Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Need help designing a deity that isn't a total ripoff of Dibella from Elder Scrolls
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="System Ufera" data-source="post: 6287576" data-attributes="member: 6671268"><p>...Judeo-Christian? Where are you getting that from? Also, I don't quite understand why you mention knowledge of science and technology. Related to that, however, is something I feel I should mention now, just in case it becomes relevant later (as things usually end up being when I don't mention them beforehand): Magic, in my setting, is basically another form of technology, in that it works for a <em>reason</em>. That reason is that magic is just another feature of the universe's natural laws, and as such, in order to use magic effectively, you'll have to be well-versed in those natural laws. In other words, magic is an application of science, and wizards are basically applied scientists, albeit with an entirely different set of tools. That also means that the knowledge possessed by powerful wizards would have to be as advanced as our own knowledge in the real world today, if not more advanced. Of course, that only represents what the wizards themselves know; whether or not they share that knowledge is another story. In Parodesh (the nation that Im-Tinar's pantheon is worshiped in), for example, the spread of scientific knowledge is highly regulated, since the nation is highly religious, and anyone with significant power that doesn't come from the gods is usually considered a threat.</p><p></p><p>Warning: The next part is about knowledge and such in the rest of the setting. It is a huge continuation of this tangent, which is why I am putting it in a spoiler block.</p><p></p><p>[sblock]In the other nations, it's different. People in Gondrogar, for example, usually think that magic use beyond basic, untrained sorcery, and indeed most uses of academic knowledge unrelated to warfare, is an excuse for the weak and dishonorable to gain power that they don't deserve (by the way, the biological limits on how powerful one's body can potentially be are vastly expanded in my game compared to real life, so a military made up of brutes armed with low-tech weaponry and little to no magic isn't necessarily suicidal).</p><p></p><p>In the Calmekanni Wasteland, there's an atmospheric anomaly that makes magic energy regenerate much more slowly than everywhere else, so the people there improvised by using their knowledge to develop advanced machinery. However, ever since the Calmekanni nation was basically destroyed by the Baalican Empire (see next paragraph) about a century prior to present day, most of that machinery, as well as most of the knowledge required to make it, is lost.</p><p></p><p>In Milandria, knowledge up to a level about equal to the 8th Grade in real-life America is very cheap, though not absolutely necessary, to obtain; more advanced knowledge is much more expensive, though businesses or guilds will often pay most of the bill for a prospective employee that shows promise. Also, since Milandria was founded in revolution against the tyrannical Baalican Empire (which, thanks to the revolution, no longer exists) about 50 years ago, the Milandrians strongly value freedom; thus, the use of "Charm" spells, which forcibly modify the thoughts of the target, is perhaps one of the most illegal things in Milandria, to the degree that there's a governmental organization whose sole duty is to determine whether or not applicants to a paramilitary unit specializing in combating users of such magic should be trusted with the knowledge required to do so.</p><p></p><p>Then, there's the Remiel Merchant League, an organization of international merchants that has gained autonomy, as though it was its own nation. They have plenty of knowledge, though most of the advanced scientific knowledge they have is taught to high-paying students from the other nations, and most of their research is done on a leisurely basis rather than out of necessity. The fact that their organization has a monopoly on many rare and valuable natural resources means that the right to trade with them is too valuable for the other nations to risk by going to war, so what little military they have is in the form of either mercenaries hired to protect merchant ships, or covert operatives whose purpose is to keep secure the knowledge of where the Remiel Merchant League gets its resources.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, I never said it wouldn't be deep, or anything like that. What I said was basically that, as my own setting, I and I alone get the final say on what is or isn't true in the setting, and I have no obligation to make the setting true to or consistent with any other setting.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The "arbitrary" aspect is because Im-Tinar sees certain folkways of society regarding love, sex, and decency as, at best, not serving a purpose. She could, for example, understand why someone would want to wear clothing to serve the purpose of protection or to keep "floppy bits" from uncomfortably flopping around at the slightest movement. What she doesn't understand is why not wearing clothing is considered indecent and made illegal for the purposes of decency, and she and her followers only reluctantly obey such decency laws so that they don't suffer the wrath of the rest of society.</p><p></p><p>As for being an "outsider," Im-Tinar isn't from a different location so much as she is simply the kind of person who, for whatever reason, was never the type to just go along with things simply because "that's they way it is." I haven't figured out what that reason should be, though; maybe she has abnormal psychology?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>While it would seem lazy on my part, I'm actually considering having there be separate words for those separate types of love in the Parodeshi language simply because I can't think of any other way to deal with this issue. That is, there would be a word meaning what we consider "love for one's family," a word for "selfless caring and giving," and a word for the type of love covered by Im-Tinar's domain. That way, there can still be recognition of those other types of "love" while leaving Im-Tinar's domain intact. Like I said, I myself think it seems lazy, but I can't think of anything else to do about that.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, a lack of sex does not necessarily mean a lack of passionate desire. Either way, the purpose of that statement was more to lead into the idea that it's not the way in which one betrays the terms of their union, but rather the fact that one is betraying the terms of the union at all, that Im-Tinar condemns. It wasn't supposed to be a statement in and of itself, basically.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I still don't get why you're mentioning those things.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="System Ufera, post: 6287576, member: 6671268"] ...Judeo-Christian? Where are you getting that from? Also, I don't quite understand why you mention knowledge of science and technology. Related to that, however, is something I feel I should mention now, just in case it becomes relevant later (as things usually end up being when I don't mention them beforehand): Magic, in my setting, is basically another form of technology, in that it works for a [I]reason[/I]. That reason is that magic is just another feature of the universe's natural laws, and as such, in order to use magic effectively, you'll have to be well-versed in those natural laws. In other words, magic is an application of science, and wizards are basically applied scientists, albeit with an entirely different set of tools. That also means that the knowledge possessed by powerful wizards would have to be as advanced as our own knowledge in the real world today, if not more advanced. Of course, that only represents what the wizards themselves know; whether or not they share that knowledge is another story. In Parodesh (the nation that Im-Tinar's pantheon is worshiped in), for example, the spread of scientific knowledge is highly regulated, since the nation is highly religious, and anyone with significant power that doesn't come from the gods is usually considered a threat. Warning: The next part is about knowledge and such in the rest of the setting. It is a huge continuation of this tangent, which is why I am putting it in a spoiler block. [sblock]In the other nations, it's different. People in Gondrogar, for example, usually think that magic use beyond basic, untrained sorcery, and indeed most uses of academic knowledge unrelated to warfare, is an excuse for the weak and dishonorable to gain power that they don't deserve (by the way, the biological limits on how powerful one's body can potentially be are vastly expanded in my game compared to real life, so a military made up of brutes armed with low-tech weaponry and little to no magic isn't necessarily suicidal). In the Calmekanni Wasteland, there's an atmospheric anomaly that makes magic energy regenerate much more slowly than everywhere else, so the people there improvised by using their knowledge to develop advanced machinery. However, ever since the Calmekanni nation was basically destroyed by the Baalican Empire (see next paragraph) about a century prior to present day, most of that machinery, as well as most of the knowledge required to make it, is lost. In Milandria, knowledge up to a level about equal to the 8th Grade in real-life America is very cheap, though not absolutely necessary, to obtain; more advanced knowledge is much more expensive, though businesses or guilds will often pay most of the bill for a prospective employee that shows promise. Also, since Milandria was founded in revolution against the tyrannical Baalican Empire (which, thanks to the revolution, no longer exists) about 50 years ago, the Milandrians strongly value freedom; thus, the use of "Charm" spells, which forcibly modify the thoughts of the target, is perhaps one of the most illegal things in Milandria, to the degree that there's a governmental organization whose sole duty is to determine whether or not applicants to a paramilitary unit specializing in combating users of such magic should be trusted with the knowledge required to do so. Then, there's the Remiel Merchant League, an organization of international merchants that has gained autonomy, as though it was its own nation. They have plenty of knowledge, though most of the advanced scientific knowledge they have is taught to high-paying students from the other nations, and most of their research is done on a leisurely basis rather than out of necessity. The fact that their organization has a monopoly on many rare and valuable natural resources means that the right to trade with them is too valuable for the other nations to risk by going to war, so what little military they have is in the form of either mercenaries hired to protect merchant ships, or covert operatives whose purpose is to keep secure the knowledge of where the Remiel Merchant League gets its resources.[/sblock] Well, I never said it wouldn't be deep, or anything like that. What I said was basically that, as my own setting, I and I alone get the final say on what is or isn't true in the setting, and I have no obligation to make the setting true to or consistent with any other setting. The "arbitrary" aspect is because Im-Tinar sees certain folkways of society regarding love, sex, and decency as, at best, not serving a purpose. She could, for example, understand why someone would want to wear clothing to serve the purpose of protection or to keep "floppy bits" from uncomfortably flopping around at the slightest movement. What she doesn't understand is why not wearing clothing is considered indecent and made illegal for the purposes of decency, and she and her followers only reluctantly obey such decency laws so that they don't suffer the wrath of the rest of society. As for being an "outsider," Im-Tinar isn't from a different location so much as she is simply the kind of person who, for whatever reason, was never the type to just go along with things simply because "that's they way it is." I haven't figured out what that reason should be, though; maybe she has abnormal psychology? While it would seem lazy on my part, I'm actually considering having there be separate words for those separate types of love in the Parodeshi language simply because I can't think of any other way to deal with this issue. That is, there would be a word meaning what we consider "love for one's family," a word for "selfless caring and giving," and a word for the type of love covered by Im-Tinar's domain. That way, there can still be recognition of those other types of "love" while leaving Im-Tinar's domain intact. Like I said, I myself think it seems lazy, but I can't think of anything else to do about that. Well, a lack of sex does not necessarily mean a lack of passionate desire. Either way, the purpose of that statement was more to lead into the idea that it's not the way in which one betrays the terms of their union, but rather the fact that one is betraying the terms of the union at all, that Im-Tinar condemns. It wasn't supposed to be a statement in and of itself, basically. I still don't get why you're mentioning those things. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Need help designing a deity that isn't a total ripoff of Dibella from Elder Scrolls
Top