# Demigods and their issues



## Unicorn-Girl (May 29, 2016)

So I've been working on developing at least a loose form of religion for my world. Right now the idea is to have a very generalized "Creator", who doesn't really get directly involved with things, but observes, and is assumed to be generally benevolent.

Beneath this Creator, I have 7 demigods/goddesses, currently unnamed. These are more active in worldly affairs, for good or ill. But I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to divvy up their responsibilities. I have the obvious ones nailed down, like for harvest or war, but need a few more to fill out the 7. Any thoughts?

I also have a general idea of people who can be acolytes or in some way pledged to particular demigods, but again, this needs more work to develop it properly.


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## Ireth (May 29, 2016)

A guardian/guide of the dead is always a useful deity. Also maybe something to do with destiny or fate, or the reverse, randomness and chance.


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## TheKillerBs (May 29, 2016)

Off the top of my head... Earth, sky, sea, rain/storms, day/light/sun, night/darkness/moon, forests, hunting, knowledge, fire, craftsmanship, trading, time, love and yea.


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## Unicorn-Girl (May 29, 2016)

Thanks! Right now I think I have harvest, war, love, "the wild", and perhaps something to do with earth. I'm also thinking of doing something with the forge, but that might be too cliche. I can't believe I didn't think of associating one of them with death/dying process.


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## K.S. Crooks (May 29, 2016)

How about Transformation (for the way different life changes eg. caterpillar into butterfly), Life, Fear, Wisdom or Knowledge, Foresight or Precognition, Elements (earth, air, fire, water all together), Darkness and Light. Hope this sparks a few ideas.


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## La Volpe (May 29, 2016)

I second the Guardian of the Dead suggestion.

Then I'd also say that you might not want to get so specific on them if you're only going to have seven. Unless this culture is very limited in its activities (or the gods play favourites). What I mean is, if you have something like the god of Fertility, that could be someone who looks over the growths of plants and trees, and animal life, as well as human fertility. If you have separate gods for each of those, then you're already three down, and a lot of bakers are going to be unhappy that they don't get a patron god.

Unless your pantheon prefers the people to be doing certain things. Or, if your culture has very specific specialisations, you could skew them in a certain direction as well. E.g. a culture known for its blacksmithing might have more focus on that.

Some wide angled suggestions: Death (as mentioned), Fertility, War (or the Hunt), Health (i.e. recovery of the sick etc.), Knowledge, Nature (or animals, the Wild, etc.), and maybe one for the Sun and/or Moon.


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## Saigonnus (May 29, 2016)

Pure Chaos!!! A demigoddess that does whatever she wants to, actions that might have good effects or ill.


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## Miskatonic (May 29, 2016)

Demi-gods are not an enviable group in my series. It's like THE one thing the gods will not tolerate, above all else. Basically if you end up a demi-god, you better hope the gods don't find out or your fate will make what happened to Prometheus look like a walk in the park.


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## ThinkerX (May 29, 2016)

Miskatonic said:


> Demi-gods are not an enviable group in my series. It's like THE one thing the gods will not tolerate, above all else. Basically if you end up a demi-god, you better hope the gods don't find out or your fate will make what happened to Prometheus look like a walk in the park.



But your gods, by and large, are Lovecraftian abominations, correct?  Meaning they have horrid fates in mind for pretty much everybody.


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## ThinkerX (May 29, 2016)

But as to the OP, my suggestion would be a 'trickster' or 'rogue' demigod, like Loki (Norse mythos) or Coyote/Raven (American Indians.)


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## Miskatonic (May 29, 2016)

Nope. Think more classical Greek or Norse pantheon. Not exactly the same but not Lovecraftian.


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## Unicorn-Girl (May 29, 2016)

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. What I'm thinking of is having these demigods be over broader areas of interest, for the most part. Just trying to cover most of my bases as far as who might choose them as patrons. I also plan to have traveling acolytes who serve other people in various capacities, in honor of their chosen patron.


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## ThinkerX (May 29, 2016)

Miskatonic said:


> Nope. Think more classical Greek or Norse pantheon. Not exactly the same but not Lovecraftian.



Username like 'Miskatonic' and you're NOT writing Lovecraftian type tales?  Or is it just the deities?

On the other hand, from what I recollect, most of the Greek Pantheon was pretty seriously screwed up.  And the Norse deities were often downright murderous.


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## Ankari (May 29, 2016)

I've created quite a few religions. The concept of a distant creator god without reason for the distance never sat well with me. Everything has a reason. Be sure to give each god a reason and purpose.

As far as major deities, they would be whatever the culture values most. A god of corn may be as important as a god of fertility.

If you want classic themes, use the ocean, sun, moon, fertility (harvest), earth, death, sky, and war.


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## Miskatonic (Jun 1, 2016)

ThinkerX said:


> Username like 'Miskatonic' and you're NOT writing Lovecraftian type tales?  Or is it just the deities?
> 
> On the other hand, from what I recollect, most of the Greek Pantheon was pretty seriously screwed up.  And the Norse deities were often downright murderous.



Not for this series. Saving the Lovecraft Mythos stuff for something else. The gods in my story see any kind of demi-god as a potential challenger to their authority and perhaps someone working with their parent to usurp power. I have angelic and demonic type beings which were created by the gods as their "children", but that's a different matter entirely.


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## FifthView (Jun 1, 2016)

I don't think that creating a mythology, with living, breathing gods/demigods, is as simple as picking some broad areas like Death, Harvest, War, etc., and plugging those holes first.

I think you should look at the kind of story you are trying to tell and choose the demigods that will make that story the most interesting.

Decide who the main players will be, protagonists and their antagonists, decide the thematic scope you want, decide how to best tie characters, setting, and theme together, and then create the demigods that will support your aim or accentuate the things you are trying to achieve.


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## Miskatonic (Jun 1, 2016)

FifthView said:


> I don't think that creating a mythology, with living, breathing gods/demigods, is as simple as picking some broad areas like Death, Harvest, War, etc., and plugging those holes first.
> 
> I think you should look at the kind of story you are trying to tell and choose the demigods that will make that story the most interesting.
> 
> Decide who the main players will be, protagonists and their antagonists, decide the thematic scope you want, decide how to best tie characters, setting, and theme together, and then create the demigods that will support your aim or accentuate the things you are trying to achieve.



But you just have to have a god of war yes?


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## FifthView (Jun 1, 2016)

Miskatonic said:


> But you just have to have a god of war yes?



I can easily imagine a mythology without a god of war.  Or a mythology with more than one god of war.


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## Miskatonic (Jun 1, 2016)

FifthView said:


> I can easily imagine a mythology without a god of war.  Or a mythology with more than one god of war.



I need the god of war so that the dragons one of his fellow gods created don't destroy the Earth before it can be fully established for other forms of life. The dragons are too big so he's got to kill em' off while the other god goes back to the drawing board. It's like a Godzilla movie.


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## skip.knox (Jun 1, 2016)

Well, the obvious thing would be to take the twelve gods of the Greco-Romans and collapse them into seven. Or go Norse and adjust until you get seven. Or American Indian. Whatever system tickles you.

One thing to keep in mind, pre-modern humans were not very precise about these things (or most things, really). Any given got any number of responsibilities and attributes assigned, and these varied over time and distance. So, the Goddess of War might also be viewed as the goddess of storms or of horses, or any number of "lesser" items. Conversely, the God of Harvest might also be the God of Blades or of horses or ... you get the idea.

>Just trying to cover most of my bases as far as who might choose them as patrons.
This line struck me as another way to go about it. Decide what major patron groups you have. I can think of different cities, the Army, various trades, gender, all sorts of divisions. Give each group the god or goddess that best fits their needs.

Finally, are these gods who must be propitiated? Revered or worshipped? Do they provide spiritual nurture? So often I encounter fantasy gods who are gods of this or that, without any real implication or consequence.


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## Peat (Jun 1, 2016)

Skip preaches truth. Gods are weird.

Like... what's Apollo god of, what are his traits? He's a Sun God, he's a Dragon-slayer, he's a hunter with powers over life and death, he's associated with oracles, he's a god of music... that's an incredibly wide grab bag caused by some mad-cap syncretism between very different religious traditions.

And overlap is regular as all hell. Do you pray to Athena or Ares before a war? Or to your local patron? 

If you die in battle do you go to Valhalla or to Sessrumnir?

The most interesting pantheons are those as mad as the real ones.

Also, consider how many of the Greek minor gods were patrons of areas that their divine parent held sway over; or Thor's sons being Fury and Strength. That's one way to approach making your demigods.


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## AJ Stevens (Jun 3, 2016)

I've done this is a fair amount of detail. Which isn't to say it's any good, but I'll share it to perhaps give you some ideas.

I have a Pantheon which is split into two. The Elemental Gods - Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Life. Then the Younger Gods, which are War, Dreams, Chaos, Time, 'The Hunter,' Death, and finally, the mysterious 'Missing God.' Some of these are obviously aspected, others aren't.

Below that, I have a plethora of Patrons, who carry more specific aspects. Summer, Winter, etc. Patron of Assassins, Harvests, Chance, Love, Patron of the Seas, Patron of Mercy, and so on. I have close to a hundred of these, though many will get no direct screen time I suppose. They are entities that mortals would perhaps pray to for something specific. What's more, the nature of Patronhood is fluid. That is, Patrons rise up and fall away as time goes by. Patrons with new aspects can come into being following heroic (or not) acts. Similarly, when a Patron dies, forgotten about, it's not compulsory that another takes their place.

In other words, the Pantheon of gods are a constant presence, and Patrons are brought into being by worship and prayer. The former are immortal, the latter mortal, though long-lived. Alliances and betrayals abound of course.


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## Queshire (Jun 4, 2016)

Everytime I see the title of this thread I keep thinking it's about actual demigods and not gods by another name. Not that it's bad thing, but the Percy Jackson series has shown us that there's plenty of interesting things to explore in the idea of someone born to humans with the blood of the divine flowing through their veins.

I don't normally do much with gods. If I do they're not very godlike. One take I've thought of for them basically takes inspiration from Final Fantasy type summons while another has them work as basically magical Artificial Intelligence and govern over... whatever they govern over. Most towns would have a local god that would help with governing it and protect from monsters, a river might have a god to act as sort of a magical flood control system and so on.



FifthView said:


> I don't think that creating a mythology, with living, breathing gods/demigods, is as simple as picking some broad areas like Death, Harvest, War, etc., and plugging those holes first.
> 
> I think you should look at the kind of story you are trying to tell and choose the demigods that will make that story the most interesting.
> 
> Decide who the main players will be, protagonists and their antagonists, decide the thematic scope you want, decide how to best tie characters, setting, and theme together, and then create the demigods that will support your aim or accentuate the things you are trying to achieve.



I have to caution against this. It's more common in table top RPGs like D&D, but if you go that way there's the very real risk that you end up with a Pantheon that seems to be custom made to appeal to the needs of adventuring folk (or in this case the protagonists / antagonists) instead of the masses of the civilians who would be the ones actually filling the pews every weekend. My suggestion is to put yourself in the shoes of someone living in your world and think about what areas of life are they most likely to ask for some good fortune with or where they would look for someone to blame their misfortune on.

Take your average God of War. I don't think you'd find them trying to start wars. People have been able to start wars all on their own throughout history just fine. There's exceptions of course, for example if they've come to equate going to war as to leading to their fortune some way. Also, what would a God of War actually do? Human armies already have Generals and Grunts, Camp Followers and Supply Lines. They don't need a god for that stuff. They would need a god for the type of stuff outside of their control. There's plenty for that in a war; not getting killed by a random arrow to the eye, favorable weather, spotting a chance to break through the enemy's formation, etc and so on. Even in settings where the gods are real stuff like that is going to be the most common miracle of the god than something like a giant bronze warrior appearing to smite the enemy. ... Well, I suppose that's actually up to the writer, but if something like that ends up being common place than that's going to have a rather interesting effect on your setting.

The other thing to consider is what inspiration and philosophy the god embodies. Athena and Ares are both war gods but they embody two very different approaches to war. If you consider that then I feel you've got a good place to start considering how priests / followers of the god would conduct themselves and what sort of rituals they'd be likely to perform to gain their god's favor.

Naturally this presumes that you're starting from the mortals and building up. It's different if you're starting from the gods and building down.

For that, my main advice is to not get too hung up on their domains. Apollo was mentioned before along with all the things he was god of, but he didn't start as god of most of those things. Through the legends and tales of him he became associated with certain traits and as a result, those things became part of his portfolio. For each of your domains think about what sort of legends would cause someone to be associated with that trait and what that legend says about them. Alternatively the domains might exist independently of the god. Maybe if you kill the war god you become the war god? But then again, Ares and Athena. Even with the same domain there's a lot of room for variety. How does their domain and the responsibilities of it shape them? Or maybe it's the other way around and the war god was explicitly created to be the war god? In that case, go the other way. What sort of hobbies or tales might exist to shape them into not "just" a war god?


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## Miskatonic (Jun 4, 2016)

One thing to take into account is whether or not the gods communicate directly or even indirectly with human beings. Would they present themselves in the way they wanted to be perceived by humans or would they appear as something more grandiose to put a sense of awe and fear into humans. 

Or perhaps the gods create the planet and then just sit back and watch and after awhile people start attributing great power to things like the sun and moon, and decide to make sacrifices or hold celebrations in honor of those things, then the gods responsible for that are like "Hey look, they are celebrating what I did, check it out" and then become fond of those humans and want to protect them. 

The hierarchy is important, as well as how they govern themselves, if they have rules when it comes to intervening on behalf of humans, etc. 

The nice thing is you really don't have to plan this all out in some big guidebook, just stay consistent and leave plenty to the imagination. 

The gods in my series play a big part but I try and keep their actual presence to a minimum. Maybe one or two have a secondary role that sees them appearing every once and awhile, but the rest are merely hinted at or given an appearance in maybe one or two chapters at most. 

The world itself and how well it functions can be a great reflection of how the gods really are. Is the world in chaos and there is no intervention on behalf of mankind? Does this mean the gods have no mercy or do they believe it is in mankind's best interest to solve it's own problems?

Another question to ask is the story going to be focused on the gods and their own exploits, or are they merely a part of a bigger story where the focus is on other characters?


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## WazpByte (Jun 4, 2016)

War/Power/Politics, Harvest/Food/Fun, Love/Peace/Sex, Life/Living/Humans, Death/Undead/Suffering, Work/Fire/Metal, Sleep/Spirit/Mind

Hope it helps!


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