Core Religion Survivor - Round 3

[James Heard]

Boccob, because not only is he boring compared to Wee Jas, his name also sounds like the noise a chicken might make.

Boc-boc-boCAWb!

He's the god of the nerdy, slide-rule wizards wearing those lame pointy hats and adventuring in their pajamas.

DIEDIEDIE!

 

[the shmoopie]

Fharlanghn, he's sooo dull. Gods can be many things, vengeful, proud, enigmatic. But dull is not one of the suitable traits for a deity.

Amen. Amen.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

I'd like to say goodbye to Ehlonna, the wishy-washy tree-hugging nature deity. Obad Hai is much more interesting.

I see that Vecna is in bad shape, though.

I'm voting directly for the deity I want to see gone, regardless of how well or poorly it might be doing. I guess I'm stuck voting for Ehlonna for a couple of rounds.

 

[Quartz]

I'm disappointed to not see my favourite Oerth goddess, Merikka, on the list, but it's die Vecna, die!

 

[Arkhandus]

(Edited-in note: I want to see Kord, Moradin, Nerull, or Obad Hai as last Power standing. Preferably Kord or Nerull.)

I'm just voting for the ones I hate most, like least, or just find overly redundant. Wee Jas has a silly name, but so does Boccob, and at least she's an interesting deity (though should've stayed a demi-deity maybe), so I'll be voting Boccob off sooner or later.

Fharlanghn is tough to spell or pronounce correctly, and a stupid name, plus he's boring as heck. One meager, extremely limited portfolio element? No real hooks or interesting facts? The core pantheon could do a lot better for a patron of Travel.

Ehlonna, Pelor, and St. Cuthbert I find kinda redundant, with the other deities that fill their most basic alignment/portfolio niches. Obad Hai is a better nature deity than the other two, and could be taken in interesting directions I think. Ehlonna's confused and limited in scope, rather than being interesting. Pelor is dull and overly broad on the other hand, kinda redundant too. St. Cuthbert just doesn't make a lot of sense at present, and should probably still be a demi-deity or quasi-deity, plus he steps on the toes of Heirroneous and Hextor, rather than representing different aspects of Lawful alignment that aren't already covered by core deities.

Gruumsh is rather limited, and I don't think he would really support non-orc followers, so he might get my vote eventually for being too limited for the core pantheon. Although I don't particularly like Hextor or Erythnul, they're at least more fitting. Though, if Erythnul gets the bag, there'd need to be a different Chaotic Evil deity.

And both Erythnul and Kord need to be fused into a CN god of Barbaricness. You know, the one that drinks with Olidammara, chases Eilistraee and Sune's skirts, and beats the snot out of either Hextor or Heironeous depending on who is more sanctimonious that day. So everyone, welcome Korythnul!

I must second Felix's notion. Korythnul, God of Barbarism, demands it!

 

[The Grackle]

Non-gods gotta go! Vecna now, Bahamut and Tiamat on deck!

But Tiamat really was a god...

 

[Mouseferatu]

But Tiamat really was a god...

In Babylonian myth, yes--or at least, she was sort of a god, depending on how one wants to define the term. But her first appearance in D&D, and the entirety of her "lifespan" in 1E, was as an immensely powerful, but definitely mortal, creature.

 

[Kaodi]

Turns out there was a Bahamut in Arabic mythology, so don't turn be dissing him because you thought the name was an invention!

 

[Mouseferatu]

Turns out there was a Bahamut in Arabic mythology, so don't turn be dissing him because you thought the name was an invention!

Yep. In fact, he's the source of the word "behemoth," if I'm not mistaken.

But as with the Tiamat connection, his nature in D&D has absolutely nothing to do with nature in mythology.

 

[Nyeshet]

Behemoth was said to be a sea serpent so vast he could swallow a ship and so hot that the ocean water around him boiled. His hide was so hard that swords and javelins could not pierce it, and he occasionally created whirlpools capable of capsizing ships by swimming in a circle or spiral. Sounds a bit different from Bahamut, but then dragons initially were thought to be serpents - and in many areas they were unable to fly, or had only two legs (as if some reptilian bird form), so I suppose it works out . . . .

As for voting or not voting my way, I prefer my way, as at least my votes are likely to make a difference. Votes that aim towards obscure deities with few if any votes associated with them in then end are useless - they have no effect upon the outcome because they are not working with the collectives of other votes that are focused upon the few deities presently the focus of the most votes. This is also a reason I typically wait a day or two to vote (dependent on how long the poll will be up), as it makes it more certain that the winnowing has narrowed the deities to the few that really do have a chance of falling - thus allowing me to focus upon whichever of the few I really want off. Next poll perhaps those that garner the most votes initially will be completely different (although it is more likely that some will be different while the others remain the same, just not yet voted off).