Which New Pantheons do you want?

[Ajax]

It's hard to boil the Hopi down into a one sentence pitch.... So I won't try. Here's a fast, dirty and messy pitch -

Unique worldview but some familiar tropes, so easier access than they would otherwise seem. There are definitely some Mesoamerica-esque features - like Pahana, a Quetzalcoatl-like figure ("white" god, went away to east but will come back, thought that he had when the Spaniards showed up, but they TESTED the Spaniard in question so they knew he was NOT Pahana... I bet Monteczuma wishes he'd done that...) - but still very very differen, so it's not retreading old ground. Rich detailed myths with the gods doing lots of cool things (which is something we don't actually have for the Loa... but do for the Orisha): Hahti Wuti - Grandmother Spider, who led people from the last world into this one and made sure they learned what they needed to know in order to live... also patron of the Spider Clan, Masauwu, Lord of Fire and the Dead (the entrance to his underworld is where the 2 rivers meet in the Grand Canyon) with his flaming whips made of braided yucca plants, Pookanghoya and Palongahoya, sort of their version of the Hero Twins from Mayan myths (only not), etc.. Lots of "other beings" to slot in. (Including "witches", "sorcerers" and "wizards", oh my, who all do different things) and the Anasazi get some mileage here as well. Potential cool relics. (I want the bag of magic corn meal!) There's enough there to get a good PSP out of (which can be a very key factor in trying to create a new pantheon.... if you don't know enough about them to have them have a power of their own... they are probably going to be too flat to sustain a lot of stories), probably something to do with the religious aspects of the "Kachina dolls" only done with more understanding and reverence for the issues.

If I were to have to pick an American Southwest tribe to detail out as a pantheon, the Hopi would be my No. 1 choice. Only very slightly edging out the Navajo for that spot. It's a shame to not have all the other very very different groups there detailed as well, but you can't have everything.

[Arlecchino]

Polynesian, personally. Focus on either Hawaiian or Maori, as they're probably the most well-documented. Though for islands thousands of miles apart, their mythologies do have a surprising amount of overlap.

Edit: also, the creation story with Rangi and Papa vs their children really fits the Gods vs. Titans theme.

[Ajax]

Polynesian, personally. Focus on either Hawaiian or Maori, as they're probably the most well-documented. Though for islands thousands of miles apart, their mythologies do have a surprising amount of overlap.

Edit: also, the creation story with Rangi and Papa vs their children really fits the Gods vs. Titans theme.

Less so than, say, the Irish and Welsh and merging those two would make people scream.

Papa (Hawaiian) and Papa/Papatanaku (Maori) are very similar, as are Rangi (Hawaiian) and Rangi/Ranginui (Maori), but, to the Maori, they are VERY Titan-like, probably including their oldest son Tawhirimatea as well, to the Hawaiians, they definitely give off a "divine ruler couple progenitor" gods vibe (with a friendly Titan in Kane)

Personally, I'd go with the Maori because of the absolutely awesome and fitting-for-the-game story about Ranginiu & Papatanaku, Tawhirirmatea, Tumatauegna, Tangaroa, Haumiatiketike, Tane & Rongo. It's lacking in a few goddesses, but with JUST those guys, you almost have enough material for divine parentage right there.

[DShomshak]

I think Mesopotamian is the game's biggest gap. It's an important culture; and it's well-documented, with lots of vivid personalities and stories, making it easy to adapt.

Dean Shomshak

[Shadowflame]

*nods*
Sumer, like Egypt, went through several periods that saw some changes.
I for one would like to see how such changes are made to fit in with today's timeframe. After all humanity has changed over the millennia. It seems fitting that the gods would too.

[Ajax]

I think Mesopotamian is the game's biggest gap. It's an important culture; and it's well-documented, with lots of vivid personalities and stories, making it easy to adapt.

Dean Shomshak

I agree. It's all of those things and the material is MUCH more accessible than many other pantheons out there. It may not be as widely known as the Greek and Norse, but it's definitely on par with, say, the Irish. And, probably overall, more well known than, say, the Aztec. (The Aztec, however, have high a shock value and people have some idea about the Aztec people, so they are a good choice for the level of interest they can generate as opposed to general knowledge.)

Having said that, though, there are a lot of cool pantheons out there, like the Yazata, which aren't part of the zeitgeist. I think there needs to be a balance between a culture to culture "popularity contest" vs. accessing the more obscure, but very cool, stuff that is lurking out there. A nice mix (slanted to the popular) would be fantastic.

[The Revenge of TV Head]

What I really want, is guidelines for homebrewing Pantheons. Because there's no way they can fit every Pantheon on the world into one book, or even a dozen books. Empowering their fanbase into filling in the gaps just seems like it'd appeal to me.

[Nyrufa]

Would Buddhism / Hindu be interesting? You could have Scions walking around with like 6 to 12 arms. Might be a little bit risque because it's a modern day religion, but if they can get away with the Loa, I don't think it would be too complicated.


Also, if we're going by real world mythology, I'd like to pose the concept of Cthulhu and friends. Yes, there are actual cults dedicated to worshiping them, so the idea has merit!



Buddhist / Hindu Scion in Action


On an additional note, I would also like to see an "independent pantheon" at some point. Gods and goddesses who operate on their own, such as the Lord of the Harvest and so on. I think a monotheism faction could be an effective means of independent Scions.

[Telgar]

What I really want, is guidelines for homebrewing Pantheons. Because there's no way they can fit every Pantheon on the world into one book, or even a dozen books. Empowering their fanbase into filling in the gaps just seems like it'd appeal to me.

The problem there is that the guidelines would be something like "Do hours of research on the subject, attempt to create a PSP based on the central philosophy of the culture, balancing it against dozens of other powers that we're not very good at balancing ourselves, then write up short descriptions of the major deities. Drink heavily."

It's equally impossible to nail down a system that can flexibly represent every mythology in history, and WW/OP has never successfully written rules for designing anything mechanical and then been able to stick to those rules, even in their own material that comes out in the same book as those rules.

[Nyrufa]

The problem there is that the guidelines would be something like "Do hours of research on the subject, attempt to create a PSP based on the central philosophy of the culture, balancing it against dozens of other powers that we're not very good at balancing ourselves, then write up short descriptions of the major deities. Drink heavily."

It's equally impossible to nail down a system that can flexibly represent every mythology in history, and WW/OP has never successfully written rules for designing anything mechanical and then been able to stick to those rules, even in their own material that comes out in the same book as those rules.

Well to cut hours and hours of research out of the work

Here's the Cthulhu mythos explained

[TheGraySoul]

Would Buddhism / Hindu be interesting?

Isn't the Hindu Pantheon already in the game? That's the Devas from the Companion right?

[DeadGuy]

I remember some Talk back at,Jhons Scion Resources, about a Tibetan Pantheon , i really would like see more about that. Roman,Mayan and Mesopotamian Pantheons would also be Cool.

[Shadowflame]

Since belief doesn't make a deity, and mankind is over a million years old...BUT we have only representations of pantheons that only go so far back.

You could shoot in the dark, blindfolded and come up with your own pantheon that could ostensibly be spot on and thousands of years older.

[Neall]

First, I’d like to see the Voodoo Pantheon replaced by one or two of the West African Pantheons from which Voodoo is derived, under the premise that Voodoo is a human-founded religion based on said West African Pantheons.

I'm just going to go ahead and confirm that we're really looking to integrate Yoruba and the Loa in 2e as a prime example of a how a pantheon reacts to socio-political changes in the World (the Diaspora) and what an "old guard" versus a "new guard" looks like within a pantheon (and how a new guard tends to interact more with Scions or Gods from other pantheons).

Also, by extension, 2e's "core" pantheons are commentary on how pantheons function in the World, providing GMs with guidelines on how to create their own.

I’d like to get Gaulish...Pantheons; but given the lack of solid information on these, they’d end up qualifying as fictional Pantheons and thus outside the scope of this thread.

Personally? I'd love to do a Gaulish pantheon as a prime example of a "dead" or destroyed pantheon as a potential Kickstarter goal or further PDF/POD book down the line. They got completely annihilated by a militant Scion of Venus. What strange strands does Fate weave for the dead...? When you walk in the footsteps of dead gods, do they then walk like you?

[Shadowflame]

Personally? I'd love to do a Gaulish pantheon as a prime example of a "dead" or destroyed pantheon as a potential Kickstarter goal or further PDF/POD book down the line. They got completely annihilated by a militant Scion of Venus. What strange strands does Fate weave for the dead...? When you walk in the footsteps of dead gods, do they then walk like you?

Bring it! Take my money please!