Gifts of the Gods

I had another idea for my Cataclysm story. The Eldritch Abominations that caused it are immensely powerful. Even their minions are unbelievably strong (I remember this one Cthulhu Mythos website that said just because the supernatural races are called "lesser" doesn't mean they're weak). While my characters have cool powers of their own, it just may not be enough this time around. I was thinking of having some of them bestowed by various gods in their fight. I have a few so far: Aphrodite, Durga, Thor, and Zeus, to name a few. Can you offer me any tips of any other deities or powers they can bestow? I very much appreciate the feedback, thank you. :)

P.S. And no, Zeus doesn't give people the power to have a ridiculously large number of girlfriends.

edited 8th Sep '14 5:32:19 PM by Demetrios

I like to keep my audience riveted.

From the Egyptian pantheon, Set comes to mind: he's associated with storms, the desert, disorder and warfare, as I recall, which might allow him to provide some useful powers (calling up sandstorms, controlling sand, strength in battle, perhaps). On top of that, I'm reminded that Set was also associated with foreigners and had among his duties the protection of the solar barge from the somewhat abomination-like serpent of chaos, Apophis, which might make him appropriate to dealing with your out-of-context villains; for one thing, perhaps he could provide information on them, and how to deal with them.

There's also Sekhmet, an Egyptian war-goddess of whom Wikipedia writes: 'She also was given titles such as the "(One) Before Whom Evil Trembles", "Mistress of Dread", "Lady of Slaughter" and "She Who Mauls"'; I could see her providing raw melee (perhaps berserker) combat power, enough to tear into the "lesser" horrors, at least.

As to power more specifically, what powers are given might depend on what might be useful: since we're talking about eldritch creatures, what would actually be effective against them? Is it just a matter of punching harder? Are specific magics called for?

edited 8th Sep '14 6:09:09 PM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

Consider Heimdall. In addition to the standard Berserk-style Viking fighting skills, he's specifically able to seek out and identify supernatural threats to the world order, and has a horn he can use to warn everybody. His avatar would make a great scout, chasing down the Edrich Abominations and their minions whereever they may be hiding.

In Christian Mythology, the Archangel Gabriel has some of the same attributes. Imagine their avatars working together.

I thought of a few powers they can grant. I'm afraid it's a little bare-bones at the moment, though.

Zeus
I imagine him giving his thunderbolts as a weapon in the vein of God of War.

Aphrodite

• Summon two giant orchids, since orchids represent love and fertility, Aphrodite’s domains
  • One is fiery red-orange and can shoot enemies with bolts of fire
  • One is emerald green and can continuously heal nearby allies

(I'm a little unsure of that one, though, since plants are usually Demeter's forte)

• Create mirror images, similar to the spell in World of Warcraft
• Shoot a large beam of pure, concentrated beauty in energy form, which takes the form of hot pink energy, akin to the Wizard’s Disintegrate spell in Diablo III, only it stuns instead of damages

edited 9th Sep '14 9:10:53 AM by Demetrios

I like to keep my audience riveted.

Aphrodite might be a good source for "charm" and illusion spells: one empowered by her might be able to draw enemies to their side, become temporarily more persuasive and enthralling, take on the appearance of someone else, and raise the morale of allies. You might also include some element of heartbreak: stunning foes by inducing a sudden, inexplicable sensation of deep, jagged loss.

Artemis might be a good source for animal summons and archery-related abilities (perhaps including Trick Arrows).

Demeter might have buffs (such as giving strength to others) and powerful debuffs (blighting the landscape around enemies, making them wither like plants beneath the summer sun, etc.)—remember that Demeter is responsible for all seasons, not just the fertile ones—as well as summoning up plants of various types.

edited 9th Sep '14 9:25:04 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

My Games & Writing

From slavic mythology we have Svarog the god of fire and the forge, among other things. He created the sun in his forge, and a portable piece of the sun would be a pretty impressive boon, wouldn't it?

Reality is for those who lack imagination.

Zeus and Thor are both gods of thunder, but Zeus is also the Top God. He could give powers related to godly authority, like the ability to strike fear in your enemies. Thor could then bestow his traditional Weather Manipulation powers.

These gifts could also be given in the form of magical artifacts, like Mjöllnir (Thor's Precision-Guided Hammer), or an Aegis (a shield or animal-skin used by the Greek gods).

edited 9th Sep '14 10:04:44 AM by Paradisesnake

Zeus is also a patron of Sacred Hospitality, so that could definitely be extended to safe-houses and people generally seeking sanctuary/asylum in a non-temple.

From Celtic Mythology: The Morrigan is a war-goddess who's both The Chess Master AND a Blood Knight, so she would most likely grant Genius Bruiser or The Berserker qualities. Her sacred birds are corvids, and crows and ravens are pretty damn intelligent, so that would probably entail a spy-network of crows or the ability to shapeshift into one. She also has the ability to prophesy.

Ogma is the Irish pantheon's resident Warrior Poet (he's only beaten in both aspects by Lugh), particularly known for his Rousing Speeches. If you want the ability to whip people into a frenzy before you charge into battle, he's your guy. He can also lift giant boulders that normally need seven men, and that kind of strength would be handy.

edited 9th Sep '14 1:30:39 PM by Sharysa

And then there's always Shazam!—superhero with the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury.

edited 9th Sep '14 2:13:00 PM by Paradisesnake

Thanks, but I can't have him in my story.

I like to keep my audience riveted.

Heh, just throwing out ideas.

In God of War, Aphrodite offers Kratos the head of Medusa (kind of... you have to rip it off first). I think this is a pretty fun idea, considering that Aphrodite is the goddess of beauty, whereas Medusa is so ugly people who look at her turn into stone.

edited 9th Sep '14 2:28:08 PM by Paradisesnake

@Sharysa: I like the idea of the corvid spy network, but I'd be inclined to associate that with the Norse pantheon's Odin, who—if I recall correctly—was depicted as using his crows as exactly that. In all fairness, I don't know the Morrigan well enough to know whether she was associated with spying and such things, so the idea may apply just as well to her. (They could always collaborate, in any case.)

My Games & Writing

What about Bahamut?

I like to keep my audience riveted.

Hermes could very well grant Impossible Thief powers.

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

Thanks, everybody. Those are very cool and intriguing choices. :)

I like to keep my audience riveted.

...stepping away from superpowers a little, is there any reason these 'gifts' can't be more literal gifts, along the lines of what Amaterasu gave to her descendent?

Or cheat and just use Lugh who can give just about anything. He is the All-crafted after all.

in a similar vein Hephaestus could provide the keys to a hyperspace arsenal of godlike weaponry, from unbreakable spears and shields to BFG's to automaton soldiers.

There's also Xipe Totec from Aztec mythology, who is both God of force, patron of war, seasons, rebirth and agriculture. He is often depicted wearing the flayed skin of his human offerings, which coupled with his themes of both healing and battle make me think he could bestow powerful life-draining or blood magic abilities.

I am smiling

One deity I always liked is Hanuman. A possible gift from him could be his Gada (a massive two-handed mace used to symbolize strength and generally associated with indian wrestlers)...or it could be something like a few hundred badass Vanara warriors :P.

Reality is for those who lack imagination.

Now that you mention it, monkeys could be a good counterpoint to the otherwise deadly serious Eldritch Abominations.

I like to keep my audience riveted.

I just had a thought. Would it be a good idea or a bad idea to have the new gods of the post-Cataclysm cultures as well as the classic ones?

I like to keep my audience riveted.

Hard to say, about the new and old gods together. There's nothing inherently wrong or necessary about the idea itself, and would really depend more on the execution.

Take our current era. We have the 'old gods' everyone's been discussing so far, yeah? But most gods don't have Facebook or Twitter profiles, and George Takei currently has more followers than some smaller religions. What sort of gods are these 'new gods', exactly, and what form does their necessary worship take?

The Empire of the Black Dragon is named after the very dragon god they venerate. So it's sort of a literal Crystal Dragon Jesus situation.

The Empire of the Southern Cross worships the nine planets of the Solar System, with the Sun and the Moon being the planets' parents as well as King and Queen of the Gods.

I like to keep my audience riveted.

How To Train Your Dragon and Sailor Moon, then.

I'm not saying it wouldn't work, but I was kinda hoping you'd also give some idea of what they'd bestow upon their followers. The setting, too - I've been imagining something like Fist Of The North Star with a dash of Warhammer 50k.

40k, actually. ;P

For the setting. Things were going along very swimmingly until the year 4400 A.D. It was around that time the Eldritch Abominations arose and launched a multi-pronged attack on the races of the Earth. The Stone Cutters, the Champions of the Light, and the Red Knights valiantly fought back. After some (very) hard-won victories, it seemed like the threat would be over. Until the terrible Cataclysm was unleashed, very nearly destroying the world. But from the ashes of the old world, a new world has risen, with many new nations and cultures, and even the wildlife is different.

I like to keep my audience riveted.