A balanced pantheon?
- Thread starter randomling
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randomling
First Post
Theuderic said:
You really think it's that bad?
I guess some of it is 8 years old.
Mr Fidgit
First Post
Re: The Cellsori pantheon in brief
some more thoughts, IMHO, of course...
some more thoughts, IMHO, of course...
i would say that Truth is more absolute than good, i would change Ramas to LNrandomite said:
if you looked at magic as a tool (as in - magic doesn't kill people, wizards kill people) you could make Almac a TN god of magic, opposed by a TN god of nature
a LN god of discipline (?) -- (as in a monk's discipline, not a lady-in-a-catsuit-with-a-whip discipline)
Last edited:
randomling
First Post
Re: Re: The Cellsori pantheon in brief
The idea of Catma opposed by a discipline god works quite nicely. Maybe Almac, in fact. He's not only wizardry but study in general, self-discipline, the ascetic lifestyle. And I could add sorcery to Catma's interests, which would work nicely with the rest of her portfolio. Nice!
Ramas always used to be LN actually. I changed him because I thought maybe a Truth god should be LG. Might change him back, though....
This is neat! This way I might not have to create any new deities at all!
Mr Fidgit said:
The idea of Catma opposed by a discipline god works quite nicely. Maybe Almac, in fact. He's not only wizardry but study in general, self-discipline, the ascetic lifestyle. And I could add sorcery to Catma's interests, which would work nicely with the rest of her portfolio. Nice!
Ramas always used to be LN actually. I changed him because I thought maybe a Truth god should be LG. Might change him back, though....
This is neat! This way I might not have to create any new deities at all!
Guilt Puppy
First Post
Re: The Cellsori pantheon in brief
Thoughts:
Hierpan: God of Judgement vs. Somebody: God of Forgiveness (NG) or God of Freedom (CG)... I'd go for the former if you were thinking of judgement as really high standards, for the latter if you were looking at it a means toward justice (which makesthe opposites really interesting... justice emerges through their conflict with each other).
Fremnor: God of Revelry vs. Somebody: God of Piety (LG)... Having a God of piety seems kind of redundant, but he could be a sort of lesser God focused on maintaining the cause of religion in general.
Almac: God of Wizardry (LN) vs. Somebody: Goddess of Sorcery (CN)... Yep, using PHB terms, but I actually think the PHB division between Wizards and Sorcerors is pretty interesting... The two gods could have some great debates on whether magic was an art or a craft.
Canui: God of Thieves (NE) vs. Somebody: God of Wealth (LN)... The God of wealth would essentially be the god of property and the marketplace, probably with some strong alliances to Hierpan. Would be interested in maintaining justice in transactions (bankers, moneychangers, anyone dealing with contracts would probably go to a priest of Whatever-his-name-is to get the deal properly ordained.)
Fanrith: Goddess of Greed (LE) vs. Somebody: God of Sacrifice (N)... Sort of a Buddha figure, dedicated to the absence of the worldy... Possibly LN just to make him fit better with monks.
Catma: Goddess of Indulgence (CN) vs Somebody: Probably the same as the last one. If you're not set on any backstory for them, I'd make Fanrith and Catma twin sisters or something, because they are essentially polar opposites of the same thing (greed and indulgence... it comes down to wanting to possess versus wanting to experience, I guess). To keep the balance, maybe give the God of Sacrifice (or something along those lines) two heads, so that he can discuss philosophy with himself. If you're not worried about having the balance relationship being two heavy-handed, they could also be twin brothers who share the same purpose (the whole enlightened impoverished self thing), who have reached such a state of transcendent zen-ness that they no longer distinguish between one another.
Anyway, pantheon is pretty interesting... Seems a little overloaded, but still good. When I first saw the "every god has an opposite" thing, I was like "oh no!" because I have this inherent dislike of symmetry (looking back at older mythologies, they are far less nuanced than the ones a lot of people come up with when they try to balance them out across game mechanics, alignment, or whatever)... But the opposites you've come up with are actually interesting as opposites (even with the brief description, there's this suggestion of a certain amount of personality in each one, and while each pair of gods counterbalances they do it in unique, intuitive ways, rather than just "God X vs God -X")
randomite said:
Thoughts:
Hierpan: God of Judgement vs. Somebody: God of Forgiveness (NG) or God of Freedom (CG)... I'd go for the former if you were thinking of judgement as really high standards, for the latter if you were looking at it a means toward justice (which makesthe opposites really interesting... justice emerges through their conflict with each other).
Fremnor: God of Revelry vs. Somebody: God of Piety (LG)... Having a God of piety seems kind of redundant, but he could be a sort of lesser God focused on maintaining the cause of religion in general.
Almac: God of Wizardry (LN) vs. Somebody: Goddess of Sorcery (CN)... Yep, using PHB terms, but I actually think the PHB division between Wizards and Sorcerors is pretty interesting... The two gods could have some great debates on whether magic was an art or a craft.
Canui: God of Thieves (NE) vs. Somebody: God of Wealth (LN)... The God of wealth would essentially be the god of property and the marketplace, probably with some strong alliances to Hierpan. Would be interested in maintaining justice in transactions (bankers, moneychangers, anyone dealing with contracts would probably go to a priest of Whatever-his-name-is to get the deal properly ordained.)
Fanrith: Goddess of Greed (LE) vs. Somebody: God of Sacrifice (N)... Sort of a Buddha figure, dedicated to the absence of the worldy... Possibly LN just to make him fit better with monks.
Catma: Goddess of Indulgence (CN) vs Somebody: Probably the same as the last one. If you're not set on any backstory for them, I'd make Fanrith and Catma twin sisters or something, because they are essentially polar opposites of the same thing (greed and indulgence... it comes down to wanting to possess versus wanting to experience, I guess). To keep the balance, maybe give the God of Sacrifice (or something along those lines) two heads, so that he can discuss philosophy with himself. If you're not worried about having the balance relationship being two heavy-handed, they could also be twin brothers who share the same purpose (the whole enlightened impoverished self thing), who have reached such a state of transcendent zen-ness that they no longer distinguish between one another.
Anyway, pantheon is pretty interesting... Seems a little overloaded, but still good. When I first saw the "every god has an opposite" thing, I was like "oh no!" because I have this inherent dislike of symmetry (looking back at older mythologies, they are far less nuanced than the ones a lot of people come up with when they try to balance them out across game mechanics, alignment, or whatever)... But the opposites you've come up with are actually interesting as opposites (even with the brief description, there's this suggestion of a certain amount of personality in each one, and while each pair of gods counterbalances they do it in unique, intuitive ways, rather than just "God X vs God -X")
randomling
First Post
OK, here's the revised list:
Aphelaia: Goddess of Creation (N) vs Duarlan: God of Destruction (CN)
Celadon: God of Valour (LG) vs Jossataro: God of Slaughter (CE)
Manaira: Goddess of Life and Light (LG) vs Rostirno: God of Darkness and Necromancy (LE)
Merika: Goddess of Illusion (CG) vs Ramas: God of Truth (LN)
Tarvin: God of Tyrants (LE) vs Xiane: Goddess of Adventure (CG)
Chenna: Goddess of Love (CG) vs Thintor: God of Passion (NE)
Tiamanti: Goddess of Magic and Prophecy (CN) vs Drissa: Goddess of Nature and Fertility (NG)
Mosstor: God of Knowledge (NG) vs Jehnann: Goddess of Insanity (CE)
Hierpan: God of Judgement and Justice (LN) vs Fremnor: God of Revelry and Freedom (CN)
Clayah: Goddess of the Hunt (LE) vs Canua: Goddess of the Wild (CN)
Felmie: Goddess of Self-Discovery (LG) vs Camac: God of Wealth (LN)
Almac: God of Discipline and Wizardry (LN) vs Catma: Goddess of Indulgence and Sorcery (CN)
Canui: God of Thieves (NE) vs ?
Fanrith: Goddess of Greed (LE) vs ?
Pellsa: Goddess of Healing (NG) vs Brocem: God of Disease (N)
I'm thinking of deleting Fanrith altogether - I don't need a goddess of greed. Unless someone can think of a good portfolio for a LE or NE goddess? Something that might pair Canui, perhaps?
OK, as for replies to various people...
Tallarn - the reason I don't want both Fremnor and Merika to be CN is, mainly, that I have far too many CN deities! But seriously, I always used to picture Merika as a child-goddess, mischievous and playful, a prankster but always benevolent and meaning well. Her tricks sometimes go wrong, but she always means to do good with them. (She's the daughter of Tiamanti, and like her sister Felmie is trying to subvert and improve the bleak future her mother prophesies.)
Mr Fidgit - you can see I've changed Ramas (back) to LN. I have enough LG champions of all that is good and right.
Guilt Puppy - interesting ideas. Certainly makes me want to incorporate freedom into Fremnor's portfolio. He was heading in that direction. It leaves their opposition to be summed up by "standards" - Hierpan's are incredibly high, and Fremnor has none at all. Interesting father/son relationship, there.
I'm definitely giving Sorcery to Catma, it gives her a slightly better defined purpose in life. I like the idea of her (and Fanrith's) pair and I'm quite tempted to do something strange to it...
...namely, make Canui the god of thievery and corruption and Fanrith the sacrifice-type goddess. Maybe LN? Goddess of monks and so forth. A kind of similar deal to Almac I guess. Self-sacrifice... a martial goddess of some kind? A goddess of the umimportance of the individual, only the orgnaiztion, where Canui is a god of the supreme importance of the individual and his/her own pleasure.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments - they've been incredibly helpful! Keep 'em coming though, I'm still tweaking. I may post some summaries of deities and see what you think, later on.
*waving happily*
Aphelaia: Goddess of Creation (N) vs Duarlan: God of Destruction (CN)
Celadon: God of Valour (LG) vs Jossataro: God of Slaughter (CE)
Manaira: Goddess of Life and Light (LG) vs Rostirno: God of Darkness and Necromancy (LE)
Merika: Goddess of Illusion (CG) vs Ramas: God of Truth (LN)
Tarvin: God of Tyrants (LE) vs Xiane: Goddess of Adventure (CG)
Chenna: Goddess of Love (CG) vs Thintor: God of Passion (NE)
Tiamanti: Goddess of Magic and Prophecy (CN) vs Drissa: Goddess of Nature and Fertility (NG)
Mosstor: God of Knowledge (NG) vs Jehnann: Goddess of Insanity (CE)
Hierpan: God of Judgement and Justice (LN) vs Fremnor: God of Revelry and Freedom (CN)
Clayah: Goddess of the Hunt (LE) vs Canua: Goddess of the Wild (CN)
Felmie: Goddess of Self-Discovery (LG) vs Camac: God of Wealth (LN)
Almac: God of Discipline and Wizardry (LN) vs Catma: Goddess of Indulgence and Sorcery (CN)
Canui: God of Thieves (NE) vs ?
Fanrith: Goddess of Greed (LE) vs ?
Pellsa: Goddess of Healing (NG) vs Brocem: God of Disease (N)
I'm thinking of deleting Fanrith altogether - I don't need a goddess of greed. Unless someone can think of a good portfolio for a LE or NE goddess? Something that might pair Canui, perhaps?
OK, as for replies to various people...
Tallarn - the reason I don't want both Fremnor and Merika to be CN is, mainly, that I have far too many CN deities! But seriously, I always used to picture Merika as a child-goddess, mischievous and playful, a prankster but always benevolent and meaning well. Her tricks sometimes go wrong, but she always means to do good with them. (She's the daughter of Tiamanti, and like her sister Felmie is trying to subvert and improve the bleak future her mother prophesies.)
Mr Fidgit - you can see I've changed Ramas (back) to LN. I have enough LG champions of all that is good and right.
Guilt Puppy - interesting ideas. Certainly makes me want to incorporate freedom into Fremnor's portfolio. He was heading in that direction. It leaves their opposition to be summed up by "standards" - Hierpan's are incredibly high, and Fremnor has none at all. Interesting father/son relationship, there.
I'm definitely giving Sorcery to Catma, it gives her a slightly better defined purpose in life. I like the idea of her (and Fanrith's) pair and I'm quite tempted to do something strange to it...
...namely, make Canui the god of thievery and corruption and Fanrith the sacrifice-type goddess. Maybe LN? Goddess of monks and so forth. A kind of similar deal to Almac I guess. Self-sacrifice... a martial goddess of some kind? A goddess of the umimportance of the individual, only the orgnaiztion, where Canui is a god of the supreme importance of the individual and his/her own pleasure.
Thanks, everyone, for your comments - they've been incredibly helpful! Keep 'em coming though, I'm still tweaking. I may post some summaries of deities and see what you think, later on.
*waving happily*
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