Gods in a fantasy game

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7 comments, last by Navezof 10 years, 6 months ago

I am considering having "gods" in my next video game but I have a bit of a trouble grasping the concept of gods.

I am split between two ways I can present them, one of the ways is that they will be manifestations of concepts from inteligent creatures, and the other way is that they are assended from ordinary creatures who did extraordinary deeds.

If the are just manifestations of concepts or basic believes they would be less complex since they would need to follow a set of principles (like a manifistation of the concept of order is unable to kill a hier to a throne since it could cause a kingdom to plunge into chaos). This would also make the gods much more specific, since if a god is the god of war and wants nothing more than endless bloodsheed he would have to either convince his generals to not win wars or even kill them himself to make the war last longer thereby making the bloodsheed last longer (so he can't be worshipped by any sane general since he would be unable to win the war due to the gods interferance and he would not be worshipped by the common soldier since the war gods interest is seeing blood be spilled not having a specific side win).

If they would be just people, like you and me, they would have a much deeper way of being portrayed but this could result in them doing actions out of character. They could get a deeper conention to a specific tribe, organisation, people that could be used in an interesting way.

I aslo have ideas that the player will eventually combat these gods, if the gods are concept given life then they would be hurt by using an opposite of the concept the fight for (like a god of order would be hurt by chaos, a god of harvest would be hurt by famine) if the gods are creatures who assended then the battles would be more straight forward (on the level of; bash him with a stick till he is down).

So here is were my problems lay; I don't know what type of god is the best one to pick and I would much like to get help from this community.

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I like the idea of gods who are a manifestation of concepts. Partly because of the way you can battle them, that you mentioned.

The game Kid Icarus: Uprising comes to mind for me. They had a character who was the Goddess of Nature, that still had a lot of personality to her.

My advice, if you have trouble gasping the concept, do not include it. It's not like gods are obligatory in fantasy games (also they can be "assumed" or "barely mentioned" like in most RPGs (where you just have temples and clerics and that's it, no details)).

BTW, read classic mythology (greek or roman).

and the other way is that they are assended from ordinary creatures who did extraordinary deeds.

Don't do it... a whole pantheon can't be made of Herculeses :) It's "unrealistic" :D

I can present them, one of the ways is that they will be manifestations of concepts from inteligent creatures

And don't do it either :) Manifestation of concepts is definitelly a reneisance thing (or even later), not fitting medievalish fantasy.

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I am split between two ways I can present them, one of the ways is that they will be manifestations of concepts from inteligent creatures, and the other way is that they are assended from ordinary creatures who did extraordinary deeds.

Why can't you have both? I see no reason why having one path to godhood would exclude another.

What exactly is the point of adding these gods to your game? What do you know that need them to do? Are they there just so that the player has something to fight or are they an integral part of your plot?

Trudi Canavan wrote a series of books I think called the Age of 5 trilogy, which is about a war between two religious fundamentalist countries. Spoiler Alert and in that series the gods have their followers hunt down any immortals because the gods themselves were once immortals and any person who is powerful enough can figure out how to become immortal and any immortal strong in enough can become a god if they figure out how.

You could take that approach the gods in your game are living entities but the player go pursue the path to godhood but doing so will but them at the odds with the gods as they are greedy and jealous.

Trudi Canavan wrote a series of books I think called the Age of 5 trilogy, which is about a war between two religious fundamentalist countries. Spoiler Alert and in that series the gods have their followers hunt down any immortals because the gods themselves were once immortals and any person who is powerful enough can figure out how to become immortal and any immortal strong in enough can become a god if they figure out how.

You could take that approach the gods in your game are living entities but the player go pursue the path to godhood but doing so will but them at the odds with the gods as they are greedy and jealous.

Oh man i love those books :D

But yeah, i was gonna suggest the same thing. Stargate SG-1 in season 8-10 did a similar thing. You had "gods" because people who worshipped them didn't understand what exactly they are. And they were ascended beings that once were ordinary people who found some kind of inner peace and understood the state of mind required to discard their mortal flesh and go to a higher state/plane of existance. So basically, they have all the characteristics of people (so you can make them be as black/white/grey as you want), but also have the power to influence mortals in some way (and you can decide what way that is).

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If the are just manifestations of concepts or basic believes...

If they would be just people, like you and me, they would have a much deeper way...

Looks like you've already got a plan: Boss Mobs, like in Diablo and Torchlight.

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I like the idea of people becoming gods. It could be a good start for a RPG-Game :)

"At the beginning there was no god, but one day a man become a hero, then a god. The first One was born."

And of course, the player is this One, and as to fight for preserving his godhood/becoming a man again/protect the world from other gods. And then : Fight-Cataclysm-Aeirth nooo!-Fight again-Save the world, happy end.

Hum.

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