A PC in search of a god [Archive] - Wizards Community

A PC in search of a god [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Todd
06-27-05, 10:48 AM The setting - a long running campaign in a homebrew world that uses Core gods & some of the ones from various 3.5 books like Races of the Wild. No Egyptian, Babylonian, or FR deities.

The character - A human Warmage / Sand Shaper from a desert region. Anius was a warmage defender of a small city that was wiped out by orcs. His wife and child were killed and there was nothing he could do to save them. After this he sought to increase his powers so that he could control his own destiny ... hence the Sand Shaper PrC. Anius is TN and his father, who was also killed, was a favored soul so Anius will have had a strong religious upbringing. The Warmage is an odd mage in that they tend to be more warrior like than studious. The Sand Shaper PrC has a lot going on. Lots of its spells granted, PrC abilities, and alignment restrictions seem very druidic in nature. However there is also a ‘scary’ component where you have to bond with the ‘City of the Dead’ to gain the PrC and the flavor portion of the PrC mentions that the voices of now dead Sand Shapers speak to the character and urge him to rebuild their lost empire.

The dilemma - I can’t seem to find a deity that fits Anius very well. Most of the Core deities seem to lack a desert flavor. The Sandstorm deities seem to mostly be either too “good” or “evil” to really fit. I’m looking for a deity that would hopefully have as many of the following associations as possible - arcane magic, war, time/past, nature, death/spirits (not necessarily undead), lore ... though I’m willing to consider something completely different.

Why it matters - I've been thinking of taking the Arcane Disciple feat to represent both a connection to a deity and a link to his past. My hope is that I could find something to either have a logical connection to what Anius is doing in terms of gathering personal power *or* something that would act as a counterbalance to the voices of the sand shapers ... the latter will be urging him to gather power and create an empire. I don’t want him pulled in two crazy different directions but it would be interesting to have a ‘voice of dissent’. However if there is dissent I need to be able to find a middle road that Anius can walk without abandoning either.

Who I’ve considered so far:

Boccob - He's the ‘default’ choice of most arcane types. I just see his council being something along the lines of “Go build an empire if that is what you really want, but all it is going to do is distract you from your studies. It would be much more worthwhile to concentrate on magic instead.” ... which is a counterbalance of sorts. However I just have a hard time seeing why a Warmage would worship a studious deity and how Anius’ father would have done as a Favored Soul of a mage god.

Wee Jas - She works *really* well in many respects. Gaining power & control over ones own fate and association with dead spirits are right up her ally. Makes sense for a warmage in an organized school / militia. The ‘gentle death’ portfolio would give Anius’ dad something to do as a non-mage. The problems I have are twofold. First Wee Jas is LN & I was really hoping for a TN deity as with Arcane Disciple you have to match the deity’s alignment exactly. Second I feel that the early association with death Anius would have had as a child growing up in a household like this would rob the latter death of his family of some of the power it currently has in my mind. Despite the fact that they all died violently he could take too much comfort in the knowledge that Wee Jas gives.

Obad-Hai - This was actually my initial thought. The association with nature fits well with some aspects of the Sand Shaper but at the same time provides a very different focus. Human Empires are rarely good for nature so his voice would be an effective counter to some of the spirits Anius has to listen to. However I’ve started to feel like this is *too* divergent in terms of conflict. Ultimately I don’t see the demands of the Sand Shapers and Obad-Hai as ever being reconcilable and that Anius would eventually be forced to choose between them. I don’t think that I really want to role play that.

Fharlanghn - Offers some interesting possibilities but doesn’t really fit how I see Anius or his father. Both were too ‘settled’ before the destruction of his home city.

Celestian - Seems like it might be promising but I don’t have a good feel in my head for how this would work. What would the star traveler think of what the sand shaper voices were urging? I just can’t ‘hear’ Celestian in my head the way I can some of these other gods so I don’t think that I could make this work.

Cyndor - Good flavor in terms of the history / creating the future but the LN really turns me off.

Geshai - She seems like a reasonable fit but I’m having the same problems with her as I do with Celestian. The lack of info is really hurting me on the ‘other Greyhawk deities’ from Complete Divine.

Istus - She just seems too remote.

Mouqol - Ironically I really like this idea. Anius’ father being the favored of a god of trade & negotiation really seems plausible. There is an odd synergy with the Sand Shaper’s drive to empire. With Mouqol this could become a Trade Empire. Instead of just bossing people around in a kingdom there could be a drive to make money and expand influence. Where I see problems is with the warmage aspect. One could argue that sometimes the most profitable negotiations take place at the point of a sword but the warmage thing doesn’t seem very in keeping with Mouqol’s profolio.

If I can’t find something that I think both fits the flavor I’m looking for and would be fun to RP I’m probably going to drop this idea.

Can anyone offer me additional thoughts or suggestions?
Helmed Horror
06-27-05, 02:30 PM I'm not really sure,

the whole non-egyptian, babylonian, FR deal must be hampering your search.

bargain with your dm to allow select egyptian gods. I was thinking oghma: the god of knowledge, but... if you cant, you might just have to go with wee-jas.
Tealgorthian
06-27-05, 06:20 PM Todd, if you can pick up the old Greyhawk Gazateer, it has alot of info about all the Greyhawk Gods. Alternatively, PM me with specific questions about the Greyhawk gods you have having issues with, and I will get my copy out (assuming I can find it) and see what I can do for you.
Damien_Blood
06-27-05, 11:56 PM I would suggest that you look into the Draconic Pantheon from the Draconomicon, as they tend to deal with many things at once, whereas some of the gods of Humanoids tend to be rather singleminded. Of course, the book is 3.0, but the gods shouldnt need any revision.

For instance, Lendys, God of Retribution and The Balance of Nature (i think) is Lawful Neutral and has the destruction and Protection Clerical domains available.
Mirikon
06-28-05, 12:19 AM Perhaps try to get your DM to allow an obscure, minor god that your guy is one of the few disciples of? In other words, make up a god. Could even call him Shai-hulud. ;)
Morka
06-29-05, 10:41 AM My vote should go for Wee-Jas. Your father (and familly, and perhaps all the region) could see death as a natural thing. However, murdering someone is not natural, and need to be punished.

About the alignment question, instead of an "Obscure God", it might be an "Obscure cult for an otherwise well-known god." So you might see Wee-Jas as TN.
Todd
06-29-05, 04:49 PM I have to agree that Wee Jas overall is the 'best' choice so far given core gods only and ignoring the Greyhawk setting from which they were ripped.

However I've found out in my further research that Wee Jas was a Suel god in Greyhawk and that the Baklun people who inhabit the wastelands, were fierce foes of the Suel. I don't think that Wee Jas would work at all in that context.

Right now I'm trying to find more info on Nessek from Ghostwalk ... and looking at other choices.

Can anyone suggest other books that have deities in them? So far I've looked at Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, Frostburn, Sandstorm, Races of Stone, Races of Destiny, Races of the Wild, Complete Warrior, and the Book of Exalted Deeds.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Todd 06-27-05, 10:48 AM	The setting - a long running campaign in a homebrew world that uses Core gods & some of the ones from various 3.5 books like Races of the Wild. No Egyptian, Babylonian, or FR deities. The character - A human Warmage / Sand Shaper from a desert region. Anius was a warmage defender of a small city that was wiped out by orcs. His wife and child were killed and there was nothing he could do to save them. After this he sought to increase his powers so that he could control his own destiny ... hence the Sand Shaper PrC. Anius is TN and his father, who was also killed, was a favored soul so Anius will have had a strong religious upbringing. The Warmage is an odd mage in that they tend to be more warrior like than studious. The Sand Shaper PrC has a lot going on. Lots of its spells granted, PrC abilities, and alignment restrictions seem very druidic in nature. However there is also a ‘scary’ component where you have to bond with the ‘City of the Dead’ to gain the PrC and the flavor portion of the PrC mentions that the voices of now dead Sand Shapers speak to the character and urge him to rebuild their lost empire. The dilemma - I can’t seem to find a deity that fits Anius very well. Most of the Core deities seem to lack a desert flavor. The Sandstorm deities seem to mostly be either too “good” or “evil” to really fit. I’m looking for a deity that would hopefully have as many of the following associations as possible - arcane magic, war, time/past, nature, death/spirits (not necessarily undead), lore ... though I’m willing to consider something completely different. Why it matters - I've been thinking of taking the Arcane Disciple feat to represent both a connection to a deity and a link to his past. My hope is that I could find something to either have a logical connection to what Anius is doing in terms of gathering personal power or something that would act as a counterbalance to the voices of the sand shapers ... the latter will be urging him to gather power and create an empire. I don’t want him pulled in two crazy different directions but it would be interesting to have a ‘voice of dissent’. However if there is dissent I need to be able to find a middle road that Anius can walk without abandoning either. Who I’ve considered so far: Boccob - He's the ‘default’ choice of most arcane types. I just see his council being something along the lines of “Go build an empire if that is what you really want, but all it is going to do is distract you from your studies. It would be much more worthwhile to concentrate on magic instead.” ... which is a counterbalance of sorts. However I just have a hard time seeing why a Warmage would worship a studious deity and how Anius’ father would have done as a Favored Soul of a mage god. Wee Jas - She works really well in many respects. Gaining power & control over ones own fate and association with dead spirits are right up her ally. Makes sense for a warmage in an organized school / militia. The ‘gentle death’ portfolio would give Anius’ dad something to do as a non-mage. The problems I have are twofold. First Wee Jas is LN & I was really hoping for a TN deity as with Arcane Disciple you have to match the deity’s alignment exactly. Second I feel that the early association with death Anius would have had as a child growing up in a household like this would rob the latter death of his family of some of the power it currently has in my mind. Despite the fact that they all died violently he could take too much comfort in the knowledge that Wee Jas gives. Obad-Hai - This was actually my initial thought. The association with nature fits well with some aspects of the Sand Shaper but at the same time provides a very different focus. Human Empires are rarely good for nature so his voice would be an effective counter to some of the spirits Anius has to listen to. However I’ve started to feel like this is too divergent in terms of conflict. Ultimately I don’t see the demands of the Sand Shapers and Obad-Hai as ever being reconcilable and that Anius would eventually be forced to choose between them. I don’t think that I really want to role play that. Fharlanghn - Offers some interesting possibilities but doesn’t really fit how I see Anius or his father. Both were too ‘settled’ before the destruction of his home city. Celestian - Seems like it might be promising but I don’t have a good feel in my head for how this would work. What would the star traveler think of what the sand shaper voices were urging? I just can’t ‘hear’ Celestian in my head the way I can some of these other gods so I don’t think that I could make this work. Cyndor - Good flavor in terms of the history / creating the future but the LN really turns me off. Geshai - She seems like a reasonable fit but I’m having the same problems with her as I do with Celestian. The lack of info is really hurting me on the ‘other Greyhawk deities’ from Complete Divine. Istus - She just seems too remote. Mouqol - Ironically I really like this idea. Anius’ father being the favored of a god of trade & negotiation really seems plausible. There is an odd synergy with the Sand Shaper’s drive to empire. With Mouqol this could become a Trade Empire. Instead of just bossing people around in a kingdom there could be a drive to make money and expand influence. Where I see problems is with the warmage aspect. One could argue that sometimes the most profitable negotiations take place at the point of a sword but the warmage thing doesn’t seem very in keeping with Mouqol’s profolio. If I can’t find something that I think both fits the flavor I’m looking for and would be fun to RP I’m probably going to drop this idea. Can anyone offer me additional thoughts or suggestions?
Helmed Horror 06-27-05, 02:30 PM	I'm not really sure, the whole non-egyptian, babylonian, FR deal must be hampering your search. bargain with your dm to allow select egyptian gods. I was thinking oghma: the god of knowledge, but... if you cant, you might just have to go with wee-jas.
Tealgorthian 06-27-05, 06:20 PM	Todd, if you can pick up the old Greyhawk Gazateer, it has alot of info about all the Greyhawk Gods. Alternatively, PM me with specific questions about the Greyhawk gods you have having issues with, and I will get my copy out (assuming I can find it) and see what I can do for you.
Damien_Blood 06-27-05, 11:56 PM	I would suggest that you look into the Draconic Pantheon from the Draconomicon, as they tend to deal with many things at once, whereas some of the gods of Humanoids tend to be rather singleminded. Of course, the book is 3.0, but the gods shouldnt need any revision. For instance, Lendys, God of Retribution and The Balance of Nature (i think) is Lawful Neutral and has the destruction and Protection Clerical domains available.
Mirikon 06-28-05, 12:19 AM	Perhaps try to get your DM to allow an obscure, minor god that your guy is one of the few disciples of? In other words, make up a god. Could even call him Shai-hulud. ;)
Morka 06-29-05, 10:41 AM	My vote should go for Wee-Jas. Your father (and familly, and perhaps all the region) could see death as a natural thing. However, murdering someone is not natural, and need to be punished. About the alignment question, instead of an "Obscure God", it might be an "Obscure cult for an otherwise well-known god." So you might see Wee-Jas as TN.
Todd 06-29-05, 04:49 PM	I have to agree that Wee Jas overall is the 'best' choice so far given core gods only and ignoring the Greyhawk setting from which they were ripped. However I've found out in my further research that Wee Jas was a Suel god in Greyhawk and that the Baklun people who inhabit the wastelands, were fierce foes of the Suel. I don't think that Wee Jas would work at all in that context. Right now I'm trying to find more info on Nessek from Ghostwalk ... and looking at other choices. Can anyone suggest other books that have deities in them? So far I've looked at Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, Frostburn, Sandstorm, Races of Stone, Races of Destiny, Races of the Wild, Complete Warrior, and the Book of Exalted Deeds.