Contributor
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So let's say you buy a book. A book with hard covers. A book with hard covers filled with awesome about a fantasy world.
And in that book, let's say there's a section about time, the calendar, and holy days. And in that section, let's say there's a list of the months of this fantasy world, and in each month are listed things like dates that different fantasy nations celebrate their independence from other fantasy nations and the holy days of the fantasy deities.
Let's say you wanted to see some other kinds of days marked on this fantasy calendar... what other kinds of days would you want to see?
Ninja Appreciation Day!
Celestial conjunctions (assuming they aren't already holy). Arcane events/celebrations. Planar conjunctions. Birthdates of major NPCs.
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Astronomical/astrological dates of interest--solstices, equinoxes, that sort of thing.
Mana flux highs and lows--best day to raise a dead guy; best day to charm somebody.
When the Martian planet is waxing, so as I could figure out what's the best day to teleport there.
Day Hunab Ku begins--that sorta thing.
So let's say you buy a book. A book with hard covers. A book with hard covers filled with awesome about a fantasy world.
And in that book, let's say there's a section about time, the calendar, and holy days. And in that section, let's say there's a list of the months of this fantasy world, and in each month are listed things like dates that different fantasy nations celebrate their independence from other fantasy nations and the holy days of the fantasy deities.
Let's say you wanted to see some other kinds of days marked on this fantasy calendar... what other kinds of days would you want to see?
Okay, here goes...
- Any High Holy Days (I heard what you said, but I'm drawing from old Runequest, where cults not only had routine holy days but high holy days and I want to make sure you have that differentiated and covered).
- Especially any Religious Annual Events (Birthday for the original Mothers of Oblivion for example, or the day Iomedae emerged from the Starstone
- Institutional Days that are noteworthy, such as public holidays, or the annual start of classes at Acadamae
- Historial anniverseries, like peace treaties, formations of new governments, dates that wars are declared, to special events (like the Worldwound first reported as being torn open)
Date that the Cult of Asmodeus claims that the Apocalypse Engine is bound, and the World is saved.
Important trade and business days.
I know that sounds kind of boring, but for example- a semi-regular day in which there is a moriatorium on fighting to allow some neutral trade to occur.
The start of a holiday season where trade might be impacted positively or negatively.
Days or months that the Eternal Hurricane left in the wake of Aroden (sorry I don't have my Gazetteer with me at work) might wax or wane.
Dates that hidden Gates to the First World (like in the Sanos Woods) are highly energized!
Moon phases, assuming we have a moon (I may have missed this).
How about:
*Important Historical Figure days - liberators, patriots, specific leader or hero, etc
*A Holy Week - comemoration of an entire event from start to finish. (perhaps something akin to Hannukah; Twelve Days of Christmas, etc)
*A race or sporting festival - Something akin to a boating race; or Olympiad type event
*A day of the dead/ancestor worship - Could be used for evil societies or good ones - depending on how its enterpreted.
Just throwing some stuff out there; apologies for overlap.
Festival days and durations of such events (some festivals would last weeks).
A bit of *crunch* dates where some types of magics are easier or harder possibily if one knows the proper way to exploit that opportunity. Nothing to strong but falvorful-crunch always goes well with fluff.
Edit: I came in late with the festival-thing!
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*nods*
Celebration days based on the season. Modern culture doesn't really do it, but ancient cultures.. yeah.
Holy/Unholy days for various gods. (Eventually like to see evil anointment rituals or something done for special members like what's in the Forgotten Realms Faiths & Pantheons supplements. I really liked combining the two concepts.)
Oh! Current Monarch birthdays.
Non-denominational "holi"days - things like Arbor Day, Labor Day (perhaps just a bit more fantasy oriented). Days of good or ill fortune.
Astronomical info *if* consistent year to year.
How about the most dreaded event known to any intelligent race that deals with currency?
Tax Day.
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I'd like to see days commemorating war heroes, civil leaders, famous battles, etc. I like the idea of frivolous holidays, excuses to dress up in costumes, drink and be merry. Raymond Feist (Riftwars)had a cool idea where everyone in the kingdom, king or peasant, celebrated their birthday on the same day each year. Also, maybe a day of the dead too.
High Holy/Unholy days.
Particular festivals for Blue Moons/Double-New-Moons.
Regional Festivals.
Armistice Day(s).
Edit: Callous Jack just mentioned a Day of the Dead. Yes, please. I want to use the Totentanz Gate again.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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For my money, the calendars of most fantasy backgrounds are too regular, predictable, and orderly. Take a look at the real-world calendar. When is Easter, the major holy day of a major religion? The first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. And two major sects of the religion disagree about what's considered the instantaneous "full moon".
See? It's messy. Judaic commemorations are based on a lunar calendar, but most American and European secular holidays are set on days of the week and months of the Solar year.
Holidays get moved around the calendar, or get repurposed over the centuries . Minor holidays become important , and vice versa.
Major holidays of subterranean races ought to be based on lunar motion, or else on other phenomenae that are detectable underground.
Who commemorates Aroden's passing, and how (celebrations? memorials?), and when?
Celestial and Planar conjunctions are a must - great for planning the *big* events of your campaign around.
Fun Holidays - doesn't matter what the celebration is for, but it's always good to have the fun, lighthearted days in there too. They can be used a la Logue, or as a break and change of pace for the hard working PCs.
Important People's Birthdays - like kings, queens, heroes etc. It never fails to inspire the PCs when they work it out;
"Hang on, we could like, have a festival named after us?!?! They do that sort of thing around here? What are we waiting for - let's save this chick and murder this dragon! w00t!"
It helps if some of those people are still alive too.
Peace,
tfad
Labor Day.
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Someone might have mentioned it, but the anniversary of Aroden's death.
Also, a day of the dead would be very cool, especially if there was some crunch behind it - such as a common ritual that anyone could perform would act as a speak with dead spell, or that ghosts typically manifest for the first time after their death on that day.
A holy day to a Goddess of death and magic... "Happy Magic Death Day" everyone!!!
Speaking of religious days, an especial focus on trickster holidays would be helpful, as it's often difficult for DMs to get a handle on CN deities and their rituals, if there even are such.
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I'm not sure if the planar cosmology has been mapped out, but I could be cool to imagine certain planes being 'closer' to the material plane on certain days of the year. Days where dormant areas flare to life as the 'doors match up' - so to speak.
- Lunar cycles. And link it to a god please. It's weird to have a sun got but no moon god.
- Some sort of Shoanti manhood day. Not necessarily just for men, but a right of passage day, or a day to accept new applicants to the tribe.
- A fertility day. Some sort of day sacred to Erastil or Sheyln that's a great time to expand the family. It's also a world-wide holiday for prostitutes ;)
- A bard's day. The Ozfest of Golarion. Giant festivals and musical competitions for cultures that enjoy that sort of thing.
- A list of racial benchmarks. Not yearly holidays per se, but important milestones that represent the passage of time. A 12-month calendar might be utilized differently by the extremely long-lived or non-agrarian cave dwellers.
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So let's say you buy a book. A book with hard covers. A book with hard covers filled with awesome about a fantasy world.
And in that book, let's say there's a section about time, the calendar, and holy days. And in that section, let's say there's a list of the months of this fantasy world, and in each month are listed things like dates that different fantasy nations celebrate their independence from other fantasy nations and the holy days of the fantasy deities.
Let's say you wanted to see some other kinds of days marked on this fantasy calendar... what other kinds of days would you want to see?
Solstices and equinoxes; major annual gatherings/festivals/moots (such as the Swallowtail Festival in Sandpoint); dates when roads, bridges, fords, or passes become passable or impassable due to weather; any annual event in creature ecology, such as Copper Dragon Molting Season <tm>.
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To steal an idea from people much more clever than I: a hero's day celebrating the defeat of a great evil or saving of the world. Something similar to what took place at the beginning of 'Savage Tide' campaign - a celebration of the heroes who had defeated Kyuss from the 'Age of Worms' campaign. I thought it was really nice touch.
Imagine the possibilities:
Runebreaker's Day (Based on RoRL)
Free Korvosa Day (Based on Crimson Throne)
Lightbringer's Day (for Second Darkness)
Of course, it would be a pain updating the calendar every six months, especially after the 10th campaign arc...
A bard's day. The Ozfest of Golarion. Giant festivals and musical competitions for cultures that enjoy that sort of thing.
That is an awesome idea!
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There are TOO many of these I agree with. However my only comment about the various "Hero Days" is that would be totally up to the individual group, something that DM would need to take note of and remember.
Anyways, here are my inputs:
* Moon Cycles and religious events attached too (i.e. Druid's-I play all my Druid's and worshippers of Nature, never liked the Diety bound Druid)
* Festivals for the various Kingdoms/Towns/Provinces etc. I realize this would be a lot of information on a Calender so it might actually be easier to just place a "mini" Calender in the particular areas entry.
* Religious Holydays (Good, Neutral and Bad)
* Wars! Wins and Losses (should be added like the Festivals, described above)
* Peace Treaties with various other races or "First Contacts". Some of the longer lived races might actually remember these dates.
* Special events for the Non-Human Playable races.
* Shoanti Manhood Day or test beginning (This was a couple posts up and was an AWESOME idea)
* Bard day! (The beauty of this is it could be at a random location everytime! After all Bards wonder spreading Myrth or Gloom, I think their celebration should reflect that part.)
* When the Pathfinder AP's start.
* Cataclysm size events
* Acadamae class dates and other schools, expecially those tied to an actual Class or PrC
(Thats all I can think right now...time for work)
Major market days- not so much for the cities but for the rural areas. It would be neat to know when the cattle buyers are meeting, when the wool festival is, or when the smiths' camp is arriving.
Ranger moots, when the rangers who remember 2nd edition have a frontier style meeting in the wilderness.
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Ranger moots, when the rangers who remember 2nd edition have a frontier style meeting in the wilderness.
<old ranger voice> Rangers these days don't know how easy they have it! Back in my day we'd have to gather in these big annual Ranger Moots! I'd tie an onion to my belt, it was the style in those days....You kids get offa my wilderness!
cake day, very important that you include delicious cake day
The cake day is a lie...
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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<old ranger voice> Rangers these days don't know how easy they have it! Back in my day we'd have to gather in these big annual Ranger Moots! I'd tie an onion to my belt, it was the style in those days....You kids get offa my wilderness!
Whazzat?
<cough cough>
Sonny, back in my day, rangers weren't allowed to gather in groups more'n three. Them ranger moots was me, my brother, and some half-elf idgit we met in a tavern some years afore.
On topic, I'd like to see some holidays that don't make sense anymore. Like, in one town, around May, people celebrate fish. (some centuries ago, the Fishmongers' Guild had been a dominant social force, and got a holiday on the books. The guild is much muted these days, and the reasons for the holiday are forgotten. ... but not by the Sahuagin!
An agricultural almanac. When different crops and trees are in bloom. Seasons and other descriptive details. Migration times.
Quirky stuff that comes up in the course of writing fluff for other products. Have a blank calendar up in your offices that anyone can write on, then take the best ideas. That will come up with stuff that a small team may overlook.
Strange annual events that are like mini adventures. A ghost on the anniversary of her death. The day the village gives the seven young to asmodeus for the continuation of the pact. The anniversary of a orc victory, which brings raiders down from the plateau to count coup.
Prophecies that are no longer valid, in the wake of Aroden's death, but which have their cults and believers.
Pilgrimage dates.
Times when the walls of reality are more like curtains, and the things that gnaw can whisper to the sensitive.
Ritual hunts for Norgorber.
A valentine's day, devoted to Shelyn.
A day when it is good luck to kiss a Dwarf.
The day when the statues in Korvosa sing.
The day when people clean the tombs of their dead ancestors.
A boat race that commemorates the Azlanti.
The four days when wizards test possible apprentices for talent.
The day that Aroden died.
A day when the worshippers of good gods are expected to pray to the evil ones, to placate them.
Days when it is possible to see the fey in the woods, with all the dark European risks that entails.
The times when Dragons come to trade, under the protection of Abadar.
The specific date of the year on which, every 100 years, Baba Yaga returns to swap out daughters as ruler in (whatever that country was).
The specific date of the year on which, every 100 years, Baba Yaga returns to swap out daughters as ruler in (whatever that country was).
Irrisen.
Taliesin Hoyle, that list is so cool!
Not bad. I concur.
A day when it is good luck to kiss a Dwarf.
You mean it isn't good luck everyday? Then why am I so damn lucky?
tfad
Not sure if it was already mentioned, but having the lunar cycle on the calendar would help.
For some reason its always nice to be able to tell your PC's where and how full the moon(s) is. Also useful for how bright it is at night when in the wilderness.