twist is, it doesn't enjoy being worshipped. It enjoys being part of worship. As if it created itself simply so a religion could come to be, and so it could be part of that.

>>49937725
1-2. Like they used to be more involved but now they don't do much except empower clerics and paladins

I like a mix of 2 and 3.

3/6. A hod with an infinite number of personalities that exists outside time manifesting these personalities as other gods or various mortals, none of which know they are fragments of the primary mind, and the primary mind not knowing what is fragment and what is unique.

I've never got to use this and it's very frustrating