>>96693636
>so what excuses do you give (for that the Gods are impotent, idle and irresponsible)?
They're people. awful people, with no upbringing, usually, living in a system that encourages not just cutthroat behavior, upwards climbing and fierce protection of one's image, but also stasis.
Essentially, a god at its weakest is a wisp craving magic feed: faith. It can build a cult, become a God, go from barely whispering in the ears of mice and ants to having whole civilizations worship it... But if it goes too far, if it becomes too strong, its own feed overpowers it. A godling has no individuality, gains it as they rise in status and in power, and at the zenith of strength they simply lose it - they become a force of nature, a conduit of faith magic that acts according to its image. No God wants to be a slave of their nature, so they balance themselves. They fight to stay above the filth below, while also being mindful of the risk of growing too great. They also must keep each other in mind, because they're inherently predatory and tearing each other apart is in their nature.

True divinity that needs no faith or worship don't get called gods in my setting, because why would they be? It isn't God of the Dead, the all-powerful gatherer of souls who is the pantheon's chief mortician and overall bling-enjoyer. It's just Death, a strange spirit who cuts the tethers of a soul to its body. It isn't the Goddess of the Sea, capricious and cruel and yet fiercely protective of her own, rumored to have entire sea-cities filled with strange creatures granting her so much worship she's unassailable on land, it's just the Ocean, something primordial and elemental, uncaring and unnoticing of you.

There's also that nearly every major god is very cautious about shitting out resurrections and other magic tricks. Besides the expense of it, that wears down the thin film separating reality and the place Fae come from. Fae are awful, you don't want Fae getting to your worshippers.