EFU Specific Pantheons!

[Ebok]

Faerun Gods are boring and (mostly) one dimensional
It is important to remember that I know a.) big events can be caused by large player support and through in game actions and b.) gods can be made more interesting by creative players.

ON BIG EVENTS
Big events such as divines coming back to life, and new gods rising require a number of things, firstly it requires conflict over the creation of that god. It requires the building of IC power and success over nearly impossible odds. It tests both a players mechanical capacity against deadly PC and NPC challenges. The very creation of this deity must be supported by both the Dms and Pcs in a large enough majority that the sudden ability to have conflict wont have every other available source rushing over to kill you and that idea dead.

ON CREATIVE PLAYERS
Having characters create interesting deities from the deities which exist already is a long and historically necessary process in the creation of any successful cleric. However this MISSES THE POINT. Why should a world that has its own history, that has it's own flavor and life be subject to the faults of FR corporate driven cannon? Why should we suffer Tyrannical Banites, Lying Cryicans, Emo Sharrans, Dutiful Helmites, Beautiful Sunites, and utterly selfless Ilmaterians?

Okay, maybe the sheer volume of gods makes up a bit for their complicity in their one dimensional failures. I honestly find that less rewarding, not more so.

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 CREATE AND BRING TO LIFE AN EFU SPECIFIC PANTHEON
[INDENT]• We have the makings of this already in game, and a small push towards something like this by the DM team could open entirely new plots and conflicts on the server just in inspiration given to the player-base. obvious examples: Hbala, Risen, Unbroken, Dreamer, The Mist

• It doesn't mean destroying the gods of cannon, although I would love that. However, simply by offering boons to faithful of whatever list of divinities is chosen... You make them closer to EFU then the other gods, and create opportunities for them to shine brightly.

• If we do consider doing so, then we should make them variable~ not expressively any one thing, but vague and capable of player definition within bounds set by the gods. Sure this might be possible with an app, but really, to quote DRD this is one of those things that should be TAKEN TO THE MAX >_>;[/INDENT]

I'll wait before posting possible deities until I am berated by everyone that hates this idea.

[ScruffyMcSmirkalot]

Eh, I'm for this.

To be honest, in my limited experience here, I don't think many of the GMs really care for FR Lore all that much. Whenever I approach a campaign and accompanying setting, I usually like to dive into the lore and generate a character from it, but the more lore I tend to bring up from FR, the more the GMs seem to grumble. There's also plenty of players that really don't care for the lore as well.

So, if such is limiting so much, just create new canon and run with it (I'm really surprised this didn't happen after EFU:A, but I digress). There's plenty of deities that people don't like, but grudgingly accept because its canon. Create some new ones, bust out those creative writing skills, and have at it. Just make sure to keep us (and new players) in the loop when you do, that's the only thing that frustrates me to no end.

[OrneryBadger]

Campaign to ressurect Murdane, heard it here first.

[Random_White_Guy]

EFU has done a fair bit of stuff with deities (Moander's return, Amaunator, etc come to mind). That being said I wouldn't mind one or two other powers rising up, but I don't think getting rid of the canon deities/ too many "new" deities would be a good thing.

The Mist is fairly semi-deity in many cases, and I imagine if a cleric had a stellar app could get some powers.

Of course there is always the option of PC's pursuing deity status. A fun and often lucrative long term plot, if you don't die early.

[NikolayM]

Campaign to ressurect Murdane, heard it here first.

Resurrecting Murdane would be so... extreme. Can't you be a bit more pragmatic about this, and just hang up a picture of her instead?

[Nihm]

FR does have too many overlapping gods, but if you look at the cleric alignments there is room for many types of cleric for most of them.  
 
I don't see how giving people less choices will make things better.  Your post sounds more like a generic comment about how people tend to go for the most obvious or generic parts of the dogma for the existing deities.
 
Most FR deities were taken from various real world religions extinct and otherwise.  The religious creed/dogma was then stripped to the bone for quick consumption while heaps upon heaps of too many deities were added.
 
I think deeper dogma would make the difference you seem to want, if I'm getting your post at all.  Killing off the FR pantheon because their bone-dry dogma isn't interesting anymore might be one answer.  But for those who want to play a cleric differently, check where that god actually came from, and do a little research on the actual religion there.  It might add the depth and options you seem to be looking for.

[Lenthis]

Tbh, Not a fan of this. The Dm's give us plenty of lee-way when it comes to making clerics, what we can app for. If you want a new god, work for it.

[Barber]

Campaign to ressurect Murdane, heard it here first.

That just sounds so.... reasonable.

[Urlen]

I made a pantheon myself for a campaign I was going to run with a few friends. It is a mix of 3rd additon faerun dieties, greek mythology, and netherese faiths.

[SkillFocuspwn]

EfU would be millions of times cooler if it got rid of the overbloated pantheon and brought in its own set of Gods, but I think the amount of effort it would force on new players and the level of diversion from classic FR would just be too much to cope with :(

[EfUA_undercover]

I am not entirely sure what your suggestion is.

If it's meant to encourage people to go for odd gods or make up new ones, become one themselves, give new sides to existing gods etc., then I love it.

If it's meant to change something oocly, then I don't like it.

I quite agree that most gods are quite one dimensional, though the pantheon in whole got a lot of different sides. Making up a whole new one is a lot of work and would likely end up in a similar way. In almost every rp-game I played, pantheons worked in a comparable fashion; they were dividing the gods into aspects of good and evil. Which I kinda like as it already gives a base foundation for conflict between churches.

I have seen successful clerics who gave big twists to their dogma and it worked. I could see the same happening with giving them Ymphian twists, like aspects of the mist for example (think Dan even planned to put more deities into the Order pantheon at the beginning). Surely it would be a lot of ig work and conflict as you already said, but I bet the way is worth it.

[Porkolt]

Yes, most gods are one-dimensional.

Of course that makes 50 gods 50-dimensional.

And each god has multiple ways to interpret them.


Borings gods don't make things boring, but boring players do.

[TheMacPanther]

Stigandr!

To those not in the know: http://www.escapefromundeath.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44823