Quote Originally Posted by QED - Iltazyara View Post
You've put out some very interesting pieces; especially on the correlation of mental attributes to how religion, or just general belief, is structured. It's hard to say how I'm working with my gods; I mean I have a number of them posted on here in my setting thread, but they are... Physical, tangible, concrete and difficult to deny in-world. But at the same time they are not all powerful, nor entirely consistent. Being both created by and from mortals, while evolving past them.
Well, as they are concrete beings, the first question you should ask is: how relatable are they? Just as in the case of national leaders, pretty face + speaking in a way people understand = boom, succesfull god with lot of worshippers.

You can expect higher INT people to take a more cynical attitude towards them. The higher their INT is in proportion to their WIS, the more likely you'll be hearing phrases like "they're just powerful outsider", "they're not real gods" etc. Low INT & WIS people probably don't care at all. Low Cha people probably just want to be left alone.

Higher WIS people will be devout worshippers, but will also have more realistic expectations of the gods; they probably won't expect them to "fix everything" or meddle in things below their status. This is where the likeness of gods becomes important. If the gods are human-like, then humans will worship them strongly, even if they are evil; fear is a powerful factor, and let's not forget what awe originally means. Meanwhile, non-humans will be less loving and more wary of human-like gods. It is possible for non-humans to declare human-like gods to be demons/devils, especially if they're of the nasty sort; and vice versa.

If WIS and INT are proportional and both high, you will probably find folks who view themselves as moral or intellectual equals to the gods; this depends on how intelligent and wise the gods themselves are. If it's possible for mortals to mentally eclipse gods, this attitude will eventually turn into miso- or dysteism: the most mentally gifted people will come to think of gods as irrelevant to their well-being, or perhaps even a bit pitiable.

As gods are fallible and concrete, you will see high CHA people trying to woo their way to their favor. Think of old myths, where mortals might have tricked gods or stolen something from them.

As gods are concrete, you will see the distinction between "believing" and "having faith" becoming more distinct. Only stupid or uneducated people will think the gods don't exist; however, whether they trust them to be all they claim to be will vary. If someone "lacks faith", it basically never means they question a god's existence, but it does mean they don't think the god will deliver their promises and probably feel they are thus not worthy of worship.

One trait I'd say won't be meaningful to most people is the exact origin of gods. How likely is it for them to even know? And even if they do know, does it really help them in their immediate situation? If the answer to one is no, people probably won't pay it much mind. No matter the past, there are extraordinarily powerful do-gooders or do-badders in the neighbourhood now.

Consistency is a trickier factor. What happens when a god doesn't do its job? The more disastrous the consequences, or the greater the returns, the more people will worship that god to either avoid disaster or to benefit. The harder to perceive a god's influence is, the less popular it will be. But in general: humans at least don't expect other people to be 100% consistent (save for the most naive cases), and will consequently go to lenghts to ensure a person will either keep acting, or make an exception, in their favor. However, they'll also try to jump the fence where it's lowest, so to speak. Ironically, this might mean the most consistent and most bening gods are least worshipped; why bother, the thing will keep doing what it's always done anyway. Again, a workplace comparison is useful. The guy who is loud and makes a show of himself will be loved or hated in much greater amounts than the shy quiet guy who is just doing his job, irrespective of who is actually the more useful worker.