Future Gods: Building Myth from History

November 25, 2008 No comments

Another entry for this month’s RPG Blog Carnival on Religion.

The gods are rarely as interesting — or as dangerous — as the mortals that follow them. If we look at mythology, and the Greek myths in particular, we find stories not about the gods themselves but the heroes who are helped or hindered by those gods. We don’t read tales of Zeus or Hera, we read of Perseus and Hercules (half-god, true, but more importantly, half-human). The role of gods, whether they’re active, passive, or unseen, is that of supporting cast and literal deus ex machina for the plot.

Many tales of mythological gods are thought to be based on exaggerated tales of epic heroes, who over time were elevated by popular opinion or the works of a popular author to god status. Once the brag gets too big or the tale gets too tall, that person obviously can no longer be considered a mere mortal. Sometimes powerful leaders will declare themselves to be gods, and during their lifetime have the martial or political clout to make it stick without arguement. This is where some creative worldbuilding can offer up some original and interesting gods for your settings.

Not all gods are elevated heroes, but it’s something to consider when assembling a pantheon. When designing gods for your campaign world, consider the world’s past history. What great historical event occurred, and what roles did heroes and gods play? How did those events change the roles different gods played? Did a god’s worshippers expanded into a new area? Did a god lose favor when their followers were wiped out, or turned to another god who swooped in to rescue them from some great crisis? Did some hero usurp the role of a god? How did religious practice change as a result of those historical events? Are their traditions, rituals, celebrations that commemorate those days?

One should also consider these things when planning campaigns set in the future, or even the present. In an alternate history, would some powerful historical figure have a mythology built around them so that a cult, or even a recognized organized religion has built up around them? The Church of Tesla? The Cult of Hitler? Take the ideas of historical figures, and blow them up larger than life, claim that their ideas were divinely inspired, and you’ve got yourself a religion.

One idea I’ve seen used is to have religion be a connection between otherwise unrelated campaigns. In a modern-day setting, one player’s charismatic action hero is a popular celebrity. In another campaign, in the future, that long-dead hero is followed as a saint. The opportunity for humor follows, certainly, but it presents an opportunity to explore human behavior and how history can become distorted, as well as giving you plenty of knowledge to build a religion on.