Descendents of the Norse Gods.

[A'koss]

I originally posted this on rgfd, but I thought it'd interesting to what ideas could be generated here.

Some background...

Although I'm passing on DM duties to another in my group I'm still going to help in world creation. I'm just getting back to deities of our new campaign and could use some suggestions for fleshing out the world's pantheon.

The general idea behind it is that Ragnarok has long since past and the world has been shattered, but survives and the civilized races are beginning to restake their claim to it. Idunn's marvelous orchard has long since been lost to flames and the surviving gods and their descendents found that they are now very much mortal, although they have incredible lifespans (on order of 1,000 to 1,200 years). A lost band of Vanir have rejoined with Aesir in the years following Ragnarok and together have created a new race of gods. Now three generations of gods have passed marked by conflict both without and within.

What I'm looking for are ideas for specific gods, giants and divine monsters (descendents of Loki's children?) appropriate for this kind of setting.

For example, the descendent of Thor (whom I'm calling Thunor until I come up with a better name) is a greying warrior wields a mighty battle axe that was reforged from the shattered pieces of Mjolnir (another story). A less headstrong, more calculating warrior-god, he fears for the future of the Aesir as their enemies are many, and they are few.

The only "surviving" member of the gods during the Age of Odin is Hel and that is because she traded her life for undeath. She is the chief nemesis of the gods and while she is still currently trapped in the Underworld, she has grown powerful (now a Greater Goddess) with many allies, and her powers can reach beyond her prison-home. Furthermore, she has personally slain several headstrong gods who dared challenge her in her own domain. In turn, she has used her powers to raise them from death to become dark reflections of their former selves that live to serve her will.

This should give you a general idea of the style I'm after.



Thanks in advance,

A'koss.

 

[Viking Bastard]

So I take it that all the surviving Æsir from Ragnarök are actually dead by this time? Guys like Magni and Baldur?

 

[A'koss]

Yes, they have all long sinced passed. Thunor for example is one of the 4th generation of Aesir - Thor's great, great grandson.

 

[Balrog]

I started a similar style campaign last April in a post-Ragnarok world. Most (but not all) of the Aesir had perished as well as most of their divine foes, Giants or otherwise. The main divine antagonist is Hela, who usurped her father Loki's status and is head of all evil in my campaign. The Aesir surviving are Magni, Modi, Vidar, Balder, Forseti, Sif as well as the Vanir Freya and Frey.

The cosmology of the planes is greatly changed from that of the Deities and Demigods. After Ragnarok, the disastrous death throes of the Midgard Serpent Jormungandr resulted in a shift in the Inner Planes. The Elemental Planes sort of bonded with the plane of Midgard resulting in a Prime Material that is like 5 different worlds at once. Each Element commands a quarter of Midgard, and at places where the elements overlap, there are multiple traits. In the middle regions is a land of relative normalcy, where all 4 elements meet in harmony. Of course, this land is the most prosperous and populated in all of Midgard, and the most disputed. All those who live on the outskirts in the more inhospitable regions fall under the rule of various Elemental Princes and Genies.

Other than the Aesir, there are Gods of Elements, namely Hela as NE Goddess of Earth and the Underworld of Niflheim. Also Kossuth (borrowed from the FR) as LN God of Fire and Magic; Akadi as NG Goddess of the Air and Sky; and Ramos as CN God of the Seas, Water, and Storms.

The 4 Deities that have Elemental influences are all Greater and have the most power and influence. Almost all of the Aesir are Lesser or Intermediate Powers. The way I handled the demihuman Deities was simple: if none survived Ragnarok, new Gods were born out of the primal divine pool that remained in the immediate aftermath. Of course, Frey is still God of the Sun Elves, although he reduced in stature. Moradin is for all practical purposes the same as the PHB, and in my campaign he is basically Heimdall reborn. Balder is worshipped among the Gnomes as Garl Glittergold, one of his favorite avatars. Most humanoids worship Hela or one of her vassal Deities, such as the Demon Prince Orcus (I love using Necromancer Games products, so I decided to incorporate him).

Sorry, did not intend to hijack your thread and ramble so much about my campaign. I dont know if any of that would be helpful, considering how much time it seems has passed in your campaign after Ragnarok. In mine, it is less than 2000 years. Anyway, yours sounds cool. Good luck with the creation process.

 

[Balrog]

A couple of things I forgot: the remaining Giants of both Jotunheim and Muspelheim have already attempted at least once to conquer the mortal races following Ragnarok. Fire and Frost Giants of both mortal and divine rank banded together under new avatars of Surtur and Thrym to try to enslave the scattered remnants of Midgard. The Gods Kossuth and Ramos were responsible for the avatars of Surtur and Thrym respectively. When the avatars led their Giant forces back into Midgard, the surviving Aesir rallied as avatars themselves and led the mortal races against the Giants to defeat them. In my timeline, this was about 500 years after Ragnarok. The Giants were eventually defeated and the new chaos of that war resulted in an effective truce between all divine powers from actually entering Midgard in the flesh so to speak.

Hela circumvented that truce by endeavoring Demon Princes such as Orcus, Lolth, Grazzt, Kostotchie, and Demogorgon to do her dirty work for her, namely helping her spread evil and gather more souls to Niflheim, furthur cementing her power. For their pains, those Demons, especially Orcus (who became Hela's defacto Champion), gained greater power and stature among the Lords of the Abyss. and greater power to wage their Blood War against the Baatezu.

In my campaign, Demons, Devils, and the Blood War are relatively new threats, brought into theLower Planes by accident, by a planar rift formed after Ragnarok. Hela plays them both against the other as much as possible, using her Hags and Yugoloths as mercenaries and agents on both sides of the Blood War.

 

[Wolv0rine]

I don't have any ideas for you, but I wanted to say this sounds like a really cool world you're cooking up.

 

[A'koss]

Balrog, some very nice stuff there, I like the feel muchly. It's interesting that we both chose to use Hel(a) as the chief antagonist. She's just too cool to die... And thanks for the kind words Wolv0rine!

Maybe I'll just bump this thread a little with a little blurb on the campaign world itself.

Without getting into too much detail... At the height of Ragnarok the world was sundered by single mighty blow from Surtur's sword and it shattered like glass. Vast crevasses snaked across the planet and the world burned. The oceans spilled into chasms deep into the earth, and storms and fire wracked the earth... (a lot like an Iron Maiden concert really... ) until the Fimbulwinter swept in creating an ice age over many parts of the world. All of this worked to create a great number of isolated regions where cultures and races could develop independently. And mankind gained toeholds in areas where they weren't plagued by vastly more dangerous creatures (who were in turn flourishing in the more extreme environments).

However, with the planting of the new World Tree (by the new fertility goddess Arnora) it's roots are slowly taking hold throughout the planet (in a metaphysical sense), binding the world together again and healing the damage done to it. The Fimbulwinter is finally receeding and some of smaller fissures have already begun to close.

This is the time where the campaign starts. As the planet heals it also opens up these regions which have developed in isolation for several millenia. Long distance travel is becoming viable again and the PCs get to find out first hand what kind of world it has become...


A'koss!

 

[Knightfall]

Hey A'koss,

I really like the premise you're working on. Like Balrog, I've had a similar campaign idea, which I called Sons of Odin. The main difference is that the Aesir and Vanir won Ragnarok and now rule the world uncontested.

However, Odin is gone and it is his sons and daughters are the divine rulers of the world. Loki and many of his giant allies were killed during Ragnarok but now there are rumors that The Trickster might have survived.

It is rumored that new Loki worshipping cults have been forming in the southern hemisphere. These cults are similar to how aztecs lived with vicious human sacrifices.

The Aesir and Vanir have also begun to fight amongst themselves. Ancient disputes are reforming and those surviving Vanir closely tied to the Aesir are torn between two feuding, divine families.

I'll see if I can come up with some Norse sounding god names for ya.

Cheers!

KF72

 

[Viking Bastard]

One place to draw much inspiration from is Jack Kirby's Fourth World classic stories. They are based upon this very same premise.

 

[A'koss]

Thanks for any assistance Knightfall with a "K"! I too had incorporated an ancient Aesir/Vanir internal dispute (over who would marry Balder's Half-Aesir/Half-Vanir Great Granddaughter) but one that was settled before the current campaign begins.

As far as drawing from JK's Fourth World, what were you thinking I could pull from that to use in a medieval setting? I'm only vaguely familiar with the books (I know Darkseid and Orion are part of it). Isn't it more about superheroes?


A'koss!