Draz74
2019-02-10, 11:56 PM
In my modern/slightly futuristic superhero setting, I want to have a pantheon of powerful spirits who kind of act as successors to ancient pagan deities.
They're not supposed to be superheroes themselves; they're supposed to be antagonists, or temporary allies if the superheroes can persuade them to team up against some common foe. Therefore these spirits, and their portfolios, should be morally gray at best.
They're supposed to be a reflection of concepts that humanity thinks about or believes in, born from the collective consciousness of the world. I've been thinking of them as being humanoid in shape, but I could be persuaded otherwise -- or it could vary from spirit to spirit. Making them a family to each other, like the Greek gods were, is another idea I haven't yet accepted or rejected.
I suppose there could be exceptions to the "mostly antagonistic" rule if the portfolios make sense; the occasional spirit could be a superhero that works alongside humanity due to having a "Good" portfolio like Truth or Compassion or something. I would just make those spirit(s) weaker than most, so that they don't dominate the setting.
Anyway, I'm open to suggestions about what spirits and portfolios should exist. Thanks in advance!
Some ideas I've been mulling over:
- Spirits of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. I even thought of these possibly being the most powerful of the pantheon at their respective zeniths; I kind of like the idea that heroes might have to deal with a different personality of "gods" depending on the time of year. But I'm having trouble coming up with what kind of personality and what kinds of powers would go well with each season, especially Spring. And then I guess there's the problem that the tropical region, which houses a large fraction of humanity, doesn't really have these same seasons.
- The old cycle of air, earth, fire, and water (or similar cycles, perhaps with more materials added) is too cliche and focuses too much on the power of raw nature to be the main organization of my pantheon, but I wouldn't mind these being secondary portfolios for appropriate spirits.
- Abstract concepts like Justice, Selfishness, Fear, Irony, Knowledge, Humor, Competence, Order, Chaos, Boldness, or Wealth seem like promising portfolios, but I'm having trouble organizing a finite set of them in my head, deciding how many there should be and how different they should be from each other, etc. Plus, a lot of such concepts are too much on the "Good" side of things, such as Courage, Charity, Joy, Elegance, Generosity, Kindness, Hope.
- Nature is too big and diverse a concept to have just one spirit, so spirits of nature should exist. But I don't think I want them to dominate the pantheon, as nature has a more limited role in modern humanity's life than it did in ancient times. And, what should the relationship be between spirits with nature-portfolios and spirits with more abstract portfolios?
- I thought about having geographic spirits, essentially, that represent different cultures and such. But I think it will be more interesting if the spirits, or at least the more powerful among them, are more universal and don't even understand the concept of national boundaries.
I could go on and on, and maybe eventually putting my thoughts on paper would turn into some decisions, but I'll stop there for now and see if the forum has any suggestions that resonate with me.
They're not supposed to be superheroes themselves; they're supposed to be antagonists, or temporary allies if the superheroes can persuade them to team up against some common foe. Therefore these spirits, and their portfolios, should be morally gray at best.
They're supposed to be a reflection of concepts that humanity thinks about or believes in, born from the collective consciousness of the world. I've been thinking of them as being humanoid in shape, but I could be persuaded otherwise -- or it could vary from spirit to spirit. Making them a family to each other, like the Greek gods were, is another idea I haven't yet accepted or rejected.
I suppose there could be exceptions to the "mostly antagonistic" rule if the portfolios make sense; the occasional spirit could be a superhero that works alongside humanity due to having a "Good" portfolio like Truth or Compassion or something. I would just make those spirit(s) weaker than most, so that they don't dominate the setting.
Anyway, I'm open to suggestions about what spirits and portfolios should exist. Thanks in advance!
Some ideas I've been mulling over:
- Spirits of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. I even thought of these possibly being the most powerful of the pantheon at their respective zeniths; I kind of like the idea that heroes might have to deal with a different personality of "gods" depending on the time of year. But I'm having trouble coming up with what kind of personality and what kinds of powers would go well with each season, especially Spring. And then I guess there's the problem that the tropical region, which houses a large fraction of humanity, doesn't really have these same seasons.
- The old cycle of air, earth, fire, and water (or similar cycles, perhaps with more materials added) is too cliche and focuses too much on the power of raw nature to be the main organization of my pantheon, but I wouldn't mind these being secondary portfolios for appropriate spirits.
- Abstract concepts like Justice, Selfishness, Fear, Irony, Knowledge, Humor, Competence, Order, Chaos, Boldness, or Wealth seem like promising portfolios, but I'm having trouble organizing a finite set of them in my head, deciding how many there should be and how different they should be from each other, etc. Plus, a lot of such concepts are too much on the "Good" side of things, such as Courage, Charity, Joy, Elegance, Generosity, Kindness, Hope.
- Nature is too big and diverse a concept to have just one spirit, so spirits of nature should exist. But I don't think I want them to dominate the pantheon, as nature has a more limited role in modern humanity's life than it did in ancient times. And, what should the relationship be between spirits with nature-portfolios and spirits with more abstract portfolios?
- I thought about having geographic spirits, essentially, that represent different cultures and such. But I think it will be more interesting if the spirits, or at least the more powerful among them, are more universal and don't even understand the concept of national boundaries.
I could go on and on, and maybe eventually putting my thoughts on paper would turn into some decisions, but I'll stop there for now and see if the forum has any suggestions that resonate with me.