| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
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| Caennen03-08-08, 10:09 PM | I am starting a new campaign that is heavily Deity based, if you worship your deity will grant you favors, wishes, or anything a bit extra. With each deity you chose you must follow their portfolio (haven't come up with yet) and you gain automatic proficiency with your deity's favored weapon. Not sure if that is overpowered or not but please let me know what you guys think of it. Name-God/dess of **** - Alignment - Favored Weapon Greater Good Deities Soren - Goddes of Healing - LG - Morning Star Quist - God of Valor - LG - Longsword Raykoneus - God of Magic - NG - Quarterstaff Katrint - Goddess of the Elves - LG - Longbow Tarn - God of the Dwarves - LG - Battleaxe Gillitra - Goddess of the Gnomes - CG - Heavy Pick Gianne - Goddess of the Halflings - CG - Sling Greater Neutral Deities Tos - God of Souls - LN - Scythe Aiden - God of Magic - TN - Spear Greater Evil Deities Grusska - God of Strength - CE - Greataxe Zaurana - Goddess of Death - NE - Scythe Allerin - God of Magic - NE - Dagger Burb - God of the Orcs - CE - Greataxe Intermediate Good Deities Pyre - God of Creation - LG - Warhammer Intermediate Neutral Deities Caennen - God of Nature - TN - Sickle Quidda - Goddess of Travel - TN - Quarterstaff Lisson - Goddess of Knowledge - TN - Quarterstaff Zalafene - Goddess of War - CN - Greatsword Lyrous - God of Trickery - CN - Rapier Intermediate Evil Deities Ketai - God of Greed - CE - Dagger Lesser Good Deities Mortis - God of the Woodlands - CG - Longbow Rayclana - Goddess of the Mountains - LG - Warhammer Xenox - Goddess of Honor - LG - Shortsword Aborgene - Goddess of Glory - LG - Battleaxe Lesser Neutral Deities Zeeston - Goddess of Mercenaries - TN - Longsword Daea - Goddess of Patience - TN - Quarterstaff Dagen - God of Animals - TN - Club Placeto - God of Deserts - CN - Scimitar Lesser Evil Deities Saro - Goddess of Dominance - CE - Whip Mendara - Goddess of the Sea - LE - Trident Zestor - God of Pestillance - CE - Scythe Mexton - God of Tyranna - LE - Greataxe |
| taradusis03-08-08, 10:31 PM | The deities and planes board has more experts on divine matters? Complete divine has some nice rules as well. Your pantheon seems ok,you might want to consider if this is a divine family like the greek gods? Consider adding a greater evil deity who is L/E? |
| Caennen03-08-08, 10:58 PM | yaeh there will be a family tree with the deities. I've been reading the dragonlance novels and seeing how their deities are and like the family trees in there. |
| Tovec03-09-08, 04:37 PM | A title is good but personally I'd like a bit more to sink my teeth into. Right now they are one word concepts, my pantheon didn't really start coming together until I started adding or taking away concepts from the main concept. Ex. Soren - Goddess of Healing - LG - Morning Star Why does he heal? Many pantheons have the LG being almighty protector. In my game I liked combining healing with protection as they seemed to fit well together for me. Another thought, what about last names? Also to shadow a previous idea, try thinking of interconnectivity. Maybe alliances, hatreds or family relations. Think about the age these gods would have existed. One of the biggest problems I have seen in most games is players automatically assume the greater god(s) were ALWAYS there and made everything else. While this is a decent idea, why need they be Greater? In many religions there were pre-god creatures (titans, giants, what have you) that the gods ascended from or killed off to replace. Also, maybe add an aspect of why these gods don't regularly fight massive battles on the material. Or what will happen at the end of time. Hope this helps. |
| Caennen03-09-08, 09:54 PM | That sounds like a good idea. I was thinking to make family ties and such. I want the 3 gods of magic to be brothers, and I have a couple ideas. Such as the gods of landscape (desert/woodlands/and such) be the children of the God of Nature. |
| Tovec03-10-08, 08:54 PM | That sounds like a good idea. I was thinking to make family ties and such. I want the 3 gods of magic to be brothers, and I have a couple ideas. Such as the gods of landscape (desert/woodlands/and such) be the children of the God of Nature. Not bad, it all depends on how you plan on working your campaign. Like I said, I hope, it all depends on the atmosphere of the game. How are the gods looked upon in the game? Will clerics or worshippers follow a single deity or the group or sets of groups? What ties the gods together? What stops more powerful deities from doing whatever they want? Why gives them power? As for family, even though family members in many religions usually have similar or shared abilities or domains it is rare for them to be very closely tied. They usually have rivalries or differences. I find some of the coolest aspects of a god come when you think of them not only as divine paragons but as mortals or immortals but with flaws. Hercules (Deities and Demigods) is a CG but with a terrible temper, unleashing it at times on even innocents. Poseidon, similarly, has a great temper but is fickle and will ruin you if you don't pay enough respect to the sea. |
| Caennen03-11-08, 07:01 PM | One of the things that keeps the Gods in check is the fact that there is 9 evil gods total 11 good gods total to represent that good will always win out over evil. As far as their power, they get their power by the number of worshippers they have. So, Quist has a large number of followers (mostly clerics and paladins) being the God of Valor and Grusska being a god of strength gets many followers who don't care about anything else but their own strength and power. And most all of the deities will not get along, the brothers of magic will be similar to Nuitari, Solinari, and Lunitari in the Dragonlance novels. They get along for the good of magic but only because they must, though each is looking out for his own followers. In the campaign if you are agnostic/aetheistic it is a rare thing that is not looked well upon and will be berated constantly to follow a god/dess. Whether it be from good/neutral/evil priests. The gods take a very strong interest in the lives of mortals and each has a mortal "form" they take and the followers will know the form. Ex. Grusshka takes the form of a large, pitch black werewolf that constantly has blood dripping from his fangs and claws. The brothers of magic are (Elven = good, Human = Neutral, Orc = Evil) and wear colored robes according to their orders (similar to dragonlance again) Yellow being Good, Blue being Neutral, and finally Dark Red being Evil. I was thinking of rolling on the Flaw chart in UEA for the Gods not just to be perfect beings. Then during the campaign the PCs may come by the Gods in mortal form and not know it. Being gods, they can do anything. I'm also thinking for plot lines that starting off the greater deities all have around the same amount of followers, same goes for intermediate and lesser. But I was thinking have one of the Lesser deities (probably evil deity because the guys i play with are almost ALWAYS good aligned) would be trying to convert followers over to their deity by torture, lies, threats, and other ways. Making PC1's deity get weaker but BBEG's deity get strong. Thus the weaker deity cannot bless the worshippers as much and it will show (less spells per day for caster, healing spells doing 1/2 amount and such) while the BBEG's deity is giving him more and more special abilities. |
| Tovec03-15-08, 02:04 PM | Meant to reply earlier but I've been busy. I like the direction you are going with a lot of those ideas. They'll tie together well I think. I like how you have related these concepts to how you plan to run them in your game. I find that's a big flaw of many deity creations (including mine) that you create the gods but fail to enforce them properly. I still think I'm going to stick with my original suggestion/request. Please do a little write up on each of your deities please. I think that you will find and correct many gaps or overlaps you have and probably come up with more then just 1 LN deity. Just for example. Follow the basic layout of: Name Rank (Alignment) Desc. Portfolio Domains Its what I used and while I plan to do full write ups I did find it helps to solidify a lot of concepts. Its your choice, don't if you don't but I think it would help. I'm interested in hearing more on your gods, you seem to have a pretty good idea of what you are doing. Keep going! |
| Caennen03-15-08, 06:51 PM | I changed 2 of the deities around to better suit my party. I made Gillitra Lawful Neutral and I made Katrint Chaotic Good. Although I only gave each deity 3 Domains and couldn't really think of many portfolios they repeat a lot D: I'm still working on family ties. Greater Good Deities Name -Soren - Goddes of Healing Alignment - Neutral Good Favored Weapon -Morning Star Domains - Law, Good, Healing Portfolio - Health, Beauty, Peace, Love, Pacifists Symbol - Rose Name - Quist - God of Valor Alignment - Lawful Good Favored Weapon - Longsword Domains - Law, Good, War Portfolio - Battle, Strength, Victory, War, Warriors Symbol - Sword in front of a Sun Raykoneus - God of Magic Alignment - Neutral Good Favored Weapon - Quarterstaff Domains - Magic, Knowledge, Good Portfolio - Divination, Abjuration, Study, Magic used for Good, Scholars Symbol - Staff with a Topaz in it Name - Katrint - Goddess of the Elves Alignment - Chaotic Good Favored Weapon - Longbow Domains - Chaos, Good, Protection Portfolio - Elves, Trees, Nature, Hunting, Farmers Symbol - Bottle filled with Dew Name - Tarn - God of the Dwarves Alignment - Lawful Good Favored Weapon - Battleaxe Domains - Law, Good, Protectiong Portfolio - Dwarves, Mining, Ore, Armor, Weapons Symbol - A broach with 5 different gems (ruby, amethyst, sapphire, topaz, and emerald) Name - Gianne - Goddess of the Halflings Alignment - Chaotic Good Favored Weapon - Sling Domains - Chaos, Good, Trickery Portfolio - Tricksters, Pranks, Halflings, Shiny objects, Caravans Symbol - Money Bag with a grinning face on it Greater Neutral Deities Gillitra - Goddess of the Gnomes Alignment - Lawful Neutral Favored Weapon - Heavy Pick Domains - Law, Protection, Earth Portfolio - Gnomes, Technology, Mining, Ingenuity, Inventors Symbol - A gear Name - Tos - God of Souls Alignment - Lawful Neutral Favored Weapon - Scythe Domains - Death, Law, Protection Portfolio - Afterlife, Death, Souls, Spirits, Undead Symbol - A plain of orchards Name - Aiden - God of Magic Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Spear Domains - Magic, Knowledge, Protection Portfolio - Magic used for oneself, Conjuration, Transmutation, Natural Magic, Fey Symbol - Staff with a sapphire in it Greater Evil Deities Name - Grusska - God of Strength Alignment - Chaotic Evil Favored Weapon - Greataxe Domains - Evil, Chaos, Destruction Portfolio - Dictators, Evil Warriors, War, Slaughter, Blood Symbol - 4 scratches next to each other on your face (looks like a werewolf scratch '////') Name - Zaurana - Goddess of Death Alignment - Neutral Evil Favored Weapon - Scythe Domains - Death, Destruction, Evil Portfolio - Death, Blood, War, Ogres, Undead Symbol - Skull with a black rose in the teeth Name - Allerin - God of Magic Alignment - Neutral Evil Favored Weapon - Dagger Domains - Magic, Knowledge, Destruction Portfolio - Magic used carelessly, Evocation, Necromancy, Necromancers, Death Symbol - Staff with a Ruby in it. Name - Burb - God of the Orcs Alignment - Chaotic Evil Favored Weapon - Greataxe Domains - Destruction, War, Evil Portfolio - Orcs, Murder, Pointless warfare, Bloody battlefields, Slaughter Symbol - Axe covered in blood of the innocent Intermediate Good Deities Name - Pyre - God of Creation Alignment - Chaotic Good Favored Weapon - Warhammer Domains - Good, Law, Fire Portfolio - Gnomes, Dwarves, Smithys, Forging, Inventions Symbol - Anvil Intermediate Neutral Deities Name - Caennen - God of Nature Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Sickle Domains - Animal, Plant, Sun Portfolio - Animals, Fey, Plants, Health, Life Symbol - Tree with blossoms Name - Quidda - Goddess of Travel Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Quarterstaff Domains - Travel, Knowledge, Luck Portfolio - Travel, Merchants, Halflings, Refugees, Maps Symbol - Road with a man marching Name - Lisson - Goddess of Knowledge Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Quarterstaff Domains - Knowledge, Protection, Sun Portfolio - Scholars, Libraries, Knowledge, Education, Teachers Symbol - A book Name - Zalafene - Goddess of War Alignment - Chaotic Neutral Favored Weapon - Greatsword Domains - War, Chaos, Slaughter Portfolio - War, Warriors, Mercenaries, Battle, Battlefields Symbol - Necklace of shrunken skulls Name - Lyrous - God of Trickery Alignment - Chaotic Neutral Favored Weapon - Rapier Domains - Trickery, Luck, Chaos Portfolio - Thieves, Crime, Stealing, Stealth, Pranks Symbol - Dagger slicing open a money bag Intermediate Evil Deities Name - Ketai - God of Greed Alignment - Chatoc Evil Favored Weapon - Dagger Domains - Trickery, Evil, Chaos Portfolio - Tieves, Criminals, Money, Stealth, Stealing Symbol - A hand closing around gold coins Lesser Good Deities Name - Mortis - God of the Woodlands Alignment - Chaotic Good Favored Weapon - Longbow Domains - Plant, Water, Protection Portfolio - Forests, Woodland animals, Elves, Adaptation, Hunting Symbol - A Tree with a squirrel within it Name - Rayclana - Goddess of the Mountains Alignment - Lawful Good Favored Weapon - Warhammer Domains - Earth, Law, Good Portfolio - Moutains, Ore, Dwarves, Gnomes, Caverns Symbol - A moutain Name - Xenox - Goddess of Honor Alignment - Lawful Good Favored Weapon - Shortsword Domains - Law, Good, Healing Portfolio - War, Paladins, Victory, Friendly competition, Knights Symbol - Shield with a moon on it Name - Aborgene - Goddess of Glory Alignment - Lawful Good Favored Weapon - Battleaxe Domains - Law, Good, War Portfolio - War, Victory, Competition, Battlefields, Warriors Symbol - An arm raising an axe Lesser Neutral Deities Name - Zeeston - Goddess of Mercenaries Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Longsword Domains - Luck, Trickery, Protection Portfolio - Mercenaries, Money, War, Warriors, Humans Symbol - Golden sword with gems studded in it Name - Daea - Goddess of Patience Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Quarterstaff Domains - Knowledge, Protection, Healing Portfolio - Monks, Unarmed Combat, Waiting, Elves, Dwarves Symbol - Man sitting in prayer Name -Dagen - God of Animals Alignment - True Neutral Favored Weapon - Club Domains - Animals, Water, Sun Portfolio - All Animals, Fey, Elves, Rangers, Druids Symbol - A fox Name - Placeto - God of Deserts Alignment - Chaotic Neutral Favored Weapon - Scimitar Domains - Earth, Sun, Air Portfolio - Survival, Barbarians, Rangers, Heat, Nomads Symbol - A cactus Lesser Evil Deities Name - Saro - Goddess of Dominance Alignment - Chaotic Evil Favored Weapon - Whip Domains - Evil, Chaos, Destruction Portfolio - Slavery, Dictators, Evil Warriors, Tyranny, Strongest of races Symbol - Pyramid Name - Mendara - Goddess of the Sea Alignemnt - Lawful Evil Favored Weapon - Trident Domains - Water, Air, Travel Portfolio - Sea Animals, Merpeople, Sailors, Storms, Beaches Symbol - Name - Zestor - God of Pestillance Alignment - Chaotic Evil Favored Weapon - Scythe Domains - Destruction, Evil, Chaos Portfolio - Insects, Vermin, Rot, Parasites, Disease Symbol - A diseased rat Name - Mexton - God of Tyranny Alignment - Lawful Evil Favored Weapon - Greataxe Domains - Strength, War, Evil Portfolio - Dictators, Murder, Orcs, Evil Humans, Drow Symbol - Severed Head |
| ombre10103-16-08, 04:51 AM | It seems like you might want to include a few more chaotic good deities. Only 3/12 are CG, and there is just 1 NG god. Try balancing this out a little bit. From the portfolios, it seems like Soren might be a nice NG goddess, Pyre could go either NG or CG (Creation is hectic!!), and the goddess of the mountains could be CG or NG. Again, these are just suggestions, but you might find that your campaign won't have much room for non-elf or halfling CG PCs or NPCs. But then again, I don't know everything about your world, or you players. -ombre |
| Tovec03-16-08, 11:32 AM | Its less that there aren't many NGs or CGs and more the fact that most the good deities are LG. (For that matter most neutrals are TN and most evils are CE.) In any case, as for the goods; Gods of Valour, Honour and Glory all LG all War deities and all Paladins portfolios. What is the difference between Pyre and the other LG god of dwarves? In many areas it seems you are replicating the (greyhawk) standard deities. CE god of slaughter (Erythnul), CE orcs, LG dwaves, CG elves. I do like the fact gnomes and halflings aren't where they used to be. Why is there a CN god with the portfolio of Slaughter? |
| Darth Syntax03-18-08, 03:24 AM | I agree with Tovec that a number of your gods are (at least from the information you have so far given) rather similar to the Greyhawk gods which tends to make a panthaeon look a bit "stock". It's one thing to have a sky god who deals in storms (a fairly common cross-mythological theme), but its another to have yet another Zeus clone. A good way to give your panthaeon a unique identity is to write out some stories for the deities. It also helps in figuring out what the gods are really like and how people might worship them. -- I know earlier that you expressed some desire to have some kind of family tree for your deities. This is an excellent idea, and one that I can firmly state helps to work out myths and the like. I constructed a chart of the familial relations for a panthaeon of my own devising using a fantastic little program called yED (http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.html) which does all sorts of charts and the like. I've only had the program for a couple of days and I've been able to work out charts fairly intuitively. Here (http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=revisedjauricgodscopylv3.jp g) is the family tree I devised, just to give you an idea of what the program is capable of. I used some of the basic layout forms of pedigree charts in making this. So here is a brief rundown of symbols so that it can be read: Squares represent males Circles represent females Triangles represent either sexless beings or hermaphrodites The thin lines are lines of descent. a "v" shaped descent line represents multiple births (such as twins) A thick solid line represents a formal union (such as a marriage) A dotted line represents an unrecognized union Arrows indicate the volitionality of the union. an arrow at both ends of the line means the relationship is reciprocal, a single arrow means that is is not. I color coded my deities according to how they are worshiped and their general function. I see no reason why you could not color code for alignment, power level, or whatever system suits your needs. -- I hope at least some of my ramblings are helpful. |