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Message: <blockquote data-quote="QuietBrowser" data-source="post: 7302985" data-attributes="member: 6855057">So, I just wanted to elaborate a little on my thought processes behind the gods, because I'm growing more and more dissatisfied with the Haffuns as I sit here and think about it.In General:I really liked what 4e did with gods, because I agreed with their sentiment that the most essential deities were those that could either inspire adventurers in their service or found malign cults to do battle against. D&D has a bit of a history of throwing out deities for every little detail, which is historically accurate, but not exactly a good use of time and space. I would rather keep the more specifically focused deities in the role of exarches; they're there, the common people worship them, but as an adventurer, you probably have little interaction with them.Republic:In general, I see this as the most generic fantasy pantheon of the group. The primary unique tweak is that because the Republic is founded on magic, I envisioned the lead gods would be those tied to magic.More specifically, as wizardry lends itself better to... "mass distribution" (the artificer is basically an evolution of the wizard), it would be the Wizardry God who'd lead and the Sorcery God would be in a respected but still not head honcho position.Also, whilst necromancy traditionally gets the bad rap, when you think about it, conjuration (specifically of fiends) and enchantment are JUST as creepy-bad-evil as necromancy. Dragonlance actually did something smart by making Enchantment the other Black Magic lore, I wanted to embrace the pulp/S&S angle by making the god specifically focused on Conj/Ench/Nec as the "Dark Magic God".Hobgoblins:The hobgoblin pantheon basically builds on their race's theme of "Kaiserreich".Naturally, we want a strong, fierce, patriarchal war-god who champions the prowess and dominance of his people. But, hobgoblins have also been an egalitarian race, at least in 4e and PF, and I want to preserve that, So, there's also a Chief Goddess - a Mother God - and she's her husband's equal. She pulls double duty as a war god and a fertility god; in sort of a reflection of the Two Honors, she charges female hobgoblins both with having the strength to serve in battle, but also the strength to produce strong, healthy future soldiers as well. This, to me, makes more sense than her being just this meek simpering advocate of Kinder, Küche, Kirche.I originally though that some kind of "inventor god" to make an explanation for their reverence of their "technology" made sense, but I don't know now... does just the Father & Mother work?Hutaakans:What I wanted with the hutaakans was a pulpy "Dark Gods" feel - but I also wanted to preserve the idea of "Dark Is Not Evil" by letting them have some unaligned aspects, so you could theoretically play a worshipper of one and still not be playing a villain. The current list looks like a fairly solid first draft to me, but could maybe use some refinement.Gnolls:I figured that the gnolls would mostly worship the pantheon of their creator-masters, the hutaakans, but have some private religious beliefs of their own.I really like the idea of gnolls as matriarchal and with female-favoring size dimorphism; it is only characteristic of one breed of hyena, true, but it's still more interesting than the generic patriarchal evil brutes fluff that gnolls were saddled with in 1st through 3rd edition.Add in a hazy memory of the hyena religions from Digger, and I came up with a brainstorm: only two gnoll gods, representing females and males, and both representing positive traits. Thus, She Who Fights is the War God, the Defender, the god of physical strength; but He Who Thinks is the Smart God, the Hearthkeeper, the god of intellectul strength and, through that, mysticism.I think it works rather well, don't you?Haffuns:Now, the haffuns are a tricky thing... I knew going in that the most important things to them, culturally, tie to nature - they are led by "druid" conclaves, after all. At the same time, they're a matriarchal race, so that suggests that the pantheon should be fairly full of female figures.When I think about it, these, to me, seem like the most logical archetypes for their pantheon - and I don't think my first draft really measured up.The Grandmother: Goddess of the earth, the plants, the animals, and life itself. A beloved matriarch who cares for all her many children, but not without a sense of humor or no apprecition for the carnal; picture a well-preserved elder female bunny with the personality of Nanny Ogg, and you've got the Grandmother in a nutshell.The Mother: Head of the pantheon, this "sub-matriarch" would be the one who actively looks after the various gods, her offspring, and keeps them all together. Not entirely sure what aspect she would cover; one thought suggests that she might be the Civilization God, the one who created the arts of building, farming, herding and cooking. She's likely also a Fertility God, prayed to for healthy children and the safety of pregnant mothers, laboring mothers, and babies. Likely to be portrayed as heavily pregnant herself.The Father: Most important male in the pantheon, if not the only one. Emphasizing the "women are wiser" aspect of his race, the Father is a lusty, mischievous, carefree trickster spirit. He infuriates his spouse, the Mother, with his moments of laziness, his love of pranks, and his occasional fits of stupidity. But he loves her and is loyal to her, and his romance, passion and genuine care always soothes her temper in the end. Maybe this is too much, but I see him as being both a Love God, a Trickster God and an Adventurer God; haffuns pray to him for success in love, and to keep their marriage passionate, but they also invoke him for festivals, cherish him as their racial hero, and he inspires many haffuns who leave their homes to go adventuring.The Hellion: A daughter of the Mother and the Father, this hot-tempered, hot-headed, trouble-making goddess is the Storm God of the Pantheon. Think of her as a female Sussano-o, with a dash of Thor. She might be the closest thing in their pantheon to a War God, but is mostly thought of as a bloody nuisance; a braggadocious show-off who runs with the thunder storms and rides the tornados that both wreak havoc across the Grassy Ocean....I think there's some room for other gods in the pantheon, but I'm unsure if they'd be "full gods" like these. What do you folks think?</blockquote>

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