This morning I read the post about the Banner of the Seas on the Ancient Vaults & Eldritch Secrets blog. I just needed to share my enthusiasm.
That blog is so full with wonderful inventions and funny glimpses into the world of adventure where the items, gods and monsters of the blog live and appear. If you read no other blog than that, you will have fodder for games from now until the end of time. Damn is it good, or what? Thanks for sharing!
Showing posts with label Gods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gods. Show all posts
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Sunday, April 10, 2011
[From A to Z in Kalamar] Joto II
What would you call somebody who refused to believe the existence of the gods, when their followers are all over the place using powers which should tell all and sundry that the powers they follow are the source of them?
Let's take a look at King Joto II of Shynabyth. He wages a long and bitter war on a nearby theocracy and don't tolerate any religion in his realm. Quite an odd fellow in the polytheistic realms of common rpg fantasy. Consider that the majority of my readers are from the US, another realm where the refusal to accept the existence of a god probably will forever lock you out of higher office. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in the western world, the US is about as religious as it gets. King Joto would be odd even there.
But, imagine he is right?
No, I'm not going to make this an issue about American culture, but investigate an uncommon twist in fantasy rpgs. Let's for a moment consider that the king is right. This could happen in many different ways.
The first way would of course be that the divine magic is nothing but arcane powers in different garb. Lots of fancy robes, mitre and other garb it is. Then the question is why not everyone can wield all kind of magic? Maybe it's just a question of training. I could see interesting campaigns happening when the players find the ancient way to unify all the forces of nature. Eh, magic, I mean.
The second way could be that in the realm of Shynabyth the divine powers are just imaginary, and their powers useless. Is there a anti-magic aura radiating from the king himself? Ars Magica, a game I usually am not that fond of, had this idea about how arcane magic didn't work around people of strong and pure faith. Now, imagine something in the same vein, but opposite in effect. Is it a curse, or a blessing? What would happen should the king meet his end? Would divine power suddenly start working? Would it seep back into the culture?
The third option, just to pick some, could be that all those powers are really psychic powers channelling the inner energies of the caster. Both Tunnels & Trolls and Talislanta have wrought their worlds of fantasy out of that mould. Talislanta is actually the only fantasy rpg that I know of where the very existence of the gods is undefined.
Now, how could you use this in your game? Just imagine an idea out of option two up there! How would you win that war against the theocracy? By extending that aura of non-belief into their lands, of course! Back in the 2nd ed era there was at least one Planescape adventure where the player characters could make a village slide into the abyss by furthering the idea of chaos! I see opportunities like that here.
Let's take a look at King Joto II of Shynabyth. He wages a long and bitter war on a nearby theocracy and don't tolerate any religion in his realm. Quite an odd fellow in the polytheistic realms of common rpg fantasy. Consider that the majority of my readers are from the US, another realm where the refusal to accept the existence of a god probably will forever lock you out of higher office. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in the western world, the US is about as religious as it gets. King Joto would be odd even there.
But, imagine he is right?
No, I'm not going to make this an issue about American culture, but investigate an uncommon twist in fantasy rpgs. Let's for a moment consider that the king is right. This could happen in many different ways.
The first way would of course be that the divine magic is nothing but arcane powers in different garb. Lots of fancy robes, mitre and other garb it is. Then the question is why not everyone can wield all kind of magic? Maybe it's just a question of training. I could see interesting campaigns happening when the players find the ancient way to unify all the forces of nature. Eh, magic, I mean.
The second way could be that in the realm of Shynabyth the divine powers are just imaginary, and their powers useless. Is there a anti-magic aura radiating from the king himself? Ars Magica, a game I usually am not that fond of, had this idea about how arcane magic didn't work around people of strong and pure faith. Now, imagine something in the same vein, but opposite in effect. Is it a curse, or a blessing? What would happen should the king meet his end? Would divine power suddenly start working? Would it seep back into the culture?
The third option, just to pick some, could be that all those powers are really psychic powers channelling the inner energies of the caster. Both Tunnels & Trolls and Talislanta have wrought their worlds of fantasy out of that mould. Talislanta is actually the only fantasy rpg that I know of where the very existence of the gods is undefined.
Now, how could you use this in your game? Just imagine an idea out of option two up there! How would you win that war against the theocracy? By extending that aura of non-belief into their lands, of course! Back in the 2nd ed era there was at least one Planescape adventure where the player characters could make a village slide into the abyss by furthering the idea of chaos! I see opportunities like that here.
Friday, April 1, 2011
[From A to Z in Kalamar] Ablutor - the shimmering one
One thing I like with Kingdoms of Kalamar is that the gods are not the same from all cultures and races. I've always found the idea of a "dwarven pantheon" slightly odd, since why would the gods order themselves after the smaller beings classes and divisions? In KoK, the gods are known by different names and manifestations for each culture, which makes more sense to me.
Another thing is that the campaign set contains mentions of raiments, festivals and how to advance in the church. This is a far step from just a nondescript source of healing spells. Let's take a look at one of these gods for our letter A.
Abluthor, known as "Bendon" among the Brandobians, is the god of moons, night and beauty. While you might wonder why bold adventurers should worship such a silly god, there are great campaign fodder in one of the festivals mentioned in the KoK book. Once every 280 years, the three moons of Tellene line up in the sky and a great festival is held. At this festival, three great magical charms are sacrificed, and then dispersed all over the world again by magic.
How about it's now 278 years since the last time, and your characters are looking for those quests establishing their own immortal legend and place in society as name level heroes? Go hunt for three magical charms in different corners of the world! Thinking of moons, night and beauty I immediately see potential for interesting conflicts with werebeasts (moon), thieves in the night (night) and maybe a new twist on the theme of beauty with traps and dangers that might cause CHA penalties. Quite a hindrance for a cleric of Ablutor, I'd guess? See, NPCs, monsters and traps for a world spanning campaign from just a simple example of a festival!
Another thing is that the campaign set contains mentions of raiments, festivals and how to advance in the church. This is a far step from just a nondescript source of healing spells. Let's take a look at one of these gods for our letter A.
Abluthor, known as "Bendon" among the Brandobians, is the god of moons, night and beauty. While you might wonder why bold adventurers should worship such a silly god, there are great campaign fodder in one of the festivals mentioned in the KoK book. Once every 280 years, the three moons of Tellene line up in the sky and a great festival is held. At this festival, three great magical charms are sacrificed, and then dispersed all over the world again by magic.
How about it's now 278 years since the last time, and your characters are looking for those quests establishing their own immortal legend and place in society as name level heroes? Go hunt for three magical charms in different corners of the world! Thinking of moons, night and beauty I immediately see potential for interesting conflicts with werebeasts (moon), thieves in the night (night) and maybe a new twist on the theme of beauty with traps and dangers that might cause CHA penalties. Quite a hindrance for a cleric of Ablutor, I'd guess? See, NPCs, monsters and traps for a world spanning campaign from just a simple example of a festival!
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