Topic: Deities in Shadow World

[Terry K. Amthor]

Feel free to share your thoughts on the SW gods, how they interact in your version, and what more or less you would like from the Channelling suppliers of the world.

[Peter R]

As a player we have had a couple of run ins with priests, clerics and gods and I like the two opposing pantheons.

[Voriig Kye]

Almost all campaigns have some Channeling spell user or another. We've used Orhan and local gods as a source for their power. My players get to know some of them since every campaign has one or two playing a major role (mostly through priests). I'd dare say my players could tell you more about the focus of some Charon gods than about the Unlife.

[markc]

For those who do not know about SW Deities and what they do or do not do, can you provide some background info or page # in a book or book's?
MDC

[Hurin]

I like the way they work. The split between the Lords of Orhan and the local gods reminds me of the classic split between the Olympian Pantheon and the local gods in Greece and Rome. So I like it.

I like the idea that there is a generally accepted Pantheon of gods that everyone recognizes, but then also the possibility of lesser local gods that are more mysterious but masters of their own little domain.

[RandalThor]

I like the set up as it is, except I want more examples of local gods. The only one I can recall off the top of my head is the river one in northern Emer. (Keyten River, right? South of Bodlea?) The local gods are one of the things that give SW a different flavor than the average fantasy world and it's world-spanning pantheon(s).

Like I mentioned in another thread, I think they can be used to give the different regions much different flavors from one another and grant some fun role-playing opportunities as the PCs try to navigate them. This can really set Kulthea apart from other settings.

[Terry K. Amthor]

For those who do not know about SW Deities and what they do or do not do, can you provide some background info or page # in a book or book's?
MDC

I guess the most definitive source would be Powers of Light & Darkness, but the major gods are described in the Shadow World Atlases and the Player Guide.

[Destyar]

Feel free to share your thoughts on the SW gods, how they interact in your version, and what more or less you would like from the Channelling suppliers of the world.

I am curious about how the Kuluku are able to channel power from a starship captain...

Thanks,
--Desty

[Witchking20k]

I like the pantheon- but really enjoy the local deity aspect because it allows a GM to customize aspects of SW for their own use while still giving the players material to read for themselves.  Most of the time the players end up creating their own order/religion in my game- usually a sect of worship for one of the pantheon.  Sometimes this becomes a local deity or is used to flesh out different aspects of teh worship of one deity.

[JohnnyR]

I like the way they work. The split between the Lords of Orhan and the local gods reminds me of the classic split between the Olympian Pantheon and the local gods in Greece and Rome. So I like it.

I like the idea that there is a generally accepted Pantheon of gods that everyone recognizes, but then also the possibility of lesser local gods that are more mysterious but masters of their own little domain.

What he said.

[kyussopeth]

I like that the gods are finite. Especially since they didn't create the universe, but are just refugees from some alien reality. Gods with infinite power intervening in mortal affairs, from a purely gamist point of view, creates more headaches than solutions. In my campaign the gods are not able to intervene effectively against the Althans, because they hid their secrets so well (i.e. if you could conceal yourself from Kadaena or Utha then the gods can't find you either)

Local gods are great too. I just wonder where they come from are they spirits from other dimensions or are they a side effect of the essaence? I like the idea of things of great power being worshiped that have no sentience, but still power can be drawn from their veneration, like cults in Call of Cthulhu.

Between local deities, the Lords of Orhan, the Dark Gods, Agoth, & of course the Unlife Kulthea is a theological mess. I like that I could run an entire campaign based on killing a god in SW (say Klysus) and somehow even if the party managed such a feat they would find there are worse things lurking in the dark. Hell it could all be just a plot by Schrek or Ondoval to gain unimaginable power. Imagine the PC's horror at finding out they were serving a greater evil (as Agoth writhes through a rip in space/time created by the death of a god)

[Storm]

I would like to agree with my fellow writers, especially kyussopeth above. And yet I could be made a bit more happy if you could provide more details in adventure modules about the local powers and how they influence the respective society. But actually this is mirrored by my general problem with the division of rules against backgound material - I would love to get way more details about priesthoods of the various cults, their organization, their daily routines and basic principles of belief. For one thing it's cool that these things are rather sketchy in RoleMaster/Shadow World. It leaves great opportunities for GMs. But for myself it's almost killing my campaigns again and again because I'm so busy with real life that creating such details is way too time consuming.

I once made the effort of bringing the details about magic from Shadow World together with the rules from RM2 creating individual spellbooks for each of the three spellcasting characters in my gaming group. This almost took me three weeks of work. Though it was worth the effort it ended with the demise of my adventure because I couldn't find the time to make preparations for the game itself.

So it would be wonderful to have some supplements bringing more details to areas connected to the rules - how are paladin classes represented in Wuliris? Do magicians in Norek study in guilds or do they despise each other? What about magicians in Eidolon? How do the clerical cults of Eisa differ in Jaiman and Emer (not to mention the rest of the world...)? Are Bards in Haalkitaine like rock stars with groups of fans and sponsored by patrons or do they eek out a meager living? RoleMaster is THE set of rules for SW so it should be more thoroughly connected.

[DragonReborn]

Local gods are great too. I just wonder where they come from are they spirits from other dimensions or are they a side effect of the essaence? I like the idea of things of great power being worshiped that have no sentience, but still power can be drawn from their veneration, like cults in Call of Cthulhu.

I also agree with kyussopeth. This spiritual mess that Shadow World is constantly in brings great opportunities for GMs and they are greatly supported by information about "local" gods (I find this a contradictio in se but it brings the point accross). Take for example the spider cult in the Quellbourne campaign. They make a great localized power because they bring everything to the table: worshippers, dungeon, danger and an unknown agenda. Weave all of them together and you have you starting point for the great scheme.

[ellemeno]

I think the Gods as they are are pretty good.  I think it's would be interesting to know more about some of the local gods.  There are probably more of them around than the books (so far) have suggested.  The way the setting is written, it's possible to play both religion-heavy and religion-light campaigns.  Which is good.

We have detail for some of the churches in the 2 major pantheons.  Adding additional ones could be useful.  (Although there are so many things you could add ... that may not be the best use of space.)

[brandivil]

Would it be worth considering an introduction of a 3rd pantheon of 'gods' from the same source/location/type being as the 1st and 2nd who are unaligned to the previous to rock the boat a little and introduce yet more facets of interplay?