"Thou shalt not.." Specifics

[alsih2o]

A lot of D+D religion is based on the whole Good'n'Evil axis without a lot of specifics.


What "sins" have you instituted as commands from gods in your game?

Is there a list of no-nos from any of the gods in your game?

 

[Ibram]

Most of the good gods/panthions have the usualy 10 commandments type list (no killing, stealing, ect). In addition the practice of Dark maigc is forbidden, as is the worship of old gods.

Racial pantheons have a bit that says that their followers are supposed to put members of the pantheons race first and all others second.

The more lawfully aligned pantheons add lines that say that their followers must always listen to the priests (and otherwise respect the religions organization)

and then there are the ususal "Dont eat pork/eat pork once a week" rules

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

My favorite was:

"Thou shalt not have more than one eye."

A tennet of a strange cult in my last campaign... Featured a lot of cultists with distance perception problems


I laid out a series of religious type rules for the knightly order my PCs belonged in that same game. Put them all in commandment form. Unfortunately, I don't have them to hand and my memory is patchy today. Some of them:

Accepting an honourable surrender.
Something to do with demonstrating courage.
Another one covering cheating in contests and other low behaviour.
Something about not throwing your life away foolishly.

The ones I had the most fun with:
1) The undead are an abomination, thou shalt not suffer their existance.
2) Eradicating hobgoblins from the face of the earth.
3) Respecting a brave and worthy foe.

1) is fun when you take powerful and (relatively) benign liches into account. 2) was great when it contradicted 3). What you get from a racist hero founding a LG knightly order.


I have to hold my hands up and say that religion is not a very well played out part of most of my games. Try as I might, most Good religions tend towards a certain real world relgion - proportions of 'burn the witch' or 'neighbourly love' mixed to feel right. A few tennets get added to suit the flavour of the particular god. Pelor = No undead. Heronius = Chivalry. Etc.


What do you do?

 

[alsih2o]

What do you do?

My gods are all heavenly bodies. One of them is an Archer and he tried to steal one of the moons location in the sky a long way back. Since then he has ben shunned to below the horizon 3 months of the year. During this time it is considered a sin to hunt with a bow.

One god is the patron of Academics. Her followers find it sinful to destroy knowledge. Burnign a book is a mortal sin to them, no matter how evil the subject matter.

Killing a boar is considered a sin by most, as the boar is a constellation that represents nature and wisdom (it is constantly "chased" around the night sky by The Leash, a group of nine dogs representing man and the nine alignments.)

 

[WayneLigon]

What "sins" have you instituted as commands from gods in your game?

Suta, the eight-faced goddess of the Parames citystates:
Wearing purple is a sin. Eating from a gourd bowl is a sin. Playing certain music is a sin. All things of the Nesserines are a sin. Purple is the color of the Nesserines. They sup from gourd bowls. They dance to strange music. The Nesserines drove Suta from their lands and made her wander until she came to the oasis of Parames in Niita. They are accursed and so their works are also accursed. The Nesserines are our eternal enemies. They are to be thrown down. -- The Scrolls of Parase

Naat, Goddess of Secrets and Shadows:
It is a sin to fully reveal oneself, be it physically, mentally or socially. It is a minor sin to not mask one's face in some manner. The penalty for this is up to the priest, but usually it is to go without bread or fruit for a day. It is much more of a sin to reveal the secrets of others. The usual penalty for this is to use the Eye to force the sinner to say an unpleasent or unguessed truth about himself, so that he knows the pain and shame that he has caused another. -- Book of Ever.

The Father, chief god of the former empire, god of kings and civilization.
There are as many sins against the Father as there are stars in the sky. Disrespect is one of the greatest, for it implies you have forgotten that there are people better than you. A loose tongue is a sin, for a man should keep his own counsel save to his superiors; it implies you know more than they. Skill beyond your place is a sin, for it again implies you have exalted yourself above your betters. Not recognizing great skill and elevating an inferior is a sin, for it implies you beleive yourself to be the most high when only the Father has that position. Sin is like water: it flows downward, and the sin of one stains all beneath him. Thus is a subordinate responsible for his master's sin. Thus does the son bear the sins of the father.
--Conversations in the Plaza: a Wandering Priest's Journal.

The Mother, chief goddess of the former empire, goddess of storms.
There is no such thing as 'sin'. Sin means disobedience and it's impossible to disobey me; I am the breath and the rain and the lightning. How can you disobey those things? Sin means doing things that don't please me. Like I give a tinker's damn what happens to you idiots as long as you don't go messing with stuff you don't understand and try to turn the world inside out or something. I like the world and don't screw around with it. I guess, oh, destroying the world would be a sin, but I'd still be here and you'd be dead and I'd just make another world without you in it. Idiot. Here, go heal your stupid fighter friend and leave me the hell alone for a while. All your screaming is getting on my nerves.
--Transcript of a priest's encounter with the Goddess, when she deigned to answer a Question.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

My gods are all heavenly bodies. One of them is an Archer and he tried to steal one of the moons location in the sky a long way back. Since then he has ben shunned to below the horizon 3 months of the year. During this time it is considered a sin to hunt with a bow.

One god is the patron of Academics. Her followers find it sinful to destroy knowledge. Burnign a book is a mortal sin to them, no matter how evil the subject matter.

Killing a boar is considered a sin by most, as the boar is a constellation that represents nature and wisdom (it is constantly "chased" around the night sky by The Leash, a group of nine dogs representing man and the nine alignments.)

I like those!

The patron of academics sounds like a great source of interesting plot hooks. They must have some big libraries stuffed full of seriously evil books... Hmmm.

Are they a homebrewed set or inspirations taken from elsewhere? Mix of the two?

This thread's got me curious. I'd like to try and make religion more of a deal for my next mini campaign. Perhaps take just a few gods and work on them fairly heavily.

 

[Voadam]

A lot of D+D religion is based on the whole Good'n'Evil axis without a lot of specifics.


What "sins" have you instituted as commands from gods in your game?

Is there a list of no-nos from any of the gods in your game?

Mine are generally religion based instead of god issued (although the religions might claim otherwise), but over all I have not instituted many prohibitions.

Don't teach non-druids the secret language stands out though.

 

[alsih2o]

I like those!

The patron of academics sounds like a great source of interesting plot hooks. They must have some big libraries stuffed full of seriously evil books... Hmmm.

Are they a homebrewed set or inspirations taken from elsewhere? Mix of the two?

This thread's got me curious. I'd like to try and make religion more of a deal for my next mini campaign. Perhaps take just a few gods and work on them fairly heavily.

It is a homebrew.

Here is the every idiots version of my base pantheon mixed with the creation "story"

Simus the uncaring- Simus was alone in the universe when he decided to tell a story. He created 2 daughters to help him, Fespa the academic and Kalin the artist. He set them before him as moons and drew forth a clay tablet to record history. On this tablet was but one creature. This creature said he was a ghost dragon, and was as old as the clay in the tablet. Simus commissioned this beast to fashion him an alphabet, with which to record his story.

Fespa and Kalin put all of their energies into the creation of a suitable setting for their father’s great tale and worked for 2000 years before they noticed that Simus had a son. Balcla, the sun, was free to hunt every day, pushing his hounds throughout the sky. One day when Simus was looking for the ghost dragon to check his progress Fespa and Kalin worked together and tricked Balcla into promising to run their errands, which they have kept him busy with to this day. Every day Balcla sets forth north to south across the sky on waning days and south to north on waxing days. Concerned that the baying of Balclas leash would attract the attentions of their father they cast the 9 dogs against the night sky where the circle forever in pursuit of Fift, the boar.

Centuries later the ghost dragon completed his alphabet and was released from duty by Simus. Upon returning to his mountaintop to rest he discovered that his eggs, unguarded for the whole time it had taken to create Simus' great alphabet had turned to stone. The great dragon wept deeply over the death of his kind and when the sister moons saw his grief the presented him with a gift in gratitude. As his tears fell Fespa turned them into the great waters of the world and as his tears ran across his eggs Kalin turned the 12 eggs into 12 races, and sent them forth on the tablet to make a history for their father so that he would be kept busy recording his story and never interfere in the lives of those on the tablet again.

In a previous experiment Fespa created another being for her father to watch, Vanpo. Vanpo was a brave and handsome cat who traveled the land freely and found great pleasure in exploring all of the lands of the tablet, without concern for the boundaries set up by the sister moons. When the 12 eggs hatched and moved forth on the earth Vanpo found great pleasure in sailing them around, place to place. He took nearly every race to so many places that they became lost, unable to find home. When Kalin awoke and saw what her sisters creation had done to all the beautiful races, and how he had violated the boundaries they had set she lured him into the great red sea and when he was there, testing his sail she flung the entire sea into the sky where Vanpo the explorer still plies his sail, looking for new lands.

Simus the uncaring- the north star. Writes the story of everything on his tablet, which is the earth. He is true neutral, and has given up on affecting events, leaving the earth in the grasp of his children.

Fespa- the academic moon. Fespa is large and glows with a yellow light. She is NG and favors academics, collectors, rulers, writers and mages. She is the patron saint of all who seek to learn.

Kalin- the artist moon. Fespa is smaller then her sister and glows with a reddish tone. She is NG and favors builders, artists, performers, and storytellers. She is the patron saint of creation and creators.

Balcla- the sun. Errand boy to Fespa and Kalin he streaks across the sky every day, the bright flames coming from his boots of fire and speed lighting the entire sky. LN

Zodiac signs:

The Leash- Balclas 9 dogs lie in the south sky, the represent the man and the nine alignments.

Fift- the boar. Fift represent nature and wisdom. He rests high in the southern sky, perpetually hounded by the leash.

Vanpo-the sailor. Vanpos ship can be seen in the red blotch in the eastern sky, sailing across the sea in search of new land.

Bebe-the sea. Bebe is the giant red sea Vanpo attempts to cross. She pities Vanpo for his endless quest and sings to him.

Passul-the archer. Passul was an early hero. When men were not numerous or spread across the good earth Passul fed them with the skill of his bow. Upon his death Passul was honored with spot in the western skies where his bow can still be seen during most of the year. The attention payed to Fespa and Balcla began to eat at him and he attempted to organize a rebellion to steal Fespas spot in the night sky, when Fespa discovered his plan she beat him back with her flail and it took him 3 months to return to his spot in the sky, since that time Passul has always fallen below the horizon for 3 months every summer, during this time most see it as unlucky to take game with a bow.

 

[Turjan]

Suta, the eight-faced goddess of the Parames citystates:
Wearing purple is a sin. Eating from a gourd bowl is a sin. Playing certain music is a sin. All things of the Nesserines are a sin. -- The Scrolls of Parase

Naat, Goddess of Secrets and Shadows:
It is a sin to fully reveal oneself, be it physically, mentally or socially. It is a minor sin to not mask one's face in some manner. It is much more of a sin to reveal the secrets of others. -- Book of Ever.

The Father, chief god of the former empire, god of kings and civilization.
There are as many sins against the Father as there are stars in the sky.
--Conversations in the Plaza: a Wandering Priest's Journal.

The Mother, chief goddess of the former empire, goddess of storms.
There is no such thing as 'sin'. .
--Transcript of a priest's encounter with the Goddess, when she deigned to answer a Question.

Hehe, I like those . They sound like taken from the real world. Are they part of a homebrew of yours or from a setting that I don't know?

 

[VirgilCaine]

I have a list of "Thou shalt nots" for my Wizard's Guild (yes, singular, theres many subdivisions, but they are practically all the same) IMC.

I got tired of the idea of wizards fireballing towns and charming merchants and cities requiring licenses for spellbooks and stupid, half-assed solutions, so I chucked them.

The Code, which all wizards who become wizards must take (and evil applicants are not trained), goes like this:

Don't do evil.
Don't raise the dead or interfere with a soul's journey to the afterlife.
Don't influence peoples minds (no charms, geases, but Tasha's Laughter and such are okay)
Don't accept coin for magic above third level.
Don't participate in the affairs of kings.


I think that was about it.