Which New Pantheons do you want?

[Evilmarmelade]

Either way, i'd be happy to help. PM sent.

[Neall]

Yessssssss. Do it. I'm even willing to help by translating the rare texts we have in french on this pantheon.

Do you mean the Nemetondevos PDF by Bibliotech Interdite, or other French texts? Either way, toss me a PM.

[Evilmarmelade]

It's certainly an idea. I like the Gauls being a core-ish pantheon as the typical example of a dead pantheon, but we'll see.

Yessssssss. Do it. I'm even willing to help by translating the rare texts we have in french on this pantheon.

[Incendax]

I mean, given that there will be a caveat in the front of the book warning students from using Scion for their myth and religious studies homework.

We both know there will still be countless people who think the information in Scion is an accurate presentation. Back when Scion first got a White Wolf forum, they were overflowing with people who thought that stuff was accurate. :P

[Neall]

I'd go bigger, dedicating a whole supplement to Lost Pantheons (i.e., Pantheons that pretty much have to be fictional because there's not enough there to do something that isn't). Each would have its own in-setting reason why they're rarely seen or even known within the setting. At the very least, I'd put the Gauls and the Arabians in there.

It's certainly an idea. I like the Gauls being a core-ish pantheon as the typical example of a dead pantheon, but we'll see.

[Dataweaver]

You're welcome.

Really, I'm not asking for anything huge. I'm not talking footnotes or anything. Something like:

“There really isn't much left to the Gaulish mythology, except for some fascinating artifacts and some vague references in the words of their conquerors. What follows is something built on those foundations.”

Up to a small sidebar.

I'd go bigger, dedicating a whole supplement to Lost Pantheons (i.e., Pantheons that pretty much have to be fictional because there's not enough there to do something that isn't). Each would have its own in-setting reason why they're rarely seen or even known within the setting. At the very least, I'd put the Gauls and the Arabians in there.

[Astromancer]

It might be good in the Companion or a similar book to explore extreme outliers. A real world example would be the gods of Bali. Bali's religion is a syncretic mixture of Hindu/Buddhist/ and Native Animist tropes. The deties might be allied with the Devas, but very distinct. Wiccan aligned members of the Norse, Irish, Greek, and Egyptian, pantheons would also be interesting. However the main focus would be the odd gods in real pantheons.

[Shadowflame]

...and I'll be waiting to help you all reach those stretch goals...dammit!

*nods firmly*

[Neall]

Considering that White Wolf/Onyx Path have never, not once, been able to provide consistent guidelines to create anything, not even characters

Literally every corebook has character creation rules, Telgar. If you don't think we can do it, wait until the Kickstarter and decide for yourself. Or Gen Con, where we'll be talking about all the pantheons.

I will say that the ten planned pantheons for Hero are core or Companion pantheons from the prior edition, save one new one that was mentioned on the first page of this thread. The other planned ten for God and Demigod have also been mentioned in this thread, and three more have been brought up as part of the stretch goals we've floated as potentials. So...we're on the right track, I suppose.

[Telgar]

Step 1 in building a Pantheon tends to be "do hours or days of research" which is generally not something very helpful to put in a step-by-step guide. Considering that White Wolf/Onyx Path have never, not once, been able to provide consistent guidelines to create anything, not even characters, I have strong doubts they'll come up with a unified system to codify any and all forms of world mythology into a playable Pantheon.

[Purple Snit]

What would be more useful, IMHO, would be a system that gave a set of rules/guidelines for writing up pantheons and Gods on your own. That way, you could create your own version of the Hittites, or the Australians, or the Gauls, or anything else, and know how to make them balanced and consistent in 2nd edition rules. It would be easier to provide this to customers, than to try to decide which pantheons should get "official" write-ups. Not to say that I wouldn't like products with new Gods and Goddesses in them - I just think a "build your own" system would eliminate the wait time, and let you put the work into the pantheons you need for your game.

[Ajax]

I konw it was mentioned only in passing, but making a phoenician pantheon might be a curious thing as their religion might be said to be the definition of potpurri pantheon, the way they adopted, bastardized or mashed any and cultural influences they came across in their travels.

Ehh.... Not moreso than lots and lots of other folks (Romans, Hittites, Han LEAP to mind). The vast majority of polytheistic religions typically weren't really as interested in anything like orthodoxy. Ecumenicism was the general rule.

Which is one of the things that makes setting up a historical pantheon tough. You have to aim for a "core" that never existed in a massive 3D matrix of time and space. Probably 4D with a "cultural interaction" axis. And get a result that is readily recognizable (if the pantheon is one with good modern press) and is, more importantly, FUN!

I ran the Phoenician pantheon the same way I ran the Roman pantheon. They were largely later iterations of earlier influential/root cultures. Phoencian :: Canaanite as Roman :: Greek. So I just tossed Tanit on the end of Astarte's list of alternate names like Jupiter gets tacked on to Zeus. And made sure Tanit-specific attributes got included in her write-up. It's not a perfect solution, but it worked and it kept things a little more streamlined than otherwise. (Esp. since RAW is not sensitive to chronological change or syncretism.)

[Baaldam]

I konw it was mentioned only in passing, but making a phoenician pantheon might be a curious thing as their religion might be said to be the definition of potpurri pantheon, the way they adopted, bastardized or mashed any and cultural influences they came across in their travels.

[Ajax]

You're welcome.

Really, I'm not asking for anything huge. I'm not talking footnotes or anything. Something like:

"There really isn't much left to the Gaulish mythology, except for some fascinating artifacts and some vague references in the words of their conquerors. What follows is something built on those foundations."

Up to a small sidebar.

[Neall]

Evangeline Walton threw in a very short Appendix highlighting the changes she made or when she made things up. It didn't detract from the books at all.

Mm, you know, that topic could make for a few good blog posts. I'll keep it under my hat. Thanks!