I'm a dungeon master as often as I can (D&D 3.5, for preference), and I've recently gotten a new campaign off the ground. Kait and I whipped up a world the basic principle of which is, "worship is power." We decided that in such a world, the gods would compete directly for mortal attention, coming down to the world and wandering around. So Zeus would literally live in the temple of Zeus and come round to your house if you don't sacrifice enough cows. On the other side, normal human rulers would demand not just obedience from their subjects, but worship. The line between god and king would blur from both ends.
Here's the intro I presented to my players before they built their characters:
In the beginning came He Who Arose First, who believed in himself and was whole. In time, he grew lonely and created He Who Came Second and She Who Came Second. They, in their turn, created the gods as we know them, the Thirdborn.
The gods created men and the world, and with the power of these souls rose up and destroyed their masters, but this is a story for another time.
For many centuries, the world moved along the path of history and the gods stood above and apart, playing games with mortals for worship. Then, Smile In The Shadows, the weakest and cleverest of the gods, came to the world herself. She met with the men and women of the land that later came to be known as Where The Smile Is Queen. She received from them their worship and grew powerful, powerful enough to challenge the pantheon.
Growing afraid of the new power of Smile In The Shadows, Sun In The Sky came down to the world to found his own nation, Where The Sun Shines Brightest. Soon all the gods followed, and the world became a realm of gods ruling over mortals and warring between themselves for the worship of mortals.
In time, the gods grew weary of constant bloodshed. Roads And Places Travelled, whose realm was widest but least powerful, with a great effort of divine will pulled his nation into the sky and created the first of the Godlands: floating islands, countries and nations lifted up above the world. Soon every god did the same, creating a world of flying islands ruled by their divine power.
Welcome to All That Has Been Created, a land where worship is power and gods walk among men, where nations are floating islands and grand Avatar Beasts roam atop and between them, keeping the gods' peace. Your party of adventurers will begin as unknowns, but will rise to the heights of the pantheon, and above. Perhaps in time, as their creators before them, those who created shall be destroyed.
Tl;dr, worship = power and if you don't kill the gods I'll be very disappointed.
Here's the intro I presented to my players before they built their characters:
In the beginning came He Who Arose First, who believed in himself and was whole. In time, he grew lonely and created He Who Came Second and She Who Came Second. They, in their turn, created the gods as we know them, the Thirdborn.
The gods created men and the world, and with the power of these souls rose up and destroyed their masters, but this is a story for another time.
For many centuries, the world moved along the path of history and the gods stood above and apart, playing games with mortals for worship. Then, Smile In The Shadows, the weakest and cleverest of the gods, came to the world herself. She met with the men and women of the land that later came to be known as Where The Smile Is Queen. She received from them their worship and grew powerful, powerful enough to challenge the pantheon.
Growing afraid of the new power of Smile In The Shadows, Sun In The Sky came down to the world to found his own nation, Where The Sun Shines Brightest. Soon all the gods followed, and the world became a realm of gods ruling over mortals and warring between themselves for the worship of mortals.
In time, the gods grew weary of constant bloodshed. Roads And Places Travelled, whose realm was widest but least powerful, with a great effort of divine will pulled his nation into the sky and created the first of the Godlands: floating islands, countries and nations lifted up above the world. Soon every god did the same, creating a world of flying islands ruled by their divine power.
Welcome to All That Has Been Created, a land where worship is power and gods walk among men, where nations are floating islands and grand Avatar Beasts roam atop and between them, keeping the gods' peace. Your party of adventurers will begin as unknowns, but will rise to the heights of the pantheon, and above. Perhaps in time, as their creators before them, those who created shall be destroyed.
Tl;dr, worship = power and if you don't kill the gods I'll be very disappointed.
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