Non-standard mythologies

[FenrisUlf]

This has prpbably been done before, but has anyone here (or in comics) ever done anything with non-standard (i.e., non Norse or Greco-Roman) mythology? I've seen evidence of both Aztec and Aboriginal mythology used in the Champs Universe, which is good. And of course from what I've seen there's oodles of Jewish belief used in the Four Worlds layout & the qlippoth.

 

Has anyone else ever used any 'non-standard' myth-cycles, like Hindu or Voudon or American Indian?

[Hermit]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

American Indian Totems and Spirits have come into use in my game. One player's character, Kestrel, already having wings (her parents were subject to some mutative experiments, she gained them at puberty) ended up on "Eagle Rock" only to find out was a magical place indeed. Grandfather Eagle appeared, and liked her purity of heart so much he granted her his cry (energy blast)

 

Gwydion of Welsh myth is a major NPC in my campaigns and a member of Force 1 (The JL equivilent of my world). He's a mystic metamorph who tries to keep other gods from getting too tyranical in their dealings with humans.

The celtic deites are almost as used as the greek ones in my games.

 

 

I have used some Egyptian God cameos.

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

The celtic deites are almost as used as the greek ones in my games.

 

Same here. My best friend mainly used Celtic myth as source material, and I mainly used Norse, Hindu, and Greco-Roman mythology.

 

As an aside, the way I handled the conflicting mythologies was a) to make them entirely unaware of each other, and to make them the same deities seen through a different lense. For a simple example, Hel and Pluto were not aware of each other, much less each other's pantheons and mythologies, but they had certain trappings in common. In "reality" they were the same entity.

 

Was that contradictory? Yes, it was. Nonetheless, it was true. Metaphysics is like that, sometimes.

[Ghost who Walks]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I pretty much use them all, they form a lot of background history, IMC. They are basicly the predessessors to the modern generaton of Heroes.

 

Good pantheons that aren't often used include the Babylonian and Persian. I especially like the Persian ones, becasue its evil/demon aspect has a lot of depth.

 

Babylonian pantheon and Indian mythology is very superheroic-style. Hanuman is very usable.

 

Good site for ideas.

http://www.pantheon.org

[RobCRogers]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

This has prpbably been done before, but has anyone here (or in comics) ever done anything with non-standard (i.e., non Norse or Greco-Roman) mythology? I've seen evidence of both Aztec and Aboriginal mythology used in the Champs Universe, which is good. And of course from what I've seen there's oodles of Jewish belief used in the Four Worlds layout & the qlippoth.

 

Has anyone else ever used any 'non-standard' myth-cycles, like Hindu or Voudon or American Indian?

I've seen Jewish lore used in comics (Ragman, various Golem characters). There was once a long African mythology storyline in Firestorm of all places (several years back) that I thought was pretty darn interesting. And I've seen Native American lore and Aztec lore a few times (Coyote, Aztec Ace, and a few others). Seems like Hawaiian lore's popped up here and there (in Superboy, for example). That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but world mythology is certainly a great resource for comics stories and gaming.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Has anyone else ever used any 'non-standard' myth-cycles' date=' like Hindu or Voudon or American Indian?[/quote']Oh yeah. You have to keep trawling new sources, cause Norse and Greek have been used so much.

 

I've got got a Golden Age superhero called Joe Magarac (a Paul Bunyan-esque heroic steel worker from American folklore).

 

And I ripped off all sorts of obscure sources, including Albanian mythology, for my upcoming DnD game. No special reason for that - just trying to be a bit different.

[Kirby]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

This has prpbably been done before' date=' but has anyone here ever done anything with non-standard mythology?[/quote']

I tried creating a Lovecraft/Cthulhu type myth in my game. Sadly, none of the beings I used before have shown up in HERO 5E. Said beings are Darkulans, Leatherwings, the Seven Horseman, White Cralwlers and Primes.

[Koshka]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

This has prpbably been done before' date=' but has anyone here (or in comics) ever done anything with non-standard (i.e., non Norse or Greco-Roman) mythology?[/quote']

 

Back in the 4th edition days, I did a pulp-era con game where the party found themselves in a lost valley inhabited by Aztecs and Toltecs. I gave the Evil Aztec Emperor the ability to summon/control Tzitzime, which are fairly nasty beings from Aztec mythology (especially for heroic-level characters -- I also gave the Good Toltec Priest some healing abilities).

 

I've thought about putting either voodoo or Santeria in a game, but since the campaign in production at the moment is Golden Age I don't think that's gonna work too well.

[Blue]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Current Campaign:

• One NPC (Muse) was Calliope, a woman who inspires others but can never truly learn or grow (It's the side effect of spurring growth in others).
• One PC (Falcon) has powers of light and a bird-like head, as well as Egyptian accoutrements.
• The prime villain of the first cyle of the campaign was a forgotten Pope long excommunicated from the church, his place in history buried for his sins. (Mythology? To some.)
• One guy has a small disc with an strange pictogram embedded in his forehead. He does not know yet but it marks him as an alien chosen one of sorts, when I introduce aliens to the campaign next time I run.
• More in the folklore department, Baba Yaga runs a sanctuary that teleports from dimension to dimension where good and bad meet but are incapable of fighting.

No Native American, Aborigine, Celtic, or others yet in this campaign. But that's mostly because I've done those to death in other games.

[Lightray]

One of the PCs is a descendant of Ra, so we've had descendants/minions of Set as well. Plus the PC can now be spoken to by other Egyptian gods in his dreams.

 

Thorium is a PC with Thor's hammer (from an alternate campaign world), and the PCs have gone to what's left of Asgard (from that alternate world).

 

Aegis is a PC who's foster mother -- the gorgon Stheno -- dipped him into the river Styx. He's got the winged sandals and shield of Perseus, too. They've met his "aunt" Euryale, but no other Greek gods have shown up.

 

Fire Angel is a PC who is a Zoroastrian angel, descended into the mortal realm. Seraph was a previous PC who was a generic Judeo-Christian angel type.

 

The PCs have met a race of Stargods -- Aztec/Mayan deities and their descendants who left Earth when Quetzalcouatl went into exile. Tezcatlipoca and Camazotz are still around, just haven't shown up yet...

 

There was a retired PC who was a Native American shaman, who dealt with all the totem spirits. We created a sort of amalgam mythology for that since she didn't want to stick to one tribe's beliefs for her character (she didn't want to trivialize their religions). Her DNPC is now an NPC hero.

 

I've a villain who is half-sidhe, has Balor's Eye and Nuada's Silver Arm -- and is an archaeologist in his secret identity who's been recovering artifacts from other mythologies. Like the Nemean Lionskin, Pan's Syrinx, Marduk's thunderbolt Dumaki, Hachiman's bow, and a whole lot of famous swords (e.g., Durandal, Cortana, etc.).

 

And in the past, the high-powered supermages have run into Baba Yaga (Koschei's around, too) and Sedna (Inuit myths). Still haven't tapped African mythology...

[Agent X]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Oh yeah. You have to keep trawling new sources, cause Norse and Greek have been used so much.

 

I've got got a Golden Age superhero called Joe Magarac (a Paul Bunyan-esque heroic steel worker from American folklore).

 

And I ripped off all sorts of obscure sources, including Albanian mythology, for my upcoming DnD game. No special reason for that - just trying to be a bit different.

Hey! Great minds - I've got a character based on the Joe Magarac myself.

[FenrisUlf]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Thanks for everything, and very glad to see the Joe Magarac ref (my dad was a PA steelworker; good to see our mythic hero remembered by someone).

 

I'll say more later when I'm on a computer that doesn't try logging me off the site every five minutes. But thanks for everything, truly.

 

Later

[Ghost who Walks]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Just a quick note, I often take mythologies and horribly mutate them. Under the theory that oral history and legends do not equal true history.

 

Examples from my campaign:

~Babylonian Pantheon were founded by a dragon. Dragon was sent to Earth to create and protect human civilization.

~Greek Pantheon was founded by Kronos/Saturn, who was a PC time traveller. This opens up the whole paradox situation. Give Hercules a spaceship, so he can chase after Minos and the Zodiac.

~Odin was a cyborg, abducted 20,000 years ago by aliens. He keeps one eye always covered, as the aliens put a camera in it...

~Titans (greek Mythology) factor in big. They are basicly immortal guardians of the earth, trained by aliens to act something like the Peace Corps. They are master manipulators, behind many historical events.

~Egyptian pantheon is my players favorite. Combine Egyptian Pantheon with old Thundercats cartoon. Mix in blender, spew out result. Surprisingly very workable, for players to encounter when time-travelling or flashbacks. Not very workable in modern day...

 

This strategy works well if you have players raised on D&D mythology.

[freakboy6117]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

hmm i have one self created mythology a extra dimensional alien culture who come to earth and proclaim them selves gods to a south american jungel tribe who grow into a relitivly propserous civilisation.

The gods tithed them warriors who go off and fight in there wars. in exhange the gods left artifacts that granted great power to the defenders of the tribe usually older women as well as technology/magic to keep the tribe strong and of course training to make them better at warfare.

 

the tribe called them selves the people of the star bridge and worshiped there alien benifactors embewing different aspects of there gifts with different names.

[Blue]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I'm currently of the opinion (though I've not impelemented it in game yet) that the Greek Gods were merely early superheroes. a 400pt super could seem pretty godlike to people who've never flown or sent people to the moon.

[Mike W]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Japanese and Chinese mythologies have possibilities. American Indian myths are good source material, for background if nothing else. Celtic Mythology has a lot of possibilities, especially if you center around the three great treasures of Celtic Myth(particularly the Standing Stone, which is the one that isn't lost).

[Kirby]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I'm currently of the opinion (though I've not impelemented it in game yet) that the Greek Gods were merely early superheroes. a 400pt super could seem pretty godlike to people who've never flown or sent people to the moon.

There was a sourcebook appropriately titled "The Olympians" which used this concept also, though they were actually alien, cosmic energy beings. That, and 400 points was the mid to low end.

[Ghost who Walks]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I'm currently of the opinion (though I've not impelemented it in game yet) that the Greek Gods were merely early superheroes. a 400pt super could seem pretty godlike to people who've never flown or sent people to the moon.

 

This idea becomes especially interesting when you remember how certain cities had specific gods as their patron. Athens is the obvious one, but there are many others.

[SleepyDrug]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

Greek mythology has well documented spheres of control and personalities for the gods and heroes. it is very easy to find information.

 

Norse mythology is a good runner-up on those points.

 

Egyptian mythology has a lot of overlap between the gods.

 

Celtic myth is hard to find useful information on. Pantheon.org requires a lot of footwork for a project like this.

[Blue]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

There was a sourcebook appropriately titled "The Olympians" which used this concept also' date=' though they were actually alien, cosmic energy beings. That, and 400 points was the mid to low end. [/quote']

I've seen the Olympians at my local game store but did little more that look at the cover. I decided also that it's likley the heroes/gods would never show up in the game as it currently is constructed.

 

I may have to take another look now. I don't want to make them aliens though; I'd rewrite that part certainly.

[Kirby]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I may have to take another look now. I don't want to make them aliens though; I'd rewrite that part certainly.

They made them aliens so not to offend anyone by calling them actually deities. Our GM that ran them ignored that part too.

 

I'd say take a look, especially if it is discounted. It can be great fun, even if you only run one adventure on Olympus.

 

PS: The rest being run on Earth, or linking them to the Zodiac if you use them (or at least Taurus).

[Guest bblackmoor]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

In my most long-running campaign, the "real" gods (as opposed to aliens or extradimensional beings which played at being gods) were not so much individual entities as they were expressions of a universal concept. Hel/Hades/Pluto, for example. By design or happenstance, they were not aware of this: the very fabric of their existence prevented them knowing it.

 

It remained unanswered whether they predated mortals, or whether they were a conseqeunce of mortal belief. The only person the PCs ever encountered who understood it was herself neither immortal nor mortal, but something else. I'm paraphrasing, but what she told them was something like this:

 

"What makes them powerful also limits them: for they do not change. Hades shall be Hades, forevermore. No more, and no less. But you, mortals, change. You are change. That is why they fear you. For they know, even though they do not realize it, that you have the potential to become their peers, even to grow beyond them: to make them irrelevant. Once they are no longer relevant, they will cease to be. And that is what they fear most, though but few know it."

 

This was a very long time ago, of course, back when my friends and I played Champions several times a week, and it was entirely possible to have a subplot which went on for years in the real world.

 

It's not exactly an original idea, of course. Neil Gaiman used a similar idea a few years later in his novel American Gods.

[steriaca]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I haven't truly used gods in my campain exactly (since it floundered before I could get that far), but if I was to start one up again, I am shure to create Shiva The Destroyer, because I love that name. It is so supervilllian-iss.

[Maelstrom]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

I've run games based on Indian mythology, before. I got the idea from reading "Lord of Light" by Roger Zelazny. Well worth reading.

[Ghost who Walks]

Re: Non-standard mythologies

 

A bunch of good ideas here.

 

I agree that some of the mythologies can be very confusing...overlaping of powers, and characters that are way to powerful to be believeable. Sometimes I think this is cultural inflation, an attempt by moderns to make their gods more powerful than everyone elses.

 

The Celtic gods seem especially prone to this. In general, when adapting a god, look at the legend, rather than the description. The Greek gods in the Illiad/Odyssey are very different than they are usually portrayed in Marvel.

 

Another ways to do gods, especially the Native American, Indian, and Chinese ones is with the avatar concept. Basicly, a god is an immortal spirit, that can possess people. Often this is though a mystical ceremony or by possession of an object.

 

This has several advantages, in it allows lower powered gods. It also allows you to pick and choose which gods you want to have this happen to. The powers may manifest all the time, or sometimes. At times, the god may take control over the host body...effectively giving blackout periods.