Help me design a religion for space pirates

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Flying Spaghetti Monster anyone? They'd be ... space pastafarians!

I'm not sure if I'd hate myself more if I used FSM or if I didn't.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Church of the Sub-Genius.

Or you could go for something organic, like a cargo cult.

 

[tuxgeo]

I would say Noshabkeming; but the Valerian Dutch swear that he's real, and we aren't supposed to inject real religion into this, so never mind.

 

[Klaus]

So, my Traveller game is underway, and it's even more pirate-themed than I'd expected.

Since I hadn't given any restrictions to what careers the players could use, we have one full-fledged pirate on the team and another who's a general thief. The other guys are navy veterans, so they've unwittingly (I think) cranked up the pirate quotient of the game, which is all to the good, since that was the way I was going to take the campaign anyway.

So I'm busy liberally stealing inspiration from the Caribbean, real life pirates, Jimmy Buffett lyrics and any pirate adventure I've ever enjoyed. This is good, since it forestalls me having the Planet Express and Heart of Gold crews show up.

But in the interim, I need a religion for some of the characters of Aramis subsector to belong to, mostly for the purposes of calling out for divine intervention or wishing horrible things on their enemy. I'd like it to have at least some roots in either real-life Caribbean beliefs, cinematic takes on piratical beliefs (like Davy Jones) or at least a nod to real-life sea gods (I've been pulling the names for planets and moons from Greek sea gods and goddesses, for instance).

Any suggestions?

Black Jones dwells in the dark between stars. Some say he was a pirate who sailed into a black hole and came out the other end. What he saw, no one can tell. But legends say he now has a share in every bounty, and a stake on every soul lost in the void. Sometimes, a piping flute can be heard in the vacuum, signaling the approach of Black Jones and his cursed vessel of the damned, the Cygnus. When he hears the piping, even the most bloodthirsty pirate offers a prayer to the Sultan on the Center, said to be the master of Black Jones.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

All great stuff, guys. Thanks. I'm going to look through/loot the Wikipedia entries on Louisiana and Haitian voodoo, grab the most gamable stuff and reskin with some of these suggestions. I'll post a draft soon for more feedback.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Church of the Sub-Genius.

Or you could go for something organic, like a cargo cult.

J.R. "Bob" Dodds would live them...or would he?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

After reading up on the cargo cults, I've decided they're too awesome to incorporate. A cargo cult dedicated to the Ancients seems like it needs to be a standalone idea for the first time the players misjump to an uncharted system and have to put down on a primitive world.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

OK, here's what I have so far. Additional feedback both requested and appreciated:

Saints of the Void

A hybrid of human and vargr religious beliefs, including some descended from Terran voodoo. It is typically practiced by pirates and free traders in the Aramis subsector. More legitimate human spacefarers typically worship Brandaen Navigator (a corruption of St. Brendan as a spacefarer) instead. Worshippers claim that Brandaen causes the wicked to suffer misjump accidents and vanish into jumpspace and that only the saints of the void can save them.

These "saints" are the central figures of the religion, as intermediaries for the distant and uncaring creator figure. Most of the saints are incredibly alien and are more placated than worshipped. Black candles, white flowers and pure water are typical offerings on shipboard altars.

Psychic priests called "bokori" are at the heart of formal worship and believers protect them and conceal their identities. The bokori have claim to have had psychic contact with something alien and more than a few have been driven insane as a result. These entities can allegedly possess bokori during ceremonies.

Admiral Bondoo - The remote and uncaring creator god, normally depicted as a flying mass of tentacles, with gleaming eyes peaking out between them. Believers say that the "Ancients" were actually Bondoo seeding worlds.

Astrogator Legbah - Depicted as a horned vargr. Offerings are made to him before entering jumpspace. He crews a ship of the damned through jumpspace and will board the ships of those who displease him, leaving only ghost ships emerging at the far end of the jump.

Scout Azuli - The spider-like keeper of secrets, hidden things.

Gunner Senday - The humanoid saint of death, violence, sex.

I'd really like a better term than "bokori." I'd like it to sound like a plausible descendant of real terminology but not too obvious.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, and how awesome is Wikipedia? I now know what the cans of Green Label (Jimmy Buffett reference!) a key NPC drinks are: bumbo, which sounds made-up, but is a plausible enough canned beverage with real roots in Caribbean piracy.

 

[Whisper72]

hmmm... the Black Jones stuff reeks a bit off the Necromonger faith from Chronicles of Riddick... the whole theme of 'if you are powerful enough to usurp your superior, you can' also vibes with the more nasty pirate sorts...