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--- consolidated:religion:divinity [2025/05/04 15:31] – johnb
+++ consolidated:religion:divinity [2025/07/20 16:56] (current) – johnb
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   * **Primordial Power:**  This is almost a back definition, based on the descriptions below.  Primordial powers are the very stuff of the cosmos – the essence of life, death, magic, nature, pain, anger, law, art, music, chaos …  All mortal life rolled into one.  It was Primordial Powers that formed our Prime Material and underpin it.  It was Primordial Powers that allowed mortals to survive the God Wars, and Primordial Powers that kickstarted both the first and second generation  of gods.  While they are the very essence of everything, they are completely inaccessible to mortals.  However, some sages believe that all of the lesser powers, Deities, Demi-gods, Quasi-deities and minor powers -get their abilities (including their divinity) directly from these Primordial Powers.  They are the driving source of everything.
-  * **Deity:** The standard Paizo definition is <i>any divinity that doesn't get a stat block</i> – although there have been a few ‘extra elements’ thrown in occasionally along the way.  One definition element I liked is that they are ‘incomprehensible’ to Mortals.  In other words, mortals know they exist, but don’t really understand them, nor can they second guess them.  This means that a full deity can have more than one church, with different philosophical interpretations of the faith – for Example:  in my game world Wee Jas has three different churches - with three different interpretations of how her faith should be represented.
+  * **Deity:** The standard Paizo definition is //any divinity that doesn't get a stat block// – although there have been a few ‘extra elements’ thrown in occasionally along the way.  One definition element I liked is that they are ‘incomprehensible’ to Mortals.  In other words, mortals know they exist, but don’t really understand them, nor can they second guess them.  This means that a full deity can have more than one church, with different philosophical interpretations of the faith – for Example:  in my game world Wee Jas has three different churches - with three different interpretations of how her faith should be represented.
-  * **Demigod:** The standard Paizo definition is <i>any divinity that gets a stat block and is almost always level 26–30 and is thus generally out of reach of typical groups.</i>  Demi-gods are much more ‘comprehensible’ to mortals, and are (in many ways) more predictable, relatable and personal than full deities – their churches tend to share a philosophical interpretation of the faith..  There are many more demi-gods than deities, and many demi-gods operate as assistants or subsidiaries to full deities.  Paizo lists many types of demi-god  https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Demigod
+  * **Demigod:** The standard Paizo definition is //any divinity that gets a stat block and is almost always level 26–30 and is thus generally out of reach of typical groups.//  Demi-gods are much more ‘comprehensible’ to mortals, and are (in many ways) more predictable, relatable and personal than full deities – their churches tend to share a philosophical interpretation of the faith..  There are many more demi-gods than deities, and many demi-gods operate as assistants or subsidiaries to full deities.  Paizo lists many types of demi-god  https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Demigod
-  * **Quasi-Deity:**  In the past there have used terms such as Hierophant, Godling, Quasi-Deity, Hero God and Nascent Power to imply an immortal able to grant spells but with less power than a Demi-god.  However, the current pathfinder definition is <i> any divinity of level 25 or lower with a stat block and is thus in the reach of typical groups.</i>   Paizo lists malebranche and nascent demon lords as examples of quasi deities, and there are probably others scattered around..  I am going to add powerful Mythic NPCs who can grant sixth level spells to their priests.  To further differentiate Quasi-Deities from Demi-gods and true deities, I am going to restrict them to granting spells from the Adept spell list.  Like demi-gods, many (probably most) quasi-deities are assistants, subsidiaries or even servants, to higher ranking deities.
+  * **Quasi-Deity:**  In the past there have used terms such as Hierophant, Godling, Quasi-Deity, Hero God and Nascent Power to imply an immortal able to grant spells but with less power than a Demi-god.  However, the current pathfinder definition is // any divinity of level 25 or lower with a stat block and is thus in the reach of typical groups.//   Paizo lists malebranche and nascent demon lords as examples of quasi deities, and there are probably others scattered around.  I am going to add powerful Mythic NPCs who can grant sixth level spells to their priests.  To further differentiate Quasi-Deities from Demi-gods and true deities, I am going to restrict them to granting spells from the Adept spell list.  Like demi-gods, many (probably most) quasi-deities are assistants, subsidiaries or even servants, to higher ranking deities.
   * **Minor Powers:** This covers everything else that doesn’t quite fit in the ‘Standard Mortal’ category.   For example:  Immortals without the ability to grant spells to followers; most mythic characters; any Divine Source that cannot grant 6th level spells; Nature Spirits.  Basically, any entity that might gain the ability to grant spells or might, somehow, ‘come to the notice’ of The Cosmos itself.
+===== Other terms =====
+  * **Philosophy:**  To many deities, supporting a philosophy is the equivalent of ‘lifestyle’ marketing - the more people follow philosophies that you approve of, the better.  Primordial deities underpin many philosophies, supported by other, more accessible deities.  Philosophies often underpin the Mysteries that power Oracles,  and the Patrons who power Witches – as well as other ‘granted power’ sources that don’t have an identifiable source.
+  * **Regional Pantheon:** Each region of the world has its own set of favoured deities  that flavours both political and social life, and gives each region its own special personality.  While the main deities pop up in many regions, the set of favoured deities changes.  That doesn’t mean that other deities aren’t  permitted, just that their followers aren’t so numerous or influential.
+  * **Worshipped Pantheon:**  This is a bit different.  While the deities of a regional pantheon all have their own temples and priests, a worshipped pantheon often has a single temple dedicated to the whole pantheon.  While some of the deities of the pantheon might be worshipped separately, the pantheon tends to be more powerful than the sum of its parts, and a Priest of The Pantheon, might be more powerful that the priests of the specific deities.
+  * **Primordial Spirits:**  Primordal spirits are minor powers that are associated with Primordal Powers.   The best examples are probably Nature Spirits, such as the Kami from the Paizo rules and various nature spirits, and weather spirits from the Chinese mythology in AD&D Legends and Lore. Natural feature can gain a life of their own, if they are worshipped hard enough -  or gain a shard of Immortality some other way.  But there are other primordial spirits - the Muses assiciated with music and the arts, are another well known set of primordial Natutre Spirits.  Most don’t act as a divine source, but they can help enable a philosophy, mystery or patron.
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 More interesting, is the question of how mortals become deities - at the moment I am aware of a number of ways.
-**Gift of the Gods** - there are all sorts of stories where a mortal (or some other creature) has been raised to a deity by another god. For Example, 'Nivi Rhombodazzle traded a special gem to Torag in exchange for becoming a demigoddess'and of my homebrew deities, at least two (Takri and Arth) were gifted their deific status by other deities. There are similar stories in just about every other rules set. That just tells us that many deities have more Shards of Divinity than they actually need, or can gather them very quickly, to be able to bestow them on another.
+  * **Gift of the Gods** - there are all sorts of stories where a mortal (or some other creature) has been raised to a deity by another god. For Example, 'Nivi Rhombodazzle traded a special gem to Torag in exchange for becoming a demigoddess, and of my homebrew deities, at least two (Takri and Arth) were gifted their deific status by other deities. There are similar stories in just about every other rules set.
-**Inheritance** - sometimes a god dies and passes their divinity and/or portfolio to another, for example Midnight became Mystara, in the 3.5 universe. However, it might be that a deity is killed in a fight, and the portfolio is 'stolen' by the victor. That could be another deity, feeding on the death or a peer, or a particularly powerful mortal (devil, demon etc) taking on a weakened deity and stealing their powers. Often times there will be a few shards of divinity left over, that just get lost in the ether …
+  * **Inheritance** - sometimes a god dies and passes their divinity and/or portfolio to another, for example (in the 3.5 universe) Midnight became Mystara. However, it might be that a deity is killed in a fight, and the portfolio is 'stolen' by the victor.
-**The Starstone** - Pathfinder has the Starstone as a shortcut to deity. You jump across to it, face various trials and, if you succeed, become a deity of some sort. Cayden Cailean, The Lucky Drunk, is probably the most well known of these.
+  * **Theft** - That could be another deity, devil, demon or a powerful mortal taking on a weakened deity and stealing their powers. Often times there will be a few shards of divinity left over, that just get lost in the ether …
-**Mythic Deeds** - as PF Mythic characters progress, they can gain mythic levels by becoming involved in events of cosmic / mythological importance. In my system, that just means they are in a position to absorb a stray Shard of Divinity. Each 'Trial' gains them one shard of Divinity - unless the DM decides differently. A character needs something like thirty trials/shards before they are a real power. However, by choosing the right abilities, they can become a quasi-deity after four trials (when they become tier 3) However, the spells that they can grant are very limited. I tend to restrict quasi-deities to Adept spells - just to add a bit of differentiation. I miss the days when Demi-gods could only grant 5th level spells, etc …
+  * **The Starstone** - Pathfinder has the Starstone as a shortcut to deity. You jump across to it, face various trials and, if you succeed, become a deity of some sort. Cayden Cailean, The Lucky Drunk, is probably the most well known of these.
+  * **Mythic Encounters** - PF characters (PC & NPC)can gain mythic levels by becoming involved in events of cosmic / mythological importance. In my system, that just means they are in a position to absorb a Shard of Divinity. Each 'encounter' gains them one or more shards of Divinity.