Blending historic pantheons with FR deities. Need Advice.

[khyron1144]

I am looking for some advice on integrating a shiny new toy with my Terra setting.

Most of the nations in this world are assigned a pantheon from Deities & Demigods/Legends & Lore.  I recently acquired Powers & Pantheons and some of the Farun demipowers are interesting.  Three in particular, oddly enough they get a portrait together on page 19, Garagos, Jergal, and Red Knight.

The Terran Empire reveres the Roman versions of the Greek pantheon.
The Dwarves, Jotuns, and Northern Barbarians get the Norse pantheon.
The Halfling Khanate uses a syncretism of the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese pantheons.
The Elves follow the Egyptian pantheon.
There's also a lot of ultra-powerful monsters that are technically deities: the Arch-Devils and Demon Princes plus Anthraxus and the Daemon version of Charon; the Slaad Lords; Primus; Cat Lord; and Bahamut, Tiamat, and Sardior to start with.


Garagos and Red Knight are both technically war demigods, but are about different aspects of warfare.  Garagos is about savage ferocity, and Red Knight is about strategy.  This makes me think about sort of associating them as allied to Ares/Mars and Athena/Minerva, respectively.  On the other hand, Garagos being associated with berserkers makes him appropriate to a culture that produces a lot of berserkers, the Northern Barbarians.

One thing I have thought of is that Minerva probably shouldn't be Red Knight's biological mother.  I believe Minerva is associated with virginity, maybe not as much as Vesta or Dianna, but enough that concrete evidence she has not remained chaste would be unwelcome in my world.  So maybe Red Knight is kind of an ascended hero demigod that had Minerva's sponsorship.

Jergal is interesting because there's a few places he could fit.  I have re-interpreted Hades as a LN rulership deity whose subjects happen to be dead.  This makes Jergal fit quite nicely with him.  On the other hand, I could see him finding a way into the whole Anubis and Thoth and the Judgment of Ma'at thing.

Nobanion might find his way in too, but mainly as a way to give me a statted Specialty Priest class for Cat Lord.

[Lmns Crn]

Just say "syncretism".

I'm not really sure what you're doing with this project. Are you trying to name-substitute world mythology figures into FR? Are you trying to strip out 100% of religion from FR and replace it with world mythology? Are you trying to end up with a thing where world mythology and fantasy nerdlore exist side by side?

I don't know half of these names, so I'm not really sure I can be a direct help to you.

[khyron1144]

Just say "syncretism".

I'm not really sure what you're doing with this project. Are you trying to name-substitute world mythology figures into FR? Are you trying to strip out 100% of religion from FR and replace it with world mythology? Are you trying to end up with a thing where world mythology and fantasy nerdlore exist side by side?

I don't know half of these names, so I'm not really sure I can be a direct help to you.

To the questions part of your response, my intent is closer to the third option:  Adding a tiny little bit of the FR to my own world, that is sorta kinda historically based.

The Names:
Garagos is Chaotic Neutral, a demigod, and his home plane is Pandemonium.  Alternate titles are The Reaver, Master of all Weapons, and Lord of War.  His portfolio is given as:  War, skill at arms, destruction, and plunder.  In the FR his foes are Tempus, FR's civilized war god; and Red Knight.  I don't plan on incorporating Tempus, so his foe might be Athena/Minerva, especially if he's a friend of Ares/Mars.
His Specialty Priests are called Bloodreavers. They need STR 13, CON 11, and WIS 9 to take the class, WIS and STR together are prime attributes.  Their alignment has to be CN or CE.  They have no restrictions on armor or weapons.  Granted powers include immunity to mind-affecting spells and the ability to go berserk.  Some signature spells conjure up temporary magical armor made of blood, make others go berserk, and conjure disembodied arms that wield scimitars.
One reason I was considering, associating him with my pseudo-Norse cultures rather than the pseudo-Roman ones is the berserker abilities and spellls.  He could fit in as a demigod mainly revered by Jotuns and tribes with a high number of berserkers.



Red Knight is demigodess, LN, and makes her home on the Prime Material plane.  Her portfolio is strategy and planning.  Her alternate titles are Lady of Strategy and Grandmaster of the Lanceboard.*  In FR, her superior is Tempus, who is FR's war god of civilized warfare.  In Terra, I would probably just directly substitute Minerva in for Tempus.  Her foes are Cyric, a death god; and Garagos.  I think I'd sub in Thanatos for Cyric.
Her Specialty Priests are called Holy Strategists.  They must be LN and need INT 13, WIS 13, and CHA 10.  INT and WIS are prime.  They have no armor or weapon restrictions and are supposed to prefer the plate armors.  Granted powers are kind of unexceptional: resistance to illusions and the ability to take Non-Weapon Proficiencies from the Warrior group at no extra cost.  Signature spells include divining an opponent's weak points; a variant on the Wizard spell Blink, called Knight's Move; and a telepathic link-up for allies.
I think you can see some reasons why I might want to associate Red Knight with Minerva.


*The Lanceboard is a reference to FR's version of chess.



Jergal is a LN demigod from Hades.  Also known as:  Lord of the End of Everything, Scribe of the Doomed, Seneschal of the Crystal Spire, the Forgotten One, the Pitiless One.  Portfolio is fatalism, order in death, proper burial, guardian of tombs, protector of the names of the dead.  His back story in FR is that he used to be THE DEATH GOD for the setting and is now quite happy to be subordinate to the deities he should view as his usurpers.  Death gods in FR have a quick turnover rate.  His main function is to keep records that the current death god would want to know.
Doomscribes are his Specialty Priests.  LN or LE; WIS 9, INT 11; WIS and INT are prime.  Typical cleric blunt weapons restriction but wide open armor options.  They get super-charged turn/command undead three times a day,  a couple of bonus Non-Weapon Proficiencies, and a chance to save when being level-drained by undead.  Signature spells lean towards divinations: Detect Living, Determine Final Rest, and Jergal's Mind Probe.
Jergal could make sense in service to Hades/Pluto.  He could be the secretary, who can tell the hero; who has traveled to the Underworld; where to find the shade he's looking for.  Also to a certain extent his function/depiction mirrors Thoth's in that weighing someone's heart against a feather thing.



Nobanion is by Powers & Pantheons, LG, a demigod, who makes his home in the Happy Hunting Grounds*.  He usually looks like a lion and is all about cat-related stuff.
*Actually 2e Planescape cosmology calls that set of planes the Beastlands, but the term is already in use in my setting for something else, so I retain the 1e terminology.


Cat Lord was a sort of unique super-monster in the 1e Monster Manual 2.  I think he was True Neutral.  He had cat powers.  He wasn't specifically called out as a deity in any official source, but he is one in my setting.  I may have seen a reference to Planescape updating him to 2e and adding other Animal Lords, but I don't follow Planescape much, so I don't have that particular book.


Need any other clarification?

[Superfluous Crow]

Am I right in my impression that you are running 1e/2e?
Considering greek myth, there is no reason Red Knight has to be the actual progeny of Minerva. Maybe, for instance, she saw a devastating battle and shed a single tear of blood that then gave birth to Red Knight.

[khyron1144]

Am I right in my impression that you are running 1e/2e?
Considering greek myth, there is no reason Red Knight has to be the actual progeny of Minerva. Maybe, for instance, she saw a devastating battle and shed a single tear of blood that then gave birth to Red Knight.

You are correct.  I currently run mostly 1e/2e and plan my world in those terms.

And that blood tear idea is great.  It's a strong contender for what I will end up actually using.  Especially given Minerva's own unusual method of getting born.

[Tangential]

I could pontificate about Animal Lords if it would help.

I like SC's conceptual origin for the RK.

[khyron1144]

I could pontificate about Animal Lords if it would help.

I would like that.  Please do.

[Tangential]

When looking over old notes to post a coherent treastise on ALs, I came across a link to my friends work.
http://dicefreaks.superforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1881 It's actually a pretty god primer on their powers and mythic scope; though eschews details on specifc ones. Of course there are many 2e resource sites with that kind of info.
Cheers.

[khyron1144]

Looking through Powers & Pantheons again  I came across Shiallia and her Woodwives Specialty Priest class.  I think I'll just nick the Specialty Priest class and make it a variant or offshoot of Freja's Priestesshood.  According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki:  She is the patron and protector of pregnant forest creatures, a planter of trees and nurturer of seedlings.   That fits well enough with Freja's Nature/Fertility Goddess nature.