My Homebrew Pantheon - Please Critique

[Tonguez]

I think you are still trying to do too much with this one. As the Iron God, I don't see him being overly concerned with wizards and their toys, if you know what I mean. Nor do I see him playing around with math. Generally speaking, the state of mind required for crafting weapons and armor is much different than crafting wands and potions. Someone with a moniker like the Iron God would in fact consider spellcasters "weak" because they are dependent on magic.

Um I personally don't agree with your sentiment here and can easily see the two coexisting.
Firstly the state of mind required for crafting weapons and armor is NOT that different from crafting wands and potions. Even Iron workers use fine decorative elements and when it comes to the Medieval alchemist many had to make their own ingredients from scratch often requiring something like a furnace to do so.
And the idea that an Iron worker isn't interested in maths and engineering is quite frankly ridiculous.

Secondly Iron is magic. In many African societies the local Iron smith was also 'the Wizard', Iron items were full of magic and useful talismans. This is even supported by the rules as only magic users can take item creation feats ergo their must be magic-using blacksmits manufacturing all those magic weapons and armours...

 

[Archade]

I think you are still trying to do too much with this one. As the Iron God, I don't see him being overly concerned with wizards and their toys, if you know what I mean. Nor do I see him playing around with math. Generally speaking, the state of mind required for crafting weapons and armor is much different than crafting wands and potions. Someone with a moniker like the Iron God would in fact consider spellcasters "weak" because they are dependent on magic.

I am trying to do a lot with all the gods. I would like to avoid "Fred, God of Fire", or "Herbert, God of Magic" that is prevalent in a lot of D&D sourcebooks.

If I make The Iron God (of whatever name he gets) the god of things created, I get to play up that magic in my campaign, specifically Wizarddry, if formulas and sigils and incantations. Wizards aren't weak -- they can blast lightning bolts, summon fire, and command extraplanar creatures to do their bidding. I'm looking for a well-rounded diety who's more than a smith god that wields a hammer.

Besides, I can have religious wizards wear those little steel skullcaps ...

 

[GlassEye]

I hadn't decided how Aarishem died as yet. I'm thinking of keeping it a campaign secret that isn't immediately available to players. I like the name Court of Pursuits! Where did you come up with it?

I agree with bardsandsages: this is very important. I'd go so far as to say you need to know what the whole was like before the death of Aarishem before you can understand how it is afterwards. As for Court of Pursuits: as you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of labels and titles. So when I looked over your pantheon looking for a major theme, I saw gods related to human endeavor and it just...appeared.

I wanted a LG deity that represented some sort of monastic church, with robes and singing, and less of the swinging of swords and courage and bravery. I should probably emphasize pureness of the soul, or the like.

I understand your thinking behind this deity. I'm just unsure how well pureness of the soul and gothic feel pantheon mesh. Consider making him LN. If he's LN then he is still the god of monastic activities (scribing, chants, etc.) but you are open to create a LG sect that still holds to things the way they were 100 years ago and strives for purity, a sect of dispassionate (I like that word) but legalistic recorders, and perhaps, a cult that delves into the darker mysteries.

If you wish to stick with the gothic feel, you might want to look at your deities and perhaps tone down the goodness/benevolent aspects. The guilt aspect of Hirax is a good representation of a good deity with a darker feel.

I want to keep Asmodai with the vengeance, but I can have a lot of fun with a guilt-driven religion. Lots of noble suffering and the ability to play a paladin of Hirax. As an aside, I set up Asmodai as a LN deity for those who want to play a slightly darker paladin, more focused on vengeance and oaths, and less about fluffy goodness and light.

'k, I'm getting a better feel for this guy. I like the darker paladin of vengeance/oaths idea but I'm still not seeing the connect with contracts and stealing mortal souls.

Prothus is indeed my deity intended for dwarven worship (but the dwarves can worship anyone in the pantheon), but I'd like to change his name -- any ideas?

No specific ideas. I'm also a fan of dictionaries, though, and when I make up names I like to 1) look in the Oxford English Dictionary and check out etymologies of related words and piece together a name, or 2) choose a real-world language to represent a culture then use an online english-whatever dictionary and look up words I think represent whatever it is (a deity in this case) and piece together a name from the foreign words. It may be a mutilated version of the word but it makes me feel like it has meaning to it.

Dispater seems kinda redundant to me. On the former angel side you have Astaroth (whom I really like and would like to see made into prime bad god) and the fey side you have Maglaura. Both of those are involved in dark magics. I'm not sure that Dispater is unique enough but I'm not sure what you should do with him.

 

[Archade]

Who are the Malacisti and Marchlanders? How do they relate to each other and how are the panteon divided between them?

The Malacisti are a southern people who maintain city states at one end of the Western Marches -- they are refined, cultured, but fight amongst themselves and engage in politics, religion and other unsavory pastimes. The Marchlanders are pragmatic, reserved, and stubborn as a people. The 'angels' are Malacisti contributions to the pantheon, but their cultures are intertwined enough that it's effectively one pantheon.

Aarden – Records, Scribbling and Song (son of Aarishem)[/B]

The implication that comes to mind is of his Clergy reciting epic hymns as oral records of Aardens and his fathers history. The whole of creation, the deeds of the angelic host, and the fall of Aarishem are all sung in the Hymnals – I like that and sounds very disciplined and structure (ie Lawful Good) to me

Oooo! I like!

The Heavenly Court was home of gods, spirits and ascended immortals which allowed practically anything to be present. That means that more can be added to the list of minor gods as you desire
In your case however that Court has become fractured after the fall of Aarishem and a whole lot of politics and rivalry should be reflected

That's close to what I'm looking for, but the gods are puppets of their worshippers.

The Elven Court
I like this write up and the idea of Fey spirits being invoked as dieties. Is this list comprehensive or are you going to allow minor genius loci type 'small gods' eg the Druid can invoke an individual river spirit or perhaps a dryad from a particular grove

The court is more or less complete, with each of the lords representing a season and element, but I could see having uber-dryads and whatnot as servants of the Elven Court. I really want to play up the fey as an important part of my campaign.

Churchainn is the lord of spring, and thus gets water. His followers wander the land as a river does, and chalices of water would figure into his followers' rituals.

Amon is a mercurial spirit with fiery red hair, a quick temper, and a tendency to act dramatically and before he thinks. I haven't developed him much beyond that -- think Puck from a Midsummer Night's Dream, but with a bow and a desire to shoot things ...

 

[Archade]

'k, I'm getting a better feel for this guy. I like the darker paladin of vengeance/oaths idea but I'm still not seeing the connect with contracts and stealing mortal souls.

In my 2nd edition AD&D game, we had a cleric of Asmodai running around -- everyone assumed he was a paladin, until he really got into the "eye for an eye!" thing and started taking hands off of petty thieves. He's got a very solid backdrop developed in my game, and is one of my favorite deities of the pantheon. C'mon, a god of paladins *and* lawyers? That's neat.

Dispater seems kinda redundant to me. On the former angel side you have Astaroth (whom I really like and would like to see made into prime bad god) and the fey side you have Maglaura. Both of those are involved in dark magics. I'm not sure that Dispater is unique enough but I'm not sure what you should do with him.

My pantheon is a bit light on evil deities. In fact, I noticed I have no NE deities at all (which I should fix somehow - anyone?). Basically, I took in my original AD&D campaign the 'cool' devils and made them my evil deities, and I'm trying to replicate that here. Dispater does have the advantage of giving an evil deity the Protection domain (which is normally the province of good), and he's got a lot of flavor (paranoia, lives in an iron tower, etc). I might add Mammon or Beelzebub, but I'd like some non-Malacisti nasty germanic-feeling deity of some sort.

I should mention that off of my published player list of deities, I've added a few CE supreme beings - in my campaign, I've taken the idea of demons, and merged it with cthuloid horrors from beyond. So, I'm playing up the obyrith end of demons, and the Abyss and the Far Realm are the same thing ...

 

[Meeki]

I think some people are being a bit harsh on you and over critical. This isn't a pantheon that was created out of 100's of years of history, it's his own he created for his campaign.

I really like the idea of a missing monotheistic god that spurred the worship of all these different angels. In general I feel that LG god's are played as far too strict than good. IMO an emobiment of good is NG, and I allow paladins to be NG depending on the god they worship.

The random gods inserted in there remind me of the fringes of the Roman empire, when the Romans brought their own key god's and settled in an area outside of "civlization". Over time other gods were adopted into the local worship.

Your god of storms is fine, IMO. He's not evil, I don't see the argument against him. Forest firest, floods, and the like are a natural part the environment; maybe he brings these disasters to renew the land. Chaotic is HIS alignment, not what he creates.

As for names go, way to many A's. Going to confuse players.

In my pantheon I try to create a god for each alignment; however the god's profile is based upon the god's acheivements, history, and interests. The god's are not the embodiment of their profile but rather their profile are defining characteristics of the god. I feel you have some of this aspect and some of the God of Magic, going on. Hirax, for example, seems to be just another paladin god, toss him in the discount bin of paladin gods. My paladin god isn't even good, he's LN because he revels in war too much but his paladins see him as good and most of his worshipers have no knowledge of the god's great love for war.

 

[Tonguez]

My pantheon is a bit light on evil deities. In fact, I noticed I have no NE deities at all (which I should fix somehow - anyone?)....

Gesalla is the sister of Gillandine and is associated with commerce, luck, silver and love (eros). However where Gillandine is concerned more with trade contracts, accounting and large communities, Gessala's interest is with entrepreneurs and risk takers and is often invoked by merchant ships as protection against pirates. Gessala is also the patron of theives and prostitutes. Gessala does not have a structured church but shrines can be found in various guildhalls and market places
Alignment: NE
Domains: Love, Travel, Trickery,
Favored Weapon:

 

[Bardsandsages]

And the idea that an Iron worker isn't interested in maths and engineering is quite frankly ridiculous.

.

But in a medieval society, which is what the original goal seems to be, these would be mutually exclusive. Math and engineering are for the educated...who were also by definition the wealthy. Remember, don't confuse modern notions of political correctness with the realities of the type of society original presented. If the goal is to present a believeable pantheon for a medieval type world, then you probably don't mix these to ideas.

In many African societies the local Iron smith was also 'the Wizard', Iron items were full of magic and useful talismans. This is even supported by the rules as only magic users can take item creation feats ergo their must be magic-using blacksmits manufacturing all those magic weapons and armours...

Technically, the magic user need only obtain a masterwork item and then enchant it. He doesn't have to make it himself. But regardless, personally I would like the idea of making this god an interloper deity. Possibly one that snuck in during the destruction of Aarishem. Assuming that a lot of chaos ensued after that event, an interloper deity (maybe even from an exotic Africa-like land) might have been introduced and embraced by a segment of the culture that wasn't being attended to by the other gods. Gods have a way of weazeling their way into things. And by the time the other gods "settled" into their current positions, this one was already too established to shake out.

But I'm just throwing ideas around at this point. I enjoy mythos creation

 

[Archade]

I am loving the input guys -- you are making my world a better place - thanks!!

Gesalla is the sister of Gillandine and is associated with commerce, luck, silver and love (eros). However where Gillandine is concerned more with trade contracts, accounting and large communities, Gessala's interest is with entrepreneurs and risk takers and is often invoked by merchant ships as protection against pirates. Gessala is also the patron of theives and prostitutes. Gessala does not have a structured church but shrines can be found in various guildhalls and market places
Alignment: NE
Domains: Love, Travel, Trickery,
Favored Weapon:

Hmmm ... maybe. How about this?

Tallea is the temptress of the gods. She is the goddess of lust, desire, and greed. Her church is known as the Red Temple, and they believe in acquiring as much wealth as they can. Their temples are dens of iniquity and accumulated treasure. Priests and priestesses of Tallea, who is also known as the Dragon Goddess mask their faces behind swaths of red cloth while performing religious duties to hide their real identities. Many pirates, thieves, and rogues worship Tallea, and in fact, many a Red Temple has served to fence goods. Courteseans frequent the front steps and hallways of the Red Temple, and for the right price, anyone can seek admittance to enjoy the decadent debauchery within.
Alignment: NE
Domains: Charm, Greed, Love, Trade, Trickery
Favored Weapon: ???

 

[Navarp]

My only advice to you at the moment is to maybe change the format in which you are posting the Gods. You have Alignment, Domains, and Favored Weapon. I always like to see (for lack of a better word) purview as a separate entry. Like Tallea for example could read more like this:

Tallea is the temptress of the gods. Her church is known as the Red Temple, and they believe in acquiring as much wealth as they can. Their temples are dens of iniquity and accumulated treasure. Priests and priestesses of Tallea, who is also known as the Dragon Goddess mask their faces behind swaths of red cloth while performing religious duties to hide their real identities. Many pirates, thieves, and rogues worship Tallea, and in fact, many a Red Temple has served to fence goods. Courtesans frequent the front steps and hallways of the Red Temple, and for the right price, anyone can seek admittance to enjoy the decadent debauchery within.
Alignment: NE
Purview: Lust, desire, and greed.
Domains: Charm, Greed, Love, Trade, Trickery
Favored Weapon: ???

And maybe even a listing of who tends to worship the god/goddess

Again with Tallea you might just add:

Congregation: Courtesans, Prostitutes, Misers, Illegitimate Children, Pirates, Thieves, and Scoundrels.

I think there can be overlap between Domains and Congregations, but I am not one who likes a lot of overlap on Purviews. (E.g. there are 2 deities who have the Love domain, but only one goddess of "Love" and one goddess of "Lust".)

The last bit is just a personal taste issue, but spelling out the purviews helps to eliminate redundancy.