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From: req@snow.UUCP (Russell Quin)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: PCs vs Gods
Message-ID: <356@snow.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 4-Feb-85 20:55:08 EST
Article-I.D.: snow.356
Posted: Mon Feb 4 20:55:08 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 10-Feb-85 06:16:32 EST
References: <2400083@uokvax.UUCP> <3429@ucla-cs.ARPA> <75@gitpyr.UUCP>
Organization: Computer Science Department, Warwick University, UK
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There have been a number of articles posted here on the subject of Player
Characters doing Heroic Battle against Gods/Ghods/Deities/Dieties[sic]. (I'll
call them Ghods to save confusion with Christian/Jewish/whatever Gods).
So here are a few pseudo-random thoughts on the subject...
I have found myself agreeing with many of the approaches that GM's say that
they take, but there is some problem with the theology....
It depends on what you mean by "Ghod".
If you view the Ghods as imminent, palpable entities, as creatures who breathe
the air and live and die as mortals do, then it is not unreasonable that they
be susceptible to physical violence.
... And thor put down his mighty hammer, but Alas!, he did put it down even
upon his great and worshipful foot and did cry out in pain, and there were many
great winds all over the World. ... :-)
Perhaps even PCs could become Ghods in this sense, if the GM lets the campaign
get sufficiently high-level (but see other recent net.games.frp articles :-) ).
There doesn't seem to be any justification for making a distinction between PCs
and NPCs in this respect; an interesting HighLevelCampaign (HLC) could involve
a race between PCs and NPCs to become Ghods and form a powerful religion.
Although I'm not sure I'd like to write -- or run -- subsequent scenarios!!
If, however, you view the Ghods as intangible manifestations of ultimate
existence, power, virtue or , then it becomes
completely meaningless to talk about <>, because they exist
on a different level of reality. You could no more say ``I tickled Allah's
left big toe yesterday'' than ``We killed a Ghod''.
These ``MetaGhods'' may be reflected in some way in the nature of the universe,
or in the way in which magical effects are made manifest, for example.
It is possible that they, too, are dependent in some way on their worshippers
for their power. But this is power between themselves; they will not
necessarily appear to be weak on Earth simply because they have few worshippers.
The Ghods that are worshipped most may well become powerful enough to fight or
even defeat other Ghods in either case, but the MG's demise will most likely be
marked by some subtle yet pervasive change -- the Ghod of Relit Fire weakens
and the spells that deal with fire become less effective.....
Who can say -- or even speculate upon -- what would happen if the Christian God
were to pass away in this world?
Perhaps the Gods never die -- they merely wax and wane.
PCs do battle with manifestations of some or other aspect of a Ghod's
personality (if that's meaningful), and not with the Ghod itself. Destroying
the manifestation need not weaken the Ghod directly -- although the resulting
loss of faith of its worshippers might make dramatic differences in the long
term.
--
... mcvax!ukc!qtlon!flame!ubu!snow!req
Striving to promote the interproduction of epimorphistic conformability ....