POP-001 - The Pantheon of Gods

Welcome back. Tick-tick-tick! The counter is down to 90 days. What do I got? 

A lot more and less than what I need. First, let me do a shout-out to Evlyn Moreau over on Dice.Camp. You can also find her on:

patreon.com/evlynmoreau
https://ko-fi.com/M4M85ZSV
https://evlyn.itch.io

She sent me a collection of jungle-theme images, which will go in POP-001. So I'd better get this thing done. 

One item that stands out in this work is that I must devise a pantheon of gods. Typically, I don't do whole pantheons of gods in my campaigns. I let the players tell me about what gods they know. 

It's easier that way. The alternative is: "Hey... can you fit your character in this tiny box you can see? Perfect!" 

When roughing out a campaign, I will typically have the barest minimum of divine beings. I'll have one God of Light, one of Dark, one in between, and one alternative choice that doesn't fit within these three groups. The last category is for the first NPC cleric or druid the characters encounter and it is a hint that the players can be creative in what they believe. 

When I have a city where a large number of different people reside, there is a Temple Row. I keep the gods non-descript unless someone asks me about them. Invariably, the players will come up with a god that won't fit any of my description and I will have to wing it.  

I personally love this trick. 

As the players search the Temple Row, they will not find a temple to their god but they will have a feeling that they are in the presence of something powerful and familiar. If they continue searching, they will find a place that feels right. An NPC will mention this is "the place of the lost ones" and if the character makes an offering or prayer in this space, they will find a path to their God's temple. For a while, they will be able to interact on a personal level with this space, describing it to me. When they have given me a good idea of what it is like, I let them leave. As they exit, that temple, their temple bends and warps reality until it becomes real. Even if the row, the road, the city, or even the world itself has to get bigger to accommodate it. 

Players often find this experience wonderful. 

An AI rendering of a Moon Goddess

This is a consequence of my trying not to impose my will on the players, nor waste time creating stuff that will never be used. It's cool if the players hop right into my world, but I can't expect this outcome and need to invoke a bit of magic. 

Revenants of the Lost Temple must be different than what I am used to doing. I lead with "its a temple". It must follow that I must have gods here. These creatures will be cameo actors to be sure as the module is created for first to third-level characters. I need them to be unique avatars for a whole culture that vanished. 

I have selected a couple of ideas for them to embody. A goddess of the sea, a god of the land, a goddess of the Moon, and a god of the Earth. That sounds like a good AI photo prompt. 

It's pretty... pretty much not what I wanted. As I flesh these beings out, I will post updates over on my Ko-Fi page. Why don't you follow me there?