General RPG DiscussionDiscussion of all RPGs and non-system-specific topics. DM/GM/player issues, settings, etc. Rules discussion belongs in one the forums below.
As I said in the other; Raven Queen is my first choice (which by the poll, she's just about everyone's first choice), followed by Zehir. They're the primary deities in my ongoing campaign, and the Raven Queen is a very interesting new deity. I, personally, cant wait for more of these.
__________________ "..Death greets me warm; Now I will just say goodbye.."
As I said in the other; Raven Queen is my first choice (which by the poll, she's just about everyone's first choice), followed by Zehir. They're the primary deities in my ongoing campaign, and the Raven Queen is a very interesting new deity. I, personally, cant wait for more of these.
I never found the Raven Queen interesting in a non-superficial way.
I would like to see them expand on Ioun, because she needs it the most imo.
__________________ If "A" is broken, that isn't a valid reason for "B" to be so, even if they vary in degree.
Tactician style Gamer, or so I have been told.
"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."-Albert Einstein
My inner cynic looks at the popularity of Hot Topic and its ilk and says 'there you go', as far as the RQ's popularity goes. She's a goddess of ~Death~, oooh. (My inner cynic and the inner cynic of most people I know actually, but)
It's bizzare, because nobody ever seemed particularly interested in say, Wee Jas or Sehanine Moonbow, both of whom had associations with death, but suddenly RQ is the best thing evar. *shrug*
Personally I don't find her appealing at all so that may colour my perceptions a bit. I didn't find Wee Jas or Sehanine Moonbow particularly interesting either, btw. Though my views on death in the context of D&D are more or less 'Yeah, so? It happens. Why are you making such a big deal about it?', so death gods tend not to appeal to me.
Though I suppose it might have something to do with the undefined afterlife of 4e. Earlier editions, unless your soul was trapped or destroyed somehow, your soul just plain went to your patron god's realm when you died. Now you go to the Shadowfell and maybe your god liked you enough to actually give a damn about your soul, maybe you stop existing, or you pass onto some nebulous other thing, or you linger in the shadowfell or whatever claptrap. (I don't like 4e's afterlife, no. I have ambiguity in real life, I *like* it if my fantasy stuff has some definitive answer if only for the sake of rules stuff. Nothing says the average person or even your character has to know of this, if you want ambiguity...)
I want the new Corellon next, barring that, one of the entirely new gods other than RQ. We know literally nothing about most of them other than the single paragraph, and there aren't really previous versions of them to draw inspiration from.
Torog. We know absolutely nothing about him, or his worshippers. While for fairness's sake a good or unaligned god should probably come first, the one I most want to see described is Torog.
__________________ In California? Enjoy gaming? Then you don't want to miss PolyCon.
Wow lots of love for the Raven Queen! I like her too, but I wonder what it is about her that captures the imagination gamers.
She's (a) new, so nothing much is known of her compared to say, Pelor; (b) has the best non-FR Channel Divinity feat; (c) has an evocative name.
When 4e was published, there seemed to be a flurry of Raven Queen paladins who wanted the CD power (at least judging from what people were saying here & other forums about their games). Now they want some character to go with the encounter power.
Just to add to reasons why we all like the Raven Queen... she's not evil, but she's scary. It's nice to see in D&D that a deity of death doesn't have to be some evil force and that good does not have to equal cuddly and kind.
She's a break from the good / bad simplicity that plagues D&D. The merciless goddess who ensures that when it's your time, you don't get to linger, yet at the same time, she's the force that is keeping Orcus (and possibly Vecna) from upsetting the normal balance of the World. I like the shift in D&D from Judeo-Christian-Islamic influenced Life=Good, Death=Bad and eternal reward / eternal damnation sort of spiritual progression and pantheon, to a more pagan, one life sort of set up. Only a few exceptional souls are diverted from the steady exodus from the realm of our experience, the rest are gone.
The Raven Queen is deeply interwoven with the change of setting, along with other new features such as the Shadowfell. She's one of the four seasonal deities (representing Winter) so has added integration because of that. She has an interesting and mysterious back-story involving her becoming a goddess and overthrowing Nerull.
The Raven Queen has the most potential, being usable for good (PC) or evil (NPC) purposes, as the DM sees fit.
Me, I'd make her the god originally worshipped by the ancestors of Strahd Von Zarovich, making her the reason for Ravenia Von Zarovich's name and Castle Ravenloft's name. Which would make her the one that Strahd made a deal with.
RQ has my vote as does Tharzidun, since my first actual PC is going to be a gnoll avenger dedicated to her. Tharzidun snuck in there since he is the focal point of the game that I am running.
My interest in the Raven Queen is D&D has long given the death portfolio to evil gods (nerull, cyric, and the like)
The Raven Queen has a mysterious element to her, along with being an unaligned deity holding power over death. with the increased focus on the shadowfell, it makes sense that she'd get some article love.
__________________ "..Death greets me warm; Now I will just say goodbye.."
Me, I'd make her the god originally worshipped by the ancestors of Strahd Von Zarovich, making her the reason for Ravenia Von Zarovich's name and Castle Ravenloft's name. Which would make her the one that Strahd made a deal with.
That'd be a contradiction of established lore. Andral, a sun god, was the god that was worshipped at the time. The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind (which is crafted in the shape of the sun) was created by his church and ravens are associated with his worship.
Come to think of it, it would've been awesome if 4E had used Andral instead of Pelor. God knows I'm sick to death of hearing the name "Pelor". That and they could've created some sort of link between Andral and the Raven Queen.
Anyway, for those interested, here's how this horse race is shaping up, so far.
Torog. We know absolutely nothing about him, or his worshippers. While for fairness's sake a good or unaligned god should probably come first, the one I most want to see described is Torog.
This is sorta why I voted Torog - I can already work out a lot of stuff for Pelor, Lolth and Asmodeus from previous editions, but Torog is a bit more of a mystery.
I find it interesting that the Raven Queen has such a lead, but since she's both new and has a connection with Orcus that's perhaps no surprise - I'm not keeping up much with the first 4E adventure path, but if there's a strong Orcus focus then perhaps you could provide detail of her cult and what have you there.
Also, right now Asmodeus is the second place, but that isn't a surprise - devils and demons have always been popular adversaries, if the amount of book space dedicated to them over the editions is anything to go by.
I'd like to see more on Tharizdun - not right away, but at some point he should really get a stat block. The way the 4th Ed cosmology is set up with him, he seems an idea campaign-ending battle for those who want to end their world with a bang. I've always liked Lovecraftian things, but the way he's integrated with the origin of the Abyss and stuff now really grabs me a lot more.
I didn't find Wee Jas or Sehanine Moonbow particularly interesting either, btw. Though my views on death in the context of D&D are more or less 'Yeah, so? It happens. Why are you making such a big deal about it?', so death gods tend not to appeal to me.
Linear Mode
And yet another word from our sponsors
