New Design and Development: Pantheon

[Henry]

You allow an Ilmaterite to travel with you? Fzoul is coming here, and he is most displeased with your apparent lack of zeal.

Fzoul has enough of his own problems leading the defense of Zhentil Keep against the invading armies of Thay. Me, I'm just trying to figure out why Darkhold suddenly claims they have an alliance with those damned treacherous Thayans, so I can root out those Heartland backstabbers and put them to the stakes. The Ilmaterite at least wants an end to the Chaos and suffering, as do I, so that the Firm Hand of Bane can set order from Chaos and impose proper Order and Punishment on the lawless!

HAIL BANE! *drums*

 

[Green Knight]

You're assuming that gods will function like they do now. Given how many other changes we've seen with 4E, I think that's a risky assumption to make.

It's possible. But I imagine that they'll remain mostly as they are, in that they'll be able to fight and kill each other (And the deific rankings appear to be staying, as the only deific realms that survive the spellplague are the ones which belongs to Greater Gods. And in 4E, there is a change which seems to reinforce the concept of the divine rankings, as Lesser and Intermediate gods are just servitors to the Greater Gods).

After all, the changes made to the Forgotten Realms are predicated on the idea that gods can kill each other. Cyric was able to kill Mystra. Tyr killed Helm. By comparison, Bane killing Bahamut would be a comparatively easy task. And if Bahamut is supposed to be Bane's primary foe, then he needs to be able to stand up against him in case Bane shows up on his doorstep of a mind to commit some deicide. And if the only reason Bahamut is able to survive is because Bane's got bigger and meaner opponents to worry about, then Bahamut isn't really his nemesis, then, is he? And if he's a Lesser God, then what Greater God does he serve?

 

[M.L. Martin]

Nine pages in this thread, and I haven't read them all, so forgive me if I'm repeating something someone already mentioned.

Anyway, so Bahamut is supposed to be Bane's archnemesis in the generic D&D setting.

I'm not seeing it. Yes, Bahamut takes Heironeous' place to a large extent, and Bane does the same with Hextor, but I don't see that the centrality of the conflict between the two they replace necessarily carries over to the new folks. There's definitely a level of opposition--Bahamut being about 'protect the weak, liberate the oppressed, and defend just order' while Bane is the patron of tyranny and evil war--but I don't know that they're diametric opposites.

The interesting thing is that you really shouldn't have Bahamut without Tiamat, and yet Bane takes a lot of Tiamat's non-draconic schtick. Anyone up for a reconceived Chaotic Evil-style Tiamat as patroness of greed, destruction, and betrayal?

 

[hong]

Fzoul has enough of his own problems leading the defense of Zhentil Keep against the invading armies of Thay. Me, I'm just trying to figure out why Darkhold suddenly claims they have an alliance with those damned treacherous Thayans, so I can root out those Heartland backstabbers and put them to the stakes. The Ilmaterite at least wants an end to the Chaos and suffering, as do I, so that the Firm Hand of Bane can set order from Chaos and impose proper Order and Punishment on the lawless!

HAIL BANE! *drums*

"I've got a dagger of hail bane! It's +6 vs weather effects!"

 

[Nifft]

"I've got a dagger of hail bane! It's +6 vs weather effects!"

"Does it work with Flurry?"

, -- N

 

[Mr.Black]

I like Bahamut as a god of paladins and revered by good dragons, but he doesn't seem like Bane's archnemesis. Bahamut works best when paired against Tiamat. I wonder if Tiamat would work better as the goddess of tyrants.

I think Tiamat redone as a chaotic evil dragon goddess could also work, but then she may become too much like Lolth.

 

[M.L. Martin]

I think Tiamat redone as a chaotic evil dragon goddess could also work, but then she may become too much like Lolth.

Maybe, but they've been positioning the core drow as Neutral Evil for a while now, so maybe Lolth will have an emphasis on scheming, Unseelie fey, and dark magic as opposed to her more mad Chaotic version.

 

[Rechan]

You're assuming that gods will function like they do now. Given how many other changes we've seen with 4E, I think that's a risky assumption to make.

I will hereby not assume that in 4e, up is up, down is down, and halflings steal things. There's just no guarantee!

 

[pemerton]

The cult of Mithra admits only men as its members.

There's a reason right there to avoid some of the baggage that real-world religions bring with them.

For a god of tyranny and conquest, I would suggest Ashur:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashur_(god)

Again, this might raise issues for contemporary Assyrians. Why call out one of many historical empires (in that and other parts of the world) as the paradigm of tyranny? After all, Mithraism was a favoured religion of Roman soldiers - another conquerring and tyrannical culture. Why do the Romans get to be LG?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

After all, Mithraism was a favoured religion of Roman soldiers - another conquerring and tyrannical culture. Why do the Romans get to be LG?

Because it was the good guy religion in Conan?