made some gods for my upcoming dnd campaign

so we know that like, Kristen's whole deal is religion and such, right? I'm just kinda thinking about the other Bad Kids and the Gods. Maybe it's my own multi-deity pagan ass just wanting to consider what it would look like. (I'm using primarily Forgotten Realms Gods and my absolutely vague knowledge of them).

This got long so read under the cut ;u;

Gorgug is absolutely Garl Glittergold's favorite child. He loves the shenanigans. Do you think he starts connecting with Gruumsh when he starts connecting with his birth parents? Baby Gorgug leaving bits of metal and toys he accidentally broke on the altar the Thistlesprings' have in their workshop. Gorgug pre-artificer offering up the songs he makes as a tricky sort of "metal" working. Feeling a connection to Gruumsh in the heats of his rage, the nudge of a hand during his frenzy guiding him to the right target. Keeping bits of scrap from their enemies to melt down into his next artificing project. He also probably talks to Helm, sometimes, asking for guidance on how to best protect his friends. Gorgug has big protector energy.

Adaine who is, in a way, a deity in her own right, depending how revered the Oracle is. I don't know if Adaine would connect with Elvish gods, but she and Oghma vibe. I think that after the Bad Kids all talk and bond, Kristen makes a joke about her being a Gruumsh follower with her furious fist and so Adaine jokingly buys a pin to wear in offering. Jawbone also had a talk with her about sometimes it can help to talk to someone about your anxiety--whether that be a counselor or even the Gods, sometimes. Just Adaine praying to Gruumsh to have the strength to punch her anxiety in the face is very beautiful to me. Azuth is the god of wizards, so he and Adaine might vibe. Adaine feels like the type to vibe with the Gods mostly in jest; she talks to them sometimes, but they're silly little guys to her. Because of Tracker and Jawbone's lycanthropy, I think she either has a small shrine to Galicaea or has the biggest beef with her imaginable. Maybe a little bit of both.

Riz. God. I think once Riz meets his Father, he definitely like, sets up a little shrine to him. Ancestor work feels really important to Riz. He dedicates a lot of self-care things to his dad, I think. Mainly sleeping and drinking water. Does he do them? No. But it's the thought that counts. Riz is definitely the like, mundane acts of worship. Incorporating it into miniscule parts of his day that would go undetected unless you knew him and where to look. He also probably has some devotional jewelry to Yondalla; I think that Penny probably had a habit of repeating prayers while touching the beads of her bracelet (kind of like a Rosary) and that rubbed off on him, especially when she was babysitting him. The whole family also probably have at least some sort of worship to Tyr due to their connection to justice and law enforcement. I think Sklonda is more connected with some of the deities associated with Goblins, specifically Gruumsh (can you tell I love him?) and Maglubiyet. He prays to war gods to get through the absolute shitshow of Adventuring school. He and Adaine probably dedicate their research to Oghma.

Fig is really interesting because I feel like she is probably in the vein of demon work instead of divinity. Although I think that she unironically thinks Riz's dad is super cool so like, playfully worships him. Fig is the Bad Kid that I feel like collects all the different pieces of her friends and wears them proudly upon herself. She dedicates concerts to Kristen's new deity of the week. She sighs and asks Oghma for help on exams; she includes prayers to Gruumsh in her tracks. I feel like Fig also might have a tendency to like, worship the people in her life. She thinks they're so important and she cares about them so much. So she elevates them to the status of a God in her mind. They are invincible. They are young and powerful and the bonds they share are much, much magical then some God who pretends to be high and mighty. Her body is an altar--she wears jewelry and draws sigils and uses so much color magick. She is, in a way, a walking beacon to the gods, saying, "Look at us! We're just as good as you, and if you doubt it, then we'll kick your ass!"

Fabian Seacaster my beloved. This man follows his Father's footsteps for a long time. He worships Gods of the tempest, of the sea and sailing. Yondalla holds a special place in his heart. Riz nearly has a conniption when Fabian corrects him on a prayer to Yondalla, and the two of them bond about it. But once this man starts dancing, this man worships Corellon Larethian with his whole chest. He does a lot of his worship through dancing. Moving his body, getting in touch with his roots. Because of the fire elemental, he also does some like, elemental magic? But I think a lot of his forms of worship come through bodily experiences. Braving a storm, dancing in front of a crowd, making just the right maneuver to protect his friends in battle. Sometimes he and Fig and Gorgug will sit together and make devotional playlists!

Gather around adults it's random lore time - today's topic Sharess' Caress!

Going to start with the goddess Sharess. She is probably one of my favourites of dnd gods.

Faerûnian goddess of festhalls, hedonism, and sensual fulfillment. Passionate and willful, The Dancing Lady had the independent and hedonistic temperament of a feline, and encouraged her followers to spread pleasure to all. source

She is basically the goddess of hedonism and pleasure and, it's nice. I like it. I like that there is a god for it and it's a female. Likely the makers of this goddess was men who thought yeah, sexy loose lady but I see it as "a woman who is not afraid to own her desires" I like it.

Looking at her alliances she hangs with the good guys. Selune, Sune etc. But there was a brief time where Shar corrupted her and she was serving her. Now she opposes both Loviatar and Shar. Loviatar is a bit of a shame but maybe some kinky stuff happened when she was hanging with Shar.

Now a word caught my eye there. Festhalls. We proceed to the related wiki page to find this:

A festhall was an establishment combining the services of brothels, casinos, and private clubs. Festhalls provided a variety of adult-themed leisure activities and entertainment, including sex work, gambling, day spas, dining, exotic dancing, companionship, role-play, and other specialized interests. source

So Festhalls basically combine any fun adult thing we can think of.

This brings us to the question - was Sharess' Caress a festhall? I would think yes. I don't remember seeing gambling but everything else was there!

i drew up a design for the god of tiny folks in case they come up in future episodes of my Tiny TTRPG!

I MADE A GUY!

Introducing the Storykeeper! An mischievous deity who loves nothing more than a good book (He may or may not find morally gray adventurers to be those stories).

here's to a year of the dragon that's colorful and unexpected!

ID: ID: Digital illustration of a bronze dragonborn character sitting in a tiny personal canoe, surrounded by the twisting turning convolutions of a massive serpentine sea dragon swimming through a cosmic sea. The sea dragon is green in coloration with curled horns and a messy mane along his back, swimming through dark water lit with colorful stars.

Me: “I’m going to do a durge run and have all the more evil options for me and the companions”

Also me: “You decide what you want to do Shadowheart” (spoiler: she said fuck shar, which wasn’t what I had planned)

Kyuss the worm that walks

Literally a 30ft tall mass of evil worms with bad intentions. When technically the worms are possessed by a demigod/elder evil but worms are worms.

I really want him as a patron so I wanted to do my own take on him

more color pallate stuff.

Just thought of another sticking point about the Exandrian gods, Aasimar

Aasimar usually have human parents but are born aasimar thanks to being touched or blessed by an angel of the gods or the gods themselves

Eradicating the gods kinda sounds like it would lead to no continuation or at least a decline in the already rare aasimars. And who’s to say that once Predathos is done eating the gods and their celestial agents that it won’t turn around and start eating the much smaller pieces of divinity?

Who’s to say Da’leth - who we know doesn’t really have a “That’s too far” cap - won’t hunt aasimar down either. He has no qualms about killing holy/faithful people

Just some thoughts…

Champion of Mask

So the most recent CR episode had a lot of talk about the gods of Exandria and I have a lot of thoughts on this. This got longer than I expected so I’m putting it under a cut. 

TLDR: I love all the different takes on the deities. As someone who loves the dynamics between characters and deities and the world, I am so excited to see where this leads. My one wish is that we had someone in this campaign that had a connection to their god similar to Pike or Caduceus. I think that perspective is something that we’re missing. 

I will preface this by saying that I am NOT religious AT ALL irl. I actually really don’t like religion for my own personal reasons that I won’t go into. HOWEVER, I LOVE the inclusion of deities in fantasy settings like dnd. I think the relationship between the public and a pantheon that they know is real in some way is so fascinating. 

Obviously gods can be good or bad or neutral or shift between these. Deities can be the creators of all life, they can be empowered by life, they can be manifestations of life. They can be beings so powerful, so technologically advanced, that ��mortals’ can’t understand them beyond being gods. There are so many possibilities, so many explanations, to how and why gods exist. 

To me, some of the most interesting dynamics to think about and rp are the relationships between characters and their deities. Even building out how npc’s and communities worship and/or show respect to deities in different aspects of their lives is fascinating to me. 

So let’s get into the Critical Role of it all. Now, I am still not caught up on the whole of campaign 3 but have been watching the last few eps. Because of this, I probably don’t have all the information that the characters and people who watched the entire campaign so far have. So, I’ll just focus on tonight’s discussion using what I do know as well as my own worldbuilding and rp experience. 

Watching tonight’s discussion on the gods was interesting. As someone who thinks very negatively about the idea of a higher power/god in real life, it was interesting to see characters in a fantasy setting speak negatively about the gods. I like F.R.I.D.A.’s comparison between the gods and aeormatons. I think it’s incredibly interesting to think about whether the gods would want to rest if they could. I think they and/or Deanna also mentioned that the gods gain power from worship and that they give power to certain acolytes because it helps increase the reach and breadth of worship they receive. I think that’s probably correct. I don’t however think that’s always a bad thing. Something that none of the members here mentioned was the good that gods do for and through their acolytes and champions. 

It’s easy to look at one or the other, good or bad. It’s harder to look at both. And it’s even more difficult to determine whether gods not existing would really improve anything or if things would be a bit different but ultimately the same. I think in a world where deities have been proven to exist, where the average person can pray to the Wildmother or to the Dawnfather for a good farming season. Where a sailor can pray to the Stormlord for safe travel. Where a leader can look to the Lawbearer for guidance. Where a bunch of librarians can take the ideals of Ioun and use that as a force for finding truth and routing out corruption. I think in that world, deities can play many roles beyond giving adventurers fun abilities. Or helping to prevent a death god from roaming free on the material plane. Or stopping Tharizdun from being freed. The gods are evil selfish arrogant betrayers looking for more power. The gods are neutral parties looking to protect nature and life and death. The gods are noble beings looking to protect the world and its people from harm. 

Seeing so many different takes on the gods is so fun. I am not at all saying that Deanna or F.R.I.D.A.’s or even Ludinus’s view on the gods is wrong or that the aspects of those character shouldn’t exist. I think they 100% should exist. Characters that despise the gods are just as fun as characters that worship them same as characters that lie somewhere between. 

I’ve reread this and added to it and edited it and I think I only have one more thing I want to say. I think I’ve found myself missing having someone like Pike or Caduceus in this campaign. Someone with a deep connection and love for their deity to provide a different perspective. FCG, while a cleric that follows a deity, does not follow Avandra in the same way that clerics in past campaigns have. I think because of this, we are lacking a voice in favor of the gods and their acolytes. As someone who really likes that dynamic, it kind of leaves me wanting. Probably one of the few reasons why I didn’t really connect with Bells Hells when the campaign started. 

Anyway that’s it for now I think. If I have anything I want to add, maybe I will! We’ll see. I’m basically just talking into a void so why not? LUL 

The Castout — The Seeker — The Weaver

The Messenger — The Keeper — The Verdant

The Redeemer — The Protector — The Winter

God symbols of a d&d campaign I've been on and off running forrrr at least 4 years now? tag ur fav mine is the protector

Bane has a simple ethos: the strong have not just the right but the duty to rule over the weak. A tyrant who is able to seize power must do so, for not only does the tyrant benefit, but so do those under the tyrant's rule. When a ruler succumbs to decadence, corruption, or decrepitude, a stronger and more suitable ruler will rise.

Bane is vilified in many legends. Throughout history, those who favour him have committed dark deeds in his name, but most people don't worship Bane out of malice. Bane represents ambition and control, and those who have the former but lack the latter pray to him to give them strength. It is said that Bane favours those who exhibit drive and courage, and that he aids those who seek to become conquerors, carving kingdoms from the wilderness, and bringing order to the lawless.

At many times and in many places in Faerûn, the faithful of Bane have been seen as saviours for their efforts in slaughtering raiders, throwing down corrupt rulers, or saving armies on the brink of defeat. But in just as many other places, the worship of Bane has created or supported cruel dictatorships, aided mercantile monopolies, or brought about the practice of slavery where before it didn't exist. source: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide pg. 26

This description of Bane really took me by surprise because it so similar to Gortash. And that the banites were seen as saviours before Gortash's little play and it makes me wonder how many of the others were also ruses? But also, Bane really is the only one of the dead three with a more logical look on being a god.

Also interesting to me is the fact that most people doesn't worship Bane out of malice. Maybe that's how Gortash started as well? And Gortash really is the type of person Bane would favour. Strong, ambitious and brave. The man's got balls. Big ones. Not everyone can just even decide they are going to rob the second most powerful devil in hells.

Valentine’s Day couples :)

The Raven Queen