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View Full Version : Any pantheon experts around? Chasing advice



Kaibis
2018-03-28, 06:17 AM
So my adventurers are going to revolve around a town, the town is shaping up to be kind of Haven-esque (in that it will be an epicentre of strange events)... Lots of deities are being worshipped in this very small town. I was wanting input about relationships between deities, so that I can maximise the weaving together of the story.

The town is a growing lumber town on the edge of a vast forest. It has become walled to protect it from both werewolf attacks, and the known presence of undead deeper into the western part of the forest.

Within the township the following followers exist:

The only church is the "Church of Kelemvor". The Priest is fine, but one of his clerics has become fanatically interested in the Order of the Blue Flame, he purposefully sought this assignment as it was close to a place that was once a pocket plagueland - a pilgrimage area.
The guild of the Ravens has an illogically large presence in the town, it makes no sense for such a small town. From the outside they look like an adventurer's guild and tavern, but once in the higher levels the guild has a strong tie to the Raven Queen and the eradication of undead.
A secret cult exists, cult might be a little strong, just a few Malarites, they are werewolves, they are secretive (because reasons) and exist as valued human members of the town (their status as werewolves is, of course, unknown). They are worshippers of Malar, and they are involved with the werewolf attacks.
A lone druid that follows the deity Mielikki. Not a major player
Deep in the forest the undead incursion is in part because of machinations of Orcus.



The world is homebrew, but I am using all Forgotten Realms stuff and just changing what I need changed. I am happy to use FR pantheon stuff, because it means that I can google answers - and the stories are so detailed. The Raven Queen and Kelemvor are just awesome.

Honest Tiefling
2018-03-28, 11:18 AM
I don't think that the Raven Queen is Forgotten Realms, as she came with the Points of Light/Nentir Vale setting. That might help you google ideas.

First off, where do baby gods come from? Serious question, as I find expanding upon familial and romantic relationships an easy way to come up with gods. You have two nature deities, so do they have a relation of any sort? Are they the same being in any way? Mielikki is also the goddess of Autmn, so where are the gods of the other three seasons? Lurue, Mielikki's roommate, could get a relationship upgrade to lover (They adopted a damn city together!) which could be an interesting set of details for the druid. He might not be a major player, but as a druid he could lend aid or hamper the players badly. An ability to work with intelligent animals of the forest might make him a good plot hook.

And speaking of Malar, you need a moon god of some sort. Why not steal ideas from other campaign settings? Because stealing is fun! Luna from Exalted is a trickster moon deity, which could be easily adapted. She could be the patron of goodly werewolves, which would give the players a moral dilemma of trying to drag some of them back to her sacred grove to try to help them. Also helps if the players accidentally get bitten, as they wouldn't have to immediately retire the PC. A trickster figure would mean that they can remain hidden, so to make a challenge for the PC or so you can have some NPCs to pull out if your PCs do something unexpected.

And where is your goddess of grain and booze!? Booze is only the backbone of civilization, you know! Even a small shrine dedicated to her with a few associated rituals wouldn't be out of place. She could also be the mother of Malar/Mielikki. What farmer WOULDN'T worship that!? If she, like other farming gods, has a connection to the underworld she could be associated with the Raven Queen instead. Perhaps her powers are waning, and her daughter the Raven Queen is stepping up to take care of underworld matters in various locations over the generations, including this one. Or, she could be associated with rivers instead, as a river would mean trade for the village.

Weather gods are also popular, and probably of great importance to farmers. Talos is a bit meh in my opinion, so let's change him up a bit. He's a bit one track, isn't he? That's usually the complaint I see about him. So what if he was a tempermental sky god of destruction, but also magic, secrets or knowledge? Gives a good reason why you'd follow him, and just because you throw bolts of lightning doesn't mean you can't be occasionally crafty.

Do you have demi-human deities, and is the town human dominated? You could add some more flavor by adding in a group (or a majority to be unique) of another race and all of their gods.

Pronounceable
2018-03-28, 12:14 PM
It's very odd to have this many gods meddling in one tiny town already, what you have is entirely reasonable enough for a campaign. If it was a fast growing city, that could've worked. Assuming you're set on Podunkville, you should probably come up with a good reason for why a bunch of woodcutters are drawing so much heat. Traditional scenarios include: imprisoned demon lord, hidden artifact of doom, gate to heavens/hells/elements, new god spawning, incoming fiend invasion/celestial crusade/modron march.

And are you looking for just more deities to throw into the mix or possible interactions between the ones you already have? It's simple enough to justify any number of deities and planars popping in if there's sufficiently epic stuff cooking (depending on the exact flavor of epicness).

Kelemvor and RQ are autoallies against undead but are directly rivals otherwise, they're your best bet here for drama/plot/excitement. Orcus is a particularly gigantic ******* and would be against any and all comers. Mielikki herself is a minor player in general and the best she can manage here is mildly inconveniencing Malar. Malar isn't above allying with other evils but there's not much for him to do other than generic destroy the town stuff.

Otherwise just throw more elves at that forest. There's always more goddamn elves in DnD and they pack an entire pantheon of treehuggers.

e: Oh, I think there's supposed to be a thread round here with a bunch of god stuff in it that could be repurposed. Tho I hear there's rather too much stuff in it.

NRSASD
2018-03-28, 12:24 PM
Just to have a better idea of what you're looking for, how does the inter-god relationships relate to the game/story/plot? Are you trying to develop a plot? Have more background info for you to build off?

In my own campaigning experiences, I've found that the relationships between the churches frequently have more impact on the game than the relationships between the gods. Gods don't have mortal concerns, but churches do, so even if two gods are BFFs, their churches might be on the brink of war with one another over petty grievances, worshiper attendance, taxes, and other mortal concerns.

Honest Tiefling
2018-03-28, 12:24 PM
Kelemvor and RQ are autoallies against undead but are directly rivals otherwise, they're your best bet here for drama/plot/excitement.

One's a mortal promoted to godhood after turning into a kitty. The other is a mysterious queen from the underworld. Together, they fight undead.

But a good question is...Are they rivals? What if their relationship was more complex? And since this isn't Forgotten Realms, they might not need direct worship. And considering how common threats to the afterlife is, they could be willing to work together against these threats. Maybe they have very similar goals and tend to work together, but have some very different ideas on certain things that often cause friction between the followers.

I mean, Kelemvor is usually all about comforting people about the after life, so maybe the Raven Queen is less about comfort and more about getting results? The Kelemvorites might not appreciate creepy warlocks with raven masks performing rituals on the newly dead to the confusion and discomfort of the mourners, while the raven queen wants RESULTS. Move out of the way, weeping children, we need to un-zombify this guy.

As for the number of gods, I assumed most were just given a holiday and a few prayers during the year, as opposed to having priests and temples. Maybe a few shrines (they could even be temporary shrines, particularly in the case of a grain goddess) to serve as plot hooks or to have NPCs drop by later in case the PCs do something that really destroys the plot. (Which they will). Or just for local color for stories for people to mention.

Kaibis
2018-03-28, 04:17 PM
This is great thanks, answering questions.


It's very odd to have this many gods meddling in one tiny town already, what you have is entirely reasonable enough for a campaign.

I know. This little town is at the epic-centre of ****, but they want the timber so they persist (half a dozen TV shows exist on this premise, and we buy it). Although, having active followers doesn't necessarily mean that the gods are meddling in the town. I.e. The Raven Queen and Kelemvor have followers in the town, the devout followers will be having conflict, more so than the gods (though not adverse to that at higher levels).

Finally, yes, I am making a campaign setting, so heaps of this will remain no more than a couple of lines in my notebook and a generally feeling until needed in the future.


Just to have a better idea of what you're looking for, how does the inter-god relationships relate to the game/story/plot? Are you trying to develop a plot? Have more background info for you to build off?

In my own campaigning experiences, I've found that the relationships between the churches frequently have more impact on the game than the relationships between the gods. Gods don't have mortal concerns, but churches do, so even if two gods are BFFs, their churches might be on the brink of war with one another over petty grievances, worshiper attendance, taxes, and other mortal concerns.

Yes, thank you, I didn't explain that well. I am working on a campaign setting, just wanting to pick a few things that will offer long term foreshadowing, should the game continue on that long.

I love the idea of the followers being able to be at odds, even if the gods are not. I suppose this is not dissimilar to Christians and Muslims (and they are worshipping the same God).

I love the idea of the Raven Queen (who was the deity of the wereravens in old Ravenloft modules) and Kelemvor both being against undead... but in their own way. I can't imagine that their followers will have much in common - especially when a fanatical acolyte becomes a member of the order of the blue flame (fanatical followers that pilgrimaged to a place that most all of them died... yet they kept doing it).

The druid is going to live outside of town, near the copper tree. Loggers leaving the town for lumber camps always offer a copper to the tree believing it to be lucky, ensuring their own safety and that of their family. Luck aside, the druid lives off that money, and he heals townsfolk for free. He is a hermit type.