The Campaign Builder's Guild

At the time of this post the conversation in the Ethos Thread has been leaning toward the side of 'totem gods' for the pantheon.    

We should go ahead and start hammering out some of the finer details of the religion in the CeBeGia (sp?).
This could really help us get a good feel for the world, and help further define the areas and cultures.

I dont think working on this will hinder other areas of development, because whether it is low or high magic, a pantheon must exist.

Here is what other people have suggested in the ethos thread ( totem gods ).

dragon *sphinx *roc *kraken *earth elemental *island turtle *pheonix *death *gargantuan dire animals

If you have any alternate suggestions for the pantheon besides the 'totem god' idea, please post it !

What if the Totem gods mirrored the barbarian totems from UA? Gargantuan dire versions of apes, wolves, lions, etc would make really cool avatars, or even living deities that roamed the untamed wilds of the world.

In civilized societies religions could be much more traditional with cleric based churches, but in the wilder untamed lands, barbarians and shamans would serve the Totem gods almost directly (like the natives who worshipped Kong, on Skull Island).

Sadly I've never seen the new KK movie, but I read the book back in the 80s and loved it.

Eh?

-Nasty-

Quote from: nastynate :What if the Totem gods mirrored the barbarian totems from UA

I dont think there is a problem using one or two gods like that, but i dont think it is a good idea to model the entire thing off of 1 idea.

the more variety we have the better, imo.

everyone should recommend some any totem god Ideas you have tho.
I'll keep the first post up-to-date with the suggetions.

Quote from: daggerhart

Quote from: nastynate :What if the Totem gods mirrored the barbarian totems from UA

You know in hindsight I think you're right. Basing them all of the barbarian totems of UA would be kinda silly, but creating new barbarian totems based on our new totem gods would be great!

I have an idea of instead of having just 1 pantheon, where each person in the world worships one god, you have 1-or-multiple pantheon(s) with multiple religions within those pantheons.  Just for simplicity's sake, let's say there's 1 pantheon.  All the gods in the universe belong to this same pantheon/family/group.  However, within that group, are various religions.  For instance, there could be the religion of "Elementalism," where followers of that religion acknowledge all the deities of the elements (earth, wind, fire, water, heart <--- ?? ), and perhaps bring each of theme into their daily lives.  A worshipper of elementalism would thank the Earth God for a bountiful harvest, and the fire god for a warm home in the winter.  Another religion within this pantheon could be "The Protectors," a group of mostly good and probably-mostly-lawful deities whose portfolios involve the protection and wellfare of people.  One could be the god of healing, while another could be the god of warding, etc, etc.  Another religion could be "The Shadow," which would be a term used to descrive the deities in the pantheon that are less-than-savory, such as gods of death, strife, mayhem, torture, and ickiness.  Most people would fear "The Shadow," perhaps offering a fearful prayer to the god of death for him not to take up their loved ones.  Actual worship of these darker gods would probably belong mostly to cults and fanatics.

Anyhoo, that's my thoughts.... it leaves room for the totem gods as well, plus many other ideas.

That's the structure of the churches in Orden's Mysteries too. I shamelessly stole the concept for Sulos's lost churches as well. It works wonderfully. It gives you diversity, without overloading on deities.

That's basically the idea I have... that way, you could still have plenty of religions throughout the entire world, but it would be really easy to say "Zeus and Odin are good buddies, and don't get along with Set very well.  Siva's a prat."


Figuratively speaking, of course

I went with nine core deities, and mixed and matched them into themes, with three god teams so to speak. Many of which intentionally crossed over, to create religious conflict. I could post my examples over here if anyone wants to see what Ishy and I are talking about.

That something that might help?

Quotebut creating new barbarian totems based on our new totem gods would be great!

weird[/i].

i think we could use them as more or less kong/godzilla--the y don't usually meddle in others affairs, but when they do, tokyo burns down. and not cuz of sulfur and brimstone or some nonsense, but cuz they were fighting in the middle of the city and knocked buildings down ;)

i think we could also group them with related monsters--a Titan totem god would be over all the giants, trolls, and have various humanoid tribes that follow it as their totem, for example? i think stuff like that would work well with Xathan's idea #4.

I was thinking rather than a Kong we could use a tarresque!

EDIT: but no more than one of these big monster ones...I don't want a Kong vs. Godzilla scenario. That seems really cheesy.

yeah, that's basically where i'm going. various tarresque-level monsters for gods. ;)

but, they break out into fights every 100 years or so... right ?

nasty, you dont like the idea of tangible, battling gods?

QuoteI don't want a Kong vs. Godzilla scenario. That seems really cheesy.

awesome[/i]'s cheesy. ;)

Eh, tarrasque doesn't need to be an actual god, cuz he's tough enough to take a god without the powers... just make him exactly what he is; a wandering menace who likes to burp up gold dragon heads.

Quotenasty, you dont like the idea of tangible, battling gods?

Not particularly. It sort takes the adventure out of the PCs hands, and turns them into spectators.

QuoteEh, tarrasque doesn't need to be an actual god, cuz he's tough enough to take a god without the powers... just make him exactly what he is; a wandering menace who likes to burp up gold dragon heads.

Quite true statistically, but people could still worship it as the primal force of destruction, and clerics could draw power from that belief. It would make a fine totem god written just as it is.