The Campaign Builder's Guild

[blockquote=Beejazz]Deities exist on a spectrum. Things that are nearer to the material world are also less powerful, more mortal, and less strange than things that are further away. Also, the more powerful, less mortal, stranger things that are higher up are less and less concerned with the "real" world, or influence it less and less directly.[/blockquote]
This is interesting.  So it is easier to access, understand, and to find influence of those things that are less strange.  I like that.

re: Ghostman: It's entirely possible... unfortunate for any curious PCs though. :P

Quote from: Lord VreegThis is interesting.  So it is easier to access, understand, and to find influence of those things that are less strange.  I like that.

Yep. Though the influence of the less strange things can also be a little less useful, as they are weaker too.

The gods of my campaign world vary--really there are a number of beings called 'gods'.

1. Ancient creatures from a bygone age that are worshipped by the ignorant. For example one cult worships the Kraken, but there isn't really a Kraken. There are just giant squid that on certain nights come up to the surface to breed. At this time they are also dangerous but can be appeased by food. The cult leaders have learned strange ancient magics that have nothing to do with giant squid at all.

2. Superior races. These are the most common deities; they include the Tuatha de Dannan (who are essentially beings who once lived in the world and now live in another one but can still be contacted) dragons (who are a very powerful and solitary race that are more revered than worshipped outright) and the En, a similar family to the Tuatha de Dannan of powerful beings that really live in another world and enjoy the benefits of the earthly one. These creatures have various and often individualistic reasons for dealing with humanity, and sometimes whimsically help or torment them. The wise know that 'the gods toy with us'. While they live in 'another world' the truth is that it is more like another dimension that is part of our own. Humans and other mortal creatures can ascend there with sufficient knowledge.

3. Otherwordly beings. There are few of these with earthly contact, none of them pleasant. They are otherworldly horrors, nightmares that slumber. The mad, ignorant and power hungry worship them, but the truth is that they are accessing power that might turn on them.

Don't know why I never really read this before. Actually, I've only read part of it now ;)

It varies from story to story, really.

I'd say I have a fairly similar approach to Tybalt. Within the world itself, there are very few supernatural beings. Mostly just real antiquity.

There are no true gods, in the usual sense. But there are spirits, some of which are very powerful.

So you've got the fae, which are nature spirits, most commonly genius loci. They get worshiped by animistic cultures. Incidentally such cultures may worship a natural feature even if it doesn't have an actual spirit. But the fae exist and, in times past, used to interfere or even have liaisons with mortals. Almost never happens any more, and usually it's not good when it does.

Some cultures worship ancestors, and every once in a while, a human soul does linger as a ghost. Generally they can interfere only on a very small scale.

Then there are the greater spirits, or cosmic beings. Their motivations are pretty much unknowable, most of the time. The top of this chain is actually people that achieved enlightenment in ancient times, and they created the angels and demons (next link down) from the souls of people not enlightened. Their interference is very rare, especially for the most powerful ones. Similar to what Tybalt says, if they are interfering, it's generally bad news for humanity.

Also, historical figures are sometimes deified in myth.

There is certainly nothing like gods granting spells to mortal worshipers, fighting over worshipers, or anything like that.

In my setting Aardellum, the 3 Goddesses are an enigma. There is no direct proof that the 3 are real. The eight Dragon Kings (essentially 8 Angels sent to protect and guide the Aardellans) claim the Divine exist, even though the Dragon Kings have no direct interaction with the Goddesses. Many times heroes are given flashes of inspiration or preform heroic feats (that would kill most) and often claim that the Goddesses aided them (often citing some sort of divine sign, such as a cloud in the shape of a holy symbol, etc.). Many people also claim to have had discussions with Saints while dreaming, though this can not be confirmed (for obvious reasons). Even mighty Damoklese, the most wizened of all men, knows not if the Goddesses truly exist. What is known is that Divine spells do not work unless one is truly pious, giving reverence to either a Goddess, a Dragon King or one of the many saints. And it is for this fact alone that most acquiesce to the existence of the Divine.

EE: who sent the Dragon Kings and assigned them their mission? Or are they essentially self-appointed?

Quote from: Snargash MoonclawEE: who sent the Dragon Kings and assigned them their mission? Or are they essentially self-appointed?

The Dragon Kings allege that they were given their mission directly by the 3 Goddesses prior to the seeding of the continent by the 8 tribes of mortals. However, no one can verify the validity of the Dragon's claim since the alleged orders were given in the divine realms and occurred long before any mortal walked the land. To make matters worse all of the original Dragon Kings have long since died save for one, who hasn't been seen or heard from in nearly 300 years.

There are, however, broken legends amongst the Minotaurs that the Dragon Kings arrived long after the seeding of Aardellum, just after the founding of the Empire (of Aardellum). The legend states the Dragon Kings came to Aardellum from a distant realm and challenged the newly crowned Emperor and his warrior knights to a traditional Knightly tournament. In the end, the Dragons won by a score of 8-2 and thus were allowed to settle the periphery of the Empire. If true it would definitely poke a large hole in the Dragon Kings' claim to being the Guardians of Mortals and the Faith (a mantle to which they are quick to defend but do little to be worthy of). Further complicating the issue is the fact that Minotaur legends have an odd habit of bending the truth for the narrative. It just so happens that the only two non-Dragon victors in the tournament were the Emperor and his stalwart Minotaur Marshal...

[blockquote-EELF]To make matters worse all of the original Dragon Kings have long since died save for one, who hasn't been seen or heard from in nearly 300 years. [/blockquote]
Clarification, please.
so this is DM knowledge, becasue everyine thinks they are all dead, if they have not heard form this dragonking for 300 yrs?

Quote from: Lord Vreeg[blockquote-EELF]To make matters worse all of the original Dragon Kings have long since died save for one, who hasn't been seen or heard from in nearly 300 years. [/blockquote]
Clarification, please.
so this is DM knowledge, becasue everyine thinks they are all dead, if they have not heard form this dragonking for 300 yrs?

I apologize in advance, this may take a paragraph or 2 :(


It's rather complicated. To put it simply the Dragon Kings are actual Dragons, Great Wyrms to be exact, that came to Aardellum and pledged themselves to uphold the faith of the 3 Goddesses and ensure the Emperor's protection (prior to any of the mortals arriving (supposedly)). The Dragon Kings' Draconic form is actually an Avatar, of sorts, used to communicate with mortals and interact with the mortal world. When not in their Draconic form they are bound to their Kingdoms, lands that the Dragon Kings have mixed with extra-planar powers, merging them to fit the Dragon King's desire. The Dragon King's Draconic form is more of a shell to contain their 'divine essence' and wears out at a rapid pace. Most will spend much of their time sculpting their new bodies out of precious materials and stone. When the Draconic form withers, the Dragon King transfers his essence into his new body and is reborn. As a side effect of the process the Dragon King forgets most of his/her life except for the moments just prior to the transfer.

Now one may ask 'but why couldn't the Dragon Kings, being so powerful and knowledgeable simply write down and preserve their personal history for the new form to learn from?' Well the answer is quite simple - they did just that. All 10 of the Dragon Kings made a pact to freely share information between themselves and the mortals and agreed never to horde knowledge (especially not knowledge pertaining to their previous lives). The many tomes scribed by the Dragon Kings were housed in the Great Library at Eireni. Unfortunately, the Library was destroyed during the Dragon War, enticed by the Interregnum (which also sundered the Dragon Kings into the 2 Coteries. With the Destruction of the Great Library went all the knowledge of not only the Dragon Kings but of the Empire and Creation. Some dutiful monks scribed replicas of the many tomes many years later however there exists many discrepancies between different Monk's recollections.

As for the one Dragon King who has not past died (and been re-incarnated) he is a whole different case. Following the sundering of the Dragon Kings and the Interregnum, Dragon King Brass became very engrossed with the idea of losing his memory, some would say to the point of paranoia. To ensure his memory would last forever, he fully bound his 'Divine Essence' with his Draconic body. By doing so Dragon King Brass was able to keep his mortal form and is never forced to reincarnate. However, this comes at great cost - Dragon King Brass is now mortal. He can be slain by anyone at any time, just like anyone else. For this reason, he shut himself away in his mighty palace and has not been seen for centuries. During his absence (some would say due to his paranoia) the Elves of his Kingdom became more and more insular, wishing to keep all outsiders, no matter their intent, out of their King's lands and thus protect him from any and all threats. Thus, Dragon King Brass has not been seen from nor heard from in well over 300 years.

The Brass Elves do say he is alive and well but can provide no conformation to prove their claims.