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I'm beginning a new campaign (first time with these rules) that's set in my homebrew world. I've been working and developing this setting since I first conceived it back around 1988 or so, which means that its detail heavy (remember when you first read all those Forgotten Realms articles in Dragon and wondered how Ed Greenwood could come up with all those tiny details for his world? Longevity, boys and girls... that's the secret).
But because my players are a mix of long-timers who've been gaming with me since we were both teenagers and newbies for whom this is their first game, I decided to put together a "player packet" that contains enough information to get them into the world without drowning them in detail.
One of my long-timers suggested that, rather than bombing everyone with the gameworld's rather large and extensive pantheon (three war gods, four nature gods, four death gods, four gods of magic... it makes sense in context) right from the start, I present some detail only on those gods that are likely to be chosen by a player as a patron for a cleric, oracle, monk, or paladin (not to mention the non-divinely powered classes whose player just wants them to have a religion).
Here's the quandry: from my pantheon, which gods do I choose? I mean, some are obvious (Awin, Goddess of Good Fortune; Miwayne, Goddess of Healing and Mercy; Brend, God of Justice and Patron of Paladins; Cownerild, God of War), but... okay, now that I've included those, who else?
Which "divine archetypes" should I also include? A god of magic? A god of nature?
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for the advice.
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I don't see why you can't place all your gods in.
May be the approach should be that you just provided a short 1 sentence description of what the god/goddess is about. Then if a player wants to be a cleric/worshiper of so and so god, you provide them with more info.
(Name), (Alignment), (Portfolio), (Worshipers types)
An Example (Based on yours):
Awin, CN, Goddess of Good Fortune. Worshiped by, traders, merchants, gamblers.
That way they have a wide choice, but can understand who is who at a glance.
Just how I see it.
Good luck in your homebrew!
If you make it three sentences, you can make it stuff like...
Awin, CN, Goddess of Good Fortune. Worshiped by, traders, merchants, gamblers. Awin is often depicted as a lovely woman with elaborate golden braids in different styles each day, dressed in ornate and ostentatious, yet still-tasteful clothing (usually with at least a golden tinge), and is often seen as frivolous, though she can be very shrewd and cunning when need be; her clergy attempt to imitate her style by displaying their wealth on their person at all times, and often carrying around both dice and potential trade goods. She has two widely used holy symbols - a pair of dice, and a set of scales.
That way you get a taste of the church and goddess' supposed personality, but it's not overwhelming the player with too much ancient history. Once your player chooses a deity you could have a slightly more detailed "primer" about them. Or even pair the second sentence down to something like...
Awin, CN, Goddess of Good Fortune. Worshiped by, traders, merchants, gamblers. Awin's clergy generally attempt to imitate her style by displaying their wealth on their person at all times, and often carrying around both dice and potential trade goods or blank documents. She has two widely used holy symbols - a pair of dice, and a set of scales.
That would be even better so as not to overwhelm others with too much description of a goddess they aren't interested in.
Good building!
NOTE: I actually know nothing about Awin, I was just copying Secane's stuff and building on it.
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The full list of the sixty or so deities, their alignments, their portfolios, and their worshippers is already in the packet. I'm talking about those gods who, because of likely player interest, have more detailed information included. Things like this, about followers of the goddess of law, order, and the sun: "Jorenians are taught that the law is the law. The law keeps order in society, and without it civilization would unravel and chaos would reign. Jorene represents the sure function of law, for just as certainly as the sun will rise in the morning, the law can deal fairly with any dispute and any crime."
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The full list of the sixty or so deities, their alignments, their portfolios, and their worshippers is already in the packet. I'm talking about those gods who, because of likely player interest, have more detailed information included. Things like this, about followers of the goddess of law, order, and the sun: "Jorenians are taught that the law is the law. The law keeps order in society, and without it civilization would unravel and chaos would reign. Jorene represents the sure function of law, for just as certainly as the sun will rise in the morning, the law can deal fairly with any dispute and any crime."
Seems to me you need a separate document for your Deities. Sort of a "Gods and Magic" for your Homebrew.
Then after players have pick what deities they maybe interested in they can look up this Deities Doc and go in-dept.
The problem with placing "some" Deities complete info into the packet, over other Deities, means that you are influencing your players decisions.
Its like saying HERE! Pick Brend, cos as you can see he is a more "important" god! He has more details!
"Greater" gods usually gets more info/facts/magic then "lesser" gods and if you selectively give more info on some gods over others...
The full list of the sixty or so deities, their alignments, their portfolios, and their worshippers is already in the packet. I'm talking about those gods who, because of likely player interest, have more detailed information included. Things like this, about followers of the goddess of law, order, and the sun: "Jorenians are taught that the law is the law. The law keeps order in society, and without it civilization would unravel and chaos would reign. Jorene represents the sure function of law, for just as certainly as the sun will rise in the morning, the law can deal fairly with any dispute and any crime."
Seems to me you need a separate document for your Deities. Sort of a "Gods and Magic" for your Homebrew.
Then after players have pick what deities they maybe interested in they can look up this Deities Doc and go in-dept.
The problem with placing "some" Deities complete info into the packet, over other Deities, means that you are influencing your players decisions.
Its like saying HERE! Pick Brend, cos as you can see he is a more "important" god! He has more details!"Greater" gods usually gets more info/facts/magic then "lesser" gods and if you selectively give more info on some gods over others...
Generally, I agree with Secane. However, there are some ways to handle things.
First: when and where is your localized game taking place? Deities that are popular/powerful there.
Second: drop all of the evil-aligned deities, unless you think it's very likely one or two of your players would choose them
Third: get vague character concepts first, then hand a special divine document out.
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All good ideas so far.
The area the campaign is starting in is the "Lost Coast", so-called because once, long ago, it was a prosperous naval trading empire (Idonole, the "Fallen Crown of the Sea") but since the fall of that empire has become a wild, lawless, bandit-and-monster infested place with only isolated spots of "civilization" keeping it from being a true wasteland. At least that's how the "settled" kingdoms view the region.
The players are starting in Kessog, a large coastal city, ruled by Durmain Ironhanded, a ruthless dictator who despite being a tyrant is also a bit popular with the citizens because he's kept the hobgoblins and pirate raiders at bay ever since he forcibly retired the city's last prince.
Its a civilized area, but not necessarily a "genteel" area. Think Africa's Gold Coast during the Pulp Era, but with magic and medieval tech levels and you've got the right place.
It's a bit hard to give sugestions based on a lack of knowing your world. However being ignorant has never stopped me before!
Based on...
The area the campaign is starting in is the "Lost Coast", so-called because once, long ago, it was a prosperous naval trading empire (Idonole, the "Fallen Crown of the Sea") but since the fall of that empire has become a wild, lawless, bandit-and-monster infested place with only isolated spots of "civilization" keeping it from being a true wasteland. At least that's how the "settled" kingdoms view the region.
The players are starting in Kessog, a large coastal city, ruled by Durmain Ironhanded, a ruthless dictator who despite being a tyrant is also a bit popular with the citizens because he's kept the hobgoblins and pirate raiders at bay ever since he forcibly retired the city's last prince.
... I'd say that the following are good portfolio elements to look at:
- cities/civilization
- law
- tyranny (not necessarily evil, think Grecian popular tyrannies)
- justice
- freedom
- hedonism
- piracy
- excess
- water/sailing
- trade/travel
- mercantilism
- monsters (especially hobgoblins, probably worshiped to placate)
- hunting (probably of said monsters, possibly blended with above)
- adventurers (the tyrant himself seems like an adventurer)
- royalty (probably an ancient god who's lost his/her popularity, but is honored by habit - formerly super-powerful, but now just the lip service deity handed down through the generations; possibly used by said tyrant to show his "legitimacy" or something)
- chaos/entropy (representing the loss of stability in the region)
- regret/sorrow
- forgetfulness
- boats/ships/shipyards
- craftsmanship/woodworking
- technology (I don't know what you've got here)
- opportunity
- gold (and/or other currency/local treasure)
- money (see above)
Anyway, those are vague concepts for deity portfolio elements that I get from just reading your basic description of the local area. Since I don't know your deities, I can't give more specific ideas, but I hope these help!
I would detail one from each alignment. I would short list another 9 (one line each, name domains, alignment, favored weapon.) If they inquire about a short list god, you can give more details.
I would detail one from each alignment. I would short list another 9 (one line each, name domains, alignment, favored weapon.) If they inquire about a short list god, you can give more details.
That's a really good idea, too!
It's a bit hard to give sugestions based on a lack of knowing your world. However being ignorant has never stopped me before!
Based on...
The area the campaign is starting in is the "Lost Coast", so-called because once, long ago, it was a prosperous naval trading empire (Idonole, the "Fallen Crown of the Sea") but since the fall of that empire has become a wild, lawless, bandit-and-monster infested place with only isolated spots of "civilization" keeping it from being a true wasteland. At least that's how the "settled" kingdoms view the region.
The players are starting in Kessog, a large coastal city, ruled by Durmain Ironhanded, a ruthless dictator who despite being a tyrant is also a bit popular with the citizens because he's kept the hobgoblins and pirate raiders at bay ever since he forcibly retired the city's last prince.
... I'd say that the following are good portfolio elements to look at:
Anyway, those are vague concepts for deity portfolio elements that I get from just reading your basic...- cities/civilization
- law
- tyranny (not necessarily evil, think Grecian popular tyrannies)
- justice
- freedom
- hedonism
- piracy
- excess
- water/sailing
- trade/travel
- mercantilism
- monsters (especially hobgoblins, probably worshiped to placate)
- hunting (probably of said monsters, possibly blended with above)
- adventurers (the tyrant himself seems like an adventurer)
- royalty (probably an ancient god who's lost his/her popularity, but is honored by habit - formerly super-powerful, but now just the lip service deity handed down through the generations; possibly used by said tyrant to show his "legitimacy" or something)
- chaos/entropy (representing the loss of stability in the region)
- regret/sorrow
- forgetfulness
- boats/ships/shipyards
- craftsmanship/woodworking
- technology (I don't know what you've got here)
- opportunity
- gold (and/or other currency/local treasure)
- money (see above)
Liking this. I don't know if your deities are local or not, but having more information available on more local elements, where the players are from and are familiar with, can also help them grow organically into the setting.
In fact, it might be flavor for a more esoteric PC or an out-of-towner to choose someone different, though the bulk of PCs would likely go with familiarity. The more esoteric choices might be something choosable for their 2nd, etc., characters, though, once they're more familiar with your world.
Everyone has to start somewhere.
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I've found that listing more than say, one god for each playable alignment (so, 6) gets everyone either:
A: Choosing the first one on the list
B: Everyone worships the god that the religious character worships
C: Getting the response: "I don't worship anyone" If you require people to worship a god, see A or B.
I've found that listing more than say, one god for each playable alignment (so, 6)
You don't let your characters be lawful? That's a little harsh, but understandable I guess.
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I've found that listing more than say, one god for each playable alignment (so, 6) gets everyone either:
A: Choosing the first one on the list
B: Everyone worships the god that the religious character worships
C: Getting the response: "I don't worship anyone" If you require people to worship a god, see A or B.
I can honestly say that this problem has never, ever occurred in any of the campaigns I have ever run.