This was a really interesting deity to work on, in part because there were multiple sources of information to draw upon. For one thing, Fionnghuala (pronounced Finella), is just about the only deity in Monster Mythology drawn from real-world mythology (Titania and Oberon are literary creations, perhaps based on mythological characters, but not in and of themselves from mythology). I slipped in some other literary mythology as well that seemed fitting. I also decided it made sense to allow half-elves to become swanmays in addition to humans, and I modeled a lot of the game stats on Mielikki.
Fionnghuala the Mistress of Swans
April 26, 2011
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Deities | Tagged: Celtic Gods, Irish Gods, Seelie Court, Sylvan Gods, Wandering Powers | 
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Posted by AuldDragon
Adding More Deities to My Project
April 21, 2011I was looking through The Night Below for information on Juiblex, I remembered that The Blood Queen and Ilxendren were included in Monster Mythology format, so I’m thinking I’ll add them to my project.
Other possible additions I could make, although none have:
Krocaa (aarakocra, Dragon #124)
Anguileusis (anguilians, Sea of Blood)
Klikral (insectare, Spelljammer)
Dakarnok (kobold, Dragon #63)
Tapann (korred, can’t recall the dragon mag number)
Refnara (gnoll, Dungeon #48 IIRC)
There’s also the Neogi pantheon, the expanded Dragon pantheon, the archomental cults, and the centaur pantheon, but I think I may save them for individual blocks.
Thoughts?
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Posted by AuldDragon
Yeenoghu the Demon Prince of Gnolls
April 19, 2011Gnolls have always been one of my favorite races, so it was very interesting to work on Yeenoghu, although I’m a bigger fan of Gorellik. I drew upon a lot of sources for this, including Dragon #63, so I’ve updated the Shoosuva to 2nd Edition. I’ll have to make a Monstrous Compendium sheet for it at some point.
3 Comments | Deities | Tagged: Abyssal Lords, Giant-Interloper Gods, Gnoll gods, Gods of Undeath, Powers of the Abyss | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon
Tiamat the Chromatic Dragon
April 10, 2011This was an interesting project, considering that Tiamat is included in the FR Powers & Pantheons book. However, as that was specifically to the FR/Unther Human version rather than the generic/multisphere Draconic version, it wasn’t possible to do a straight cut and paste. Also, this features my version of draconic specialty priests, which I think work a LOT better than the version in Cult of the Dragon. Also, watch for me slip in some hints at what I’m going to do with my revised real-world pantheons. :D
7 Comments | Deities | Tagged: Draconic Gods, Gods of Domination, Powers of Baator | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon
Second Edition Race Spreadsheet
April 10, 2011Another long-term project that’s been backburnered is a spreadsheet of AD&D Second Edition races, both PC and NPC. The goal is get full details on every race that has the capability of taking a class, even if it is rather odd, like dolphins. Since OD&D and 1st Ed are basically the same as 2nd ed., if I found relevant information in them, I added them in. Also, I’ve been planning to add in appropriate information from 3e if it is relevant (height, weight, etc.), but I haven’t gotten around to it. Anyway, one day I’ll get back to this.
Race Database (Excel 2007 Format)
If you know of any missing information, please let me know.
8 Comments | Races, Spreadsheets | Tagged: Spreadsheets | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon
Quick note to myself
April 4, 2011Just so I don’t forget, the font used for headers in the Faiths & Avatars line was Galahad.
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Jazirian the Eternal Serpent
April 3, 2011Update Feb. 1, 2017: I’ve made a revision of the Jazirian entry to include a humanoid shaman class and clergy details, as well as some unique spells for both couatl and shamans.
This entry is a little different. Jazirian has no priesthood, so there is no specialty priest information; I also decided (s)he wouldn’t be the time to grant spells to non-couatl followers, either. However, I took the opportunity to write up some additional cultural details on couatl. Hopefully it will prove interesting. I’ll probably treat Shekinester, Parrafaire, and Stillsong the same way. Also, I suppose I should note that I did not incorporate the information from A Guide To Hell for the simple reason that I did not like it; I also felt it did not keep to the earlier canon.
5 Comments | Deities | Tagged: Aerial Deities, Gods of Peace, Gods of Wisdom and Knowledge, Powers of Mount Celestia, Scaly Gods | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon
Legends & Lore: A Few Thoughts
March 28, 2011I’ve been looking over Legends & Lore (2nd Edition) to get some ideas in my head for what I will eventually do with the deities presented in it, and I must say, the gameplay information is pretty lackluster. The avatars are fairly statistically unimaginitive and unvaried, the specialty priest abilities and requirements are both very basic and at times rather overpowered (quite a few get a daily Raise Dead, and I can’t really see why; another priesthood immediately advances to 11th level upon gaining 10th). And the circles gained by priests (especially in the Native American mythos) are abysmal! (Priests of Sun have major access to All, Sun, and minor access to two others. *That’s it.*) Anyway, I’ll probably revamp them almost entirely when I get around to working on them.
2 Comments | Deities | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon
Squerrik the Ratlord
March 24, 2011Time for another deity write-up; this time it is Squerrik, the Wererat god. Upon reading through what had been written on wererats and Squerrik himself, I was surprised no one had drawn upon some obvious folk mythology. So I decided to add it in. :) I also modeled some elements of the priesthood and culture after aspects of rats themselves, since it seemed fitting.
1 Comment | Deities | Tagged: Gods of Animals, Gods of Thievery, Lycanthrope Gods, Powers of Gehenna | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon
Pantheon Names
March 24, 2011I was thinking a bit today about how to identify the various real-world pantheons while avoiding real-world ethnic names (i.e. Celt, Greek). For example, for the Greek pantheon, they can be referred to as the Olympians and the Titans. Ideally this would be the name these gods use to refer to themselves. So let’s run down what I know of for sure:
Greek = Olympians, Titans
Celt = Tuatha de Danaan
Egyptian = Pesedjet (added 04/13) or Netjeret (8/26)
Finnish = ?
Norse = Aesir, Vanir
Chinese = Celestial Bureaucracy
Indian = ? (Vedic is used, but it isn’t a proper noun; you can’t say “he’s a member of the Vedic”)
Japanese = ?
Native American = ?
Central American = (Aztec, Mayan, etc.)
Sumerian/Babylonian = (See below)
Now, there are some conspicuously missing pantheons that I would eventually like to work on, and those are:
Mesopotamian (aka Sumerian/Akkadian [Assyrian and Babylonian]) = Anunnaki/Igigi
Hittite = ?
Hurrian/Urartian = ?
Aegian (Minoan/Etruscan/Cypriot) = ?
Roman = ?
Clearly I need to do some more research on these mythologies. I’m open to suggestions.
5 Comments | Deities | Tagged: Human Pantheons | Permalink
Posted by AuldDragon