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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kristivas" data-source="post: 6125736" data-attributes="member: 34179">First off, Tovec, I'd like to say thank you for taking the time to give me such a detailed reply.  I do appreciate the criticisms.  I think I've addressed some of your concerns (at least in explaining my reasonings) with a previous reply here.  Though I've not finalized anything just yet and am still open to change.I'm taking some pain meds for a twisted ankle, so if I seem a bit off/rambly in this post, that's why.Connoleath has many civilized areas and even a few massive cities, though through much of the wide-open lands are full of savage tribes.  I had a culture of people in my head all beholden to these spirits for guidance and power.  Uncaring about the "civilized" gods until their plots spill out onto the rest of the world.  The Spirits don't impart any morals.  The tribes act on what they think is right, what their Acestors tell them, or try and interpret signs of the spirits the best way they can.Though, I'm now considering how to do that differently.I don't care for 4e, but I do like the way they've done alignments.I'm certainly working on that.  I really wanted to make sure I had a good base before putting the rest of what was in my head down in black and white.  At that point, it gets harder to go back and change things.I can answer some.The Unbound faction are deities that live passionately.  Passion can be very good, or very bad.  It's extremes.  They're together because they recognize the others in their pantheon are just as passionate.  They won't be stifled by their brethren, even if they disagree on things (like good vs evil).The Rule of Order are nearly the opposite.  They would like to see more order in the world, viewing it as something that needed to be constrained.  Some of them, like the evil-aligned Tyrant would see the world ruled with an iron-fist ala 1984, while some of the other less-awful gods would just want to see more order maintained, though in far more benevolent ways.The Balance are like most of us.  "You need both, and if the boat steers too far one way, it'll topple!"  We can't have anarchy and passions unbound, because we'd destroy society.  If there's too much order, we're all slaves.  They have to sit in the middle and manipulate, because if they didn't, eventually one side's plots would finally take hold and that's the beginning of the end.Everything was all well and good until a spoiled child didn't get her way.  The Black Queen was always a nightmare, and her religion was more like large cults than an organized church.  She was a Necromancer goddess with a love for spreading undeath and pestilence.  Unlike the other gods, she was not happy with her lot.  After murdering her rival in the Rule of Order, she used said rival's power.  I explained above, the essence of the dead god allowed her to curse the other 3 factions.  They were cursed to never come to terms on how to deal with her, locked in eternal bickering.The Pale Warden was created apart from the factions, thus not subject to the curse.  He's really the only one free to properly act against her.The God of Death is all about keeping souls moving along toward the Afterlife.  That things that need to meet their end actually do meet their end.The God of Murder, on the other hand, is about the kill.  The violent taking of life.  The sorrow that follows.  The thrill of the chase, when a faithful murderer gets away.  The fear that causes everyone to check under their bed, or pray that the God of Murder seeks his entertainment elsewhere.It probably would have helped a great deal if I'd written in more personal blurbs about them.How are the Gods used?  Per usual, really.  They grant their Clerics and Paladins and such their powers.  They are active in the world, but with limits.On a God's home plane, their rule is law.  On the mortal world, the Gods are only as powerful as their influence there.  While each god can manifest an Avatar, there are limits to what their Avatar can do.  Other gods will use their Avatars and followers to undermine a rival god's plan.  Oftentimes, to get anything accomplished, it's best to simply ask your mortal followers and stay under the radar, so to speak.The God of Death carries the dead to be judged by Gultandon, Lord of Justice.  Though he is a member of the Rule of Order, he will judge anyone based on their merits and not their views or alignment.I was looking to create a patheon to serve a very large world.  Areas under the sway of the Rule of Order might have more laws and might be a bit more restrained.  Good governments might have something like a safety net for their citizens, while Evil governments would have a police state-type environment.  Areas of the Unbound would be more free, through laws and morals or society constraints.Then, you'd have these savage lands where none of that stuff matters.  On the surface, they seem like they'd be under The Unbound, because they're tribal savages, but then you eat with your left hand in the presence of the Cheiftan's daughter and in the next moment, you're being decapitated.  They may not have a lot of laws, but the ones they do are followed to the extreme.  These tribes don't care about the views of the city-dwellers.  They've learned how to behave based on their ancestor spirits and by studying their chosen element.  An evil Shaman who's chosen water might choose depriving captured foes of water, while sacrificing to the Spirits by drowning victims.  Where would they learn this?  Their Ancestors, who learned it from their Ancestors, who learned it all the way back to times where people as a whole were savage as hell.  For whatever reasons, the Spirits answer and give their Shamen power.Some theorize that the reason the spirits imbue their mortal followers is to keep civilization from expanding too far into the wilderness.Though, I could end up just dispersing the spirit portfolio to the Gods.  That might keep things less-confusing.A demigod is the offspring of a deity and a powerful mortal.  Not just any old Joe can have sex with a goddess or god's avatar and spit out a demigod.  If such was the case, the world would be full of them from the Aura of Joy alone.  Most mortal women to become pregnant by a god simply have the best of their own species in the child.  It could be exceptionally smart, beautiful, and strong, but it's still just "a human who got lucky in ability scores".  They grow old, they die.The only known cases of Demigods being born are the vile children of The Black Queen.  The mortals whom she mated with had all been imbued by her, using the death of a deity to fuel their creation.  It changed them in many ways.  High Necrolord Syzil Sylzan Sylzek the Serpent actually became serpentlike after his transformation.  He was able to change himself into giant snake or hydra at will.  His eyes became slitted, his tongue forked.  He could dislocate his jaw and swallow children whole, before his death at the hands of the Pale Warden.  Guess who Fathered the "Scalykind" demigod, Muur!I'd originally considered a Four Horsemen set-up, but I wanted it to be more personal.  I wanted these "odd children" to have really twisted origins.High Necrolords of The Black QueenGandaalon Halkavar the Blighted -xKrale the Hungerer -xShidira Laxwan the AbominationTammoran Drasic the Sadistic -x  (fathered Poma)Yelikmarr the Coldbringer -xCramiras Den Trangor the Mad -x  (fathered Grel)Syzil Sylzan Sylzek the Serpent -x  (fathered Muur)Aritanna the Malefic -xGhon Draveel the Black Heart  (fathered Siia)Bemir Al'hanzishma the Covetous  (fathered Jorl)-x = Dead in the current campaign settingGenerally, they are above their concerns.  The Lord of Power, for example, really doesn't care about the Celestial Conflict, until it threatens to spill out of hand.  He cares about magic.  It's only when the actual balance of power is threatened that he annoyingly ceases his studies (or whatever he's doing) and intervenes.  The Lady of Coin will sell to both participants of a battle.  If one side starts to win, it's in her best interest to see that side fall back down a peg.  Keeps things even, keeps sales high.Basically, though with exceptions.  The Black Queen was always an exception, because she betrayed the natural order of things.  The Spirits don't care about the deity-politics.  The Balance don't really care about the politics, unless one of the sides starts to get too much of an upper hand.I really do appreciate the advice.  When I go to start editing this weekend, I'll keep this handy.Again, I apologize if I rambled during this.  Pain meds, woo lol.</blockquote>

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