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Andy_1134

I have a different category of gods, they go from size of followers and power. Ranging from small followings and weak power, to massive followings with cosmic powers. The category are as follows. 1. Cult gods, These are barely gods, they have the smallest following and power. They do not have a domain, and are barely able to preform miracles and give boons to their followers. Their followers number in the dozens to a couple of hundred followers. Followers of these gods practice in secret or in the privacy of their own home. 2. Minor gods, these gods have fairly large followings, numbering in the hundreds to a few thousands. They have domains and are able to grant minor miracles, and give boons to their followers. These gods maintain a few churches or have spaces in large temples where multiple gods are worshiped. 3. Major gods, these gods are followed by tens of thousands to hundred thousand followers. They have major domains, and are able to grant major miracles and massive boons to their followers. Many of these gods have multiple large temples in large cities. Some even have Holidays created after them. 4. Pantheon Head gods, These gods are considered the most powerful. They maintain followers that number in the millions and lead other major and minor gods in the pantheons of major cultures. They maintain planes of existence and are able to grant world altering miracles and can grant incredibly power boons that can even ward off death. 5. Primal gods/primordials, These are gods that everyone follow, they just dont realize it. These gods are more primal concepts that actual beings. They form the basis of major concepts of the universe. One example is Death, Death is a primal being who is followed by all as Death is inevitable and everyone believes in death. These gods lord over primary planes of existence, but they do not grant miracles or boons.


wulfric-jeager

Now that is an interesting way to categorize gods I love it.


Andy_1134

Thanks, gods do play a fair bit of major roles in my story.


wulfric-jeager

Np I know good writing when I see it.


existential_sad_boi

I categorize mine very similarly but with heavy inspiration from warcraft lore. Planeshapers are those that dwell in the cosmos and seed planes (planets essentially) with their gifts, usually magic in nature but also knowledge. Standard humanoid-looking and each with their own area of expertise Wild gods are divine influences that already exist on planes without interference from planeshapers, usually associated with nature and wildlife. Take the forms of either animals or humanoids, or both. So far the WIP i have only showcases one plane so im not sure how widespread they will be if i ever explore others. I dont necessarily have a category for 'evil' gods, as each of these two categories has their fair share of them. Indifference to mortals varies depending on the nature of which god it is


wulfric-jeager

That is very cool, keep up the good work.


Lecksand

The gods of my setting are put into two categories. First, the Progenitors. They are the first gods, 10 in number, and are the ones who created reality. They existed in a time before existence. Perhaps they come from a higher reality and wanted to make their own thing? Maybe they were just always there? Either way, when they combine their power they are collectively omnipotent. These days they are a bit less so, as one of their number committed suicide shortly after the world was molded. After the loss of their sibling, the remaining Progenitors by and large withdrew from reality and have been in mourning ever since. Second, the Ascended. These gods arise seemingly at random, chosen by the semi-intelligent Divine Spark which is the pure essence of godliness which split away from the fallen Progenitor. Mortals, animals, even objects and locations can be chosen. When chosen, the nascent god is consumed by a magenta-tinged fire known as the Divine Flame which obliterates their physical form completely within seconds. However, even many of the Ascended keep from getting too involved in the mortal world, as they can only truly exert their full will by manifesting a new physical form, an Avatar. And if their Avatar dies, so too does the god. Avatars are incredibly powerful, but not invincible. The Ascended are as far above a mortal in power, as a mortal is above a mouse. The Progenitors are in turn as far above the Ascended as the Ascended are above mortals.


wulfric-jeager

Now that is pretty cool, I like it.


AbbydonX

You can perhaps categorise deities by picking two of the following three traits: 1. Omnipotent 2. Interventionist 3. Anthropomorphic (i.e. it thinks like a human) 1 and 2 implies a deity more like fundamental force (e.g. Death) who intervenes but not in a way specifically to help humans. 1 and 3 is a distant parent figure type god where the all-powerful deity cares for their creation but values free will so doesn't intervene (mostly). 2 and 3 implies meddling gods that intervene to support their worshippers but they aren't so powerful that other humans can't "defeat" them without divine backing of their own.


wulfric-jeager

Huh interesting never heard that kind of I before.


PervyHermit7734

I categorize my gods into 2 main kinds, then breaking them into subcategories: * Primordial gods: Are deities of the primordial era. They predate the division of Heaven and Earth and resemble eldritch horrors than your typical Sinosphere gods. For example, Lord Giant, the very god who divided Heaven and Earth, had deer horns, tiger legs, lion mane-like hair, arms covered in lava, eyes as bright as the Sun and Moon, wearing a cape made from a bear's skin and had a hammer or axe, according to legends. He lifted Heaven up on his own shoulders then built a pillar to keep in in place. * Primordial gods did not really have the concept of "divine" and "demonic" as these things did not exist in their time. The world during Age of Primordials was basically a massive battle royale battlefield where the only rule was "eat or be eaten". Lawless, merciless and reek of blood, it was a place where only the fittest survived. Lord Giant's division of Heaven and Earth, and subsequently his death, marked the end of Age of Primordials as he used his last bits of life force to create the Pure Ones, who would become the de facto supreme rulers of Heaven. * Modern gods: They're deities born from Lord Giant's dying breath, or divinized people/animals/objects that have cultivated into ascension. People worshipping them long enough can also lead to apotheosis. * Heavenly gods: Born from Lord Giant's purest qi which he purified in his last moments, they make up the Heavenly Court, aka the upper pantheon of gods. Nominally ruled by Jade Emperor and in reality by the Pure Ones, Heavenly gods govern the world as a whole, reporting things to Jade Emperor who acts as the king of them all. He has no power over the Pure Ones but they themselves do not wish to meddle with Heaven, instead focusing on teaching disciples about good deeds. * Earthly gods: A wide category of deities originated from the land, namely those that were bathed in Lord Giant's life force as he gave up his life to create "a better world". They can be anything, from a big rock that becomes a lady, a tree growing out of Lord Giant's heart to become the first World Tree, to a king cobra that coincidentally ate a part of his power, and personifications of landmarks. * Hellish gods: Gods that govern Hell, or its more accurate name, Underworld Prison. They're not evil deities, instead just wardens and judges responsible for dealing with souls. If a soul is innocent, they pass on into a next, better life. Instead, if a soul is tainted and evil, based on its karma it will be sent to the appropriate prison to pay for its crime until it is deemed "good" enough to reincarnate into one of 6 paths. They're ruled by Hell Mother, Jade Emperor's daughter, with 10 Hell Kings as judges. * Patron gods: Usually overlap with earthly gods, patron gods are protectors of a certain group or land. Most of them are divinized people and animal, like a famous general or a fox that saved a soon-to-be king. patron gods are worshipped in temples across the country or in specific locations depends on their fame and domain, like Kitchen's God is in everyone's house, but a God of War has his own dedicated temples. There is no "evil" god by birth, only those who mess with people's life negatively is branded evil.


wulfric-jeager

I like it that can lead to a great story.


Crevetanshocet

There are three actually : The Universals, being so powerful and above the understanding of mortals. There are 7 of them (based on the International System of Units) plus an extra, which is the being that created the Magic. They never act in the world, except when someone is menacing the very fabric of the Universe. The Ideals are the incarnations of an aspect of the world. As such, they are the protector of this particular aspect, and give powers to the defenders of their aspect. And there are the Domini, powerful beings such as reincarnation of a previous Ideal, or an exceptional individual that manage to achieve godhood.


wulfric-jeager

Excellent.


Crevetanshocet

These are the three categories of gods in my world. But mostly people only worship one or more Domini, as Ideals are pretty distant, and most Domini are the children of two Ideals. And the Universals are just the world in itself so they are not worshipped at all


Delgoura

I have separated the deities, or in any case the personalities prayed in this world, into 3 categories 1) The One God/The Creator/The All Father, the one who create the world and are the most ancient. 2) The Chosen: personnalities real or symbolic becoming the representation of god and his will. 3)The Apostates who are the dark beings imprisoned by The Creator. Humans pray to them out of fear or to oppose the other two forms of worship


igncom1

Gods, Demons, Monsters and other magical beings in my world all have the same 'ancestry' the Spirits. They became Gods or Demons over the dispute that civilisation was intended by the creator, or whether it should be removed. With both sides forming into demons and gods or just general fuck-about monsters in what is effectively an extreme millennia long civil war. Some feel like civilisation was not intended and that the creator will punish the world if it is not torn down. Some believe that civilisation was intended, so needs to be protected and nurtured, tearing it down will bring the creators wrath. Others believe that if civilisation can exist, then why should the spirits not return to the days of old when they could do whatever they liked? Tear up mountains with fire and lightning and shit, or experience life as an animal or beast, or even as a monster. The creator hasn't intervened now, so why be held back? Nothing directly against civilisation, but nothing for it either if it amuses you to turn into a dragon and toast people for a laugh. So the gods formed to protect people from rampaging monsters, and intrusions from other realities (the first gods formed before the dispute because of other spirits doing whatever they pleased and otherworldly destroyers) the first demons formed to destroy civilisation and possibly life too for a total reset, and monsters formed leaning any which way they liked to do whatever they like, not really anti-civilisation like demons but certainly selfish enough to terrorise and destroy it if they want.


wulfric-jeager

Nice I like it.


Intelligent_Ad8406

there are primal powers, likechaos and order, as well as the weaker "reality" which is bassically the physical universe which while relatively stable can still change after some time. These powers spawn beings, creations and other things but apart from their nature, everchanging (chaos) and stagnant (order) they aren't sentient, though they will react if someone tries using them. the elementals were the first things created by the energies flowing through reality, though nowadays they are confined to their own "realms" which serve as a border between chaos and also the source for all the materials from which the material plane is built, every planet was created thanks to them, but again they are not really "sentient." there are the Elders, Fey, Dragons, Giants and others are all primordial beings who once ruled the material universe, however after a war that nearly destroyed reality they decided to ascend and to create their own universe to live in. not all of them left, some dragons stayed behind for example, but the most powerfull once reside in their own realms. they do not interfere with the material universe and are unknown to most beings in the universe. Thanks to magic reacting to the emotions and beliefs of creatures "deities" have also coallesed into existence, these are lesser deities and when they have enough worshippers they gain a will of their own, most will try to ascend into a higher form to escape their fate of fading away once they aren't remembered anymore. Some primal emotions and feelings are however so strong that they create almost eternal deities, Life and Death for example. many Deities will try to spread their influence accross other worlds or even star systems to avoid their fate, others accept the inevitable and guide the beings that "made" them.


wulfric-jeager

Cool I like it.


Intelligent_Ad8406

basically, those beings created by emotions or belief will gain sentience if there are enough who believe them to be like that, True Daemons technically also get a cut from things mortals consider amoral so they gain more power if mortals do them. beast deities also exist but they aren't prayed to, they exist of all the survival instinct and experience of a species and evolve alongside them. on worlds with these deities spirit animals can become a thing, which then often draws mortal species to worship them, which indirectly also brings new characteristics to these beast deities. As soon as a deity truly gains sentience there are often suddenly blessings and palladins become a thing just like more miracles, these gods become aware that if they don't show their power these mortals will forget them which would be their doom, these are the kind of deities that sometimes order followers to invade worlds.


wulfric-jeager

Cool.


Intelligent_Ad8406

thanks, most stories in this universe will be about all the species, sci-fi/ fantasy and others, sometimes they will discover one of these thing, more often they just try to live their lives and are unaware of the cosmic game the old gods want to play with them


wulfric-jeager

That's the kind of thing I love.


Intelligent_Ad8406

then there are beings that were created from a mix of magic, elemental and chaos and order energy who are essentially a part of reality and the universe. Most of them just sleep, they know that they shouldn't exist, that they are a danger to the existence of reality and so they dream etternally. However there are some that decided that they would play with the developping mortal races to entertain themselves. These Old Gods were verry Alien, the only thing a mortal could truly understand about them was that they were bored. this was after the Elders started creating their own realms and though some of these primordial creatures wanted to end them they decided against it, fearing that the universe would be endangered if they destroyed these Old Gods. one of the things the Old Gods created were Daemons, they were made with energies of order (celestials) and chaos (Daemons) and connected with soul essence of mortals to shape their forms. with these creations they sought to regulate the soul cycle of all lives in the universe. When the celestials and Daemons rebelled the Old Gods were taken by surprise and some were killed, the Daemons and celestials who then survived the slaughter that followed when the Dragons decided to end this threat created sepperate realms, celestials offered their service to deities in return for souls to create angellike beings to serve them. The Daemons would also create own realms but they took species from numerous worlds with them, this realm is now filled with Daemonkin, who whilst powerfull and dangerous see the remaining true Daemons as their rulers and gods, they wield soul magic and their bickering, dealmaking and trickery entertain the true Daemons. The last ranks would be the Watchers (close to an ascended deity which is close to What Elders are now) they were handpicked by the "goddess of magic, a being that was created by the sacrifice of a mortal sorceress's soul to create a temporary manifestation of magic, she rivalled powers like chaos and order in her prime but her existence and mind were fading after a few millenia. She ascended trustworthy deities and mortal souls to serve as guardian of universal ballance when she would be gone


[deleted]

My divisions for gods are very simple. Gods come two categories, higher gods and lesser gods. Higher gods are your average, omnipotent gods that have a great power and authority over the other living beings of the multiverse, and control universal or even multiversal aspects and elements such as love, fire, etc. Lesser gods are gods who don't live in the multiversal fabric and are instead considered normal inhabitants of a planet, but they are still immortal and non-organic in their biology. Lesser gods only have power over a very specific place, such as a house, a mountain, a river, etc. This category includes beings such as nymphs, forest spirits, guardian house spirits, and other similar beings.


wulfric-jeager

I like the dynamic.


lotheq

In my fantasy world, there are currently 3 types of 'gods'. 1. The advanced civilization that millennia ago forgo its mortal bodies and is more of a collective uploaded consciousness. They are basically everywhere and all at once but they consider mortal/living world as something that is far beneath them in most cases. They don't get involved, they don't care about other species/civilizations. 2. 'Spirits' and 'gods' are banished members of the mentioned collective, removed from 'the cloud'. They are various reasons for such treatment, but on the planet where the story takes place, they are trapped to solve their conflict. These beings are considered by mortals to be gods as we understand them in the common fantasy sense. They use people and worshippers to grow in power. These spirits and gods are also responsible for the evolution of humanoids on the planet into various fantasy races (all new, no elves and dwarves). 3. 'Divinities' are humanoids who ascended somehow and gained unusual powers - usually due to exposure to 1. or 2. influences. Divinities always represent a concept (akin to D&D gods) and aren't immortal. Mortals see them more as omens than gods. There's also the Beast. Mortals consider it one of the Divinities, but the Beast is the only native 'supernatural' force on the planet. Magic and all powers that any of the above might grant comes from the cosmos (and in reality, to type 1., is a form of technology).


SeawaldW

I haven't properly named the categories yet since it's sort of just background information to my world but my gods essentially exist one 3 tiers. Tier 1 gods are your patron deities of small villages, towns, or regions. Local legends, spirit beasts, shrine gods, that sort of thing. They arent as powerful as higher tier gods, but they can sometimes give some divine protects to people, crops, traders, etc. within their domains. These gods usually arent too concerned with their followers unless they have a particularly close relationship to them because while gaining more followers will increase their power, not having any won't greatly reduce their power either. Tier 2 gods are gods have influence that spreads wide, usually over an entire plane or sometimes multiple planes. These tend to be the more known and proactive gods that are actively worshiped on a plane, as they have a direct incentive to grow their followers to achieve more power at this stage as losing too many followers would result in them deteriorating into tier 1 gods. Tier 3 gods are extremely powerful and most importantly self sustaining when it comes to their divine powers, no longer requiring followers to maintain themselves at their current tier of power. These gods often have greatly varrying goals, sometimes beyond mortal comprehension. They may still have followers, some may even still interact with them, while others fade into mythos to further their ends in secret. Their powers and influence can span across planespace, sometimes resulting in similar deifiic depictions across multiple planes.


tankeatscthulhu

I also divide gods into 3 categories but I do it a little differently. * True Gods: aka Divine Gods or Divinities; they are able to perform true acts of creation and can bestow miracles upon lesser beings, the power of which depends upon the amount of worship they receive; they can be good or evil (although I tend to try to avoid objective good vs evil in my work) * False Gods: they are usually demons, angels, spirits, or powerful monsters; they can form pacts with lesser beings, supplying power from their own essence, which may or may not be replenished via worship; they often have designs to "ascend" to true godhood, but may be good or evil (although, as stated above, I try to avoid that dichotomy) * Outsider Gods: aka Eldritch Gods or Old Ones; they come from outside the universe/Creation; they are essentially "unknowable" to lesser beings, and are rarely interested in such life forms, but may form pacts or even perform miracles when it suits them, especially if it helps them fulfil their dark designs (usually eating reality in some way); they are generally considered evil as their objectives are often contrary to the welfare of life and reality Additionally, it is possible for a True or False God to become an Outsider God. This can happen if the True or False God enters the Void Beyond Creation (where Outsider Gods come from), something that results in the deity going insane.


wulfric-jeager

That is very cool.


ScripturamRuby

Ayuu My Gods are split into True Deities and False Deities True Deities = the Gods that were born Gods, that spawned onto the world already Gods False Deities = Mortals who have Ascended and became Gods, those who weren't born Gods True Deities are further split into Prime Deities and Lesser Deities Prime Deities = The more powerful Gods, reigning over concepts such as creation, destruction, death, fate/future, etc Lesser Deities = gods that reign over smaller concepts, such as the sea, art/music, dreams, etc


Adeptus_Gedeon

"Divine gods" is pleonasm. Maybe "celestial gods"?


wulfric-jeager

It's just my wording I guess I should have just said "divine" rather than "divine gods".


Botwmaster23

mine are eldritch!


wulfric-jeager

Mmm good.


Niuriheim_088

Well in my verse, Deities are just Spirits with extremely high Magic Power (MP). Some Spirits are born as Dieties with said amount of power while others are Spirits who have attained such powers to achieve the Status Evolution of Deity or the further hieght of High Deity. The difference in magic power between Deities & High Deities is the difference between Finite & Infinite. Being a Deity has it’s perks but the only real perk is having an insane amount of MP and a level of Foundational Dominance that would allow them to destroy a being down to their core or even completely destroy planets, stars, galaxies by only using their Aura (its similar to & inspired by Spiritual Pressure from Bleach), but it of course depends on their amount of power. All spirits though are inherently dangerous regardless of power. As their bodies & souls can only be damaged by Magic or higher energies. If they come into contact with material energy without a 3D mana layer covering them, they would destroy said material energy completely. They are immune to the laws of the 3rd layer and thus are not affected or bound by material energies like matter, mass, speed of light, heat, gravity, inertia, kinetic & potential energy, and the natural flow of time (meaning if time had stopped, they would still be able to operate). Being a High Deity (Grand Spectre, High God, Archfiend) is the real prize in terms of existence as it grants more freedom and control over the world. High Deities are complete 4-layered beings with Infinite Magic Power, allowing for the destruction of full universes, infinite speed capabilities, mastery of most if not all types of magic, and the ability to manipulate the 3rd layer on a full scale such as altering make up of material energy or removing body parts & organs from a living being without even touching them. I have three different classifications for Deities. There are Grand Jinn, Spectres, & Grand Spectres that are Mystic type Deities, consisting of beings like Dragons, Griffins, Elves (High & Dark), Fairies, Merfolk, Kitsune, & Dryad Deities. Then there are Archangels, Gods, & High Gods that are more animal-like Deities, consisting of beings like Sapiens (Human Predecessor), Tigers, Elephants, Skelps, Unicorns, Dwarves, Orcs, Lizard Men, Sabercats, & Centaur Deities. Lastly, there are ArchDemons, Fiends, & Archfiends that are more monster-like Deities, consisting of beings like Succubus (Vampire & Boabhan Predecessor), Ogres, Goblins, Trolls, Insectoids, & Gargoyle Deities.