Here's an interesting concept born from that thread:
What if the gods are -by default- spirit beings, immaterial and unseen by mortals. In order for them to take on a physical form, they either have to possess a mortal or.. make an Avatar.
While their basic power level would remain the same regardless, there would be a few differences between spirit form and being in an Avatar for a god.
Spirit form allows for greatly expanded senses, so they can see/hear/feel things happening miles away, as well as allow them to move from place to place nearly instantaneously.
Avatars, on the other hand, have blunted senses and must use more.. old fashioned means to travel but- Avatars do have one key advantage. Each Avatar is made to personify a single domain of a god. While in the Avatar, Gods may use any abilities related to that domain at half-cost.
So if you have Zimmos, God of Fire and Wrath, and he makes an Avatar for Fire, he could then possess the avatar and make use of any fire abilities (Causing forest fires, making volcanoes, etc..) at half the normal cost.
Of course, since the Avatars are tied to a single domain, when a god uses them they may experience slight personality changes. Like an Avatar of Beauty may make a goddess slightly more self-centered and vain.
“She'd become a governess. It was one of the few jobs a known lady could do. And she'd taken to it well. She'd sworn that if she did indeed ever find herself dancing on rooftops with chimney sweeps she'd beat herself to death with her own umbrella.”
― Hogfather