Tombs of the Gods: Core Concepts
This will serve as an overview for the core concepts and ideas I have added to the Godbound setting that will be referenced in future content for the Tombs of the Gods setting. Again, the free version of Godbound can be found here for those who want to learn more about the rules of the game. Even if Tombs of the Gods does not appeal to you as a setting, feel free to take individual concepts that appeal to you and use them in your own game.
-The Great Chain of Being
A philosophy that describes the hierarchy of all beings, from the smallest insect to The One Itself. The philosophy of the Great Chain of Being exists in the religious scholarship of the Unitary Church both as a means of justifying their worship and as an attempt to classify and rank beings that, for much of history, were beyond human capability and understanding. All scholars agree that The One, The Creator, God Itself sits at the top of this chain, however everything that follows is up for debate. There are, of course, the angels, but there are many schools who argue over whether the lesser gods - the creatures we would call Godbound - rank above or below the angels. Indeed, there are some spirits that are powerful enough to contend with angels as well, though it is largely agreed that the spirits rank lower on the hierarchy than the angels and lesser gods. There are some blasphemous scholars that believed the Leviathans and the uncreated should also be a part of the Chain, however they voiced these opinions very quietly and only in the company of those they believed they could trust. It is commonly agreed that the Leviathans and uncreated are not part of God's Creation, and thus do not fit within the Chain. A recent addition to the Chain - though the addition more closely resembles a retcon - is The Undisputed Master, who has been installed directly below God and above all other things.
The Great Chain of Being in your game: while this is largely just lore fluff, many priests of the Unitary Church will make reference to the Chain in order to justify their words and actions. The addition of The Undisputed Master serves as a symbol of the perversion of the natural order of things, as well as the subversion occurring in both the Church and history itself, thanks to The Master's machinations. The philosophy of The Chain is not so integral to the setting that it must permeate every strata of society, but it is a useful tool to illustrate natural order and disruptions to it.
-The Undisputed Master and his Circle
This is just a brief overview of The Undisputed Master and how he is important to the setting: further detail on who he is and his past will be given when I eventually write up a series of Persons of Interest for the setting. The Undisputed Master is a powerful sorcerer who has used his abilities to re-write history such that the Unitary Church of Arcem has worshiped him since the end of The Age of Heroes. He has only re-written the historical record and most people's recollection of it, however, and all creatures with 11 HD or more, as well as the PCs, may have a Spirit save to resist this historical revision. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people in Arcem will be affected by this re-write, meaning that the vast majority of Uniters will be worshiping him and his companions at the start of the game. The Master's "Circle" are Godbound who have been hand-picked by The Undisputed Master to aid him towards his goal of becoming arch-god of Arcem: while I will be expanding upon the members of the Circle I have generated for my own campaign in the People of Interest section, other GMs should feel free to design their own level 10 Godbound to assist The Undisputed Master. While The Master's Circle may not trust him completely, they should at least trust him enough to not be actively planning to overthrow him or undermine him behind his back. The Unitary Church will treat The Master's Circle as saints, and worship them as part of his Pantheon.
This Undisputed Master Guy sounds weird and like he came out of nowhere. Why should I use him in my game?
Ultimately you don't have to, but he serves a lot of useful purposes, especially if you have people who are new to the game of Godbound. First and foremost, he will take an interest in newly-born Godbound and seek to take them under his wing. He has his own reasons for doing this, which will be elaborated on when I get to the Persons of Interest supplement, but he can just as easily serve as a kindly-if-eccentric mentor as he can an antagonist. He is not the kind of person who would ever tag along with the pantheon and help them in their adventures, but he's an excellent GM mouthpiece to teach new gods how to use their abilities to influence the world, as well as an occasional mulligan button if things go really bad (but only if he has a good relationship with the pantheon). Finally, he's a driving player in a lot of Tombs of the Gods' backstory, so the setting may feel a bit incomplete if he doesn't at least make a token appearance.
-Pantheon Apotheosis
Where the Apotheosis Word allows individual Godbound to benefit from the worship of their cult, Pantheon Apotheosis is a benefit that Godbound with the Apotheosis Word can benefit from if their styles of godhood synergize well together. In order for a pantheon of Godbound to benefit from Pantheon Apotheosis, their worshipers must collectively recognize the Godbound as a cohesive group that works together. Internal strife within a Pantheon is alright - and expected to some degree - but outright war between pantheon members will not allow Pantheon Apotheosis to occur. That said, squabbling and arguments typical of a family will not disrupt Pantheon Apotheosis: so long as the Pantheon is assumed by most worshipers to be a cohesive group that are at least nominally working together, then the Godbound will be able to benefit from it.
What are the benefits of Pantheon Apotheosis?
First and foremost, it's a means by which Dominion gain can be evened out across the board, as well as a way to allow more unified cult management. Instead of each individual Godbound benefiting from their own individual cult, a single cult is instead formed that worships the Pantheon as a whole. Free Divinities may be worshiped as part of a Pantheon, but will not benefit from Pantheon Apotheosis and will instead simply gain the normal benefits associated with being a Free Divinity. For those Godbound with the Apotheosis Word benefiting from Pantheon Apotheosis, each may set their own conditions for their worship, however Dominion gain and religious Faction problems will be based on the most strenuous demands. So, for example, if three Godbound in a Pantheon are content to allow for basic worship, while the fourth demands routine blood sacrifice, all gods would gain Dominion and the Faction will receive problems as if all of the Godbound were demanding routine blood sacrifice.
Additionally, Godbound benefiting from Pantheon Apotheosis may each take up to 4 custom Lesser Gifts centered around the theme of their Pantheon: one at 3rd level, one at 6th level, one at 9th level and one at 10th level. These Gifts must be decided on collectively by all members of the Pantheon, meaning that individual members do not have Pantheon Gifts unique to them: that's what their own chosen Words are for. These Gifts should be based not on what is useful to the Pantheon - such as damaging smites or helpful Gifts to fill in gaps in their builds - but instead be based around the deeds they have accomplished and the myths that their followers form around them. A Pantheon that frequently travels, for example, might gain a Gift that lets them conjure magical mounts to aid them on their travels, while a Pantheon that decides to settle in one area and improve it might gain a Gift that aids in the construction of settlements. Free Divinities within a Pantheon benefiting from Pantheon Apotheosis will not have access to Pantheon Gifts unless they decide to take the Apotheosis Word.
-The Spirit Kingdoms
In Godbound, spirits are ephemeral beings associated with individual Words that require a physical shell in order to enter the material world. But where do these spirits reside when they haven't been summoned into the material world? The Spirit Kingdoms. The precise nature of the Spirit Kingdoms are fiercely debated by scholars across Arcem. Some state that to enter a Spirit Kingdom is to go inside a Celestial Engine that maintains Creation, while others claim that they are half-way points between the material world and the Uncreated Night. Regardless of what they are, the number of Spirit Kingdoms in your game may vary greatly based on the needs of the GM. It is possible that each nation has its own collection of Spirit Kingdoms associated with it, or it may be that there are but a handful that govern all of the metaphysical matters of Arcem. Regardless of what you decide for your game, Tombs of the Gods assumes the following: there is but one Sun Kingdom in all of Creation, and Arcem has two Sea Kingdoms - North and South - divided at the equator (located roughly at the middle point of Vissio).
Actually entering a Spirit Kingdom is relatively simple, most of the time: one must simply find an area associated with a particular Word and travel deep within it. To enter a Sea Kingdom, for example, one need only swim out into the ocean, then swim down until the material world melts away and the Spirit Kingdom begins. Different Spirit Kingdoms have different policies about materials entering their borders: the Sea Kingdoms, for example, are indifferent to visitors, though visitors should be aware that many predators lurk in the depths that may think them a delicious snack. The Sun Kingdom, on the other hand, refuses entry even to Sky spirits unless the prospective visitor has received the blessing of one of the Sun's lords. Future content will detail the Spirit Kingdoms that are relevant to specific adventures, but GMs should feel free to create their own Spirit Kingdoms and add them into their games as they see fit.
-Leviathans
As God made Creation, so too did the Leviathans make the uncreated. Little is known about the mysterious beasts known as the Leviathans, as they perished in the Age of Heroes. That said, death does not mean the same thing to creatures that predate the concept as it does to mortals, and those desperate or unscrupulous enough may find the remains of these dread monstrosities in the depths Uncreated Night or imprisoned deep within forgotten places. While Leviathans are not all necessarily uniformly evil, they all hold some degree of hatred for Creation, as that is where they met their demise. Blasphemous rumors persist among those with secret and occult knowledge that some living Leviathans may yet exist within the furthest reaches of the Uncreated Night or in some distant Far Realm, but none who have gone seeking them have returned.
How do I use Leviathans in my game?
While it is certainly possible to fight the remains of a Leviathan, they are already dead, so "killing" them a second time will only serve to set them back or temporarily incapacitate them. Additionally, given the sheer size of a Leviathan, individual limbs should constitute a challenge on par with a Hulking Abomination, Angelic Tyrant or even Made God, so direct confrontation is not always the best choice when confronting these terrors from beyond Creation. Leviathans make excellent permanent threats as sires of terrible creatures or whisperers of temptations to mortals, as well as tests for your players' problem-solving abilities, since simply stabbing them will not put them down. More often than not, permanently ending the threat of a Leviathan will require a significant Dominion expenditure to seal them away or to repair their existing prison. They may also take unconventional shapes, such as living ideas, sentient cities or cursed landscapes, though they will always be restrained by default by some form of prison put in place during the Age of Heroes (although the weakening or destruction of said prison would make for an excellent adventure hook). Finally, the Leviathans are tied to some of Creations deepest and most buried secrets, though that will come in a later supplement.
-The Age of Heroes
The Age of heroes was a time in the distant past where mortal champions were imbued with divine power in order to combat the threat posed by the Leviathans to Creation. These heroes forged great Artifacts, lead armies, founded civilizations and worked great changes upon Creation, all in the name of The One in order to achieve their goals. As a reward for their service, the survivors were granted godhood and ruled over their peoples for all time in what became known as The Age of Virtue. That was the idea, anyways. Many of the heroes became gods that we are familiar with today - Odin, Thor, Sol Invictus, Neptune, to name a few - but there were also gods unique to Arcem. Individuals of note, as well as some of their final resting places, will be detailed in future content.
Why should I care about the Age of Heroes when it happened so long ago?
The Age of Heroes is a fantastic resource to draw upon for back-filling your game with the epic deeds of heroes past. Additionally, if you ever need justification for why some Artifact of power or theurgic enchantment exists within your setting, simply stating "It was created during the Age of Heroes" is an excellent way to justify it. Some Godbound may be intrigued by the gods that came before them, seeking out their Artifacts as symbols of their own legitimacy or striving to re-create their deeds as tests of their own prowess, but it's entirely possible that they might think these dead gods to be foolish, and that's alright too. Ultimately, how players and GMs choose to engage with the ancient past is up to them, and some might enjoy fleshing it out more than others. The Age of Heroes will be left intentionally vague by default so that GMs can fill in their own great gods and heroes, though future updates will include a few that I've built for my own campaign.
-The Age of Virtue
Once the Leviathans had been dealt with and The One had granted the surviving heroes godhood - at least according to legend - the newly-christened gods ushered in a utopian era free from conflict, disease and strife. Yeah, it's hard to say that with a straight face. Most histories and parables will recount this age with rose-tinted idealism, describing it as the greatest age Creation has ever known, but the true histories will reflect that many of the lesser gods did not take well to peace. Many of them were warriors without battles to fight, others were scarred by the horrors they needed to fight in order to establish this lasting peace, and yet others had ambitions that put them into conflict with their former allies. While there were certainly some that attempted to unobtrusively go about running their civilizations, many gods wound up competing or even warring with each other over anything from long-standing rivalries to ideological differences to simple spite.
What's so important about the Age of Virtue?
The Age of Virtue symbolizes a shift from heroic myth to the reality of ruling over a world for the lesser gods. While many of them may not have been the best candidates for the job, outright warfare between the gods was rare as at least a handful of gods and angels would step in to act as mediators. Many sports and traditions were born out of this Age to give centuries-long grudges and rivalries an outlet. Artifacts from this age tend to be practical, such as panaceas that cure all diseases or magical fast-travel networks, or grandiose, such as Godwalkers meant to fight against each other for sport or Artifacts designed to spread the user's influence. Of course, technology and magic were at their height in these days, so feel free to pepper in sci-fi gadgets and long-lost low magic as more mundane rewards for exploring ruins of this Age.
-The Second Age of Heroes
Whatever history you settle on for The Age of Heroes and The Age of Virtue, The Second Age of Heroes is where Creation was doomed to its current state. For reasons unknown, new divine heroes began arising from the champions of the Age of Virtue with power to rival the lesser gods. Needless to say, the established deities were none too pleased about this and worked to ensure that their own power would not be threatened. While there may have been hope for cooperation between the new and old gods at some point, that optimism was shattered with the first god slaying since the Age of Heroes. No one remembers if the first blood spilled from the veins of a new or old god, but once the blood flowed, war was inevitable. Lines were drawn, divinities took sides, and the war was fought. At some point, one of the gods had the bright idea of leading their armies into Heaven to demand that The One put an end to this foolishness once and for all, only to find the Throne empty. Once this discovery got out, the flood gates were opened and the myriad wars became over the empty Throne rather than simple land and ideals.
As the conflict grew more intense, research and development of new weapons became ever more frantic and ever less scrupulous until a terrible discovery was made: through the proper combination of theurgies and faith, mortals were able to create their own gods. And not just gods to rival the ones that ruled over them, but to surpass them. Thus were born the Made Gods, who slew many a lesser god and drove the few survivors into hiding. With the advent of these titans of divinity, the Last War truly began and Creation inevitably spiraled towards The Shattering.
Why did there need to be a Second Age of Heroes?
The primary answer for this is a secret only for GMs that will be published in a later piece of content, but another good answer is because Creation needed to be Shattered somehow! It also serves as a bridge for the Tombs of the Gods mythos to canon Godbound lore, as well as a great Age to cram all sorts of man-made horrors into. Artifacts from this era are by and large unethical and inhuman engines of destruction. At some point, humanity and the gods themselves stopped caring about what was right and sought only to determine who was left, and the devices they used to sort such things out make for excellent instruments of death and cruelty. If a villain is using some sort of ancient tool of evil, it almost certainly came from The Second Age of Heroes.
And there you have it! A complete primer on the core concepts and background information for Tombs of the Gods. My next update will likely be a Persons of Interest profile, as well as some stats for those who survived the various Ages. While all of this is meant to form the backbone for Tombs of the Gods, it is my hope that individual elements of the setting can be taken out and used for your own Godbound game, even if the setting itself does not catch your interest. Until next time!