Samloyal23
Adventurer
So, just had a passing thought, that people living in a fantasy realm with a wide array of monsters would use some of them in place of traditional astrological signs. What do you all think?
D&D 3E/3.5 Alternative Astrological Signs
Celebrim
Legend
You are almost certainly right that the stars in a High Fantasy world would be different than our own, but there is almost nothing in the world that I'm less interested in than Astrology, so of all the things in the world that I would want to build an intricate novel system for, a unique take on Astrology ranks near the bottom.
I am entirely happy to use a straight pastiche of real world Astrology for any astrological needs I would have in my fantasy world.
That said, it would require very little effort to replace existing astrological signs with counterparts on a one to one basis.
I am entirely happy to use a straight pastiche of real world Astrology for any astrological needs I would have in my fantasy world.
That said, it would require very little effort to replace existing astrological signs with counterparts on a one to one basis.
Baron Opal II
Hero
Sure. What do you think would make for some interesting signs? What would they mean?
Scarred Lands had a 15 sign zodiacal year.
Scarred Lands had a 15 sign zodiacal year.
Samloyal23
Adventurer
The standard zodiac signs have elemental correspondences, including what we would call para-elements. So you have a sign for pure Fire, earthy Fire (lava), and airy Fire (smoke). Each of the signs also corresponds to a specific body in the solar system, including the Sun, Moon, and each planet. Each of these celestial bodies is also ruled by a specific god. We can find monsters that are symbolically similar to the standard zodiac creatures, relate them to specific gods, and add the energy and quasi-elements...
(un)reason
Legend
It's been done. You want Dragon issue 340, as that had astrology as it's theme, including a zodiac composed of beholder, harpy, ettin, dryad, stirge, wyvern, dragon, unicorn, hydra, chimera, kraken and basilisk, along with mechanical support for people born under each sign and appropriate spells & magic items.
Eltab
Lord of the Hidden Layer
My 4e Star Pact Warlock was astrology / astronomy -themed, not an insane Far Realms devotee. From my notes and off the top of my head:
- Leo the Lion is, in one culture, Leonard the Farmer. He carries a sickle in one hand and guides a plow in the other. When the plow rises at dawn it is time to sow the seeds for a crop. When the sickle sets at dusk it is time to reap.
- Four constellations could be Father, Mother, Daughter, Son -or- King, Queen, Prince, Princess.
- One star is the most malefic sign of portending DOOM. It might be the Disintegrate eye-ray of the Beholder.
- Every culture names the constellation we know as Orion after their mythic hero-founder character.
- Argo the great Ship, which explores new lands, crosses over the horizon, "boldly goes where no man has gone before." After a great cataclysm when the gods came down to walk the earth, the stars of Argo twisted in the sky and became the Shipwreck.
- The stars of the Peacock are visibly different colors - blue, red, yellow, orange, white. The stars of the nearby Cockatrice all look dull gray, like rock.
- One constellation is called the Triangle by barbarian cultures, the T-Square by those cultures who build monument buildings, and the Geometer by Wizard enclaves and other learned bodies, because faint stars nearby form squares and demonstrate the equation a^2 + b^2 = c^2.
- If you understand how to read the signs in the area of the sky called The Sea (several bordering constellations have something to do with sea creatures), you can find Atlantis!
- Leo the Lion is, in one culture, Leonard the Farmer. He carries a sickle in one hand and guides a plow in the other. When the plow rises at dawn it is time to sow the seeds for a crop. When the sickle sets at dusk it is time to reap.
- Four constellations could be Father, Mother, Daughter, Son -or- King, Queen, Prince, Princess.
- One star is the most malefic sign of portending DOOM. It might be the Disintegrate eye-ray of the Beholder.
- Every culture names the constellation we know as Orion after their mythic hero-founder character.
- Argo the great Ship, which explores new lands, crosses over the horizon, "boldly goes where no man has gone before." After a great cataclysm when the gods came down to walk the earth, the stars of Argo twisted in the sky and became the Shipwreck.
- The stars of the Peacock are visibly different colors - blue, red, yellow, orange, white. The stars of the nearby Cockatrice all look dull gray, like rock.
- One constellation is called the Triangle by barbarian cultures, the T-Square by those cultures who build monument buildings, and the Geometer by Wizard enclaves and other learned bodies, because faint stars nearby form squares and demonstrate the equation a^2 + b^2 = c^2.
- If you understand how to read the signs in the area of the sky called The Sea (several bordering constellations have something to do with sea creatures), you can find Atlantis!
Don Durito
Hero
You have to have an Owlbear constellation.
And then there's the Illithid.
...but you can only see that one when the stars are right.
And then there's the Illithid.
...but you can only see that one when the stars are right.
LuisCarlos17f
Legend
Some 3rd party published a sourcebook about that.
The zodiac/horoscope should be different in the other crystal spheres. Stars in Krynn aren't like in Toril or Oerth.
And in our own real world there are different zodiac systems: Chinese, Arabic, Alchemist, Celt, druid, Mayan, Orisha, Indian, Hindus, Wuykü...
The zodiac/horoscope should be different in the other crystal spheres. Stars in Krynn aren't like in Toril or Oerth.
And in our own real world there are different zodiac systems: Chinese, Arabic, Alchemist, Celt, druid, Mayan, Orisha, Indian, Hindus, Wuykü...
Samloyal23
Adventurer
Has anyone mapped the galaxy the existing D&D worlds are part of to make constellations?
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