"Thou shalt not.." Specifics

[Lonely Tylenol]

The Tales of Wyre, by Sepulchrave, and compiled in the Story Hour boards by Cheiromancer, has an interesting system for policing mages. Some of the major magical characters got together after some problems with demon-summoning, and bound a quasi-deity creature to enforce a set of rules. The creature is aware of all magic in its area of influence, and there are prohibitions against summoning and interfering in temporal affairs. The magnitude of the punishment is tailored to fit the crime, and after a first offence, nobody messes with the system.

It tends to have two effects: firstly is that mages stay in their towers and don't try to fireball armies or whatnot, and secondly they usually end up doing most of their best work on other planes, where they're not bothering the commoners with all the explosions and otherworldly beings.

 

[WayneLigon]

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?

They are some examples from my homebrew. I wrote up a few examples in case people asked me this very question. Some others:

The Son, warrior prince of the old empire
Cowardice is a sin. Cowards are weak men who pretend to be strong ones until something doesn't go their way, then they show that all they care about is themselves. Only fools have no fear, but cowards are ruled by fear and not My Word. Have I not said that my shield stands at your left hand, ready to protect you from your enemies? Is not my Cloak around your shoulders, that you need not fear the knife in the dark? Is not the Sword of Truth yours to wield, to smite down your enemies? With these gifts I've given to those in My service, you would instead kneel to fear? Do you fear death? Do you fear to, after your life is over, come sit beside Me in My Hall and eat at My Table?

The Stone Man, a dark power of the old empire
Weakness is a sin. Look to your neighbor, or your fellow Brother across the aisle. Have no doubt that he wishes to have what you possess. As the cow wanders to greener fields, so does your brother see that feild in you. He wishes to enrich himself in some way at your expense. Do not let him. Do unto him before he has a chance to do unto thou. if he bests you, you have already sinned in my eyes and he administers your punishment, be it the loss of your goods or your eye for he is My Hand upon you. Go and be My Hand to another. It is your duty.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

alsih2o
Vanpo the sailor. A divine cat on a never ending search for more humanoids to toy with. It's a really cool mental image... That's definitely a god my characters have been in need of!

Looks like my next campaign might be nautical, he just fits too well. I'm afraid I might have to assimilate him!

Are all the constellations worshiped, grant clerical magic and so forth?

Are you thinking of laying down commandments for this pantheon?

 

[diaglo]

thou shalt not play other editions

 

[fusangite]

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

I tend to find that legalistic (as opposed to situational) definitions of good and evil kind of clash with the polytheism of most D&D worlds. Because every god or philosophy in a D&D society is going to either have no code of conduct or a code that applies only to their adherents, it's tough to peg something that crosses all religions and places to one of these codes. I would only do that if the characters were all members of a movement or mystery cult or something that had the real corner on the truth while the rest of the world was ignorant of true right conduct.

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

Oh yes. But these don't really have anything to do with the alignment system beyond the very minimum. And when I make conduct codes, I try to do them like Leviticus -- ethical demands evenly mixed with strange procedural requests that appear not to have any ethical dimension.

 

[jerichothebard]

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.

Now that, that is really funny.



Major sins in my campaign, which is a single-god theocracy:

Allowing undead to live or causing the peaceful dead to walk.
Plundering the tombs of the peaceful dead.
Practicing arcane magic.


it's hard, though, with a total theocracy, to differentiate sinful from merely illegal...

 

[Hand of Evil]

Thou shalt not
...eat the flesh of the chrildren of the gods
...worship false gods
...hold the children of the gods above the gods

 

[diaglo]

there is only one true game...

and its name is

OD&D(1974)

 

[the Jester]

This thread is awesome.

Somewhere, in my old notes, I have the old-skool die-hard monotheistic 'Law of the Light' written down. One of the most interesting ones was that you weren't allowed to say the name of the God unless you were a cleric or paladin. (This has since been 're-interpeted' by Dexter, the Jesus figure of the church, who was a pc.)

 

[carpedavid]

I don't have the information from my previous homebrew handy, which had a lot of "thou shalt/shalt nots" in it. I do however, have a paladin's code from my most recent psuedo-celtic homebrew, which has some thou shalts and shalt nots.

Fionn's Code
1. Let thy sword be the first to be drawn and the last to be sheathed. Let thy death be noble and glorious; die not in vain.

2. If thy enemy and thine own son come before ye to be judged, let thy judgment be fair.

3. Leave no man unfed who has mouth with which to eat.

4. Make no promise at night that ye cannot fulfill on the morrow, and no promise during the day that ye cannot fulfill at night.

5. Leave no curse unanswered.

6. Allow no harm to come to the stewards of life.

7. Leave not the fruit to spoil or the wine to sour.

8. Be quiet in peace and angry in battle.

Practically, the code means that the paladin must exemplify the following traits:

Valor
A paladin must be the first onto the field and the last to leave. He must be brave in the face of adversity but should not sacrifice his life unnecessarily. Retreat is not prohibited, but a paladin should not leave his companions behind. He is a leader of men and women, and the safety of those he leads is paramount.

Justice
A paladin should be fair in dispensing justice. He should decide conflicts based on the facts, and not allow personal preferences to color his judgment.

Generosity
A paladin should be generous to a fault. He should strive to feed and clothe as many people as possible. He may do this through any means that don't violate any of his other strictures. For example, he may donate adventuring loot, or he may be a generous employer.

Dependability
A paladin's word is his bond. He is as bound by the promises he makes as he is by a sidhe's geas.

Vengeance
A paladin should never allow a wrong to endure. He should endeavor to bring justice to the harmed, and protect the innocent.

Protection
A paladin should protect those that produce new life. Without mothers and farmers, the great cycle of nature would cease. A paladin should never kill an animal that is a mother to other animals.

Merriment
Nature's bounty is a gift, and should not be wasted. Food, wine, sex, music, poetry, and all of the other gifts of life should be enjoyed to their fullest.

Temperance
Above all, a paladin should know how to apply himself in every situation. He does not fight his friends, love his enemies, insult his clan, or spill his wine.