About two months ago I wrote about good and evil gods, followed by a discussion on moral relativism. Recently I looked at the Alder King campaign wiki and decided that I needed to create a page *for the players* listing the various gods that have made an appearance – and the gods that I plan to use.
a discussion on moral relativism
I’ve been inspired by Necromancer Games products – their write-up of gods and demons, Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia by Morten Braten aka. Thulsa, the author of XP1: The Spider-God's Bride and Other Tales of Sword and Sorcery, mesopotamian deities on Wikipedia, Wilderlands of High Fantasy, and some brainstorming.
XP1: The Spider-God's Bride and Other Tales of Sword and Sorcery
mesopotamian deities on Wikipedia
I felt it was important to say *why* people would pray to all the gods, including the “evil” ones. I think in the case of evil gods it simply a question of placate vs. supplicate. And sometimes even the evil gods have something that you might need one day.
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | Gods | Benefits | Drawbacks | +--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+ | *Orcus*, demon lord of the | Priests may raise the dead | Demands cruel sacrifice | | undead, patron of all short | | | | lived intelligent species such | | | | as goblins, vanquishes death | | | | *Tsathoggua*, frog lord, | Secures plant fertility, fends | Fear of pestilence brought | | lord of swamps, ponds, rain, | of winter | by morbid swamps and | | and slime; lord of slaadi, | | blood-sucking insects | | protector of stirges, the god | | | | of sloth and of gluttony | | | | *Hecate*, goddess of witches, | Her charms will fend of curses | Jealous and choleric, | | queen of the night, forbidden | and secure fertility and child | vengeful, brings strife | | lore, mollified by pig | health | | | slaughter on nights of the | | | | full moon | | | | *Thanatos*, god of death | ? | ? | | *Set*, god of snakes, | His charms will defend against | Poison and slavery | | reptiles, treasure, hypnotism, | enchantment, prospectors and | | | enchantment, and poisoning | grave robbers pray for his | | | | blessings | | | *Hanuman* the Accursed, the | Grants might, breaks chains, | Madness and rage | | mad ape god, lord of the | frees prisoners | | | jungle, of action, of rescue | | | | *Arden*, the god of the sun, | none | He’s gone. Finito. Done. | | got destroyed | | | | *Nhakhramat*, goddess of the | Her priests can seal pacts | Sometimes the priests try to | | emerald flame, of pacts, of | with servants of Nhakhramat, | cheat and twist your words | | contracts and lies, of wishes | offering divine services | | | and miracles, of loyalty, and | | | | bondage, of service | | | | *Nergal*, plague lord | His charms will protect from | Sometimes they don’t | | | sickness | | | *Marduk*, the general of | Victory, command, control | War and defeat | | the gods, the warrior, the | | | | warlord, the protector of man, | | | | the traveller, the newcomer | | | | *Ishtar*, the goddess of | Provides *amour fou*, a | Veneral diseases, vengeance, | | love and sex, of longing, of | fevered sex life | poverty | | prostitution | | | | *Ganesh*, the elephant god, | Prayer will help you carry | His followers are easily | | the god of patience and | your burdens | abused | | wisdom, of knowledge, of | | | | animals and harmony | | | | *Shul*, the god of the moons, | He protects against dragons, | Sometimes he’s there, and | | fickle and mysterious, of law | his seals uphold the law and | sometimes he’s not | | | oaths, his mercy breaks a geas | | +--------------------------------+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
The last entry, Shul, was recently added because my players went through DCC #23: The Sunken Ziggurat. I liked his opposition to dragons. I guess there’s no real-world inspiration for this god?
Discovering what Thanatos is all about is turning into a player quest, which is why I won’t say more about him except this: Caverns of Thracia.
It was cool showing this list to my wife since she’s playing a shadow elf sorceress in that campaign and see her unable to decide between Set and Hecate. 😄
2009-12-08 The Gods Are Watching
#RPG #alignment