Help me develop a mythology

[Delemental]

Our group is playing under a new DM (new to us, not to D&D) who is running a homebrew world. There are elements of the world that haven't been fully developed, and the DM's given me permission to work on some ideas. I'd started in on a calendar system, which has been adopted. However, in the process I started developing part of the myth structure of the world; I was basing part of the calendar on star constellations, and it led to me trying to assign stories to the figures depicted in said constellations. The problem is that I'm having trouble getting the ideas to solidify. I know in general what I want, but I'm waffling on details. I'm hoping that by presenting it here for feedback/suggestions, I'll get to the point where it comes together.

First, a really quick campaign history, and my general idea. In this world, humans were the first race created by a coalition of the five major gods. As humans are wont to do, they ended up screwing up, and the gods sent a plague that wiped most of them out. At the same time each of the five gods went off and created their own race (dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, orcs). So there was a period of time, many millenia ago, when all the major races were either just starting ro rebuild their society, or were emerging into existence for the first time.

When creating my mythology, I wanted to reflect this process. I decided I would create ten figures, known as Paragons, that would represent the most important aspects of society, those roles and elements that would be most crucial to ensuring survival and prosperity. These Paragons are a combination of Jungian archetype and folk hero; for example, there is...

Johari, the Builder: Paragon of smiths, carpenters, masons, cobblers, tanners, and craftsmen. All who create finished goods from raw materials are associated with Johari.

So, I've been working on my Paragons. I need a total of ten of them - any more or less and I'll have to revamp the calendar, and ten's a good round number to work with. The roles I've been working with so far are:

1. The Builder. See above.
2. The Landsman. Representing farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers - those who produce raw materials.
3. The Learned. Representing sages, scribes, teachers, explorers - those who preserve, expand, and pass along knowledge.
4. The Soldier. Representing guards, town watchmen, militias - those who take up arms in defense of their communities.
5. The Artisan. Representing poets, musicians, painters, sculpters - those who create works of beauty.
6. The Lawmaker. Representing nobles, mayors, councilmen - those who create laws and establish order.
7. The Lawbringer. Representing sheriffs, judges, jailors, executioners - those who enforce the laws and maintain order.

So obviously I'm three short. I've also wondered if I should combine #6 and #7 into a single person. There are professions I know I'm missing - merchants, sailors, diplomats, midwives, architects, etc. There are probably also some I'm forgetting entirely. I'm trying to avoid direct connections to PC races (even though it's a high-magic world, there's not a Paragon of Wizards or anything like that), and my aim isn't to cover every possible person (there's no Paragon of thieves, or beggars, or other parts of society that wouldn't carry respect or be seen as vital).

One of my co-players has suggested a Paragon of "those who make their own luck", ie figures similar to Jack the Giant-Killer. While initially I liked the idea, I'm beginning to disagree with it based on the fact that 'being lucky' isn't really a valuable skill. Where this idea really seems to go is to offer a place of respect for 'heroes' (ie adventurers). I'm torn as to whether society would value the role of a hero enough to devote a Paragon to them. Perhaps something that captures more of the generic idea of an inspirational figure, someone who motivates others by example.

Well, enough blathering - what do you think?

 

[JimAde]

Very cool. Nice work so far.

First, a quibble: All the paragons have a title/name that is a noun denoting an occupation or type of person (lawbringer, artisan) except for the Learned, which is an adjective. You could call it the Scholar.
Second: other paragons. Since these are social roles, would you be interested in family roles (mother/father)? And I think what you and your friend might have been trying to define with the "lucky" role is the Trickster or Clown (as in certain native American myths among others). I think that's a great idea to include. Such a deity could be patron to Sorcerers among other things.

 

[drunkmoogle]

Since you're in charge of what goes on; and will probably change my ideas , I'll just shoot out a few quickies for you to play with.

The Pious. Religious, divine folk.
The Explorer/Diplomat. Travelers seeking to discover more about the world and its culture.
The Leader. Natural leaders who strive to lead their people to great heights.

Lawmaker and Lawbringer seem so alignment-focused... perhaps a change of name?

 

[Mr Gone]

Why are all the Paragons positive members of society? Some negative archtypes, such as criminals ect, are a part of society also.

 

[Greatwyrm]

Why are all the Paragons positive members of society? Some negative archtypes, such as criminals ect, are a part of society also.

Yep, you need some icky people in there too. I'm doing something very similar with the creation myth in my world. A number of "heroes" that the legends and cultures are built on.

The first bad one was an evil shapchanger that used his abilities to start the war between the elves and dwarves. The war is over, but the mistrust survives. Cliched? Probably, but players expect that kind of thing, so I thought I'd at least come up with a decent explanation for it.

The other main baddy was a dark wizard. He was the first mortal to harness arcane magic. He eventually became a lich and killed the "creator" god in a bid to become a god himself.

 

[Torm]

The Fisher? Paragon of sailors, fishers, (brewers?).....

I'm a little confused - are these Paragons supposed to be Gods? Servants of Gods? Or just archetypes like the characters shown with classes in the PHB?

If they aren't Gods, could you tell us a little more about the Gods?

 

[Khayman]

One of my co-players has suggested a Paragon of "those who make their own luck", ie figures similar to Jack the Giant-Killer. While initially I liked the idea, I'm beginning to disagree with it based on the fact that 'being lucky' isn't really a valuable skill. ...

How about The Survivor? Your backstory involves humans being relegated to a dark age but surviving anyway. The Survivor does what it takes to survive --- an obvious patron for rangers and barbarians, but also mercenaries, and at least some criminals. Kind of like St. Jude crossed with Roadwarrior, maybe with a bit of Trickster thrown in.

A couple of others:
* The Lifegiver (mothers, midwives, doctors) (probably also farmers)
* The Deathbringer (soldiers, murderers, executioners, and some doctors)

As well, the archetypes you mention are primarily profession-based. Check out Joseph Campbell for an anthropological take on archetypes in mythology. You might wish to focus on societal roles rather than jobs --- after all, jobs change or disappear over time. Roles such as these may have both positive and negative aspects. For example, the Leader that drunkmoogle mentioned would be revered by benevolent despots and at least given lipservice by tyrants. Depends on how grey you want things to be.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Well, one way is to have a "mother" and "father" diety with three children each. Then throw in a sort of "caretaker" and perhaps a "butcher". That would round out your ten very nicely. Then you could add some kind of epic ballad to really help the roleplay. For example:

Here's a story, of a lovely lady
who was bringing up three very lovely girls
all of them had hair of gold, like their mother
the youngest one in curls.

Here's a story, of a man named Brady

....


Never mind. Bad idea.

Let's go back to yours.

1. The Builder. See above.
2. The Landsman. Representing farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers - those who produce raw materials.
3. The Learned. Representing sages, scribes, teachers, explorers - those who preserve, expand, and pass along knowledge.
4. The Soldier. Representing guards, town watchmen, militias - those who take up arms in defense of their communities.
5. The Artisan. Representing poets, musicians, painters, sculpters - those who create works of beauty.
6. The Lawmaker. Representing nobles, mayors, councilmen - those who create laws and establish order.
7. The Lawbringer. Representing sheriffs, judges, jailors, executioners - those who enforce the laws and maintain order.

So obviously I'm three short. I've also wondered if I should combine #6 and #7 into a single person. There are professions I know I'm missing - merchants, sailors, diplomats, midwives, architects, etc. There are probably also some I'm forgetting entirely. I'm trying to avoid direct connections to PC

Well, sailors are incredibly necessary if your world has much water. If you want you can combine the sailor with fishermen.

I would personally split up landsmen. Providing raw materials is a very modern view. Farmers, ranchers, and loggers were all seen as very different professions with nothing in common back then. You could easily break this up into those who work with the earth and those who work with animals. However, you'd have some overlap that might confuse people.

Most pantheons have one "trickster" in the mix. Something to consider. At least as an exporer type if nothing else.

Finally, putting aside my little joke above, quite a few mythos did have a mother/caretaker/hearthkeeper figure.

Happy gaming!

 

[Ferret]

The law breaker, the Hearth man?

 

[Henry]

The Rogue - he who makes his living from the sweat of others? This would be your archetype for conmen, tricksters, thieves, etc. - Those who DON'T make an "honest" living. You could even incorporate merchants in this tenuously.

I agree with fisherman/sailor, because the oceans need a representative.