Fire Island Pantheon - DOWNLOAD READY

[Tonguez]

Evil is problematic in a Maori/Polynesian campaign as they were not major concerns of the culture. What was good was that which upheld honour and family including (Ancestors) as long as that was done everything was permissible (Rogues were honoured heroes as long as they only stole from other villages and the actions of 'career cannibals (as opposed to ceremonial cannibals) were considered a source of amusement as long as they only ate strangers)

Anyway Murirangafenua (the ancestor from whom Maui acquired the jawbone) is a personification of secret knowledge and the underworld, she is mysterious and ominous and Niifts version of Underworld would be perfect for her.

That being said she, Mahuika and Hinenuitepo are sometimes regarded as sisters so in the Fire Island cosmology Murirangafenua and Mahuika could be combined into a single entity representing the 'Crone'

Mahuika, the Fire Goddess
Alignment: CN
Domains: Destruction, Fire, Knowledge, Underworld
Favored Weapon: shortsword
Symbol: a burning hand

The other LE option is Firo (Feeror) who was the primary anatagonist against Tane when he went in search of Knowledge. Firo is a murderer and theif who represents disease, pain, sickness, fear and insanity

Firo
LE
Fear, Evil, Trickery, Insanity
Favoured Weapon: Tarafai (Stingrays tailspine)
Symbol: A withered hand

Undead
Although Ghosts (and similar) were common in Maori folktales most of the DnD undead (and in particular corporeal undead) do not have a parallel in the folklore. There is a story of a father coming back to spar with his son (and so keep his title as champion fighter) which might be a Wight as his skin was described as being too loose for his body.

What are far more prevalent in polynesian folklore however is Spirits and so imho Ghost should be classified as spirits and the Rebuke Undead ability become a Rebuke Spirit (in whatever form you have it)

 

[CleverNickName]

Evil is problematic in a Maori/Polynesian campaign as they were not major concerns of the culture. What was good was that which upheld honour and family including (Ancestors) as long as that was done everything was permissible (Rogues were honoured heroes as long as they only stole from other villages and the actions of 'career cannibals (as opposed to ceremonial cannibals) were considered a source of amusement as long as they only ate strangers)

I noticed this when doing some of my research. This is the primary reason behind the "work of fiction" disclaimer in the introduction, in fact. D&D needs conflict to drive the stories forward, and one of the most common forms of conflict in the game is the theme of Good vs. Evil. Since I am trying to make a "universal" campaign, I felt that the forces of evil needed some sort of representation.

The other LE option is Firo (Feeror) who was the primary anatagonist against Tane when he went in search of Knowledge. Firo is a murderer and theif who represents disease, pain, sickness, fear and insanity

You had just finished posting this, when I started hammering out the story of Tane and the Three Baskets of Knowledge...in which he struggles with his nemesis Whiro. Serendipity! I'll get Whiro added to the pantheon later today, and I'll try to have his mask drawn this evening. I don't think I'll have time to condense and post his story in the Mythology section; I've got a lot of work to do and a geology test to prepare for, but look for it later this week.

That being said she, Mahuika and Hinenuitepo are sometimes regarded as sisters so in the Fire Island cosmology Murirangafenua and Mahuika could be combined into a single entity representing the 'Crone'

Mahuika, the Fire Goddess
Alignment: CN
Domains: Destruction, Fire, Knowledge, Underworld
Favored Weapon: shortsword
Symbol: a burning hand

Now that I have a without-a-doubt evil persona in the pantheon, I am shifting Mahuika's role. Your suggestion for alignment and domains is perfect; I will be making the change in my next revision...but I think I want to keep Hine and Mahuika separate for now.

Thanks again for your help, Tonguez. It's great to have someone more knowledgeable than myself working on this project. Tēnā koe!

 

[CleverNickName]

Updates

I have made quite a few revisions, based on feedback and fleeting sparks of random inspiration.

Added:
2 new domains (Light and Star)
1 new deity (Whiro)

Revised:
The Underworld domain
Mahuika's portfolio and alignment
Tane's description

 

[CleverNickName]

A handful of stuff was added...

Added:
1 new domain (Fear)
1 new mythology story (Tāne and the Baskets of Knowledge)

Revised:
Whiro's description, mask, and stats have been finalized.

Removed the stat blocks from the gods' descriptions; my recent poll showed that less than 10% of gamers even used them in the first place.

General edits and revisions that slipped below my radar last time.

 

[CleverNickName]

Fire Islands are now polytheistic

Development continues, but is slowing down quite a bit. I'm approaching that point of diminishing return, where any other changes I might make to this pantheon would be minor tweaks and flavor text. So this might be my last major revision.

- As far as changes go, there was really only one thing...I added three new entries to the list of gods, to allow for polytheistic faiths and followers. Like many ancient/pre-contact religions, the Māori worshipped many gods simultaneously, and I thought this would be a better representation of that.

- I fixed all of the boxes to no longer say "Spoiler:" on them, which is something I should have done a long time ago, but that's it.

 

[Dakkar]

Download?

This is a great theme for a campaign - since my wife is Filipina, I have been working on a Polynesian & Filipino pantheon - and you have just done the work for me on the Polynesian side (by far the largest and most complex). GREAT JOB! Now, is there a place I can go to buy or download the finished product as a single package?! Thanks again for all your effort! - Dakkar

 

[CleverNickName]

This is a great theme for a campaign - since my wife is Filipina, I have been working on a Polynesian & Filipino pantheon - and you have just done the work for me on the Polynesian side (by far the largest and most complex). GREAT JOB! Now, is there a place I can go to buy or download the finished product as a single package?! Thanks again for all your effort! - Dakkar

Sorry for the delayed response.

To answer your question, nope, I haven't compiled it into a single package yet. I'm bouncing around between projects at the moment, and haven't gotten back to this one yet. But I tell you what I can do: I'll compile all of the stuff that I have, and upload it to this thread. Look for it later this weekend. Would you prefer Word or Acrobat format?

Most of this stuff has been posted in the EN Wiki, under 3E Gods and Pantheons (and I've even added a few primitive illustrations.) You can check it out here:

Fire Islands Cosmology
Fire Islands Mythology
Fire Islands Pantheon

 

[Dakkar]

Personally, I would prefer Word. THANKS AGAIN!

 

[CleverNickName]

Download is Available

Here you go!

I've compiled all of my notes into a single document, available in the downloads section (link). While you are over there, check out my Rain Dancer prestige class...it might fit your setting.

You have my permission to print and distribute it as much as you like. If you wish to add or change anything, please do so in the EN Wiki so that everyone else can benefit.

Happy gaming!

 

[morgue]

Heya - interesting to see this. I've posted about it on Gametime, a New Zealand RPG groupblog. You can find that here:
gametime: Maori mythology in D&D terms