The absence of God

This setting idea was was partly inspired by reading Hell Is the Absence of God, although the result is nothing similar.

Lost Gods by Brom is a better source of inspiration for this. Yes, that Brom - did you know he is an impressive writer in addition to being an amazing artist? Check that one out, it has awesome depictions of the afterlife. I'll write a brief review later, I think.

Art by Brom - source.

Anyway, the idea reminds me of sword and sorcery settings... places with demons but no true gods in the modern sense. At least, that is what I feel when reading some stuff by Vance, Robert E. Howard and Clark A. Smith, for example, or settings like Tékumel and Dark Sun. Well, there are not many demons in Dark Sun IIRC, but they FEEL appropriate for some reason.

Here is how I summed it up in Dark Fantasy Settings:

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The absence of gods

The rapture has come. The gods left, and with them the righteous. The rest of the universe was found wanting, and was abandoned. The problem is, nobody remembers it.

Humankind has a hole in their souls, but they don’t know why. There is no memory of the gods – the whole concept is alien. Altruism is almost unknown. Needless to say, there are no clerics or paladins, only different kinds of sorcerers. Temples are all fallen and desecrated – to most people, they look like ordinary ruins.

Demons are common throughout the land, but have no lower purpose other than gaining power, pleasure and gold. The word “demon” has lost its meaning. Humans treat them like a dangerous different people – the strong ones should be avoided (or worshipped, as they grant gifts), but some can be reasoned with, enslaved and even breed with humans. They also have no memory of the gods.

Bizarre monsters are also common. With no concept of natural order, there is also no separation between animal and monster. They are all bizarre beasts. No one cares to catalogue then, and everyone know you cannot predict what kind of creature you will find in your travels.

The most dangerous creature in these lands, however, are the Nephilim. Nobody knows that they are the angels that failed to save this world from judgement and damnation. These ancient, immensely powerful beings have a few clues and recollections on what happened before… However, none dare see the whole picture. Some gouged their own eyes out to avoid seeing how damned the lands have become. Other chained themselves for fear of destroying everything, or twisted their own limbs into tentacle aberrations. Many disfigure themselves to avoid the pain of remembering they were created in the image of perfection, while other carved their guilty into their own flesh. All became insane.

Maybe, if someone could put all the pieces back together, they could pray for one of the gods to look back on this damned world…

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As I've said above, this is from my book Dark Fantasy Settings. It contains shorts essays and many tables to generate grim settings. You can find it by clicking on the link above. If you like this, you'll find more stuff like this on my Dark Fantasy line. 

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Hope you enjoy it! Thanks!