How can a pantheon of God's play "A Game of Thrones"?

nyalathotep

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Eons ago, there was an ancient war between two sects of gods with different beliefs. One side felt that it was time for gods to themselves from the human realm and allow mortals to develop independently without being interfered with. The other group felt that mortals were foolish and short sighted, and needed to be led by their gods to avoid falling into barbarity. This escalated into total war which killed billions of people, and only ended when both sects came to a compromise that would fulfill the desires and aims of the groups.

The resulting truce forbid gods from acting directly on the mortal plane , but allowed them to indirectly interfere with humans. They can subtly influence certain events or characters in ways that would serve their end goals. They could support certain kingdoms or groups in ways that would shape the mortal world. These plans can take immediate effect or come to fruition after centuries or millennia.

What are some rules and regulations that would satisfy the stipulations of this truce? What should gods be able or not able to do to keep the spirit of the agreement?
 

Thomas Vail

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This is a pretty common trope of fictional world building, so you should have plenty of existing examples of how other writers have done it. It would seem pretty straightforward to have things like:

No direct manifestations/interference. Actual Gods don't set foot on the mortal plane, no balls of fire plunge from the sky to smite the enemies of their followers. Maybe they can get away with subtle effects, especially if other deities aren't playing close attention. A gust of wind in the middle of battle shifts an arrow in flight just enough so it fatally strikes the right person at the right time, instead of deflecting off their armor. A ray of light, illuminating just the right spot on a mural, or another gust of wind opening a holy book to just the right page to answer a supplicant's prayer, but no appearing right before them in All Your Glory, to say, 'Hey, God here, now this is what I want you to do.'

And if they're obliged to work in subtle, indirect ways like that, there might be a lot of subterfuge and misdirection going on, so that rivals/opponents aren't paying attention to the right thing, not acting in opposition to the right plan, so that they don't mess up those small acts.
 

Brightdreamer

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As Thomas Vail mentioned, this isn't entirely uncommon, so there are many examples about of how to work with it. (The most recent "god games" I read that I recall was Ken Liu's The Grace of Kings, though the gods did occasionally manifest in that one.) Also, IIRC, the classic movies Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans (the Harryhausen versions; haven't seen remakes) had some of this going on, the gods squabbling among themselves with mortals as pawns yet having rules of the "game" they (usually) abide by.

If there is to be no direct interference, then definitely no earth-shaking proclamations or words written in the sky. Perhaps no physical manifestation period - restricted to signs and portents and the dreams of priests or oracles or madmen. Or maybe if they do manifest, it cannot be to preach or lead; they may appear only as the beggar in the marketplace, the dog at a crossroads who indicates the way, small roles speaking to individuals. Of course, being gods, they're going to find ways to stretch and twist to rules to fit their ends; one of the hallmarks of gods is not perfection, but being excessively human, even spoiled by their powers, often petty and prone to carry grudges. Tricksters in particular relish in taking rules and turning them on their heads through strict literal interpretations or deliberately exploiting loopholes; sure, she just appeared at the dog at the crossroads, but nobody said she couldn't be a talking dog...