Ehh... just to pull some which may already be here (my read of the list is admittedly not an extensive one
).
Liminal states: Does the child have signs before his birth or directly after it? Some of these can be just as telling. A child presaged by storms or strange skies may have a life of adventuring or arcane study. Subliminal (before the threshold) and supraliminal (after) states are one subset.
Born 'early' - The child seems to be born just before a great and lasting event. Usually this state is noticed but not commented on, but if combined with other signs the child may be seen as some sort of temporal instigator of a greater event.
- Born 'on time' - Child is born at a very specific time relative to his destiny or the destiny of others around him (the kids in Midnight's Children . . . thought about doing this for an Eberron game with children born at the exact moment of the Mourning). Feast days, etc. are available; perhaps also similar to the old rhyme of Monday's child fair of face... A child may also be born during a great event which has no specific bearing on destiny, but which he is remembered by (Darron Stormstroke, born at the very moment a great lightning strike tore down the archmage's tower.
- Born 'late' - The child is born after the death of a great hero, the raising of the highest beam of the temple, a great storm. The birth seems to wait for an event.
Born strange - As stated before you can have plenty of oddities, births with certain complications can mean things. MacDuff was blessed by being not of woman born (an unnatural birth); tomb-born souls exist as part of the Libris Mortis in 3.x. Cauls (bits of amniotic sac around the body) have certain significances depending on culture; a boy born with caul on his hand may be a warrior or a prisoner, a girl born with caul over her chest or stomach may take barren, and a caul on the face sometimes means wisdom or the ability to prophesize.
Also included here are various complications which may be seen during or shortly after birth. A child hung on his own cord, for example, may be cursed with foul luck (or 'blessed' to fall by his own hand); a child who is unable to pass naturally into the world may be 'held' by the forces of the Afterlife or Prelife. A child who is brought to life by a cleric's quick thinking has already 'died' his first death; such a child may be brought into the priesthood as a gift from a respectful family.
Born beneath: Certain cultures believe that where the child is born has significance. A boy born beneath crossed swords may be a warrior, a girl born beneath the stars may be seen as a sorceress and Keeper of the Stars. Usually this sort of thing can be found combined with other superstitions; a child born in the ruins of an ancient Elven city may bear the curse of that place's former inhabitants, while a child born in a grove of Sambucus (Elderberry) may have protection from witches.
Destined or pre-determined?: Some societies establish birthing methods which develop their own signs. In Parlinia, one of my own settings, mothers are sent to give birth in tombs for various cultural reasons, and the children are trained into guards. You have to decide whether omens can be... not bought necessarily, but given freely in such a way.
Hope this helps,
Slainte,
-Loonook.
