This gathering was lead primarily by the gods of nature, who saw human ascension as the worst possible violation of the natural order. Gods rule, mortals serve.

The conspirators reached out to the gods of the enslaved savage races, making deals and promises in exchange for aid. Many of the human gods disagreed with the course their deliberations were taking, and they were the first victims of the conflict - dissenting divine voices, mainly those who portfolios regarded the fruits of civilization and intellectual pursuits were silenced – slain and cannibalized by the others to restore flagging divine might.

The usurper gods struck before mortal clerics could understand why their patrons had gone silent. The battle was quick and brutal, shattering a continent beneath the outpouring of psionic and divine energies, but the gods prevailed in the end. They were left with a problem, however – they needed worship to live, but how to prevent humans from developing these powers once again?

The nature-gods that lead the conflict had a solution, and once again turned upon any dissenters. Humans were fundamentally altered in body and mind, mixed with the flesh and thoughts of animals. Their minds so crippled, it was believed they would never again possess psionic power.

Gods of civilization and its works lie dead. Many others were slain and their portfolios granted to the favored servants of the ruling nature-deities. Entire generations of beast-people have lived and died feral, having only enough of a mind to fear and praise the unknowable forces of nature, reduced to prayer-food for the usurper-gods. Wizardry is forgotten, sorcery barely understood, and secret orders of druids and rangers are tasked to hunt the walking nightmares created during the great conflict, destroy any remaining (or developing) traces of ‘civilization’ and kill those few beast-people who develop “unnatural” (psionic) powers.

But far away at the former seat of the human empire, a vast crater containing a maelstrom of mental energies calls to beasts in their dreams. Those that heed the call, who avoid the god’s hunters, the creatures from beyond space, and keep their sanity throughout the journey will begin to unlock hidden power within themselves. The demihuman gods have returned to gaze in horror at was was wrought, and they scheme against the power-bloated usurpers and the monstrous deities that are allied with them. The last act of many servants to dead gods was to safeguard what was left of their teachings, laying the groundwork for a few beastmen to stumble upon ruins and hidden places, to relearn the arts of metal and machinery, of words and building cities.

Despite all that has happened, Humanity struggles to reassert itself.

I love this.

In B4 'furry'.

Sooo, psionics as weaponized Humanism?

It's an interesting idea.

Interesting... how organized are these small pockets of beastmen who've stumbled upon the remnants of humanity? Single people, small groups, villages?

>>14777527
This is SO. GOOD.

>>14778379

I picture them as anything from a solitary wanderer to a semi-nomadic tribe. Finding something as simple as a steel weapon gives a beastman a big advantage, and most stockpiles have psionic 'traps' designed to make a critter start thinking for perhaps the first time in his life.

Knowledge of various crafts can launch a pack/herd/flock past the stone age and into learning and complex tool-use, giving them a longer life expectancy and an advantage over feral, hunter-gatherer tribes. But it's not far past that level of growth until the city-smashers and word-burners take notice, kill anyone that looks too smart, and scatter the rest. So only the isolated, protected or very careful will advance past this stage.

>>14777527
>>14777701
>>14777876
I've tinkered with the idea of prayer-power in the past, but not quite like this. I like it a lot!

>>14778541
Nice way to keep min-maxing and power-creep to a minimum.

Sounds interesting. How "human" is the average beastman? Are they actually based on existing species, or are they just somewhat bestial? Are there differing breeds/races?

Bumping this because it's genuinely interesting.

This is pretty cool.

what sort of beastmen are we talking here?

Transformice?

Bumping for interest.

So, where would players fit in? This may actually fit well with another setting I came up with a while back, and scarily well at that.

>>14777527
I imagine some sort of human lich, master of a forgotten city being an awesome NPC.

>humans get turned into furries in cataclysm
>blah blah old rehashed furfag plot
Sigh. I can think of at least six identical backstories to furry systems.

>>14781470
I think the point is that the status quo is supposed to be A BAD THING and that HUMANITY IS AWESOME.
Just my personal opinion, of course.

>>14781470
Lacrimate increasingly vigorously, anonymous anthropocentric cynic!

This is interesting, I might use it myself one day if I remember it. The idea of "nature" being the oppressor while "civilization" is the revolutionary is kind of a unique twist.

>>14779973

think your average anthro, that's how much 'human' is left in the different breeds, of which there are many.

>>14781579
>>14781632

The nature god that now serves as the overgod of the pantheon has become something like a megalomaniacal dictator and a hypocrite. He has strict rules, and will not hesitate to kill any number of people, servants or gods that might threaten the world he has created.

Of course, as nature moves in cycles, the impending death of the gods was meant to happen in a way, just as the ascended humans' creations would have one day grown to supplant them. Instead, he screwed over the world to keep the power and position he was used to instead of heeding his own lessons.

as a result, the divine order is in shambles, run by newly-elected toadies and incompetents. Deals were struck with fiends and monstrous races that will have unforeseen repercussions, and thanks to the massive destruction of epic-level psionic workings, the madness of the Far Realm...isn't quite so far away anymore.

>>14781322

The main task of the players is, hopefully, to fix things. To realize what was lost, get it back, even if it means marching into heaven, sending the usurpers to their grave, and either reviving the lost gods or assuming divine positions themselves to set things back on course.

>>14782085
"Here us, young mouseling, we who tasted the ambrosia of divine power and were struck down by those who feared our evolution. You who are, in a way, our inheritor- our heir- the one who shall bring truth and wisdom's return to this world. If you will take up the mantle of a quest against the Green-Gods themselves, then we shall devote all we once were, and what we remain as, to you and your allies. Fight on, little mouseling: civilization, and the balance of the Planes themselves, are in your hands."

Hope you don't mind, inspiration took hold.

>>14781470
Eh, from what I've read, it's more like humans get turned into cthulhu and animals get turned into furries.

Anyways, I'd recomend looking into Irish mythology for help with story ideas. It also had a heavy nature=evil, progress=good bent. Don't listen to neo-pagans.

>>14782312

*Hear
...English major -here- .....

>>14781632
Welcome to the oldest mythologies ever. Aesirs killing Trolls, Asuras and Devas, etc.

bump

since people seem interested, can I get some help with the current state of the pantheon? Later, if people are still around, I'd like to talk about the groups of knowledge-preservers and -destroyers.

So far, I've got the Green Tyrant himself, that I'm starting to see as a leafy kim jong-il. Secondly a motherly deity that may be an old god in a new role, who's role and personality I can't quite decide on. Also a giant, rabid, misshapen beast that is the patron of berserkers, and one of the old gods of death, now also associated with insects because of their role in disease and decay.

I also imagine some gods are much more popular with certain breeds. The conflicts between them leads back to the gods, and divine squabbles are often forced back on their worshipers, leading to escalating battles between the breeds that each god uses as pawns in their schemes and plots to gain the Tyrant's favor.

>>14783124
You could use the standard herbivore vs. carnivore thing. Of course, there's the hooved animals versus non-hooved ones.

I'm apparently a total and irredeemable faggot because when I heard talk of the Gods striking down humans and turning them to beasts.. I thought of My Little Pony. God-Empress Celestia killed and banished the other Gods and turned mankind into ponies, then forced them to worship her.

>>14783154
This might work nicely, as it fits into the overarching nature theme. Maybe also sub-pantheons for land, water, and flying creatures?

>>14783260

is that...that can't be the actual backstory of MLP, can it?

...I suppose there could be a pleasant little corner of the world, where beasts of all sorts gather and frolic without a care...until something happens to disrupt the illusion of tranquility, and then the lady fluttershine you've been flirting with is filled with the warp-spasm and the soldiers of the goddess tear apart the offender and anyone that stops smiling or dancing as the blood flows and the limbs fly...

>>14783324
It's not the actual story from the show, but there isn't one. As far as facetious grimdark fanwankery goes, it's a possible one when you notice all of the human stuff, made for humans, being used by ponies.

So...
What happens next?

I find OP's idea interesting, but there are a few nagging points that have always bothered me in most settings. The first is that gods are portrayed as individuals with very human-like personalities. The second is how pantheons seem to have a god for just about every silly concept one can think of. The third is the whole portfolio/worship thing, which almost invariably ends up stripping gods of their divinity (in a metaphysical/sacred sense) and reducing them to bloated overpowered "people". I am a bit tired of seeing that kind of god. What happened to the mystery, incomprehensibility and solemnity of divinity?

tl;dr: Interesting idea, but uses the same underlying assumptions as nearly all other campaign settings. Also, a bit too "black-and-white" for my liking. Definitely has potential, though.

still here? wow. Well, I don't really have anything more for this right now, so...anthro pic dump? Haven't seen one of those in a while.

>>14786911
>What happened to the mystery, incomprehensibility and solemnity of divinity?

DUDE.

HAVE YOU *READ* GREEK MYTHOLOGY? YOU WERE LUCKY TO GET A GOD THAT BEHAVED LIKE AN ADULT, LET ALONE SOME WISE, SOLEMN ENTITY.

THE IDEA THAT GODS ARE ANYTHING MORE THAN CHILDREN WITH ENOUGH POWER TO GET AWAY WITH THEIR TANTRUMS IS FAR FROM UNIVERSAL OR ANCIENT.

>>14778615
>Nice way to keep min-maxing and power-creep to a minimum.
Full fucking retard from a tripfag, how utterly new.

>>14786911
Original Old testament 'God' was a crazy fucker who did whatever he wanted, whenever he felt like it. Burned cities to the ground, turned people into pillars of salt.. etc etc etc..

Then they freshened him up in the new book and made him the all knowing, quiet, "I have a grand plan" God who works in mysterious ways.

Most early deity pantheons were full of very human characters with inhuman powers.

>>14786965
>>14786936
>I am a bit tired of seeing that kind of god. What happened to the mystery, incomprehensibility and solemnity of divinity?
>I am a bit tired of seeing that kind of god.
>tired
>of seeing that kind of god.

And then tripfag and anon proceeds to point out there is a fucking hugeload of mentions of that kindof god.
>MFW

>>14787011

GRANTED. I'LL REFINE MY POINT:

>What happened to

THIS >IMPLIES THAT THERE WAS ANY OF THAT TO BEGIN WITH, AND IT ISN'T JUST A NEWFANGLED ASS PULL.

SEMANTIC? YES. BUT SINCE THIS IS THE INTERNET I'M CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED TO ARGUE EVEN THE TINIEST NIGGLING POINT RATHER THAN CONCEDE THAT MY INITIAL POST WAS ILL-CONSIDERED.

>>14787011
>using greentext implications to devalue one point of argument for another

>What happened to the mystery, incomprehensibility and solemnity of divinity?
It was never there. It's a recent construct and a bad one at that.

>>14786936
>>14786965
And are you incapable of breaking up with preconceived ideas?

>>14787072
You mean, in your opinion.

But seriously now, I have made what little contribution I could. There is no point in staying here any longer entertaining obvious answers.

Good luck, OP.

>>14787023
What about the Egyptian gods or the Chinese gods? Also, at the risk of sounding weaboo, what about the Japanese kami? Weren't they more like strange spiritual beings and less like people?