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mystic1110
2016-05-25, 01:54 PM
History
I ran this game two years ago and it was widely successful. We came up with 7 pages full of gods, an intricate family tree, a history, a set of planes and a varied group of races. It was also a lot of fun. You can find the original here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?331200-Bottom-Up-Pantheon-amp-Setting-Game). The downside was that it was harder and harder for new people to join the game as the world got more complex, so I decided to run a third game - hopefully we can get a whole new slew of gods and worlds.


Intro
My Favorite thing on these Boards is participating in various God Games. I love thinking about Gods, their powers, personalities, limitations and most importantly their relationship with each other.

Most times pantheons are made on these boards are people coming up with the BIG MAIN GODS first. I want to do the reverse - I want to build a pantheon and thus the world from the smallest of Demi-Gods.


Rules
Basically the way this game works is that each poster posts a Deity including the following information

Name (Something pronounceable please)
Title (I like long Exalted style fancy titles, but up to you)
Appearance (How does your god look?)
Domains (*Check below for more information*)
Personality (Describe the Gods habits, motives, disposition)
Relationship with mortals (How do mortals, if they do, worship your god. Which mortals? Does he ask for sacrifices? What does he demand of his followers? Does he protect his followers or doesn't really care? Do you have organized religion? Is it more like shamanism? What do you preach? Etc)
Parents* (only list the names of the Parents - try to stick with two, but if you have an ingenious story involving one or more parents feel free to use it.)
Sanctum (where do you live? Describe the specific location and which plane you live on)

The first god posted may only have 1 domain. Then each subsequent poster may elect to:


Make a new God:

who is the child of a named parent, with domains equal to 1 less of the parent with the lowest number of domains. (You may notice that gods with 1 domain can't be parents, think of them as gods who are not yet reached reproductive maturity); OR
Make a Profile of one of the thus far named Parents. Parents have 1 more domain then their child.


For example:

I can start with a God of Lanterns (1 domain) and list his parents as God of Fire (2 Domains) and Goddess of Small Insects (2 Domains). The next poster can make a profile for the Goddess of Small Insects and list her parents as the God of Eastern Storms (3 Domains) and the Goddess of Canopies (3 Domains). The next poster can then make a god (god of lumber) who is the half brother of the God of Lanterns choosing his parents as the previously named Goddess of Canopies and the God of Fire. Since his weakest parent is the God of Fire, the God of Lumber has 1 Domain.

Additionally in this way we describe the setting. We will create planes and locations on those planes - we will create races and sub races and nations and organizations.

Additionally make your descriptions flavorful and meaty! Mention other gods! Heroes! Powerful Artifacts and Strange Locales.

* There will come a point where a player will say that a god has no parents, and thus establishing that gods of that certain domain level are the "prime gods". While I am not setting a hard rule down, please avoid making gods with 4 or less domains parent-less.


Advice

Have fun and don't be afraid to be referential. If someone makes a Sanctum on a new plane - make a god who's sanctum is also on that plane. Don't be afraid of stupidly complicated and incestuous family trees.

The first game was so successful, because as a group people decided to work on the mythology of the world and were consistent. This means that if someone states there are only 4 planes, other players should assume their are only four planes.

And most importantly:

Have fun!

Feel free to go to the first two games (the first one is linked) for inspiration, and for examples of how entries should be done. You can also see how more complex those entries got as time went on. :smallsmile:

Jormengand
2016-05-25, 02:17 PM
Dikara Rhi'an (Di-KA-ra RI AHN)
Lady of the Lost, Goddess of The Godless
Dikara wears a robe made of fragments of copies of other deities' clothes. Her hair is long in places, short in others, with an array of colours. She similarly has a skin colour that varies, swirling between patches of light and dark.
Dikara grants one domain: Community.
Dikara's personality is as varied and shifting as her appearance, sometimes fiery and passionate, other times dark and foreboding, other times welcoming and loving. Mostly, she retains a sense of rebelliousness from other gods.
Dikara's religion is that of rebellion from the other gods. Essentially, she represents liberation from the paradigms of religion, and therefore there are no shrines to her: her followers prefer to be active in the world.
Dikara's mother is Hashik Rhi'an. Her father, Elia Rhi'an, died in the war in Heaven.
Dikara has escaped from Heaven after the war in Heaven, and lives in her personal sanctum, which is vibrant and full of everything from raging volcanoes to icy tundras.