D&D 5E Seeking Help/Critique on a Setting

[Cap'n Kobold]

#1: Too Many Beastfolk?
I don't mind the presence of beastfolk civilizations in my setting, but I know that most players prefer (or at least are more comfortable with) demihuman races. So, I'm a little worried I may have too many of the former and not enough of the latter. Using this current "world-wide guide" rough draft, would you folks agree that this is a problem I need to be concerned with?

I'd say that even without the beastfolk races, you have more than plenty other races. Particularly given the rather high number of subraces some of them have. You're going to have maybe 6 PCs in play at any one time, so concentrate more on the races' place in the world rather than mechanical stats for a hundred subraces.

#2: Are There Enough Enemies?
Basically, I'm worried I may not be giving players enough creatures to face off against, and thus making this setting kind of boring. Here's the rough run down of what a party can go up against; is my worry valid?

That is plenty, and in any given adventure, it is unlikely that the PCs will be facing even half of that list.
Concentrate on how any particular race differs from their descriptions in the MM or Volos.

#3: The Problem With Gods
This setting is going to require religions. It's a plain and simple fact. But the problem is... well, I tend to find the religious aspects of D&D some of the least interesting. I don't have the slightest idea of where to begin working on such matters, and I know I'll need at least a few small pantheons.

You could try to make many detailed pantheons with minor variations between them.
Or you could drop that potato directly in your player's laps: there are no overarching gods or pantheons, every area probably worships different gods. Have the players tell you about the gods that they follow.

Have a sit down and decide what role you want the gods to have in your setting? Are they all anthropomorphic beings residing on the higher planes with interacting personalities that are capable of talking directly, or even manifesting in order to take a hand in events?
Or are they distant, and while everyone believes in them, they are uncontactable and people rely on portents to try to divine their wishes and intentions, and pure faith to justify their existence.
Are there sources of divine power out there like Eberron's Silver Flame, Blood of Vol, and Undying court that aren't strictly "gods" as such?

 

[steeldragons]

#1: Too Many Beastfolk?

Yes. Well, too many races in general. The demihumans you could probably cut by half. The "beastfolk" list, specifically, isn't horribly out of line -certainly not as compared to standard D&D in just about any setting- but if you are intending all of those to be player options, then I'd say, yes...for sure. You are a bit race-heavy/-crazy.

I don't mind the presence of beastfolk civilizations in my setting, but I know that most players prefer (or at least are more comfortable with) demihuman races. So, I'm a little worried I may have too many of the former and not enough of the latter. Using this current "world-wide guide" rough draft, would you folks agree that this is a problem I need to be concerned with?

Again, yes. Just because you have a certain "race" within the world...doesn't mean they ALL need a "civilization." Make them a handful of small tribes -either spread out across the world or all contained within a specific region. Make a few of them specific singular communities or dwindling populations or "former civilizations" which are now just a handful of creatures.

Every race -even every PC race- doesn't need some giant bustling place in the world or giant wedge of the "races of my world" pie.

AND, by the same token, not every race you want wandering around the "Cantina"-style trading hubs or metropolitan areas needs to be accessible as a PC race.

Demihumans:

• Cogsoul Gnomes
• Wildheart Gnomes
• Sun Elves
• Moon Elves
• Hobgoblins
• Goblins

Two gnome subraces. Two elf options. Two goblin options. All imminently reasonable.

• Gremlins
• Goliaths

Meh. I suppose if having "small race that's not a gnome" and "larger than human race" is something you absolutely believe your players need access to, I guess. I'd probably scrap gremlins (certainly as a PC race)...use goliaths as some singular or very limited population to be found in one specific area of one specific mountain range/rocky hills.

Dhampir

• Vryloka
• Ghuls
• Fetches

I get that these form their own kind of "ecosystem" in the Gloomlands, but I have never really understood, nor found necessary, two individual "races" of "vampire-adjacent but not-really-vampires" people.

• Mortif

I missed reading what these are...so I'm inclined to say they aren't needed as a PC race.

• Half-Elves
• Half-Gnomes
• Half-Goblinoids

Well, sure, if you're making gnomes, elves, and goblinoids your primary racial/demihuman options, "half-races" of each make sense, if not physiologically reasonable, I suppose.

Beastfolk:

• Haffuns
• Ratfolk
• Hutaakans
• Gnolls
• Minotaurs
• Tondi
• Kobolds

Again, for "races in your world" this is not an unreasonable list. For "civilizations" and PC's, it seems excessive. The rabbits and rats make a lot of sense...and are not something you find everywhere. So I like those.

Minotaurs, gnolls, and kobolds as PC races have been done to death. Particularly in light of your concern there isn't "enough" to pit players against. Minotaurs, gnolls and kobolds are "monsters." They are "monster races." They need not be entirely realized civilizations in and of themselves. Or, in the case of gnolls if I'm remembering correctly, "slave races" on the rise against their oppressors.

Actually, with your "not evil" rat-folk, kobolds could easily be reskinned as "evil/tainted/corrupted" ratfolk. No "kobolds" in your world, at all.

Gnolls and Minotaurs, as uncommon or rare threats to be encountered...not "rare/noble savage" PCs.

Let your evil Hobgoblin nation do the heavy lifting in the "villains" arena with other monstrous races or small groups or even individual beings, recruited or coerced or just plain tricked into the machinations of the hobgoblins and other big bads. With the Hutaakans (those are the jackal-headed sorcerer guys, right?) serving the same place/purpose on the Dark Continent.

#2: Are There Enough Enemies?

No. There are never enough enemies. But, at the same time, you don't need to worry about the number or power of enemies until you have players to pit them against. You can set up general ideas and conflicts -as you already have. Come up with a few places of legend and danger and rumored death and glory (there *might* still be a dragon alive over yonder)...but until there are actual players to throw things up against, you don't need to worry about what, specifically, is in every corner or every shadow...and/or whatever IS there -where it came from, who made it, how many there are on the planet and what their civilization once -or currently- entailed.

Basically, I'm worried I may not be giving players enough creatures to face off against, and thus making this setting kind of boring. Here's the rough run down of what a party can go up against; is my worry valid?

Psst. Gonna let you in on a lil' secret of the trade...make it up. If you have players who are sailing through what you already "knew" was in a particular location...guess what?! There's a beholder there now too! Why? Because you just decided there was. Why didn't anyone know?!! Because it's a bloody beholder and no one ever saw it and lived to tell!

That's a long way of saying, "No. Your concern in this area is not valid."

[*]PC Races
[*]Animals & Magical Beasts
[*]Killer Plants
[*]Constructs
[*]Oozes
[*]Monstrosities
[*]Elementals
[*]Undead
[*]Ogres
[/LIST]

That seems like a perfectly sound and reasonable list of things to throw at anyone...for a good long time...in a good long campaign...and not even need to use each/every one of these.

#3: The Problem With Gods
This setting is going to require religions. It's a plain and simple fact. But the problem is... well, I tend to find the religious aspects of D&D some of the least interesting. I don't have the slightest idea of where to begin working on such matters, and I know I'll need at least a few small pantheons.

Well now [fantasy] world religions, deities and pantheon building is one of my great joys. But, again, you don't need to overthink. You don't need to come up with every single entity that any and all races and civilizations and the village gnidiot are saying prayers to. You can. Certainly. You could have a very strict hierarchical bureaucracy of divinities, with set numbers of archons and angels (or devils and demons) and assorted sub-divinities assigned to each. You could just have a limited number of revered deities worshiped collectively...or individually. You could have a singular entity that is the only "real" god for the entire world...with assorted demons and devils constantly vying to take her down...perhaps that "one true way" was actually a demon, herself, once...now reveling and generous in her near infinite power.

You could go the "each race has their own creators and group of deities" route...or you could do everyone has their own CREATION MYTH, but the gods involved are all the same entities under different cultural/racial names.

...and, of course, you could just have some of ALL of this going on in various places within the world...all at the same time.

That is truly not something any of us can do/decide for you. If the "typical" D&D pantheons/religions don't do anything for you...what is it that DOES interest you or you WOULD like to see in your world's religions?

 

[QuietBrowser]

Firstly, I want to thank you all for taking the time to offer your comments and opinions here.

Secondly, thank you all for reassuring me that my first two big concerns were just me panicking.

I will say, though, that if you think my list of planned races is large, you haven't actually looked at the complete list of PC race choices offered in Forgotten Realms in a while:
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/List_of_D&D_PC_Races#Forgotten_Realms
Trust me, it's a doozy. What I've got here is really nothing, especially as not all of these are sharing the same parts of the world and thus would not be available in the same kinds of campaigns. I also disagree with the sentiment that PC gnolls/minotaurs/kobolds have been done to death, but that's more of a personal sentiment than anything that needs discussing.

So, let's move on to the elephant in the room, the one true problem: Religion.

I would go simple and use a core pantheon from one of the editions without each race having their own pantheon. I find that covers the bases well enough and haven't noticed a deficiency from the lack of specific racial pantheons. Plus I'm lazy.

You could try to make many detailed pantheons with minor variations between them.
Or you could drop that potato directly in your player's laps: there are no overarching gods or pantheons, every area probably worships different gods. Have the players tell you about the gods that they follow.

Have a sit down and decide what role you want the gods to have in your setting? Are they all anthropomorphic beings residing on the higher planes with interacting personalities that are capable of talking directly, or even manifesting in order to take a hand in events?
Or are they distant, and while everyone believes in them, they are uncontactable and people rely on portents to try to divine their wishes and intentions, and pure faith to justify their existence.
Are there sources of divine power out there like Eberron's Silver Flame, Blood of Vol, and Undying court that aren't strictly "gods" as such?

Well now [fantasy] world religions, deities and pantheon building is one of my great joys. But, again, you don't need to overthink. You don't need to come up with every single entity that any and all races and civilizations and the village gnidiot are saying prayers to. You can. Certainly. You could have a very strict hierarchical bureaucracy of divinities, with set numbers of archons and angels (or devils and demons) and assorted sub-divinities assigned to each. You could just have a limited number of revered deities worshiped collectively...or individually. You could have a singular entity that is the only "real" god for the entire world...with assorted demons and devils constantly vying to take her down...perhaps that "one true way" was actually a demon, herself, once...now reveling and generous in her near infinite power.

You could go the "each race has their own creators and group of deities" route...or you could do everyone has their own CREATION MYTH, but the gods involved are all the same entities under different cultural/racial names.

...and, of course, you could just have some of ALL of this going on in various places within the world...all at the same time.

That is truly not something any of us can do/decide for you. If the "typical" D&D pantheons/religions don't do anything for you...what is it that DOES interest you or you WOULD like to see in your world's religions?

At the core, I want to keep the action for this world focused on the material plane. There is a big multiverse out of there, the World Axis in fact, but the setting is heavily affected by the presence of the Netherstorm; an artificial planar phenomena that makes travelling to or from the material plane extremely difficult. More specifically, the more powerful a planar being is, the more it's impacted by the Netherstorm - relatively weak beings like standard demons/elementals/fae can still do it, but archangels, demon princes, faerie lords and gods are held at bay.

So, I suppose that what I really want to do for the basic "reality" of religion in this setting is that the gods are real - but, because of the Netherstorm, they are held at a distance. So, like Cap'n Kobold said, the mortals of the world tend to rely on portents to try to divine their wishes and intentions, and pure faith to justify their existence.

Also, yes, there are "non-godly" sources of divine power in this world. I actually rather like that element of Eberron, and the difference between Arch-planar and God was always kind of fuzzy anyway.

In fact... maybe a side-effect of the Netherstorm is that true clerical magic is unknown? The normal role of clerics is instead filled by ritual magic using priests (NPCs) and by Warlocks & Sorcerers with divine affinity/patrons?

Finally, the pantheons: I know that I want one for the Republic, one for the Haffuns, one for the Hobgoblins and one for the Hutaakans and Gnolls. I can see the Haffun pantheon being small, and perhaps it's also connected with the Republic pantheon - that is, they may worship "Old Gods" but also worship the Republic pantheon, and/or the Haffun gods may be honored by other members of the Republic as well. Likewise, the Gnolls may have some gods of their own that are independent of the dark gods worshipped by their Hutaakan masters.

Regardless, my big problem is that... I don't know how to design gods. I don't know where to start figuring out the details. Any suggestions?

 

[Beleriphon]

Regardless, my big problem is that... I don't know how to design gods. I don't know where to start figuring out the details. Any suggestions?

Depends. What do you want the deities in your setting to do for a group of players? That is to say, how to do players interact with the deities and NPC followers? Because in the long run that is a more important consideration for design of a such an important player facing feature of the setting.

If the players as a rule don't interact with the deities and attendant religions to any great degree then basically you can descriptions as brief as: Ra is the head of the deific family and the god of the Sun. He carries the Sun across the sky during the day, and protects it as the Sun travels through the underworld at night.

You don't need to know anything else about Ra unless the players ask. If you want more we know he has a family detail that, then once you have those names and relationships detail what those gods do and how they interact with each other, and Ra. Overlap isn't bad, but it means that each deity does something or means something different to the people if both Ra and Horus are deities associated with the Sun and Kings.

The other thing to look at is to look at what real pantheistic religions offer. Most have a deity of the Sun, fertility/agriculture (or several), and kings/rulers. These are relatively common themes, but another consideration is do you want to have a common theme in your fictional religion? Eberron has this whole 13 less 1 thing going, you might want a similar numerology to link everything together. You might also want to build a single core group of deific concepts and change/adapt them to each different region with different names and a slightly different focus.

To tie in with your pulp adventure focus any Dark Continent stuff needs crazy snake worshipping cults.

 

[Bitbrain]

So, let's move on to the elephant in the room, the one true problem: Religion.

At the core, I want to keep the action for this world focused on the material plane. There is a big multiverse out of there, the World Axis in fact, but the setting is heavily affected by the presence of the Netherstorm; an artificial planar phenomena that makes travelling to or from the material plane extremely difficult. More specifically, the more powerful a planar being is, the more it's impacted by the Netherstorm - relatively weak beings like standard demons/elementals/fae can still do it, but archangels, demon princes, faerie lords and gods are held at bay.

So, I suppose that what I really want to do for the basic "reality" of religion in this setting is that the gods are real - but, because of the Netherstorm, they are held at a distance. So, like Cap'n Kobold said, the mortals of the world tend to rely on portents to try to divine their wishes and intentions, and pure faith to justify their existence.

Also, yes, there are "non-godly" sources of divine power in this world. I actually rather like that element of Eberron, and the difference between Arch-planar and God was always kind of fuzzy anyway.

Finally, the pantheons: I know that I want one for the Republic, one for the Haffuns, one for the Hobgoblins and one for the Hutaakans and Gnolls. I can see the Haffun pantheon being small, and perhaps it's also connected with the Republic pantheon - that is, they may worship "Old Gods" but also worship the Republic pantheon, and/or the Haffun gods may be honored by other members of the Republic as well. Likewise, the Gnolls may have some gods of their own that are independent of the dark gods worshipped by their Hutaakan masters.

Regardless, my big problem is that... I don't know how to design gods. I don't know where to start figuring out the details. Any suggestions?

I'm still recovering from a nasty cold that hit me earlier this week, so my brain isn't quite as good as it usually is, but here are my thoughts:

REPUBLIC
Base the Republic pantheon on the Greek gods.
Have each city in the republic worship a different Olympian as their Patron Deity.

HOBGOBLIN
Do you have Volo's Guide to Monsters? The Goblinoid pantheon detailed in Volo's fits perfectly with what you want from the Hobgoblins.

HAFFUN
This is just my own opinion, but I would base the Haffun pantheon on the Norse deities.
The biggest difference would be with the Thor counterpart.
The haffuns would probably associate him/her less with lightning, and more with tornadoes. He/she would probably also be a deity worshipped less out of reverence, and more out of fear.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

Regardless, my big problem is that... I don't know how to design gods. I don't know where to start figuring out the details. Any suggestions?

First question: Do you want gods?

You don't need to have gods: maybe clerics are empowered by the faith of their communities. Maybe they follow philosophies. Maybe Clerics are a very new phenomena and are able to draw power from the netherstorm by grounding themselves in the world and the people around them.

Finally, the pantheons: I know that I want one for the Republic, one for the Haffuns, one for the Hobgoblins and one for the Hutaakans and Gnolls. I can see the Haffun pantheon being small, and perhaps it's also connected with the Republic pantheon - that is, they may worship "Old Gods" but also worship the Republic pantheon, and/or the Haffun gods may be honored by other members of the Republic as well. Likewise, the Gnolls may have some gods of their own that are independent of the dark gods worshipped by their Hutaakan masters.

Do they all need to be different pantheons? Why not have a single pantheon, and have different cultures emphasise different gods or aspects of the gods within it?

I will say, though, that if you think my list of planned races is large, you haven't actually looked at the complete list of PC race choices offered in Forgotten Realms in a while:
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/List_of_D&D_PC_Races#Forgotten_Realms
Trust me, it's a doozy. What I've got here is really nothing, especially as not all of these are sharing the same parts of the world and thus would not be available in the same kinds of campaigns. I also disagree with the sentiment that PC gnolls/minotaurs/kobolds have been done to death, but that's more of a personal sentiment than anything that needs discussing.

FR has several decades of accumulated garbage and pandering to players and novelists alike. Its probably the poster-child for the 'optimise-your-elf' program to ensure that players can have a bishonen-looking character no matter what stats are needed to min/max the class.

Look at Eberron. It has maybe 11 player races, minimal subraces. That doesn't mean that a player can't play a lizardman, or a Shulassakar or a more unusual race. But its going to be rare enough that you don't need to detail every slight variation of them.

To tie in with your pulp adventure focus any Dark Continent stuff needs crazy snake worshipping cults.

But add a twist: the snake cults are actually the good guys.

 

[Mecheon]

Do they all need to be different pantheons? Why not have a single pantheon, and have different cultures emphasise different gods or aspects of the gods within it?

I was going to suggest this. D&D with its "Everyone knows these gods are a thing" really does religions poorly

Take a look at real life stuff, where craziness like saying Anubis was the same as Hermes and combining them into a single god type things went on

A good starting point for this is to look at what Elder Scrolls has got going on

 

[QuietBrowser]

Wow; so many good comments, I really don't know where to start! Thank you all for your input and advice - I hope you don't mind, but you've given me some rough concepts that I wanted to run by you all...

I can and will explain my intentions/thought processes behind each god if need be, I just figured it'd be best to run the basic concepts by you all first.

General Notes:
I do want the setting to have gods; I have an "atheistic fantasy world" already in my post-apocalyptic setting. Thought I should try something different. Besides, can't let the Hutaakans have all the fun.

All names are placeholders. Better names are desperately sought.

At least some deities in the setting are theorized to be aspects/avatars of each other in-universe, although whether that is the case is left deliberately ambiguous. For example, there are different theories that the "Dark Mother" of the Hutaakans is actually derived from "Hestaiyon", the Republic's shunned God of Black Magic; some say she is actually he shapeshifted and having brought forth the hutaakans as his/her children, others say he took her as his lover and fathered them upon her, others still that she ate his heart when he lay wounded from a divine battle and became both a goddess and a mother by doing so.

One side effect of the Netherstorm is that the present religious background of the world has gotten somewhat... muddled. Primordial Cults that would have been persecuted in the ancient days before the Netherstorm have now gained legitimacy, as the Netherstorm prevents deities or elementals from directly correcting mortal misconceptions the way that they used to.


Republic Pantheon:
Mytteri: The Dragon of All Colors & None, The One In The Void, The Chaos King. God of chaos, creation, madness and wild magic. Envisioned as the first god and thusly the "divine patriarch". Not worshipped directly by most, because he is seen as being insane and unpredictable; officially believed to be chained or otherwise warded away. Patron god of Sorcery.

Arkane: The King of the Many-Colored Crown, Father of Magic, Shaper of Men. God of wizardry, balance, justice and humanity. Child of Mytteri, the patron god of the Republic. Takes the role of the actual divine patriarch in the Republic's pantheon, a benevolent but hands off wizard-king.

Maalia: She of the Book, the Lawmaker, Stern Guide. Goddess of laws, order, scholarship. Sister to Arkane, but much harsher (Lawful Neutral to his Neutral Good, if you must). Associated with the season of Summer.

Hestaiyon: The Dark One, Father of the Black Arts, Ultimate Tyrant. God of black magic (Conjuration, Enchantment, Necromancy), conquest and domination. Ambitious, power-hungry and jealous sibling/son of Arkane, yearns to take Arkane's place. Associated with the season of Autumn.

Eros: The Beautiful One, the Passionate. Androgynous god/dess of love, beauty, whimsy and revelry. Associated with the season of Spring.

Hogun: The Grim, Beastlord, Great Hunter. God of beasts, hunting and the wilderness. Stoic and indifferent to civilization. Associated with the season of Winter.

Rhea: All-Mother, Lifebringer. Goddess of earth, fertility, farming and childbirth.


Haffun Pantheon:
Yondala: Goddess of earth, vegetation, life, pregnant women, childbirth. Matriarch of the haffun pantheon. Overlaps with Rhea.

Jacky: God of love, luck, trickery, mischief, passion, whimsy and revelry. High-spirited, passionate, lusty, mischievous fool. Patriarch of the haffun pantheon; Yondala's husband. Overlaps with Eros.

Druiich: Goddess of agriculture.

Delilah: Goddess of the family and the home.

Tornadrus: God of storms, sports, and strength. A loud-mouthed, attention-seeking braggart.


Hobgoblin Pantheon:
Iron Father: God of war, strength, and conquest. Ruler of the hobgob pantheon and metaphysical father of their race.

Flame Mother: Goddess of fire, fertility, cunning and wit. Iron Father's spouse, patron of strategy, mother of the hobgoblins.

Smokeguzzler: Goddess of smithing, craftsmanship and "technology". Creator of the hobgoblin magitek, patron of its inventors and artificers.


Hutaakan Pantheon:
The Dark Mother: Goddess of hutaakans, fertility and black magic. Absolute ruler of the hutaakan pantheon, first and foremost of their deities.

Zuggtmoy: Goddess of fungus, drugs, medicine, ecstasy.

Mordiggian: God of necromancy, death, darkness, slavery, feasting, cannibalism.

Teratrogen: Goddess of mutation, transformation, fleshcrafting, surgery, physical augmentation.

Dhamballa: God of serpents, revelry, illusion, whimsy, pleasure, and carnality.


Gnoll Pantheon:
She Who Fights: Goddess of gnolls, war, protection, savagery and strength.

He Who Thinks: God of gnolls, cunning, stealth, psionics, magic, hearth and home.

 

[Bitbrain]

Wow; so many good comments, I really don't know where to start! Thank you all for your input and advice - I hope you don't mind, but you've given me some rough concepts that I wanted to run by you all...

All names are placeholders. Better names are desperately sought.

Republic Pantheon:
Mytteri: The Dragon of All Colors & None, The One In The Void, The Chaos King. God of chaos, creation, madness and wild magic. Envisioned as the first god and thusly the "divine patriarch". Not worshipped directly by most, because he is seen as being insane and unpredictable; officially believed to be chained or otherwise warded away. Patron god of Sorcery.

Arkane: The King of the Many-Colored Crown, Father of Magic, Shaper of Men. God of wizardry, balance, justice and humanity. Child of Mytteri, the patron god of the Republic. Takes the role of the actual divine patriarch in the Republic's pantheon, a benevolent but hands off wizard-king.

Maalia: She of the Book, the Lawmaker, Stern Guide. Goddess of laws, order, scholarship. Sister to Arkane, but much harsher (Lawful Neutral to his Neutral Good, if you must). Associated with the season of Summer.

Hestaiyon: The Dark One, Father of the Black Arts, Ultimate Tyrant. God of black magic (Conjuration, Enchantment, Necromancy), conquest and domination. Ambitious, power-hungry and jealous sibling/son of Arkane, yearns to take Arkane's place. Associated with the season of Autumn.

Eros: The Beautiful One, the Passionate. Androgynous god/dess of love, beauty, whimsy and revelry. Associated with the season of Spring.

Hogun: The Grim, Beastlord, Great Hunter. God of beasts, hunting and the wilderness. Stoic and indifferent to civilization. Associated with the season of Winter.

Rhea: All-Mother, Lifebringer. Goddess of earth, fertility, farming and childbirth.


Haffun Pantheon:
Yondala: Goddess of earth, vegetation, life, pregnant women, childbirth. Matriarch of the haffun pantheon. Overlaps with Rhea.

Jacky: God of love, luck, trickery, mischief, passion, whimsy and revelry. High-spirited, passionate, lusty, mischievous fool. Patriarch of the haffun pantheon; Yondala's husband. Overlaps with Eros.

Druiich: Goddess of agriculture.

Delilah: Goddess of the family and the home.

Tornadrus: God of storms, sports, and strength. A loud-mouthed, attention-seeking braggart.


Hobgoblin Pantheon:
Iron Father: God of war, strength, and conquest. Ruler of the hobgob pantheon and metaphysical father of their race.

Flame Mother: Goddess of fire, fertility, cunning and wit. Iron Father's spouse, patron of strategy, mother of the hobgoblins.

Smokeguzzler: Goddess of smithing, craftsmanship and "technology". Creator of the hobgoblin magitek, patron of its inventors and artificers.


Hutaakan Pantheon:
The Dark Mother: Goddess of hutaakans, fertility and black magic. Absolute ruler of the hutaakan pantheon, first and foremost of their deities.

Zuggtmoy: Goddess of fungus, drugs, medicine, ecstasy.

Mordiggian: God of necromancy, death, darkness, slavery, feasting, cannibalism.

Teratrogen: Goddess of mutation, transformation, fleshcrafting, surgery, physical augmentation.

Dhamballa: God of serpents, revelry, illusion, whimsy, pleasure, and carnality.


Gnoll Pantheon:
She Who Fights: Goddess of gnolls, war, protection, savagery and strength.

He Who Thinks: God of gnolls, cunning, stealth, psionics, magic, hearth and home.

You don't need to change anyone's name, it's perfect!

 

[QuietBrowser]

So, I just wanted to elaborate a little on my thought processes behind the gods, because I'm growing more and more dissatisfied with the Haffuns as I sit here and think about it.


In General:
I really liked what 4e did with gods, because I agreed with their sentiment that the most essential deities were those that could either inspire adventurers in their service or found malign cults to do battle against. D&D has a bit of a history of throwing out deities for every little detail, which is historically accurate, but not exactly a good use of time and space. I would rather keep the more specifically focused deities in the role of exarches; they're there, the common people worship them, but as an adventurer, you probably have little interaction with them.


Republic:
In general, I see this as the most generic fantasy pantheon of the group. The primary unique tweak is that because the Republic is founded on magic, I envisioned the lead gods would be those tied to magic.


More specifically, as wizardry lends itself better to... "mass distribution" (the artificer is basically an evolution of the wizard), it would be the Wizardry God who'd lead and the Sorcery God would be in a respected but still not head honcho position.


Also, whilst necromancy traditionally gets the bad rap, when you think about it, conjuration (specifically of fiends) and enchantment are JUST as creepy-bad-evil as necromancy. Dragonlance actually did something smart by making Enchantment the other Black Magic lore, I wanted to embrace the pulp/S&S angle by making the god specifically focused on Conj/Ench/Nec as the "Dark Magic God".


Hobgoblins:
The hobgoblin pantheon basically builds on their race's theme of "Kaiserreich".


Naturally, we want a strong, fierce, patriarchal war-god who champions the prowess and dominance of his people.


But, hobgoblins have also been an egalitarian race, at least in 4e and PF, and I want to preserve that, So, there's also a Chief Goddess - a Mother God - and she's her husband's equal. She pulls double duty as a war god and a fertility god; in sort of a reflection of the Two Honors, she charges female hobgoblins both with having the strength to serve in battle, but also the strength to produce strong, healthy future soldiers as well. This, to me, makes more sense than her being just this meek simpering advocate of Kinder, Küche, Kirche.


I originally though that some kind of "inventor god" to make an explanation for their reverence of their "technology" made sense, but I don't know now... does just the Father & Mother work?


Hutaakans:
What I wanted with the hutaakans was a pulpy "Dark Gods" feel - but I also wanted to preserve the idea of "Dark Is Not Evil" by letting them have some unaligned aspects, so you could theoretically play a worshipper of one and still not be playing a villain. The current list looks like a fairly solid first draft to me, but could maybe use some refinement.


Gnolls:
I figured that the gnolls would mostly worship the pantheon of their creator-masters, the hutaakans, but have some private religious beliefs of their own.


I really like the idea of gnolls as matriarchal and with female-favoring size dimorphism; it is only characteristic of one breed of hyena, true, but it's still more interesting than the generic patriarchal evil brutes fluff that gnolls were saddled with in 1st through 3rd edition.


Add in a hazy memory of the hyena religions from Digger, and I came up with a brainstorm: only two gnoll gods, representing females and males, and both representing positive traits. Thus, She Who Fights is the War God, the Defender, the god of physical strength; but He Who Thinks is the Smart God, the Hearthkeeper, the god of intellectul strength and, through that, mysticism.


I think it works rather well, don't you?


Haffuns:
Now, the haffuns are a tricky thing... I knew going in that the most important things to them, culturally, tie to nature - they are led by "druid" conclaves, after all. At the same time, they're a matriarchal race, so that suggests that the pantheon should be fairly full of female figures.


When I think about it, these, to me, seem like the most logical archetypes for their pantheon - and I don't think my first draft really measured up.


The Grandmother: Goddess of the earth, the plants, the animals, and life itself. A beloved matriarch who cares for all her many children, but not without a sense of humor or no apprecition for the carnal; picture a well-preserved elder female bunny with the personality of Nanny Ogg, and you've got the Grandmother in a nutshell.


The Mother: Head of the pantheon, this "sub-matriarch" would be the one who actively looks after the various gods, her offspring, and keeps them all together. Not entirely sure what aspect she would cover; one thought suggests that she might be the Civilization God, the one who created the arts of building, farming, herding and cooking. She's likely also a Fertility God, prayed to for healthy children and the safety of pregnant mothers, laboring mothers, and babies. Likely to be portrayed as heavily pregnant herself.


The Father: Most important male in the pantheon, if not the only one. Emphasizing the "women are wiser" aspect of his race, the Father is a lusty, mischievous, carefree trickster spirit. He infuriates his spouse, the Mother, with his moments of laziness, his love of pranks, and his occasional fits of stupidity. But he loves her and is loyal to her, and his romance, passion and genuine care always soothes her temper in the end. Maybe this is too much, but I see him as being both a Love God, a Trickster God and an Adventurer God; haffuns pray to him for success in love, and to keep their marriage passionate, but they also invoke him for festivals, cherish him as their racial hero, and he inspires many haffuns who leave their homes to go adventuring.


The Hellion: A daughter of the Mother and the Father, this hot-tempered, hot-headed, trouble-making goddess is the Storm God of the Pantheon. Think of her as a female Sussano-o, with a dash of Thor. She might be the closest thing in their pantheon to a War God, but is mostly thought of as a bloody nuisance; a braggadocious show-off who runs with the thunder storms and rides the tornados that both wreak havoc across the Grassy Ocean.


...I think there's some room for other gods in the pantheon, but I'm unsure if they'd be "full gods" like these. What do you folks think?