Greater Deities

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by whswhs

The interesting thing about them is that they were partially made out of beings worshipped in Catholicism. So they're sort of celestials converted into ethereals. Conceivably voodoo might legitimately be treated as another ethereal religion with some celestial powers.

I believe, canonically, they are. Along with the Hindu deities and the Dreamtime spirits of Australia, the loa are the only spirits that Heaven tolerates, for certain values of "tolerate". In this case, it means that they probably won't harrass them in the Far Marches, won't kill them if they find them in the Vale of Dreams, and might not kill them if they find them on Earth, if the spirit can provide a good (i.e, Heavenly) reason for being there, and promises to go back as soon as it's done whatever it needs to do.

[zogo]

Originally Posted by whswhs

The interesting thing about them is that they were partially made out of beings worshipped in Catholicism. Conceivably voodoo might legitimately be treated as another ethereal religion with some celestial powers.

Good point for some reason I forgot about the loas when I made my list. Canonically there is an unofficial truce between Heaven and the loas because, it feeds Essence to heaven as well as to the Ethereals it spawned. Hmm Legba definitely goes on the list I'll have to consult my materials about who else to put on.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by zogo

Good point for some reason I forgot about the loas when I made my list. Canonically there is an unofficial truce between Heaven and the loas because, it feeds Essence to heaven as well as to the Ethereals it spawned. Hmm Legba definitely goes on the list I'll have to consult my materials about who else to put on.

Kindly indulge this resurrection of a thread.

I just threw Phaeton at my players and was planning to stat him along the lines of the Cerridwyn in the EPG. Reading this I wonder if that's too low. I also have to stat the chariot and the horses, whose current vessel is a sports car.

I'm definitely having fun with the Loas though.

[Whitelaughter]

The primary powers of the Ethereal god won't be their main source of strength, which will have faded over the years, but what they've built over the last few millennia.
Domain Attunements will be common. Yes, it takes decades to centuries to build a Domain; that means each can have built dozens. The smart way to pay for the Attunement will be with either Jaded/5 or Guilt/5, with the required actions of the Discord related to supporting the god's Image; this can be built into the Attunement ala Odin's One Eye Attunement.

The more powerful gods will actually be protected by some Images being impossible. Want to challenge Odin? Good luck, nailing yourself to a tree as a sacrifice to yourself will get your entire being snuffed out of existence as the similarity to Jesus results in your Forces being sent Up Stairs. If the Taoist Pure Ones exist, they will be similarly protected by their near identical nature to the Christian Trinity. The Hindu Trimurti discussed earlier in the thread would be the perfection of this technique, with the actual worshippers ignoring it but it sitting there as a fatal trap for challengers.

Creative use of Talismans can ensure a steady supply of Dreamshades; a single Lucid Dreaming Talisman set up as a temple/hospice will ensure that every worshipper will be able to anchor themselves to the god's Domain - The Indian, Chinese and Japanese pantheons could have billions of Dreamshades.

As Talismans are most efficiently created in The Marches, they will be comparatively common. Created at the high point of the god's power, they will likely be of a higher level than the god!