D&D General A Gruumsh Of A Different Type

[grimslade]

Minor thread resurrection. Say I wanted Gruumsh to be worshipped by both orcs and barbarians and such (fury, bloodshed, battle, perseverance). But, I still want Gruumsh to be patron of orcs. And orcs and the barbarians are mortal enemies (think Uthgart from FR). How would you go about this? How could the humans, sworn enemies of the orcs, also pray to the patron of orcs?

The barbarians would worship Gruumsh, creator of the orcs, who have abandoned the ways And example of their creator. Orcs are to be shown the error of their wayward path. Excoriated for their apostasy to their god‘s sacrifice. The best part is the conflict between the humans and orcs can be entirely dogmatic with no substance at all. Imagine your barbarian tribe trying to convert Orcs to the True vision of the One Eyed Fury!

 

[Istbor]

I took Gruumsh in a completely different way entirely. Building out the framework for a new campaign world for my home game, now that I am not actively playing D&D (long story short, not everyone wants to play online for this so we are on leave).

In this new world Orcs, Bugbear, and some of the more wilder humans, worship Gruumsh. Here however, she takes the form of a one-eyed white Tigress. A guardian of nature. A spirit of the Fury nature can unleash. Iconic of the dangerous beauty you can find all around.

Most of the 4 major God-like entities in this campaign are aspects or interpretations of a single entity that once was, though it's essence and influence linger, this truth is all but lost and forgotten.

This isn't to say that followers of this Goddess are back-woods savages. No. Just that most of the peoples who believe in her are more keyed in to nature. Or live in some of the rougher parts of the land. There are still vast cities of Orcs, and Bugbear, though more isolationist and harder to reach. These cities would also not look similar to those of Man. They are sparser. A mix of grand Orcish woodcraft and ornately decorated burrows.

I dunno... I like to have fun with the pantheons D&D presents us with, and tend not to take them too seriously, especially when I get to make my own lore and legends.