Canonfire!

Wed Dec 17, 2008 4:03 am GH top 10 gods!

okl , its not like that.

i have a player who wanna know 10 "most know" gods, as his character whant to "put their names in normal conversation" (dont know how to write it..something like "you cant charge that much, by pholtus light!" or something)

what do you think would be the top 10 most know gods (hes character is oeridian, if that matter) for that charatcer?

Wed Dec 17, 2008 7:05 am

Hmm I have always felt that while NPC's (and PC's for that matter) might have one deity they follow they would give a quick prayer to another deity when they were going into that deity's element or being subject to their control.

Beory is the deity for farmers. They want good weather for their crops. The want enough rain but not too much, some good sun but not too much etc.. Since every things pretty much based on an agrarian economy farming is the most important lynch pin societies are based on.

Istsus: fate and there will be a few times in anyone's life they would like their fate changed. Not worshiped by everyone all the time but everyone has wished for a change of fate once or twice.

Pelor: because every ones been afraid of the dark a few times so what do you do? Pray for light.

Ehlonna: if you gotta go in the woods you will offer a quick prayer you make it out. Every forest has a few boogey men rumored to dwell inside it. "please please don't let me run into something that makes me squeal like a pig" (from the movie deliverance :) ).

Fharlanghn: anyone that steps on a road will pray for a safe journey and that they make it back home.

Procan: anyone getting on a ship or traveling down a river would offer a prayer to this deity. Since river travel is often preferable to using roads this deity probably gets a fair amount of attention.

Olidammara: the party diety... revels, booze, music... nuf said.

St. Cuthbert: common sense, honesty... everyone would pray for some of that time to time.

Norebo: luck, gambling, risks? Name someone who walks into a gambling establishment or who plays cards or plays dice that doesn't pray to him. Anyone getting involved in any game of chance would be thinking of this deity (and since they probably play dice in about every tavern...)

Zilchus: money, power, influence, business, prestige, who hasn't wanted this? I am sure many folks are at least passingly familiar with this deity. Smile

Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:48 am

Well JohnJohn definately hite the list for the Sheldomar Valley at least Happy

Photlus might replace Pelor in places where he is more associated with light than Pelor. But that seems to me to be the only substitution of note.

Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:57 am

I can't really say as far as total popularity but going by the religion info in the LGG, as far as how widely (i.e. in how many nations they are worshipped, which is the number listed after each) they are -

Norebo 21
Zilchus 18
Fharlanghn 17
St. Cuthbert 15
Beory 14
Pelor 14
Xerbo 14
Geshtai 10
Heironeous 12
Telchur 11

YMMV.

EDIT: Geshtai seems to be the only real surprise, at least to me. The only reason that Telchur ranks higher than the rest of the Velaeri is that he is worshiped in 2 places that his siblings are not, so most of the other nations people would probably swear by the Velaeri, not just by Telchur. Most of those places they'd probably not mention Telchur at all. Smile

Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:32 am

Hextor and Heironeous. No Oeridian worth his salt would refrain from comparing people and events in his life to the tales of Hextor and Heironeous. They're Greyhawk's "Goofus and Gallant", for cryin' out loud.

Iuz. In the past few decades, spitting upon the Old One has become the favorite greeting and farewell on the Flanaess. Not only will they say that the spit on him, many folks will actually spit on the ground.

Zilchus is another god that would easily come to mind for the adventuring Oeridian. "Zilchus be Praised!" is typically heard when that chest full of goodies is opened deep in the slain sorcerer's dungeons.

Only Boccob knows what is down there, lads, and he isn't sharing what that knowledge with anyone.

"We've fought dragons and orcs and gelatinous cubes and every other spawn of Incabulos, kid."

Kurrell: Traditionally invoked when the young street beggar steals your purse, the half-orc is found in bed with your girlfriend, and when the rest of the party decides to give the Rod of Lordly Might to the cleric instead of you. If it's wrong and it happened to you, there's a good chance that it's the whim of Kurrell acting against you.

Maybe Celestian and Fharlagn would get a shout-out on occassion. Procan if you're at the water's edge or on a boat. Beory if you're looking for fair weather, though Atroa fits that role as well.

The character's birthplace wasn't mentioned, but his Oeridian heritage was, so I'm guessing he's not hanging out in Tusmit or up around the Corusks. With that in mind, he'd probably not think of using Baklunish or Suel gods in his everyday string of vulgarities. As a semi-pious individual (and blue bolts from heaven typically remove or rehabilitate atheists in Oerth), he would probably avoid using the names of most the greater gods in vain, and mentioning Nerull's name at all is probably considered a bad idea.

Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:54 am

Hmm, this would be a tough list to generate for the pure fact that each region would have a Top 10 list.

-O
_________________
Prince Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Castles and Crusades Society

Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:00 pm

Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:45 am

The list of gods in the WoG guide are the primary gods worshipped in the Flanaess, gods culled from the old Oeridian, Suel, Baklunish, and Flan pantheons with some new ones added, the pantheon of the Flanaess if you will. The gods with the profiles written are amongst the most popular and active, so I would think these would work best for what your player is looking for.

Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:35 am

For my two cents: I think John John hit it right on the head in his post:

Most people in the Flaness are of mixed origins, so the Greater Gods would be the ones most likely to be known/called upon/named in oaths/ prayed to, etc.

Most of the "Lesser" and "Intermediate" gods are mostly regional/national/occupational faiths....i.e. Astronomers and astrologists are likely to have more regard for Celestian, no matter where they live and St. Cuthbert is strongest in the Western-Central nations (Furyondy, Dyvers, Verbobonc, etc.)

Also, other than perhaps the Great Kingdom, Nyrond and its surrounding areas; there are few 100% Oeridians anywhere in the Flaness...This Ethnic group, more than any other, is likely to be found all over the continent due to thier conquering nature. So thier influence is felt all over by the nations they founded...but on the other hand, they also married in with those they conquered, so they would be the least "pure" (a word I HATE when descrbing people of different ethnic groups by the way) of the human ethnic groups.

Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:13 pm

"By the mustaches of St Cuthbert!" is a swearword I like to use.

Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:18 am Gran March

As an example of Regionalism, try this

http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=926&mode=thread&order=0&thold=-1

and

http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=926&mode=thread&order=0&thold=-1

Firepower wrote these for Gran March... and so for my game this is the list of relevent gods. Players who want to go outside of this had better have a strong backstory.

Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:26 pm

Alright, with out reading any one else's post, here's my ten most well-known WoG deities (in no particular order):
Pholtus
Beory
Pelor
Heironeous
Hextor
the Old One (Iuz, never mentioned by name)
Boccob
Moradin
Corellon Larethian
Nerull

There you go.
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Greyhawk is dead; long live Greyahwk! It is not heresy; I will not recant!

Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:29 pm

Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:42 am

I do not think there are ten that would be on a universal Flanaess list. The ones I would think that would be openly ackowleged across the Flanaess in day to day lives are:
Beory
Pelor
Berei (The hearth has always been of great importance in many cultures)

Gods that would be universally acknowledge but perhaps only followed at a distance by the general populace. There would be times when one would actively worship, but in general they are background/foundation deities as they make up the tapestry about which life exists. In a way, one is eternity and the other connects the grand design:
Lendor
Istus

God that would be universally acknowledged by the general populace but only for his infamy or inevitability:
Nerull (Death comes to all, does it not?)

After the Greyhawk Wars there would have been a rise in acknowledgement of these deities:
Heironeous
Hextor
Iuz
Saint Cuthbert
Trithereon (I am sure there would be growing underground movements in lands subjugated by Iuz and the Scarlet Brotherhood)

Gods acknowledged by all who dare venture to sea:
Procan
Xerbo

Note that acknowledgement does not mean active worship, it means that these all are generally aware of these deities and their impact on the Flanaess.

Some of these would be dependent upon the education level of a population (in particular Lendor and Istus).
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Count Telemachus, Archmage of the Unicorn Conferderation

Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:03 pm

Good point about Nerull. Hardly anyone worships him but everybody knows him and he is probably in the front of alot of people's minds.

Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:57 am

Same with Incabulos. I dare say that a lot of bad things that happen to the common folk get blamed on the Dark Rider.

Rot in the crops? Plague in the town? Livestock falling sick or dieing? People coincidentally having nightmares at the same time? Ill weather?

The Dark Rider surely must have passed by on one of his nightly rides. Shocked

Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:19 am

I can see Nerull having a similar following to Hades among the greek: If there are any rituals that Nerull demands, then everyone would follow them. They might include: Eyes must be closed (not allowed to look on Nerull unless commanded to), if there is a particular item associated with his chief minions, that would be placed in the mouth of the body (wafer, coin, etc), and other such things. I don't remember if Nerull has any of those, but it bears mentioning.