Some inspiration, please? (Mandate of Heaven spoilers, players out please)

[Eldan]

So, for context, I'm running game (system is irrelevant, really), where a major part is players (representing here powerful factions that take over part of a city) making pacts with various powerful spirits and magical entities. I ran some quick calculations and figures that to keep the game fresh and interesting, I need around 50 such magical creatures.

So far, I've written up about 30 and what their pacts do, and I'm utterly out of ideas. I think I have the basics covered. I have spirits of war and of peace, spirits of knowledge and of wealth, an apocalyptic world-devourer, a god of death-and-rebirth with quite interesting mechanics (I'd think), a trickster spirit that allows interfering with pacts other players have signed, a judge of the dead, the three fates, a world turtle, a minor god of bureaucracy, a god of royalty/kingship, a goddess of love, a sun god, the three fates, a spirit of craftsmen, etc.

And now I'm utterly out of ideas and I need about 20 more. So, I thought I'd just throw this out there, and just generally ask. Any ideas? Could be anything. Interesting gods, real or fictional. Weird magical creatures you can think of, the weirder the better, really, whether they are from the real world, fiction, or RPGs. Any specific examples of people signing pacts for power, especially on a faction-level and not personal? Just general categories I might have missed.

I'd be thankful for any ideas, no matter how vague.

[Morgaln]

Werewolf:The Apocalpyse has tons of totem spirits that could be used as inspiration for this. Most of them are just animals, but some of the weirder ones that might be interesting to you are:

The Great Trash Heap
O' Mighty Dolla' (representing cash)
Easy Credit (representing digital payment)
Machine Messiah
Volcano


Other than that, I didn't see any weather spirits on our list, that might be another idea.

[Eldan]

Didn't think of weather, thanks. Werewolf I was never as much into as other White Wolf games (and I never played those much either) is there any good online source on them?

I should probably also look into Changeling a bit more, that had pacts too.

[Eldan]

Thank you, that was very helpful. I got three more solid ideas from Werewolf, though they are mostly amalgamations of several Werewolf spirits. Added a Frog/Amphibian God who deals with water, transformations and liminality and a Crow/Trash Heap God who deals with scavenging, ruins and lost and destroyed objects.

[Morgaln]

Glad I could help, I'll let you know if I have any other ideas.

[caden_varn]

Nature spirits are an obvious one - if there is a large river or lake in/bordering the city, or a sea god if it is coastal. Wind spirits may be appropriate.
There could also be vengeful nature spirits of whatever was here before the city and surrounding farmland replaced the natural environment (maybe forest spirits).
There could be tribal spirits if you have multiple distinctive tribes. Farm/fertility gods (may or may not intersect with love).
A god of the oppressed could be interesting, aiming at fomenting unrest.

Nonhuman spirits/creatures like powerful dragons/sphinxes etc maybe?

[Batcathat]

Maybe spirits created by some major event, like a bloodthirsty spirit created by some ancient battle or a benevolent one created by some major act of kindness (maybe a village was starving and then the village they had been feuding with for generations gave them food. Things like that).

[Morgaln]

I've come up with a list of concepts that might be useful (as well as one specific reference). Some of them probably overlap with what you already have, but maybe there's something in here you'll find useful. Presented in no particular order:

Order/Stability/Stasis
Chaos/Change/Entropy/
Time
Sea/Ocean
Growth/Fertility
Progress/Technology
Evolution
The muses/creativity/artistry
Innocence/childhood
Freedom
Narration/Storytelling/Tropes
Astrology/Divination
The Oh God of Hangovers :P
Unity
Infinity
Logic
Hospitality
Secrets
Civilization
Colors
Numbers
Games/Competition/Excellence
Vengeance
Music
Language/Communication
Travelling

[Eldan]

@Morgaln: I already have a surprising number of these in some ways, but thank you for the list anyway. Notably lacking were innocence/childhood, language, music and hospitality. Several of those should probably be on the list, but might be difficult to represent in game rules.

@Batcathat: Good idea. Not so much for adding more gods to the list, but some of them could use a bit more background and flavour, adding significant historic events to some of them would be nice.

@caden_varn: Got a sea god already, or actually two (it's a coastal city, so I have one for fresh water and one for ocean water), but a vengeance spirit is a good idea. Pretty easy to put in rules too: actions against someone who wronged you before are more powerful.

[Pauly]

There’s a real world religion originating in Haiti that worships spirits. Can’t go into too much specifics due to the forum rules but some ideas from that.
The powerful spirits are people who were powerful and then took that power with them to the other side.

The guardian of the crossroads. Basically Google for the spirit world. Helps you find the spirit you’re looking for.
Protector of the dead. Not a good guy, but makes sure the dead stay dead. However can be bargained with to create zombies (slave workforce type zombies, not eat your brain zombies).
Protector of Haiti.
Spirits of the sea
Spirit of fertility
Spirit of Farming
Spirit of Merchants
Spirit of Revenge
Spirit of Justice
Spirit of directions/finding things

[Kol Korran]

Let's see... Some ideas. Not major spirits probably, but may be interesting:

# indulgence, desire, sensation:
A spirit that promotes giving into your desires, and experience all the world has to offer! Seeks to touch on hidden desires, vices, needs, wants... Seeks to involve all of the senses! Sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, and beyond. Can be a patron of arts, cooking, seduction, and more... If you've read Sandman, think Desire, only less calculating, and more raw, poweful, sweeping sensation.

# A spider/ Weaver of webs...
A secretive creature, a very patient one, that weaves an invisible barely perceptible web of intrigue, information, deceit and influence... It can give you access to the web, and may even appreciate you trying to outmaneuver it, but are you doing your own thing? Or are you deftly manipulated by the weaver?

# The hearth/ The mother:
A protector spirit, a cummunity spirit. It seeks to tighten the bonds, the relationships, the unity of a specific community in the city, or it may be seeking one, after having lost it's past community. One the one hand- the community spirit greatly helps and advances the people it regards as it's charge, but... It may also be too protective, and unwilling to let the individual's desires, needs or different views/ ideas about the community. Basically- "The needs of the many overweight the needs of the individual" mentality.

# The Red Revenge:
A spirit of vengeance and retribution. I imagine a sort of red tinted wing (Think Pocahontas "can you paint with all the colors of the wind", that seeks do avenge wrongs (or at least what it perceives as "wrong"), in excessive means. It seeks to inflame, strengthen, bolden "victims" of such wrongs, support and give power to vigilantes, but usually takes the punishment/ revenge to excess... Think the Punisher, or the guy with the rorsarch mask from The Watchmen.

# Hunger/ The devourer:
"From beneath you, it devours." An ancient entity of entropy, gluttony, hunger, consumption and nihilism. Believed to be a sort of ancient priomoridal enormous worm, that sleeps beneath the world, sustaint intself by small morsels through many hungering mouths linked to it in the actual world, it awaits the time when it shall awaken, and the devour the world.

It is a spirit of endless hunger, and it's supplicants and followers, while capable of consuming enormous quantities of edible... Well... "Food" (though that may be stretching it) always seemed starved, severly underweight and clinically ill...

They relish and nurture worms and the "all eaters" and disassemblers of nearly all organic matter, small manifestation of their patron. They may creat horrific "hungering pits" which are a sort of an open maw, that devours sacrifices, presumably feeding the world eater... If they will feed it enough, perhaps it will awaken from it's slumber?

# The scarred one:
A suffering creature, heavily wonded, scarred, but enlightened. It teaches that pain is a teacher, that most transitions and revelations come through pain, and that we should not fear it, but embrace the opportunities of evolution it brings, and the empathy it teaches for others, as this is one of the few basic experiences that all can relate to.

At once, both a compassionate yet extreme entity, with difficult lessons, and à painful existence. It seeks both to help deal with pain, but not shy or try to evade it. It learns from it's wounds and scars, yet keep them, and not letting the heal completly, be forgotten. And all of this relates to emotional suffering, as well as physical.

Think Illmater, a specifically distorted interpertation of crucified Jesus, or of Budha.
.
# The court:
Not exactly a single entity, but rather a small assortment of corrupted, aristocratic, decript "echos", from bygone courts of the old world... From victorian times, middel ages, roman empire, chinese dynasties, and more...

These spirits are old, proud, arrogant, yet also crafty, conniving, and still ambitious, even though their days of glory have long passed... Hidden behind a sort of veil between our world, and an old, formerly extravagant otherworldly royal court, these "noble elite" are puzzled and frustrated by the world changes... They seek agents, to learn, explain, and be their link, liasons, middlemen (and women), and last but not least- operatives in this world.

Their motives and agenda can be confusing to those out of the court, as their desires ranges from explanations or clarifications about today practices, to manipulating and getting rid of obscure heirs to their rivals, a few centuries on the past.

That's it for now. If I'll think of more, I'll come back.