Design a Death God

[Morrow]

I'm going to DM a new campaign starting any day now. I'm using the pantheon from Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous. However, one of the players wants to play a cleric with an, "Undead are people, too," philosophy and BotR doesn't have a god that fills that slot. In fact the BotR gods are firmly in the, "Undead bad, smash them now," camp. So I've got my work cut out for me. So, help me create a new god. I'm not really looking for a scary evil death god. I think something a little more off-beat might be in order. Some possibilities:

Rebel (N or even LN, Domains: Undeath, Protection, ?) The black sheep of the divine family. Doesn't think that mortals should be subject to the judgement of the gods. They should just 'live on' as undead, rather than being judged by the gods and rewarded or punished. All about independence and self-sufficiency. Perhaps the daughter of Mormekar (responsible for collecting the souls of the dead) and sister to Maal (judge of the dead). You think that your family reunions are nasty...

Trickster (CN or CE, Domains: Death, Trickery, ?) The whole undeath thing is just a dodge. Everyone is so up in arms about his 'be nice to the undead' philosophy that no one is paying any attention to his darker plan. (Not that I know what that plan is...)

Nutjob (CN, Domains: Death, Madness, ?) Just not quite right. The crazy uncle of the divine family. Perhaps is himself not 'living' in the same way as his fellow gods. Nobody knows why he's got this thing for undead. Perhaps he is prescient in some fashion and knows that destroying the undead will come back to bite them eventually.

Guardian (LN or N. Domains: Protection, Sand, Undeath, ?) Kind of an Egyptian feel to this one. His followers build massive tombs, temples, and palaces for their dead clerics and kings out in the desert. These tombs are filled with treasures and servants to make the dead's stay in the afterlife more pleasent. Except in this case, there isn't an afterlife. The dead clerics in kings spend millenia as undead hanging out in their lavish tombs, guarded by mummies and waited on by skeletal servants. The living clerics act as go-betweens between the living rulers and the (un)dead ones, literally granting the wisdom of the ages to kings who are faithful to the god. Living clerics are also responsible for making sure no one travels into the deep desert to bother the 'eternal rest' of their undead masters.

 

[Voadam]

The book of the righteous pantheon includes the book of fiends powers as well, so "go undead!" is covered by Orcus and one other demon prince who I forget his name right now.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

For the last, that is very similar in execution to the way the elves of Eberron are structured. Their "deity" is actually the Deathless (a positive-energy undead-thing) councilors and advisors of the past millenia.

The right to petition the Undying Court (for help, for council, etc.) is only afforded to those deemed worthy.

 

[Templetroll]

The Guardian one seems to have the most potential. Add Knowledge as a domain, since that is part of the reason for them becoming undead. Not everyone is chosen, even kings have to prove themselves in life to earn the honor of becoming an undead.

What is the afterlife of those not chosen? Reincarnation, continuing to strive to be chosen so you can have some respite from the rigors of life. Raise Dead would only be used to provide someone worthy of a second chance at suceeding in this life.

Zombies are the punishment for complete incompetents. They are unworthy of being able to think for themselves so they are made into mindless servants and the undead state prevents them from ever improving - the soul is bound to a near-mindless corpse and only permitted to understand basic commands.

Need to work out those who hunger, like ghouls and vampires. Not certain if that would be a punishment, honor or combination of both.

Would love to know what Detect Evil would reveal for this bunch of clerics.

 

[sjmiller]

You must also remember that a god of the Undead does not also have to be a god of death. In a culture where the dead are supposed to enjoy a glorious afterlife, a god of the undead would be a mockery of the god of death. His followers would be dragging out the existance of the dead in our world, keeping them away from the afterlife they deserve. The god of death might be actively opposed to the god of the undead, waging war on the followers of the god of the undead.

There are some great possibilities if you look at it from that standpoint.

 

[Templetroll]

You must also remember that a god of the Undead does not also have to be a god of death. In a culture where the dead are supposed to enjoy a glorious afterlife, a god of the undead would be a mockery of the god of death. His followers would be dragging out the existance of the dead in our world, keeping them away from the afterlife they deserve. The god of death might be actively opposed to the god of the undead, waging war on the followers of the god of the undead.

There are some great possibilities if you look at it from that standpoint.

From Morrow's first post I got the idea that the one culture would have this God of Undead that is supportive of that culture and undead are acceptable there, while other cultures would likely have the God of the Dead that would oppose undead, and thus, a culture based war between them. The culture values the knowledge of those who succeed and provide a strong incentive for them to become undead and continue to be praised and served the culture. It is a meritocracy where undeath is a symbol of achievement of perfection and reincarnation is acknowledgement of the need to still improve oneself.

Hopefully, this would not be setting it up for zombie farmhands and house servants. I really hate that kind of BS unless it is an aberration to be destroyed. Orcus could have a city with zombie servants in the Abyss, but not a normal culture of the game world.

 

[Morrow]

From Morrow's first post I got the idea that the one culture would have this God of Undead that is supportive of that culture and undead are acceptable there, while other cultures would likely have the God of the Dead that would oppose undead, and thus, a culture based war between them. The culture values the knowledge of those who succeed and provide a strong incentive for them to become undead and continue to be praised and served the culture. It is a meritocracy where undeath is a symbol of achievement of perfection and reincarnation is acknowledgement of the need to still improve oneself.

Hopefully, this would not be setting it up for zombie farmhands and house servants. I really hate that kind of BS unless it is an aberration to be destroyed. Orcus could have a city with zombie servants in the Abyss, but not a normal culture of the game world.

I absolutely agree. In this culture undeath would be something to be achieved. Rather than teaching that leading good life will get you rewards in the afterlife, this culture would encourage making something of yourself that would be worth preserving on the mortal plane.

I think that the undead would be kept separate from the living, both because they don't need to deal with the details of everyday life and because having undead around is, in some cases, dangerous for the living. The undead would be praised and rewarded, but their influence is spiritual rather than political.

This would absolutely create conflict with more 'mainstream' cultures where the God of Death was a relatively benevolent figure who collects souls to be rewarded (or punished) for their actions in life. I imagine that in those mainstream cultures 'beating the system' would be seen as an abomination. This would also explain what a cleric with such an unusual worldview is doing adventuring, he's a missionary.

I agree that becoming unintelligent undead could be seen as a punishment. I wonder how they would feel about undead who spawned other undead indiscriminately.

Any idea what this god (or goddess) should be named?

 

[Torm]

How about a minor god that sneaks souls away from the god of death, either to serve the causes of his clerics, or to fulfill unfinished business of their own? Probably True or Chaotic Neutral, and somewhat amused by their work.

 

[the Lorax]

Death Gods

I have a death-type god that my fit from my campaign...

Grimm
Aarthian Intermediate God
Symbol: A Scythe with black wings
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Portfolio: Death, Judgment, Lost Knowledge
Worshipers: Scholars, Judges
Cleric Alignments: LN, LE, NE
Domains: Law, Evil, Death, Knowledge
Favored Weapon: Scythe

Those mortal eyes that have seen Grimm (GRIM) see him as three figures not one, three skeletons that seem to merge together as one, only to separate again under the watchers gaze. One of the skeletons is dressed in ragged sack cloth, the second in rich robes, the last in armor. This is because Grimm’s hand falls on all people in all walks of life. Grimm speaks with but one voice.

The world was born out of chaos but chaos need not remain. Grim will give order to the world. When the perfection of Grimm’s vision is complete, the world need no longer exist. All will be in its place. That which has no place need not remain.

Many of the followers of Grimm are lawyers or doctors or judges or politicians. Many states or cities have a secret second government that is loyal to Grimm. These secret governments are bent on the rule of law, regardless of whom that rule might hurt. They ensure that those who are to die will die, no matter what. This does not mean that they oppose undead, on the contrary, intellegent undead can prove to be useful fonts of lost lore.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Take a look at the info here about Burthaggid, the Death god from Brian K. Moseley's Malestrom campaign. http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Fortress/6394/burthaggid.html

The entire pantheon is detailed in his book Temples and Shrines, published by Darkfuries Publishing. http://darkfuries.com/books/pi2002.shtml

I'm using the pantheon in my game, and have a cleric of Burthaggid in the party, a neutral halfling. Interesting views on death and what a cleric of death can be.