r/worldbuilding's Official Prompts #1!

[u/Pyrsin7]

I used to do these a while ago. and unfortunately life got me pretty busy and I wasn't able to keep it up. But they were a lot of fun, and I've really been wanting to come back to them!

With these we hope to get you to consider elements and avenues of thought that you've never pursued before. We also hope to highlight some users, as we'll be selecting two responses-- One of our choice, and the comment that receives the most upvotes, to showcase next time!

This post will be put into "contest mode", meaning comment order will be randomized for all visitors, and scores will only be visible to mods.

If you've got any other questions or comments, feel free to ask in the comments!

But with that, on to the prompt! This one is a suggestion left over from last time, submitted by u/Homicidal_Harry:

• What is the nature of Gods in your setting?

• Are they creators of the universe that predate time itself, or just very powerful beings perceived as gods?

• Are your deities a pantheon of immortals in the image of man like Greek gods, or vast, indescribable, otherworldly entities too great for mortal minds to comprehend?

• How often do they interact with the mortal world? If they do, what stakes do they have in the events of your setting?

• Can your gods die? If so, explain how the consequences that would follow.

• Do your gods even exist in your setting? Even if they don't, how would the people of your setting answer these questions?

If you have any suggestions for prompts of your own, feel free to submit them here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf9ulojVGbsHswXEiQbt9zwMLdWY4tg6FpK0r4qMXePFpfTdA/viewform?usp=sf_link

[u/CallyGoldfeather]

1) There are two types of Gods. The first are conventional "faith makes you divine," and they come from several places. The second are primordial concepts that predate reality, and their existence causes reality to manifest around them. The first type are the vast majority of the divines in the setting, with mortals reaching godhood on a somewhat regular basis (around once/twice per century or so). Every culture has their own laundry list of divines, and sometimes lesser ones are lost in the cracks and fade into obscurity. The second type, the primordials, are for the most part dead or missing. Long ago, they built everything from the ground up for their own entertainment, but they for the most part grew bored and left, only one remaining in an active state.

The vast majority of divines that currently operate are pre-existing spirits, made by the primordials in the first place to manage reality. Upon the primordials leaving, they took up the mantel as best they could, and have since grown into a good portion of the modern pantheons.

2) Both, as mentioned above.

3) They are far closer to Greek Gods than to Cthulhu, but neither are really accurate. The Primordials were fairly eldritch, but only in that they were incomprehensibly powerful and large. They were painfully comprehensible in their mind, little more than spoiled children who were bored. The modern divines, on the other hand, are as varied as can be. Some gods are plants, who's fruit is said to be where islands come from. Some gods are elected by the population on the last one's death, to allow the spirit of the former divine to re-enter the body of the last one. One god is a charging bull, who dances across the sky and brings about day time. There are a lot of them that are rather humanoid, but just as many that aren't.

4) Very frequently, and in fact many exist entirely within the material realm. The afformentioned Bull is named Valor, and he is the sun in the sky for a large portion of the world. Hard to get more tangible than that, right? Quite a few are distant, but just as many have tea and crumpits with their followers regularly.

5) For the non-primordials, death is not even very uncommon. Should the general population cease to worship you, you will wither and die unless proped up by other divines. Conventional weaponry is not very effective, but there are spells and rites that can harm gods. Should one actually perish, whatever aspect of reality they managed would go wild and rouge, usually sprouting several spirits of its own creation to manage it once more. For example, should Valor be slain, the sun would go out and never rise again, until the collective worship of all of mankind brings about a new divine. Or, more likely, several small competing ones.

Primordials can not die. They are acausal and *are* reality. To kill one would be to kill gravity, or electromagnetism. At worst, you can harm their physical avatar. This is annoying at best.

6) Yes, and sufficient belief in one that does not actually exist will make it so. Theoretically, the revival of a dead god is possible through that method, but it is more of a clone than the actual original returning.