Indian Mythos
| Indra | Indra's Elephant | Agni | Kali | Karttikeya |
| Peacock of Karttikeya | Lakshmi | Marut | Ratri | Rudra |
| Surya | Tvashtri | Ushas | Varuna | Vishnu |
| Garuda | Yama | Yama's Water Buffalo | - | DDG |
The translation of these beings into AD&D
terms was one of the more difficult tasks of this work.
They were very hard to categorize in the
lawful || chaotic sense because of the diversity of their worldly actions.
The pantheon that has resulted is a mixture
of Vedic and Hindu concepts, usually leaning toward the Vedic.
These gods and goddesses maintain an aloofness
greater than normal when compared with some of the other pantheons.
There are several concepts that are original
with this section that must be dealt with for gaming purposes.
The culture that created this mythos also
created one of the most rigid caste systems ever known,
where one is born to his or her station
in life and learns to live with it.
In a campaign under the influence of these
gods,
a character may be born a cleric,
MU, or a fighter.
One does not switch from class to class
or overlap into other areas (which usu. prevents any characters from having
two classes).
The caste system also modifies the behavior
of the players toward one another and toward NPCs.
Persons of higher status are to be treated
with respect and honor and either obeyed or left strictly alone.
Those of the magic-user caste are considered
to be superior to all other castes,
incl. the warriors.
All of this is followed strictly by those
who obey any sort of lawful code.
There is also a belief that all prayers
will be answered if the proper sacrifices are made to the gods.
If the prayer is not immediately answered,
then some impropriety was made and the
prayers must be done again (and again) until the desired result is achieved.
Worshipers are identified by the marks they
wear.
For example,
the followers of Vishnu
have | two parallel lines of a special white earth
drawn from the hair-line to the bridge of the nose |,
with a perpendicular
line connecting them at the bottom.
All worshipers have marks of this type
somewhere on their persons.
Probably
the most difficult concept that this work presents, at least in AD&D
terms, is that of the "avatar".
An avatar is a physical
manifestation of a deity upon the PMP.
An avatar usu. has
less powers and a different appearance than the deity it has sprung from.
Avatars often represent
one particular aspect or side of a deity,
and may have been
created to perform a specific function.
A deity may have
several avatars simultaneously co-existent,
each one different
and uninvolved with the others.
Vishnu,
in particular, has many avatars.
Temples && cultural trappings within
this pantheon vary from one extreme to another.
On one hand,
there are awesomely huge shrines to single
gods that are many stories high,
and in the same area there are tiny shrines
dedicated to all the gods that a single worshiper can use.
The deities of this mythos are often described
as having many heads and/or arms.
This multiplicity is somewhat representative
of the powers of the deity.
For example,
if a deity has seven important abilities,
he or she will probably have seven arms.
This #number# may vary from one account
to another.
Given most of the deities' ability to shape
change,
it is only logical that they have as many
arms (or heads) as they need.
<note: # of attacks (arms) can be extended,
according to actual religious iconography>
<eg. NO. OF ATTACKS: 4 or 8 or 16, etc.>
<most or all of these deities have this
innate limited shape change ability>
<note: consider 'scimitar' (actually,
tulwar: see PH.37) as
a weapon proficiency for some of the Indian deities>
| Warriors | Karttikeya |
| Thieves | Ratri |
| LG | Surya, Vishnu |
| LN | Rudra, Varuna |
| LE | - |
| NG | Ushas, Yama |
| N | Tvashtri, Yama |
| NE | Ratri, Yama |
| CG | Karttikeya, Lakshmi |
| CN | Indra, Agni |
| CE | Kali |
| Farmers | Indra |
| Those seeking luck | Lakshmi |
Many a force fought elephants
and spiked armor was not employed.
The gates of Indian fortresses
were spiked to prevent elephants from pushing them down, but no spiked
armor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fifth
Element
What is your favourite real-world
mythology?
I mean in the sense of Greek, Norse,
etc.
As a follow-up, what mythology lends itself best as inspiration for D&D?
Egyptian
mythology for its plethora of deities and its underworld.
Next comes Hindic for its array of strange deities and the many stories.
I designed D&D with little regard for mythology; more for folklore, legend, and authored fiction.
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thulcondar
I find that particularly
fascinating (and yet another indicator of just how far you were willing
to go to find source material).
Although it also points out
how far Mme. Blavatsky was willing to go for source material, inasmuch
as the Deva is a Hindu figure.
I have been toying with the
idea of putting together some sort of Angelic heirarchy to counter the
Diabolic and Demonic heirarchies.
Since we have arch-devils,
why not arch-angels? Major Devils and Seraphim.
Demon Princes and Saints...
The details are unimportant,
but you get the idea...
And of course the "named"
Infernal figures would have their own counterparts.
The only thing that has stumped
me thusfar is in individualizing them sufficiently.
Perhaps I am a creature of
the mythologies to which I am accustomed, but the angelic hosts always
seemed so... homogenous.
Valkyries could work for
one of the other alignments (NG, mayhap, although for those who know their
true nature according to the Norse lore they are far from beneficient beings!),
but I find myself at something of a stumbling block.
And for the non-good/evil
minions... I would ache for something more rooted in mythology than Modrons.
Any thoughts as to a possible expansion of the demon/devil/daemon idea into the realms of Good, beyond the (to my mind, rather limited) Deva/Plantar/Solar?
As always, my thanks in advance.
The short answer is that
as a Christian I have stayed away from Judeo-Christian theology.
Thus the use of Theophysical
in Hindu spirit entities.
Cheers,
Gary
<didn't Gary convert to
Christianity c. 1985?>