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About Forgotten Gods
ABOUT
What happens to the old gods, once their temples have crumbled and their believers have abandoned them? Do they die, forsaken, alone? Or do they remain, still wandering the world, immortal, surviving off what little belief they can gather?
Forgotten Gods follows the lives of these old deities, brought to America long ago by explorers or immigrants from their homelands and eventually abandoned or lost from memory. As their worshippers moved on to new religions, the gods' powers waned - for a god, at its most pure essence, is no more than an idea, and an idea is worthless if there is nobody to believe in it. Some have passed, forgotten, from the world, while others have fallen into madness. Some have simply tried to adapt, to make a life for themselves in this place without gods, getting by on what little scraps of worship and belief they can garner. Others are more radical, attempting to regain the power that was once theirs, to revive their followings.
And then there are the New Gods. Gods of cars and computers, television and radio, cities and highways, all those things that modern Americans put their faith in. They are young, at the height of their power. These newcomers are regarded dismissively by some of the older gods, who have seen so many new deities rise and fall in their time; jealously by others, who wish to reclaim the power for their own; and by all with a deep wariness.
Inspired by the world of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, this game invites players to step into the roles of deities, old and new, to create their own modern mythology.
OLD GODS
America has long been host to travellers and immigrants from all across the globe. Long before Columbus ever set foot on those shores, folk as far-flung as the Chinese and the Vikings were exploring its lands. Almost every culture in the world has come into close contact with America at one point in time or another, and with them they brought their beliefs, and their gods. The gods, who rode across the ocean in their minds and who took root. Over here is a basic approximation of when, for the purposes of this game, different nations may have had contact with America.
To avoid contention, the gods of the modern monotheistic religions (ie. God, Jesus, Allah) are out of bounds. However, all other pantheons are wide open, and players are welcome to pick up not only deities, but also other mythic figures such as kobolds, leprechauns or djinn. While they are often described as immortal - they do not age, for one - gods can actually die. It is much harder to kill them, since their survival is linked to belief, but it can be done. They may still be able to use some shadow of their former power, but remember that by doing so they're also expending precious belief.
NEW GODS
New Gods are essentially the physical embodiments of new innovations (like technology), new fads and modern consumer culture, and all the things Americans "worship", rely on or put their faith in now. Computers, television, radio, telecommunications, the internet, cars, planes, highways, guns, cigarettes, drugs, shopping malls, corporations, fast food, Big Oil - the list goes on. They tend not to embody some of the sweeping concepts ruled over by the gods of old, like music or wealth, but may well encompass new expressions of those things - like the music industry or rock 'n roll in the case of music, or capitalism, Wall Street or banking in the realm of wealth.
Unlike the old gods, they are at the height of their power and don't need to show any restraint in using it - they have belief to spare. This fact also makes them harder to kill than the old gods, but with difficulty, it can be done.
Players are also welcome to get creative with New Gods who have already risen to and receded from power in the course of American history - gods, for instance, of the railways and telegraphs. To different degrees, these face similar dilemmas to the old gods, attempting to scrape out enough belief to continue their existence.
Their rise to power is usually linked to their commericalisation or popularisation. So for example, while tobacco smoking existing long before European settlement of the Americas, it is only with the rise of the tobacco trade that the god Big Tobacco took form.
COMMUNITIES
![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif) forgotten_gods is our main RP comm, where players can thread and may post AIM RP logs.
forgotten_past is for threading and logging used to establish or play out events and relationships in a character's past - essentially, any time between their arrival in America and present day. Roleplay in this community is entirely optional, but may be useful for players interested in exploring the different stages and associations in their god's very likely long history.
forgotten_ooc is the place for out of character discussion.
![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) forgotten_mods is the mod journal, where all announcements and information regarding gameplay will be posted. |
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