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Old 11-04-2019, 07:41 PM   #41
DouglasCole
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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Originally Posted by b-dog View Post
So all the different gods around the world just have different avatars in this world? Zeus is just another aspect of Odin?
Something like that.

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If this true do the people of the world know this and are they tolerant?
Are people ever?

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Like a world of hippie dungeon delvers? If they don’t know this won’t there be sectarian warfare, ethnic cleansing and genocides by people who worship the same god through different avatars?
Humans being humans, and Dungeon Fantasy worlds being full of violent confrontations as part of the expectations for the genre . . . I'd say warfare, ethnic cleansing, and other atrocities, not to mention the odd dragon, demon, terrasque, and kraken, are all around to make the world as interesting as the GM likes.
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Old 11-04-2019, 09:07 PM   #42
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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Still one of my favorite "this line is for adults" moments in the Wonder Woman animated feature voiced by Keri Russel.

"“You think that’s bad ? Zeus used to seduce mom’s friends by turning into a swan. A swan. True story.”
Zeus even once seduced someone by raining down on them as a golden shower...



... of coins.
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Old 11-04-2019, 09:11 PM   #43
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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That's not to say that it has to be that way for any given campaign; we've deliberately avoided being overly prescriptive so that the book remains useful to a broad range of campaigns both in and out of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG. This is just 'how it is in our lore' for tracking internal consistency with later supplements.
Lo, how the phrase "later supplements" is poetry to mine ears...
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Old 11-05-2019, 07:25 AM   #44
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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So all the different gods around the world just have different avatars in this world? Zeus is just another aspect of Odin? If this true do the people of the world know this and are they tolerant? Like a world of hippie dungeon delvers? If they don’t know this won’t there be sectarian warfare, ethnic cleansing and genocides by people who worship the same god through different avatars?
Given the presence of demon-worshipers, squid cults, psychotic masked assassin death squads (who are actually demon-worshipers), fae, dragons, actual demons, savage humanoids, the occasional elder thing, and all the other literal and actual monsters there are in Nordlond and all of Dungeon Fantasy, I mostly prefer to enjoy my 'hippie religious tolerance' and keep things like 'sectarian warfare, ethnic cleansing, and genocide' out of my fun gaming time.

Your mileage may vary, but by all means start holding your breath now while you wait for 'DFRPG: The Religious Crusades'
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Old 11-05-2019, 07:42 AM   #45
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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Lo, how the phrase "later supplements" is poetry to mine ears...
There are several other cultures hinted at or outright named in the Nordlond background. Inthriki has a history based on Kamakura-era Japan (because there was some wild, wild 'no, really?' stuff during that period), but with a mish-mash of fantasy elements.

Morevel was based on the endless gyrations, expansions, and internal strife of the Greek city-states, and is more or less supposed to be Macedonian in character.

The Neveri clansmen that have been drawing blood and treasure from the Nordlondr southern border for the better part of 200 years are clearly a mix of Mongol, Algar (from the Belgariad), and Dothraki...

And the Cat-Folk Holy Warrior from Hall of Judgment clearly comes from a land that feels a lot like Ancient Egypt.

So there's PLENTY of other stuff out there...if folks are interested.
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Old 11-05-2019, 07:56 AM   #46
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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If I have its changed alot, so thank you. But I was thinking of random word generators for settings where I dont want real world names but do want a pattern.
I agree that most of the randomizers aren't great. In my old GURPS fantasy campaign, running before such things were on the internet, I used to buy old language dictionaries at used bookstores. For each major fantasy race or civilization, I would pick a language (choosing, with not much science, vaguely related languages for cultures that seemed similar). Then I would build lists of names from words in the dictionaries, often noting down the rough meaning (though I was liberal with changing spellings to fit the campaign aesthetic). As I used names, I would cross them off the lists. The prep work wasn't super fast, but it was fun and made for a passable patina of linguistic logic. The players certainly enjoyed it, and it was amusing to know that the grumpy dwarf's name (Esne Garratza) actually meant "sour milk" in Basque. With Google Translate, this goes much more quickly, thought it can be fun to just leaf through a dictionary looking for random words.

I couldn't resist this urge while designing my current DFRPG character: Zafir Abrashi, a cleric focused on spirits. The last name came from some random generator, but his first name means "exhalation" in Arabic. Since spirit comes from Latin spirare (breathe), it seemed fitting.
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Old 11-05-2019, 12:09 PM   #47
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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Originally Posted by Harald387 View Post
Given the presence of demon-worshipers, squid cults, psychotic masked assassin death squads (who are actually demon-worshipers), fae, dragons, actual demons, savage humanoids, the occasional elder thing, and all the other literal and actual monsters there are in Nordlond and all of Dungeon Fantasy, I mostly prefer to enjoy my 'hippie religious tolerance' and keep things like 'sectarian warfare, ethnic cleansing, and genocide' out of my fun gaming time.

Your mileage may vary, but by all means start holding your breath now while you wait for 'DFRPG: The Religious Crusades'
I really don’t mean there needs to be Old Testament Book of Esther style genocides and massacres, I would just like a little realism in the religions. I doubt that a cleric who worships Zeus would think of Odin as being the same god. He may feel an affinity for him though as the cleric of Zeus might consider Odin to be an ally. Or maybe he wouldn’t? The idea I like is there there are factions on the good side just as there are factions on the evil side. This way it helps explain why the forces of good have not completely stamped out evil.

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Old 11-05-2019, 02:46 PM   #48
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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I really don’t mean there needs to be Old Testament Book of Esther style genocides and massacres, I would just like a little realism in the religions. I doubt that a cleric who worships Zeus would think of Odin as being the same god.
It depends what sort of realism you're going for. Historically, it was natural for cultures to map their gods onto the gods of other cultures that they encountered. This was commonplace in the Mediterranean (see Wikipedia), with Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Romans, and others mapping their gods onto each other (and developing new gods, like Serapis). It was even common for gods within the same general cultural region to have different aspects in different communities. If someone wanted to interact with a particular aspect, they would travel to the shrine in a community that emphasized that trait.

This sort of realism combined with the basic idea that the pantheon is universal could create fun elements in play. Perhaps a cleric of the War God in Nordlond needs to travel to a distant country to interact with a different aspect of the War God (to gain knowledge, or a new spell, or a holy artifact, etc.). The god would have a different name there with different statues and rites and whatnot, but the cleric would be fundamentally interacting with the same divinity.

Of course, in a world where the gods walk among mortals, this can get confusing and complicated... and fun! The winter snows never arrive in Nordlond. Priests of the Snow Queen are worried... she's been, er, colder than usual. The PCs are sent (because... omens!) to the distant desert land of the cat people where they must free an avatar of Sekhmet, who may be the equivalent of the Snow Queen. So many excuses to send the PCs to the far corners of the earth!
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Old 11-05-2019, 02:58 PM   #49
DouglasCole
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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Originally Posted by Dalin View Post
It depends what sort of realism you're going for. Historically, it was natural for cultures to map their gods onto the gods of other cultures that they encountered. This was commonplace in the Mediterranean (see Wikipedia), with Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Romans, and others mapping their gods onto each other (and developing new gods, like Serapis). It was even common for gods within the same general cultural region to have different aspects in different communities. If someone wanted to interact with a particular aspect, they would travel to the shrine in a community that emphasized that trait.

This sort of realism combined with the basic idea that the pantheon is universal could create fun elements in play. Perhaps a cleric of the War God in Nordlond needs to travel to a distant country to interact with a different aspect of the War God (to gain knowledge, or a new spell, or a holy artifact, etc.). The god would have a different name there with different statues and rites and whatnot, but the cleric would be fundamentally interacting with the same divinity.

Of course, in a world where the gods walk among mortals, this can get confusing and complicated... and fun! The winter snows never arrive in Nordlond. Priests of the Snow Queen are worried... she's been, er, colder than usual. The PCs are sent (because... omens!) to the distant desert land of the cat people where they must free an avatar of Sekhmet, who may be the equivalent of the Snow Queen. So many excuses to send the PCs to the far corners of the earth!
You get it. This a million times.
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Old 11-05-2019, 03:56 PM   #50
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Default Re: Nordlond Sagas: Three new books for the DFRPG

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Originally Posted by Dalin View Post
It depends what sort of realism you're going for. Historically, it was natural for cultures to map their gods onto the gods of other cultures that they encountered. This was commonplace in the Mediterranean (see Wikipedia), with Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Romans, and others mapping their gods onto each other (and developing new gods, like Serapis). It was even common for gods within the same general cultural region to have different aspects in different communities. If someone wanted to interact with a particular aspect, they would travel to the shrine in a community that emphasized that trait.

This sort of realism combined with the basic idea that the pantheon is universal could create fun elements in play. Perhaps a cleric of the War God in Nordlond needs to travel to a distant country to interact with a different aspect of the War God (to gain knowledge, or a new spell, or a holy artifact, etc.). The god would have a different name there with different statues and rites and whatnot, but the cleric would be fundamentally interacting with the same divinity.

Of course, in a world where the gods walk among mortals, this can get confusing and complicated... and fun! The winter snows never arrive in Nordlond. Priests of the Snow Queen are worried... she's been, er, colder than usual. The PCs are sent (because... omens!) to the distant desert land of the cat people where they must free an avatar of Sekhmet, who may be the equivalent of the Snow Queen. So many excuses to send the PCs to the far corners of the earth!
It states that in Athens they were exclusive to the Greek gods but they incorporated foreign gods into their worship. To me this sounds like the world is filled with tons of gods and people worshipped new gods from foreign lands in addition to the gods they normally worship.

As far as gaming goes, not all of the gods from one pantheon map into other pantheons. So you are stuck there is one god but depending on where this god is worshipped he behaves totally differently. Wouldn't It just be easier to have a lot of different gods in the game world? Odin and Zeus different gods and maybe if the Norse and Greek people are on friendly terms then their clerics can get along but if they are at war then Odin and Zeus are also fighting too so the clerics will be hostile.
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