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Lysander
2009-08-03, 02:44 PM
In your games do you have any functional superstitions? In a world where magic works old wive's tales about things like good and bad luck, protective charms, and omens might not be complete garbage.

The difference between a superstition and magic would be that anyone could make use of it. It doesn't take a wizard to leave a bowl of milk on a doorstep as protection against the fey, and a glass all-seeing eye charm isn't necessarily a magical item.

It can be assumed that even if it is functional, any superstition will be far weaker and subtler than a spell with a similar goal. Do you use any? Have any homebrew ones made up just for your world? Or are superstitions all fake? Also, in some cases the superstition itself might be fake but the item or ritual could still grant a morale bonus.

hamishspence
2009-08-03, 03:19 PM
Or you could mix them- magic circles marked with salt, for example, because of the superstition that salt wards off evil.

Zanaril
2009-08-03, 03:21 PM
For one, horseshoes do ward of evil becuase they're made of iron.

hamishspence
2009-08-03, 03:28 PM
Or they could, as in Discworld, just ward off the fey.

Lysander
2009-08-03, 04:22 PM
There are some superstitions that ARE in D&D already, such as vampires being repelled by garlic. But there's no guidance about stuff like four leaf clovers or not walking under ladders.

A few ideas:

Superstitions are an early form of magic, so weak compared to what arcane and divine casters can accomplish that its hard to tell which superstitions are effective and which are false. There are four kinds of superstitions:

1) Charms - Small items carried for luck or protection.
2) Wards - Items left in one place to protect or bless their location.
3) Rituals - Actions performed or avoided for luck or protection.
4) Omens - Finding meaning in chance events.

Charms are simple objects usually costing less than 1gp, and often can be made with simple craft checks. Since superstitions are powered at least in part by belief and morale, sometimes dividing your faith between several objects negates the effect of any of them. Because of this most people can only benefit from one charm at a time, even if they carry several. Classes focusing on spellcasting such as Wizards or Clerics often cannot benefit from charms because they place belief in their own supernatural talents.

Any number of wards can be placed on a home or building, but most provide temporary, minuscule, or highly specialized benefits (such as garlic warding off vampires).

Rituals are usually dubious, or highly specialized.

Beneficial omens are everywhere, but noticing and identifying their meaning requires high synergy between spot and specific knowledge checks.

The Neoclassic
2009-08-03, 05:16 PM
Interesting ideas. In my world most superstitions are just that... But there are occasional clear signs of divine intervention and prayer does work. One society with a particularly active patron deity in my campaign uses prayer as their sole method of birth control... with a 90% effectiveness rate. Couples who instead pray for children only fail to conceive 15% of the time (these percentages reflecting how many couples get pregnant over the course of a year, that is).

Things like garlic for protection against vampires certainly do work in my setting, but a four-leaf clover has no magical properties. I like Lysander's take on omens, and I may have to use that. Of course, if they truly have meaning, I wouldn't call them "chance" events. Maybe events that could be or appear at first glance to be by chance? Hmm, I must do more thinking on this.

Lysander
2009-08-03, 09:03 PM
Things like garlic for protection against vampires certainly do work in my setting, but a four-leaf clover has no magical properties. I like Lysander's take on omens, and I may have to use that. Of course, if they truly have meaning, I wouldn't call them "chance" events. Maybe events that could be or appear at first glance to be by chance? Hmm, I must do more thinking on this.

Omens could be a way of providing more benefits from high knowledge skills. Here's one way they could work. The DM decides to provide an omen. Omens could be things like seeing a hawk catch a squirrel right in front of you, finding a stone shaped vaguely like a skull...not supernatural but unusual.

Everyone would get a spot check to see the omen, if not is goes unnoticed. If the person with the necessary knowledge skill spots or is made aware of the omen then they get a knowledge check. If they roll high enough it provides a hint about things to come. For example:

Rogue: *makes spot check* Look at that, that's strange. A tree with no bark.
Druid: *makes knowledge nature check* A bad sign. In these parts that foretells disease and weakness.
*The next day the party is attack by venomous snakes. Fortunately they took the warning and prepared for poison, as well as disease and energy draining attacks, not knowing exactly what would come*

In addition to giving hints about the future it might give information about the present. For example, your players are negotiation with a foreign diplomat. He bids them farewell and they noticed a tear on his pants cuff when he turns.

Bard: *knowledge nobility* A liar wears ripped pants.

Of course the danger with these omens is that a low knowledge roll would result in a false omen. So you might use them to plan, but you'd never want to rely entirely on them being true.

Strawman
2009-08-03, 09:32 PM
My favorite is always the four-leaf clover. Traditionally you have to carry it around constantly and never show it to anyone.

In a game it could provide a +1 roll on any non-combat roll once per day. Of course, then most players would just spend their spare time crawling through fields of clovers.

Also, garlic superstitions go beyond vampires. They have also been used to ward off the evil eye and witchcraft. Maybe if a character is in a house with garlic hanging from its doorknob, the people inside the house get a bonus against divination attempts made on them.