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Simius
2007-01-20, 05:45 PM
I am in need for some simple everyday superstitions for my campaign world. I don't need any big superstitions which really dictate how people live, just these little things that are believed by the uneducated masses to give the world some flavour.

Any nice ideas?

Roderick_BR
2007-01-20, 06:00 PM
Crossing a black cat's way gives bad luck.
Breaking a mirror gives back luck (see the Mirror Wall spell somewhere around here)
Stepping on a crack in the tiles in the path will give bad luck to some team you are into or cheer to.
Walking under a stair gives bad luck.
Dropping salt on the table gives bad luck.

These ones are from my country:
Walking backwards is considered "something bad that you shouldn't do".
When you set up a bed, you shouldn't let the lower part (where your legs stay) pointing towards a door.

mikeejimbo
2007-01-20, 06:00 PM
If you swallow 32 copper pieces, you'll die. 31 is ok. 32 = death.

Bathing in the dark is good luck.

Eating alone is bad luck. You should always eat with friends, and everyone should bring a dish, drink, or dessert. This improves the luck even further. In a pinch, you can bring pipe tobacco for after dinner, but you must give the host the first drag.

Black cats are good luck, because they kill mice.

Paying bills on time is bad luck.

DaMullet
2007-01-20, 06:08 PM
I've got a few meal ones I just made up now, most are pretty Suck, but a few could fit.
BREAKFAST:
When cracking eggs, knock them lightly on the counter multiple times; The fewer knocks it takes to crack the egg, the worse your day will be.

Pan-fried products are unlucky, unless the animal was killed with a silver knife.

Breads must never be toasted before 9 AM.

LUNCH and DINNER
Lunchtime meals must be served on plates with corners- Squares and Triangles are the most lucky.

Foods must be eaten one at a time- If multiple food groups are served, you must eat one before moving on to the next. Anything else is terrible luck.

Never lick or wipe your utensils (be they your hands or something more synthetic) prior to finishing the meal. Doing so is both an affront to the cook and to the gods.

Raum
2007-01-20, 06:26 PM
Here's a few: Old Superstitions (http://www.oldsuperstitions.com/).

Ryuuk
2007-01-20, 06:33 PM
If you’re out during the night and you hear a symphony of crickets, then someone’s watching. They’re just trying to warn you.

You can tell how much someone has traveled by looking at their feet. The smaller they are, the less a person has traveled and vice versa. The logic behind this is that they get larger the more you use them.

If a tool breaks while it’s being used (picks, plows, axes, stuff like this), then something’s not right with whatever it’s being used on. It could be cursed, haunted, evil, etc.

Green Bean
2007-01-20, 06:49 PM
When getting a bucket of water, scatter a few droplets along the path to the well, to appease the earth.

Any tool in disuse for more than three years will harm the next user somehow.

If you see a robin on the first day of spring, bow to it. This will give you a bountiful harvest.

If you take a baby who is less than a year old, and dip its feet in a body of water every day for a season, then he/she will never drown in that body of water.

pestilenceawaits
2007-01-20, 08:21 PM
one I thought was funny was never leave a building by a different door than the one you enter.

mikeejimbo
2007-01-21, 12:30 AM
one I thought was funny was never leave a building by a different door than the one you enter.

Or always leave by a different door. That would make more sense to me. What if you're being watched, and the stalker is waiting for you to come out of the same door?

shaka gl
2007-01-21, 12:43 AM
When you wake up, getting out of bed with your left foot is bad luck.

Everyman
2007-01-21, 12:44 AM
Some from my marsh-based campaign (for inspiration):

A pinch of pepper on the stern of a ship/boat wards away evil spirits.

Never stare at your reflection when moving against strong current. To do so is to invite spirits to come and take your reflection. (Considered part of your soul)

Eating boiled snake eyes cures the chicken pox.

You can tell your future when you skip a stone across water if a single stone can skip at least four times. A rock that skips an even number foretells good luck, while an odd number foretells bad luck.

Clear crystals ward away bad luck. Cracked or cloudy crystals attract it.

Jack_of_Spades
2007-01-21, 12:48 AM
If you go to bed with socks on a goblin will sneak in during the night and cut off your right foot to claim the sock.

If your daughter has sex before marriage a troll will eat your best milking cow.

Wizards have no genitals.

Females wizards have both genitals.

Dwarves nose bones are made of granite.

Halfings are kids who didn't eat all thier vegetables.

All elves know magic.

Orcs eat babies.

That abandoned house on the corner down past the tavern was owned by a wizard who did experiments on human subjects. The men he worked on would stumble home drunk with red paint on thier collars; he never marked the women he worked on. Most believe that only clones of them ever return to thier homes.

That kid down by the old well can talk to dogs.

Crows feast on innocent souls. Precaution must be taken when burying children if they are to reach the afterlife.

The Orange Zergling
2007-01-21, 01:15 AM
A bent silver piece brings bad luck unless spent within two days of aquiring it.

A bent platinum piece wards bad luck unless spent within two days of aquiring it.

Just something I thought up on the spot...

reorith
2007-01-21, 03:06 AM
eating with a knife brings bad luck
swearing infront of a horse brings bad luck.
punching a cow counters and dispels horse swear.
getting splinters from a holy symbol is good luck
spilling beer is a sign that the weather will turn for the worse
every third infant born is cursed

random11
2007-01-21, 08:57 AM
What I advise, is to use superstitions that the pcs won't know if they are real or not.

For example: The emperor can know if you are saying bad things about him.

Even better, change the rules and turn "known truths" into superstitions.
Imagine the surprise of the players when you tell them holy water has no effect what so ever on a vampire...

InaVegt
2007-01-21, 09:13 AM
Superstitions should be based of beliefs, and not just random things which sound nice. For example, if you have 3 moons, 1 sun and 5 other planets which are discovered (not visited, but acknowledged in existance), 9 could be considered a magical number and people might want to have everything, if reasonably possible, in multiples of 9 (like 9 pieces of every type of spoon, fork and similar owned. Or buy 99 cows, and not hundred or 98), or they might avoid 9 like the plague, as it might be said to be unlucky. It might even differ from culture to culture, while Culture A sees 9 as a lucky number, Culture B sees it as an unlucky number.

Think about why the superstitions exist, don't just randomly create them. People might even have forgotten the reason for a superstition, but it should still have one.

Belkarseviltwin
2007-01-21, 09:47 AM
Some real-life sailing ones: Whistling on board ship is normally bad luck, as it brings storms. However, the captain will sometimes whistle while the ship is becalmed (a storm which you could survive is better than dying of thirst in a calm)
Scratching the backstays (ropes at the stern that hold up the mast) brings wind.
Carrying an umbrella on board is very bad luck, and tying a hangman's noose while on board is even worse.
Ship names should have a large number of A's and not have 13 letters.
It's bad luck to wear dyed mittens
Pigs should be respected, as pig fat is used as grease on masts. Thus, you should never say "pig" on board ship.
And one Greek one: If you don't break both ends of a boiled egg, witches will take the shell and use it as a boat to sink ships.

mikeejimbo
2007-01-21, 10:32 AM
Superstitions should be based of beliefs, and not just random things which sound nice. For example, if you have 3 moons, 1 sun and 5 other planets which are discovered (not visited, but acknowledged in existance), 9 could be considered a magical number and people might want to have everything, if reasonably possible, in multiples of 9 (like 9 pieces of every type of spoon, fork and similar owned. Or buy 99 cows, and not hundred or 98), or they might avoid 9 like the plague, as it might be said to be unlucky. It might even differ from culture to culture, while Culture A sees 9 as a lucky number, Culture B sees it as an unlucky number.

Think about why the superstitions exist, don't just randomly create them. People might even have forgotten the reason for a superstition, but it should still have one.

I thought the idea here was to come up with the superstitions first, then create reasons.

InaVegt
2007-01-21, 10:49 AM
I thought the idea here was to come up with the superstitions first, then create reasons.

But that creates a logically inconsistent campaign.

mikeejimbo
2007-01-21, 10:51 AM
But that creates a logically inconsistent campaign.

I wouldn't think necessarily so, because the OP could take an idea and tweak it to fit his campaign world.

Simius
2007-01-21, 11:59 AM
Thanks for the replies all.
As I said, I'm only looking for small unimportant superstitions. I don't think that all these small ones need to have a good reason. If you look at Raum's link, you will see a lot of old RL superstitions and they certainly aren't all based on logical reasons.

The more important superstitions in my world DO have their reasons. For example, in my world the Gods live in the sky. Therefore, the common people think that the sky belongs to the gods and birds, who live there, are sacred creatures. Killing birds gives extremely bad luck. (except chickens, which have been 'banished' from the sky by the gods and thus are intended to be eaten)

I also agree with Mikeejimbo: I'm more or less looking for inspiration. Any of the adviced superstitions might be altered to fit my world.

mikeejimbo
2007-01-21, 12:23 PM
The more important superstitions in my world DO have their reasons. For example, in my world the Gods live in the sky. Therefore, the common people think that the sky belongs to the gods and birds, who live there, are sacred creatures. Killing birds gives extremely bad luck. (except chickens, which have been 'banished' from the sky by the gods and thus are intended to be eaten)

I also agree with Mikeejimbo: I'm more or less looking for inspiration. Any of the adviced superstitions might be altered to fit my world.

Reminds me of the albatross. You know "'twas a hellish thing to do" and all that.

The Glyphstone
2007-01-21, 12:30 PM
I made a superstitious Goliath for a game I jus joined, here's a few of the things I thought of:

- If you step in a patch of dried blood more than a week old, your blood will be spilled within a week to freshen it (not necessarily in the same place).

- If someone is staring into your eyes as you kill them, their spirit will haunt you for ten years. You can prevent this only by cutting out the corpse's eyes and burying them underneath a stone.

The 8th Sin
2007-01-21, 08:54 PM
You must turn away all human (or other humaniod) faces on paintings, statues, and busts that are facing towards a the scene of your heinous crime (usually murder) or beings from another world will take you away within 24 hours.

The_Snark
2007-01-21, 09:04 PM
Diseases and sickness is caused by unhealthy night airs, and so windows should be kept shut at night; sick people should stay indoors at night as well.

That was the prevalent medical theory in Europe for some time. Not exactly superstition, but something like it, at least.

Belkarseviltwin
2007-01-22, 09:12 AM
Some more nautical ones:
Never say "drown" or you will.
If a stone is thrown over a ship as it leaves port, the ship will sink.
A man born to be hanged will never drown.
The sea takes what the sea wants- so learning to swim is useless
A ship's name should never be changed, unless it sunk and was salvaged- in which case you have to change the name.
It's good luck to put a coin under the mast- perhaps an offering to sea gods?
A ship which has a stolen piece of wood as part of the keel sails faster.
Priests are bad luck on board.