A world where gods walk the earth

[Gryphos]

So I'm tossing an idea around my head right now of a world where gods walk the earth as powerful beings, some of which have integrated (somewhat) into human society.

Basically, picture a quaint rural village. And now picture a superhuman being clad in shining armour riding into town on a griffin, waving their flaming sword. And now picture that superhuman being stopping by the pub for a few pints and a spot of banter, before riding off again. Now picture that god getting ambushed before it could leave town by another god, who floats in the air like a butterfly and shoots magic lasers. Now picture the carnage that befalls the village as these two gods collide. That's the kind of thing I'm going for.

But these gods won't be as powerful as gods in real world legend tend to be. First off, they'll be killable. They'll be difficult to kill, certainly, but if you get that killshot on them, they'll die. In addition, they won't have huge powers of nature. There won't be 'the god of the sea' or 'the god of fire', etc. There'll just be gods who can do different and similar things.

I have an idea for one god who wears a suit of plate armour and whose signature weapon is what other characters would refer to as a 'doom-spitter' or some bullshit, but the reader would be able to clearly identify as a machine gun.

But yeah, as to the intricacies of the worldbuilding, I haven't really figured anything out. But am I crazy in thinking this is a cool idea? Is it just me who thinks the image of a plate-armoured god laying waste to a bunch of fools with their machine gun is seriously sick?

 

[thecoldembrace]

So, reading this I think of David Eddings and The Belgariad. He had early on in his world the gods walking the world with their chosen people. I remember Belar the god of that world's vikings sitting at a table with ale and a voluptuous blonde woman on his lap.
I in turn have in the early period of my world the ability for the gods to walk among the races until the Universe banned them from doing so. However, they can still take an active hand in the world and smite when absolutely needed. The dynamic of everything changes if a powerful godlike being can smack you across the head for blasphemies.
You just have to give reason why the gods arn't doing this awesome quest to save the world from big bad evil dude, they need to have limitations or the story will have no grounding.


-Cold

 

[Gryphos]

However, they can still take an active hand in the world and smite when absolutely needed. The dynamic of everything changes if a powerful godlike being can smack you across the head for blasphemies.
You just have to give reason why the gods arn't doing this awesome quest to save the world from big bad evil dude, they need to have limitations or the story will have no grounding.

Indeed. And while my gods are obviously going to vary in their power-levels (some might even be over 9000) they won't be too 'god-like', per se. As I said, they can be killed, and they're far from omnipotent. So actually in the story (whenever I actually come up with that) some gods will definitely take an active role. Machine gun guy certainly will.

And having these superpower beings around will definitely change power dynamics. If one lord manages to get a god to fight in their army, they're gonna wreck shit. So in a way, you end up in an arms race where different factions try to get gods on their side, and all the while the gods maintain their own personal motivations.

 

[WooHooMan]

I guess it depends on the setting but I think defining gods by their power is ridiculous. I've always defined gods by their worship.
Maybe your gods day job could be hanging around a temple and having people pray to his face or give him offerings in person.

 

[Gryphos]

I guess it depends on the setting but I think defining gods by their power is ridiculous. I've always defined gods by their worship.
Maybe your gods day job could be hanging around a temple and having people pray to his face or give him offerings in person.

I think in this world gods would be a little bit too common to be worshipped, and I'm even imagining most of them wouldn't want to be worshipped, rather just minding their own business. Some people would, definitely. But the gods would most of the time just ignore those people. They're not gonna be wasting their time around any temples.

 

[ThinkerX]

I seem to remember either Turtledove or Glen Cook doing something like this. Never got into the series, though.

Observations

A vulnerable 'God' is going to be a paranoid God. Closest modern parallel would be the dictators of the 20th century, especially those in the Middle East. Their worldview: You are either my loyal followers, singing my praises (literally), or at best, a suspect traitor I'll have executed someday.

This also effects the worshippers: to avoid pointing out the gods weaknesses, they will 'dumb themselves down,' phrase things in such a way that glaringly obvious questions don't get asked. At least some 'Independent' mortals will be able to think circles around both.

 

[WooHooMan]

I think in this world gods would be a little bit too common to be worshipped, and I'm even imagining most of them wouldn't want to be worshipped, rather just minding their own business. Some people would, definitely. But the gods would most of the time just ignore those people. They're not gonna be wasting their time around any temples.

So, what's a god in this setting. Like, can I get a definition?

 

[Gryphos]

A vulnerable 'God' is going to be a paranoid God. Closest modern parallel would be the dictators of the 20th century, especially those in the Middle East. Their worldview: You are either my loyal followers, singing my praises (literally), or at best, a suspect traitor I'll have executed someday.

I kind of want these gods to be, I dunno, distant I guess. I want them to be separate from human society, while always walking amongst it, almost none of them giving two shits what humans actually think of them. To one of these gods, if a human wants to kill them, fine, they can die trying. (Most) won't try to get followers. To them, perhaps, human society is meaningless, and they would rather just mind their own business.

This also effects the worshippers: to avoid pointing out the gods weaknesses, they will 'dumb themselves down,' phrase things in such a way that glaringly obvious questions don't get asked. At least some 'Independent' mortals will be able to think circles around both.

I think all humans will be independent. As I said, I don't want these gods to be worshipped, rather feared (wrongly or rightly). Some weird people will certainly try to worship some of the gods, but the gods in question won't care.

So, what's a god in this setting. Like, can I get a definition?

A very powerful, immortal (as in, won't die unless they're killed) being. Yes, one might argue that without the aspect of worship, can they really be called gods, but various real world cultures have in the past believed in gods while not necessarily worshipping them. And anyway, it doesn't really matter what I call these 'gods'.

 

[FifthView]

A very powerful, immortal (as in, won't die unless they're killed) being. Yes, one might argue that without the aspect of worship, can they really be called gods, but various real world cultures have in the past believed in gods while not necessarily worshipping them. And anyway, it doesn't really matter what I call these 'gods'.

Well that question had entered my mind as well.

One way you might handle these beings is to write them "as-if" they are actually extra-dimensional or exist partly in your main world and partly in a different dimension simultaneously: While they can certainly affect people and things in your main world, and be seen, they themselves when looking around often see an entirely different world. Often, they don't see the humans around them when they look about, although they always see others of these 'gods;' or else maybe they see the humans but not as the humans actually are: e.g., humans look like (literal) cattle, or like mystical trees that move about, or like a multitude of other things, and so forth. For this reason, they don't seek to be worshipped or to dominate human societies as tyrants. But when they do go around and engage in battle, those "cattle/trees/rocks/etc." are often collateral damage.

This isn't to say that they never see humans as humans; perhaps in some circumstances, or with some individuals, they do.

 

[ThinkerX]

I kind of want these gods to be, I dunno, distant I guess. I want them to be separate from human society, while always walking amongst it, almost none of them giving two shits what humans actually think of them. To one of these gods, if a human wants to kill them, fine, they can die trying. (Most) won't try to get followers. To them, perhaps, human society is meaningless, and they would rather just mind their own business.

Now they are sounding less like gods and more like the super powerful characters from my AD&D days: the 20th level fighter/mage/thief with 200 hit points out slumming amidst the lowly 0 to 3rd level characters. So many hit points, and so many abilities, they could wipe out a fair sized town without taking significant injury. And because of treasures gained during their adventures, effectively immortal as well.

In this case, the question becomes 'why are they slumming amidst the lower level characters?' Why socialize with inferior beings if you don't care about them or what they think?

Then there is the flip side: beings like this may not desire followers (which is highly unusual in and of itself) but they will attract them regardless. The super fighter type will be constantly fielding offers to join this or that army, and the rudiments of an army will gather itself around him. The one with a degree of weather control will be in demand to 'fix' the weather in this or that region.

(Side note: it was pondering super 'don't give a damn' characters like this that prompted my own writing.)

 

[Gurkhal]

So I'm tossing an idea around my head right now of a world where gods walk the earth as powerful beings, some of which have integrated (somewhat) into human society.

Basically, picture a quaint rural village. And now picture a superhuman being clad in shining armour riding into town on a griffin, waving their flaming sword. And now picture that superhuman being stopping by the pub for a few pints and a spot of banter, before riding off again. Now picture that god getting ambushed before it could leave town by another god, who floats in the air like a butterfly and shoots magic lasers. Now picture the carnage that befalls the village as these two gods collide. That's the kind of thing I'm going for.

But these gods won't be as powerful as gods in real world legend tend to be. First off, they'll be killable. They'll be difficult to kill, certainly, but if you get that killshot on them, they'll die. In addition, they won't have huge powers of nature. There won't be 'the god of the sea' or 'the god of fire', etc. There'll just be gods who can do different and similar things.

I have an idea for one god who wears a suit of plate armour and whose signature weapon is what other characters would refer to as a 'doom-spitter' or some bullshit, but the reader would be able to clearly identify as a machine gun.

But yeah, as to the intricacies of the worldbuilding, I haven't really figured anything out. But am I crazy in thinking this is a cool idea? Is it just me who thinks the image of a plate-armoured god laying waste to a bunch of fools with their machine gun is seriously sick?

Each to their own.

I'm more interested in what kind of stories that you intend to tell in this world. Also one thing if you're going to include modern weaponry is that you may need to have an explination for why some gods have these kinds of things while humans and other gods do not.

 

[Gryphos]

One way you might handle these beings is to write them "as-if" they are actually extra-dimensional or exist partly in your main world and partly in a different dimension simultaneously: While they can certainly affect people and things in your main world, and be seen, they themselves when looking around often see an entirely different world. Often, they don't see the humans around them when they look about, although they always see others of these 'gods;' or else maybe they see the humans but not as the humans actually are: e.g., humans look like (literal) cattle, or like mystical trees that move about, or like a multitude of other things, and so forth. For this reason, they don't seek to be worshipped or to dominate human societies as tyrants. But when they do go around and engage in battle, those "cattle/trees/rocks/etc." are often collateral damage.

I like the idea of the gods existing on a 'different plane' and perhaps not seeing the world the way humans do. I probably won't go so far as making them see humans as something they're not. Maybe instead something along the line of seeing their souls or something like that.

In this case, the question becomes 'why are they slumming amidst the lower level characters?' Why socialize with inferior beings if you don't care about them or what they think?

For the bants? I mean, if a god wants to have fun, why wouldn't they go chill with the humans? Just because they don't want to be worshipped by them, doesn't mean they'll shun their interaction. Of course, they'll always have that aura of distance and mysteriousness, but that won't stop some of them from trying to make friends.

Then there is the flip side: beings like this may not desire followers (which is highly unusual in and of itself) but they will attract them regardless. The super fighter type will be constantly fielding offers to join this or that army, and the rudiments of an army will gather itself around him. The one with a degree of weather control will be in demand to 'fix' the weather in this or that region.

Indeed. And I'm think that a lot of these elements will feature into the story.

I'm more interested in what kind of stories that you intend to tell in this world. Also one thing if you're going to include modern weaponry is that you may need to have an explination for why some gods have these kinds of things while humans and other gods do not.

Good point. I think the only example of modern weaponry in the story will be the god with the machine gun, and I'll probably explain its exclusivity by making it a part of the god or something like that. A magical extension of the god's self. Ooh, that gives me an idea. Perhaps the gods all possess unique, powerful objects which are the sources of their power. A lot of the time this may take the form of a magical weapon (sword, spear, machine gun) or something seemingly more harmless (a book or a pendant).

In which case, the question is raised, what happens when a god loses their special object? Like if it's destroyed or something. I think these special objects would be incredibly difficult to destroy, but it's definitely possible. In which case, I see two possibilities I can go with. A) the god dies, so destroying their special object would essentially be another method of killing them, or B) they lose their god-like status and become mortal.

 

[thedarknessrising]

It sounds to me like you want your gods to be similar to Kryptonians in the Man of Steel movie. Both Superman and General Zod were incredibly powerful, yet mortal characters, and Superman is kind of being perceived as a god in the upcoming Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. The battle between Zod and Superman completely devastated the city in which they fought.