Non-standard mythologies

[FenrisUlf]

This has prpbably been done before, but has anyone here (or in comics) ever done anything with non-standard (i.e., non Norse or Greco-Roman) mythology? I've seen evidence of both Aztec and Aboriginal mythology used in the Champs Universe, which is good. And of course from what I've seen there's oodles of Jewish belief used in the Four Worlds layout & the qlippoth.

Has anyone else ever used any 'non-standard' myth-cycles, like Hindu or Voudon or American Indian?

[Hermit]

American Indian Totems and Spirits have come into use in my game. One player's character, Kestrel, already having wings (her parents were subject to some mutative experiments, she gained them at puberty) ended up on "Eagle Rock" only to find out was a magical place indeed. Grandfather Eagle appeared, and liked her purity of heart so much he granted her his cry (energy blast) :)

Gwydion of Welsh myth is a major NPC in my campaigns and a member of Force 1 (The JL equivilent of my world). He's a mystic metamorph who tries to keep other gods from getting too tyranical in their dealings with humans.
The celtic deites are almost as used as the greek ones in my games.


I have used some Egyptian God cameos.

[bblackmoor]

The celtic deites are almost as used as the greek ones in my games.

Same here. My best friend mainly used Celtic myth as source material, and I mainly used Norse, Hindu, and Greco-Roman mythology.

As an aside, the way I handled the conflicting mythologies was a) to make them entirely unaware of each other, and b) to make them the same deities seen through a different lense. For a simple example, Hel and Pluto were not aware of each other, much less each other's pantheons and mythologies, but they had certain trappings in common. In "reality" they were the same entity.

Was that contradictory? Yes, it was. Nonetheless, it was true. Metaphysics is like that, sometimes.

[Ghost who Walks]

I pretty much use them all, they form a lot of background history, IMC. They are basicly the predessessors to the modern generaton of Heroes.

Good pantheons that aren't often used include the Babylonian and Persian. I especially like the Persian ones, becasue its evil/demon aspect has a lot of depth.

Babylonian pantheon and Indian mythology is very superheroic-style. Hanuman is very usable.

Good site for ideas.
http://www.pantheon.org

[RobCRogers]

This has prpbably been done before, but has anyone here (or in comics) ever done anything with non-standard (i.e., non Norse or Greco-Roman) mythology? I've seen evidence of both Aztec and Aboriginal mythology used in the Champs Universe, which is good. And of course from what I've seen there's oodles of Jewish belief used in the Four Worlds layout & the qlippoth.

Has anyone else ever used any 'non-standard' myth-cycles, like Hindu or Voudon or American Indian?
I've seen Jewish lore used in comics (Ragman, various Golem characters). There was once a long African mythology storyline in Firestorm of all places (several years back) that I thought was pretty darn interesting. And I've seen Native American lore and Aztec lore a few times (Coyote, Aztec Ace, and a few others). Seems like Hawaiian lore's popped up here and there (in Superboy, for example). That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but world mythology is certainly a great resource for comics stories and gaming.

[Doug McCrae]

Has anyone else ever used any 'non-standard' myth-cycles, like Hindu or Voudon or American Indian?Oh yeah. You have to keep trawling new sources, cause Norse and Greek have been used so much.

I've got got a Golden Age superhero called Joe Magarac (a Paul Bunyan-esque heroic steel worker from American folklore).

And I ripped off all sorts of obscure sources, including Albanian mythology, for my upcoming DnD game. No special reason for that - just trying to be a bit different.

[Kirby]

This has prpbably been done before, but has anyone here ever done anything with non-standard mythology?
I tried creating a Lovecraft/Cthulhu type myth in my game. Sadly, none of the beings I used before have shown up in HERO 5E. Said beings are Darkulans, Leatherwings, the Seven Horseman, White Cralwlers and Primes.

[Koshka]

This has prpbably been done before, but has anyone here (or in comics) ever done anything with non-standard (i.e., non Norse or Greco-Roman) mythology?

Back in the 4th edition days, I did a pulp-era con game where the party found themselves in a lost valley inhabited by Aztecs and Toltecs. I gave the Evil Aztec Emperor the ability to summon/control Tzitzime, which are fairly nasty beings from Aztec mythology (especially for heroic-level characters -- I also gave the Good Toltec Priest some healing abilities).

I've thought about putting either voodoo or Santeria in a game, but since the campaign in production at the moment is Golden Age I don't think that's gonna work too well.

[Blue]

Current Campaign: One NPC (Muse) was Calliope, a woman who inspires others but can never truly learn or grow (It's the side effect of spurring growth in others). One PC (Falcon) has powers of light and a bird-like head, as well as Egyptian accoutrements. The prime villain of the first cyle of the campaign was a forgotten Pope long excommunicated from the church, his place in history buried for his sins. (Mythology? To some.) One guy has a small disc with an strange pictogram embedded in his forehead. He does not know yet but it marks him as an alien chosen one of sorts, when I introduce aliens to the campaign next time I run. More in the folklore department, Baba Yaga runs a sanctuary that teleports from dimension to dimension where good and bad meet but are incapable of fighting.
No Native American, Aborigine, Celtic, or others yet in this campaign. But that's mostly because I've done those to death in other games.

[Lightray]

One of the PCs is a descendant of Ra, so we've had descendants/minions of Set as well. Plus the PC can now be spoken to by other Egyptian gods in his dreams.

Thorium is a PC with Thor's hammer (from an alternate campaign world), and the PCs have gone to what's left of Asgard (from that alternate world).

Aegis is a PC who's foster mother -- the gorgon Stheno -- dipped him into the river Styx. He's got the winged sandals and shield of Perseus, too. They've met his "aunt" Euryale, but no other Greek gods have shown up.

Fire Angel is a PC who is a Zoroastrian angel, descended into the mortal realm. Seraph was a previous PC who was a generic Judeo-Christian angel type.

The PCs have met a race of Stargods -- Aztec/Mayan deities and their descendants who left Earth when Quetzalcouatl went into exile. Tezcatlipoca and Camazotz are still around, just haven't shown up yet...

There was a retired PC who was a Native American shaman, who dealt with all the totem spirits. We created a sort of amalgam mythology for that since she didn't want to stick to one tribe's beliefs for her character (she didn't want to trivialize their religions). Her DNPC is now an NPC hero.

I've a villain who is half-sidhe, has Balor's Eye and Nuada's Silver Arm -- and is an archaeologist in his secret identity who's been recovering artifacts from other mythologies. Like the Nemean Lionskin, Pan's Syrinx, Marduk's thunderbolt Dumaki, Hachiman's bow, and a whole lot of famous swords (e.g., Durandal, Cortana, etc.).

And in the past, the high-powered supermages have run into Baba Yaga (Koschei's around, too) and Sedna (Inuit myths). Still haven't tapped African mythology...

[Agent X]

Oh yeah. You have to keep trawling new sources, cause Norse and Greek have been used so much.

I've got got a Golden Age superhero called Joe Magarac (a Paul Bunyan-esque heroic steel worker from American folklore).

And I ripped off all sorts of obscure sources, including Albanian mythology, for my upcoming DnD game. No special reason for that - just trying to be a bit different. Hey! Great minds - I've got a character based on the Joe Magarac myself. :winkgrin:

[FenrisUlf]

Thanks for everything, and very glad to see the Joe Magarac ref (my dad was a PA steelworker; good to see our mythic hero remembered by someone).

I'll say more later when I'm on a computer that doesn't try logging me off the site every five minutes. But thanks for everything, truly.

Later

[Ghost who Walks]

Just a quick note, I often take mythologies and horribly mutate them. Under the theory that oral history and legends do not equal true history.

Examples from my campaign:
~Babylonian Pantheon were founded by a dragon. Dragon was sent to Earth to create and protect human civilization.
~Greek Pantheon was founded by Kronos/Saturn, who was a PC time traveller. This opens up the whole paradox situation. Give Hercules a spaceship, so he can chase after Minos and the Zodiac.
~Odin was a cyborg, abducted 20,000 years ago by aliens. He keeps one eye always covered, as the aliens put a camera in it...
~Titans (greek Mythology) factor in big. They are basicly immortal guardians of the earth, trained by aliens to act something like the Peace Corps. They are master manipulators, behind many historical events.
~Egyptian pantheon is my players favorite. Combine Egyptian Pantheon with old Thundercats cartoon. Mix in blender, spew out result. Surprisingly very workable, for players to encounter when time-travelling or flashbacks. Not very workable in modern day...

This strategy works well if you have players raised on D&D mythology.

[freakboy6117]

hmm i have one self created mythology a extra dimensional alien culture who come to earth and proclaim them selves gods to a south american jungel tribe who grow into a relitivly propserous civilisation.
The gods tithed them warriors who go off and fight in there wars. in exhange the gods left artifacts that granted great power to the defenders of the tribe usually older women as well as technology/magic to keep the tribe strong and of course training to make them better at warfare.

the tribe called them selves the people of the star bridge and worshiped there alien benifactors embewing different aspects of there gifts with different names.

[Blue]

I'm currently of the opinion (though I've not impelemented it in game yet) that the Greek Gods were merely early superheroes. a 400pt super could seem pretty godlike to people who've never flown or sent people to the moon.

[Mike W]

Japanese and Chinese mythologies have possibilities. American Indian myths are good source material, for background if nothing else. Celtic Mythology has a lot of possibilities, especially if you center around the three great treasures of Celtic Myth(particularly the Standing Stone, which is the one that isn't lost).

[Kirby]

I'm currently of the opinion (though I've not impelemented it in game yet) that the Greek Gods were merely early superheroes. a 400pt super could seem pretty godlike to people who've never flown or sent people to the moon.
There was a sourcebook appropriately titled "The Olympians" which used this concept also, though they were actually alien, cosmic energy beings. That, and 400 points was the mid to low end. :snicker:

[Ghost who Walks]

I'm currently of the opinion (though I've not impelemented it in game yet) that the Greek Gods were merely early superheroes. a 400pt super could seem pretty godlike to people who've never flown or sent people to the moon.

This idea becomes especially interesting when you remember how certain cities had specific gods as their patron. Athens is the obvious one, but there are many others.

[SleepyDrug]

Greek mythology has well documented spheres of control and personalities for the gods and heroes. it is very easy to find information.

Norse mythology is a good runner-up on those points.

Egyptian mythology has a lot of overlap between the gods.

Celtic myth is hard to find useful information on. Pantheon.org requires a lot of footwork for a project like this.

[Blue]

There was a sourcebook appropriately titled "The Olympians" which used this concept also, though they were actually alien, cosmic energy beings. That, and 400 points was the mid to low end. :snicker:
I've seen the Olympians at my local game store but did little more that look at the cover. I decided also that it's likley the heroes/gods would never show up in the game as it currently is constructed.

I may have to take another look now. I don't want to make them aliens though; I'd rewrite that part certainly.

[Kirby]

I may have to take another look now. I don't want to make them aliens though; I'd rewrite that part certainly.
They made them aliens so not to offend anyone by calling them actually deities. Our GM that ran them ignored that part too.

I'd say take a look, especially if it is discounted. It can be great fun, even if you only run one adventure on Olympus.

PS: The rest being run on Earth, or linking them to the Zodiac if you use them (or at least Taurus).

[bblackmoor]

In my most long-running campaign, the "real" gods (as opposed to aliens or extradimensional beings which played at being gods) were not so much individual entities as they were expressions of a universal concept. Hel/Hades/Pluto, for example. By design or happenstance, they were not aware of this: the very fabric of their existence prevented them knowing it.

It remained unanswered whether they predated mortals, or whether they were a conseqeunce of mortal belief. The only person the PCs ever encountered who understood it was herself neither immortal nor mortal, but something else. I'm paraphrasing, but what she told them was something like this:

"What makes them powerful also limits them: for they do not change. Hades shall be Hades, forevermore. No more, and no less. But you, mortals, change. You are change. That is why they fear you. For they know, even though they do not realize it, that you have the potential to become their peers, even to grow beyond them: to make them irrelevant. Once they are no longer relevant, they will cease to be. And that is what they fear most, though but few know it."

This was a very long time ago, of course, back when my friends and I played Champions several times a week, and it was entirely possible to have a subplot which went on for years in the real world.

It's not exactly an original idea, of course. Neil Gaiman used a similar idea a few years later in his novel American Gods.

[steriaca]

I haven't truly used gods in my campain exactly (since it floundered before I could get that far), but if I was to start one up again, I am shure to create Shiva The Destroyer, because I love that name. It is so supervilllian-iss.

[Maelstrom]

I've run games based on Indian mythology, before. I got the idea from reading "Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny. Well worth reading.

[Ghost who Walks]

A bunch of good ideas here.

I agree that some of the mythologies can be very confusing...overlaping of powers, and characters that are way to powerful to be believeable. Sometimes I think this is cultural inflation, an attempt by moderns to make their gods more powerful than everyone elses.

The Celtic gods seem especially prone to this. In general, when adapting a god, look at the legend, rather than the description. The Greek gods in the Illiad/Odyssey are very different than they are usually portrayed in Marvel.

Another ways to do gods, especially the Native American, Indian, and Chinese ones is with the avatar concept. Basicly, a god is an immortal spirit, that can possess people. Often this is though a mystical ceremony or by possession of an object.

This has several advantages, in it allows lower powered gods. It also allows you to pick and choose which gods you want to have this happen to. The powers may manifest all the time, or sometimes. At times, the god may take control over the host body...effectively giving blackout periods.

[FenrisUlf]

With Steve's statement that Tezcatlipoca will be playing a major role in the upcoming Arcane Adversaries, I'm ecstatic. I can finally put all my knowledge of Aztec mythology to use.

And I stil do think that American mythology -- not just the varied native tribes and nations, but the lore of the whites, blacks, etc. -- is shamefully underused. Like the Joe Magarac ref above; there's simply TONS of good material begging to be used. Ken Hite covered this once in a Suppressed Transmissions article about Paul Bunyan and oodles of other American working-class heroes (including one guy I've never heard of, Stanley Owlswick III, the World's Greatest LSD Chemist; I'm guessing he's from the 60's). Really, aside from DC's Steel (who was based loosely on John Henry), has anyone ever seen any of this material used?

And would a 'mythic America' exist in the CU Land of Legends? You know, Paul Bunyan's woods right next to Big Rock Candy Mountain with Big Mose's Bowery just down the road...

[SleepyDrug]

Versions of the greek and norse abound, but they are easy to identify.

Major personality traits, rough powers/abilities, and spheres of influence of the Greek or Norse gods are easy to find.

Making sense of the names and spheres of influence of...the egyptian gods is harder. Horus, Ra, Amon-Ra, and Helieos are all gods of the sun.

This is why you see less egyptian gods.

[Lightray]

Versions of the greek and norse abound, but they are easy to identify.

Major personality traits, rough powers/abilities, and spheres of influence of the Greek or Norse gods are easy to find.

Making sense of the names and spheres of influence of...the egyptian gods is harder. Horus, Ra, Amon-Ra, and Helieos are all gods of the sun.

This is why you see less egyptian gods.
That's because people are trying to compress ~5000 years or so of Egyptian mythology into one unified pantheon.

The "Classical Greece" and Viking eras that are being used as mythological sources are, what, a few 100s of years long? And even in that period we can see evidence that the mythology had changed or was changing.

When I use the Egyptian pantheon, I tend to use the "Ra was the old sun god, but was succeeded in his senescence by Horus, who became Horus-Re" route.

[urbwar]

There was a sourcebook appropriately titled "The Olympians" which used this concept also, though they were actually alien, cosmic energy beings. That, and 400 points was the mid to low end. :snicker:

The Olympians sourcebook is the real Greek Gods. The alien beings who posed as the various gods were in Alien Enemies (they were called The Pantheon); it even references how they interact with the Olympians if you use them in your game. They also first appeared to the Romans, and thus use the Roman names (Jupiter, Neptune, etc)

Their origin is very similar to Helios from The Protectors, but Alien Enemies doesn't mention him at all, which I always found weird. I always felt his symbiote was of the same species as the others, and it would have been an interesting hook to tie him into that group.

In an old game of mine, I actually used some of the gods of Chaos from Michael Moorcock's work. Basically Arioch and a few others were trying to spread Chaos into my campaign's universe, and the pc's tried to stop them. Thankfully, they prevailed, and drove them back to their own dimension.

[Kirby]

The Olympians sourcebook is the real Greek Gods.
Not according to The Olympians they aren't real gods. The book states "[T]he Greek 'gods' are not actually divine beings. They are simply fictional extra-dimensional life forms with extraordinary abilities." (p. 3)

Now, if you're saying that the beings in the book are what the myths are supposed to be based on, yes, but they are listed as aliens, not divine beings.


They also first appeared to the Romans, and thus use the Roman names (Jupiter, Neptune, etc)
By "they" do you mean the Olympians, or the Pantheon? I'm going to guess the latter since The Olympians states "Although the Romans never actually encountered the Olympians, they did imitate the Greeks and adopted the worship of the absent gods. However, the Romans never had personal interaction with the gods, and this accounts for the Roman view of the gods as more idealized and less human." (p. 5)

[urbwar]

Not according to The Olympians they aren't real gods. The book states "[T]he Greek 'gods' are not actually divine beings. They are simply fictional extra-dimensional life forms with extraordinary abilities." (p. 3)

Now, if you're saying that the beings in the book are what the myths are supposed to be based on, yes, but they are listed as aliens, not divine beings.


I didn't have my copy of The Olympians with me, but in the campaign use section on the Pantheon, it states:

"Finally, if he is using the actual Greek Gods in his campaign (as presented in The Olympians), then the GM should decide how the two groups interact. It is entirely possible that Zeus and his brethren will be angered by the alien mimics. Perhaps the PCs will have to avert a divine war!"

That's why I stated that they were gods. Guess the info in Alien Enemies was wrong (which will teach me not to double check before posting)



By "they" do you mean the Olympians, or the Pantheon? I'm going to guess the latter since The Olympians states "Although the Romans never actually encountered the Olympians, they did imitate the Greeks and adopted the worship of the absent gods. However, the Romans never had personal interaction with the gods, and this accounts for the Roman view of the gods as more idealized and less human." (p. 5)

Yes, I was talking about The Pantheon. Sorry for not being clearer on that point. The Pantheon's arrival likely came after The Olympians cut themselves off from Earth to fight the Titans (though again, I don't have Olympians in front of me to see when they cut themselves off; The Pantheon arrive around 100 B.C.)

[Kirby]

That, and 400 points was the mid to low end. :snicker:
Going back to my book, the primary fourteen beings listed average about 783 points, with the low being 497.
They are:
(Deity - Points)
Zeus - 1110
Hera - 722
Aphrodite - 611
Apollo - 897
Aries - 721
Artemis - 793
Athena - 715
Demeter - 754
Dionysus - 720
Hephaestus - 637
Hermes - 810
Poseidon - 986
Hades - 992
Charon - 497

They list lots of other "deities & demigods" as well as heroes, villains and beasts, but most major characters don't have their points listed, just a compacted character sheet with little to no numbers. Circe is 375 points though.

[Kirby]

"Finally, if he is using the actual Greek Gods in his campaign (as presented in The Olympians), then the GM should decide how the two groups interact. It is entirely possible that Zeus and his brethren will be angered by the alien mimics. Perhaps the PCs will have to avert a divine war!"

That's why I stated that they were gods. Guess the info in Alien Enemies was wrong.
Well, I can see it meaning that the aliens in The Olympians were the "true source" for the Greek myths and thus the true "gods" that way, while the Pantheon is the imitation league.


Yes, I was talking about The Pantheon. Sorry for not being clearer on that point. The Pantheon's arrival likely came after The Olympians cut themselves off from Earth to fight the Titans (though again, I don't have Olympians in front of me to see when they cut themselves off; The Pantheon arrive around 100 B.C.)
It doesn't state the time in the book, though it seems to imply right before the Romans invaded (due to the Titan fighting). "The Greeks were perplexed by the gods' sudden departure. Even this seemed less important when the Romans invaded and conquered all the Greek city-states." I don't know off-hand when this happened, and I'd have to look it up, but I believe it was prior to 100 B.C.

But like you, I treat the Olympians as the true Greek gods. I just wish I had the Aliens book.

[urbwar]

Going back to my book, the primary fourteen beings listed average about 783 points, with the low being 497.


That's much more powerful than the members of the Pantheon. They all come in under 350 points:

Jupiter- 327
Neptune- 291
Mars- 331
Luna- 297
Mercury- 259
Bacchus- 170

They'd likely get creamed by The Olympians if it ever came down to a fight

[FenrisUlf]

Something to add here: when people say that the Norse mythos lacked the confusion over divine roles you find in some other pantheons, that's not quite true. Mythologists and archaeologists have found quite a bit of evidence that Odin was 'king of the Aesir' in just one cult (that was the favorite among the rulers and poets, so he got all the good press). Other sources listed Tyr, Freyr, and Thor as divine kings. You can read all about this in Hilda R. Ellis-Davidsons' books.

And what about new uses for 'traditional' gods? Like making Set a good guy.
He was originally the defender of Ra's solar boat, and while always brutish, didn't become 'evil' until the Hyksos invaded. To me, the odd turnabout does the players and their characters some good: not /everything/ is what you think it is. And I guess I've always had a warm spot for Set, seeing as how he lives in Pennsylvania these days. ;)

[Mister E]

Just a quick note, I often take mythologies and horribly mutate them. Under the theory that oral history and legends do not equal true history.

Examples from my campaign:
~Babylonian Pantheon were founded by a dragon. Dragon was sent to Earth to create and protect human civilization.
~Greek Pantheon was founded by Kronos/Saturn, who was a PC time traveller. This opens up the whole paradox situation. Give Hercules a spaceship, so he can chase after Minos and the Zodiac.
~Odin was a cyborg, abducted 20,000 years ago by aliens. He keeps one eye always covered, as the aliens put a camera in it...
~Titans (greek Mythology) factor in big. They are basicly immortal guardians of the earth, trained by aliens to act something like the Peace Corps. They are master manipulators, behind many historical events.
~Egyptian pantheon is my players favorite. Combine Egyptian Pantheon with old Thundercats cartoon. Mix in blender, spew out result. Surprisingly very workable, for players to encounter when time-travelling or flashbacks. Not very workable in modern day...

This strategy works well if you have players raised on D&D mythology.

I think Ghost Who Walks is totally on for what a comic book mythos should be like. You need to mix it up, and bounce around a little of the super-bizarre rubber-science. I've recently been doing a lot of research into coming up with a common amalgamated cosmology for my game, where the differences in the heroes and deities from normally estranged mythologies, is not inherently apparent.

When you throw in the reality warping possibilities of time travel, and alternate dimentions, Ramayana, the Avatar of Vishnu from Hindu myth, could very easily be a super powered trick-archer, named "Golden Pheonix", who fights along with the Cuchulainn-like "Blue Fury" against the cosmic villain "Psychromatron", a sentient synthetic astral contruct that's taken up base on the far side of the moon, and is stylized after Questzalcoatl, and has kidnapped Golden Peonix's girlfriend, "Sita", in order to blackmail him into waging war on the Planet of the Apes, where Hanuman, a titanic grower, is the reigning superhero. :joint:

I love this kind of stuff. It's what it's all about for me. :rockon:

[Mister E]

Another thing to consider, is the fact that mythologies that on the surface appear to be unique and distinct, can really be quite integrated. For instance, take Odin, Hermes, and Thoth. They don't resemble each other at all, but in many ways, as the different cultures encountered one another, these gods took on similar aspects, and merged into one unified mythic consciousness.

When Odin went down into Hel to petition for Balder's life, He was referred to as "Hermod", which is like a contraction of "Hermes" and "Odin", Hermes being the transporter of souls to the underworld. Thoth was also identified with Hermes, and the Greeks called him "Hermes Trismegistris" or "Thrice-Great Hermes". The Book of Thoth, writen by Thoth, who was the inventor of magic, is called the Hermetica by the Greeks, and might be where the assossiation between Hermes and magic comes from. Odin, in that respects, is like-wise very similar with his runes, prophetic visions, and knowledge of the Mimir.

In my campaign, I'm designing an NPC called the "Tri-Majestrix", who is going to represent an upper bench-mark for mystical power and knowledge, and is loosely based on Odin, Thoth, and Hermes. He was born a man, tens of thousands of years ago, in an age beyond that of prehistory, and was a genius of unique stature, even on the temporal expanse of eons, which allowed him to craft the fabric of Earth's magical nature wholesale out of nothingness with his will. In this respect, the Tri-Majestrix takes on the aspect of a cosmic demi-god, bound to Earth. He lives all alone in the lost city of Hermopolis on the far side of the Moon, which is the last remains of an ancient eldar star race of pyramid shaped giants called the Mimir. When he found the empty city, he discovered an artifact called the Mimir Matrix, which is a kind of intellegence booster that awakens the finite mind to the grandness of infinite realitiy. He now exists on the boundry between "here" and "there", the Universe and the Abyss.

Anyhow, you get my drift. :ugly:

[Ghost who Walks]

And what about new uses for 'traditional' gods? Like making Set a good guy. He was originally the defender of Ra's solar boat, and while always brutish, didn't become 'evil' until the Hyksos invaded. To me, the odd turnabout does the players and their characters some good: not /everything/ is what you think it is. And I guess I've always had a warm spot for Set, seeing as how he lives in Pennsylvania these days. ;)
I like Set also. The way I did him was he was basicly a revolutionary, against the older gods (elder worms, Cthulthu, whatever), and defeated them.

Afterwards, he tried to build a multicultural and multiracial society (insert tower of Babel myth). Unfortunately, he fell victim to his own creation, the sentient golem Osiris (play Frankenstein music). Despite being inhuman, Osiris believed that those with powers should set themselves above normal humans. War resulted between the two, and Osiris was eventually murdered by Set, who disassembled his own creation.

Unfortunately, Osiris had married the goddess Isis, who sought revenge against Set. Allying with other gods, she managed to have him banished for centuries to a pocket dimension, where only through sheer will power did he surive.

Recently rescued by fellow Egyptian god Anhur, Set secretly works in the rare books collection of the New York public library. Superheroes are advised to conduct their battles with their villainous counterparts elsewhere. He can't understand any of these cults which have arisen about him, and tries often to "set the record straight".

I also agree that Egyptian mythology is very difficult, even a casual obesrvations will reveal they had thousands of gods. It's almost like they were being made somewhere, or there was some kind of rapid change in evolution going on (hint, hint).

The other fun thing to do with gods/mythology, is to try and place them at the scene of historcial events. Then have your characters do some time traveling. Fun ones I've run before include:

Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire. Greek civilization will vanish for four centuries after this event. In the chronology I did, the Greek pantheon, in a rare moment of cooperation, evacuated a large part of the population by magic. (in histroy they were masssacred, so its not that big a divergence)

Cortez versus the Aztecs: Arguing what kind of person the conquistadors were isn't necessary. What is interesting is that the tribes of central mexico believed their gods were real, and would intervene on their behalf. Who is to sya they didn't, and were opposed by the gods travelling with Cortez, some of them converted to Christianity? Imagine Ares the christian.