There was a book I picked up, Petty Gods: https://www.orderofgamers.com/petty-gods/ and it had a bunch of petty and minor godlings and was fun to read the creativity. I’m not necessarily promoting it and had nothing to do with the book, but I thought it was a super cool idea to have the community put it together. I think back on it as Jonbar and I work on our next project.

We are busy working on gods for our world which I believe adds some flair and culture to our adventures. We were playtesting a museum adventure in Vermilion and I had tons of info about different gods, heroes, and history which I felt made the world come more alive. Yeah, I’m aware some people don’t like museum adventures, but it was a pretty great exercise for me as it helped me develop Vermilion and the world and if you are creating a city, I recommend doing one (but make it an adventure, not just a boring place). It also snowballed into making new magic items having potential stories–like that spear was used by the demigod Spear Guy or whatever and bards could have a field day discovering the legend of the item.

As we are muddling through our deities, I find myself asking questions–why would someone want to worship a God of Death….or a God of Decay? There has to be more of a reason of just ‘because they are evil’ or ‘because its cool’…although, I guess there is always the rule of cool. But I find that my first step is maybe thinking up a deity (i.e. God of the Sun) and then really delve into the worshipers (or cults) and why they want to pray to this specific deity? And then ask…why would anyone worship a lesser deity or even just a demi-god? Which can lead to foes and allies of the deity and stories/legends begin.

Then, since we are mostly 2e enthusiasts (with a healthy respect and joy for 1e), we are delving into Specialty Priests. Some Specialty Priests can be a bit overpowered (in my humble opinion), but I definitely like the flavor of them. Growing up, no one really wanted to play the healer…and I feel the Specialty Priest idea made it actually fun to play one. It also forces you to go deeper into the deity and helps answer the ‘why’ do worshipers pray to this deity as well as the culture of the religion (holy days, special colors or ornaments that must be worn, specific weapons, etc.). Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve played a cleric since… unless it was multi-classed.

This also brings us to new spells which really makes the Specialty Priest stand out. Very fun to create…all of it.

The Contest

So this brings up the idea of a contest for those interested. I don’t want to compete with NAP or other dungeon adventure contests as I don’t have time to review them all. But in my last post, I discussed a little bit about The Marrow Ravine (Part 2 from the Tar Pits of the Bone Toilers) and one of my ideas is to have an imprisoned demigod or lesser deity that is worshiped by the denizens of the jungled lands of Uzuduum. They would be stuck in this dying dimension and the heroes may have a chance to save them, if they wish… Ya…that about sums up my idea so far…lol, but I can picture the scene in my head. I already made a lesser goddess of Whispers and Vines for Uzuduum…but anything else is fair game. Heck, we don’t even know much about Uzuduum yet except there are thick jungles and plains and they sail in HUMONGOUS ships called Juggernaughts. Jonbar may write something up soon. Got questions? you can add them in the comments below.

Jonbar and I will look over the entries and pick one. It may (or may not) be added to our pantheon, but I will definitely use it my Marrow Ravine adventure regardless. I want to see only lesser deities or demigods for humans. I want to see some history or legends, what they look like, etc. I want to see a Specialty Priest, any special holidays or rituals or something specific they have to wear, and at least 1 new spell.

First Place: Ill add your name to the credits for your creation in The Marrow Ravine, there is a chance your creation would be added to our Pantheon, AND I’ll give you a copy of our newly released The Coming of Winter (PDF AND pay for cost POD) OR 3 adventures (PDF and at cost POD) of your choosing.

Second Place: You will receive The Coming of Winter PDF OR 2 adventures (PDF only) of your choosing.

Third Place: You can choose one regular adventure PDF.

Deadline: June 4th by midnight (Pacific time). Keep in mind, in may be a long time before The Marrow Ravine is completed (a couple years at most), but I thought this contest may be fun since we are working on an internal project now of the Gods and Spirits of our realms. The more people submit, the sooner the timeline!

SUBMIT ENTRIES TO themercilessmerchants@gmail.com

Here is an example of the template I would like to see that is in super rough draft shape (even Jonbar hasn’t seen it yet, nor have we playtested). The bullets don’t need to be included necessarily (just having tech problems with copy/paste). But basically an idea of what we’re looking for (EXAMPLE):

Fedelmar

(Lesser) Goddess of Iron, The Iron Maiden, Rust Defier, Mother of Ore

• Portfolio: Iron, steel, blacksmiths, miners
• Aliases: None
• Domain Name:
• Superior: Vulridir
• Allies: Vulridir, Juladir, Kjoldir
• Foes: Vurth Kyrvr, Jool Vrora
• Symbol: Spiked, closed-faced helm
• Worshiper’s Alignment: Chaotic Good, Neutral Good
• Major Spheres:  All, Combat, Creation, Divination, Healing, Elemental (earth), Elemental (fire), Guardian, Protection
• Minor Spheres: Necromantic, Wards

• Some may mistake Fedelmar as a duergar or dark dwarf, but she is actually a beautiful dwarven female made of iron and is known to eat iron ore! Her dark hair ends in flaming red tips of fire and her eyes are merely golden orbs with no irises. Legends state she was the first creation by the Great Smith Vulridir, in his attempt to create a daughter. Fedelmar can use her iron fists in battle but prefers wielding dual lava-runed warhammers and wearing a nasty spiked helm. Like iron, Fedelmar also can be soft, thus she is known to show mercy to some of her foes as well as having superb healing arts as she taps into the importance of iron in the mortal body. Fedelmar distrusts Vurth Kyrvr and gladly burns any of his wood work or carvings in an attempt to show the strength of iron’s resiliency to such things. She also has fought several times with Jool Vrora, Goddess of the Starless Seas. During their last battle, Jool attempted to drown her and make her rust, creating a fear of deep water for Fedelmar.

• Specialty Priest
• Titles: Iron Maidens (Female) or Iron Clad (Male)
• Requirements: Wisdom 12, Strength 12, Constitution 12
• Weapons: Any, but war hammer required
• Armor: Any metal
• Required Proficiencies: Mining and/or Blacksmithing
• Bonus Proficiencies: Healing, Iron Will, Alertness
• Major Spheres: All, Combat, Creation, Divination, Healing, Elemental (earth), Elemental (fire), Guardian, Protection
• Minor Spheres: Necromantic, Wards
• Most miners and blacksmiths prefer to pray to Vulridir or Kjoldir, so Fedelmar’s priesthood is rare and mostly composed of females, with an even rarer few male members joining the ranks. They are seldom seen alone, usually traveling in small groups for long destinations or adventuring together and rarely letting outsiders join them. Most tend to their shrines hidden deep in the mountains near veins of iron and other useful ores and outfitted with great forges and anvils for crafting. They are also known to consume iron shavings with their meals, a strange practice to most, but dwarves see it as a sign of respect towards the goddess. Because of this standoffishness and secrecy, some dwarves believe that Fedelmar is more of an evil goddess for duergar which has resulted in her not being a popular goddess for most. Although most dwarves are stubborn, Iron Maidens are known to be the stubbornest. They keep to their goals no matter the odds and possess a strong will over their mind. They are also known to show mercy to respected enemies and foes. Most are gifted blacksmiths, especially in the forging technique of cold iron. The priesthood usually has one weapon made of cold-wrought iron.
• Powers/Skills:
• Can’t turn or control undead but are able to hit undead needing +1 to hit and deliver an additional +1 damage to undead with their cold-wrought iron forged weapons.
• All Iron Maidens gain +2 to their saving throws versus any type of disease, perhaps due to the extra iron shavings they consume (iron helps with immune system support).
• All Iron Maidens and Iron Clad gain a +1 to their Perception scores. Healthy iron levels in the body help with energy and focus, thus making one more alert.
• At 4th level, Iron Maidens can focus on the iron in their bodies, increasing oxygen to the cells in their muscles. Thus, they gain an ability similar to the spell Free Action once per day.
• Iron Maidens receive a -2 to reaction rolls with other dwarves who are not of their order.
• Iron Maidens have a healthy fear of water and attempt not to swim unless needed. They receive a -2 to attack rolls if fighting on a boat in open water.
  • Iron Maiden / Iron Clad Spells
• Level 1
  • Feldemar’s Will
    • Sphere: Protection
  • Range: Touch
  • Components: V, S, M
  • Duration: Permanent
  • Casting Time: 5
  • Area of Effect: One target
  • Saving Throw: Neg.
  • Feldemar’s Will is similar to the 3rd level Remove Paralysis spell except it only works on one target. When cast on dwarves, they are immediately freed from Hold spells or paralyzing effects. Non-dwarves receive another saving throw at +4. The material component is the priest’s holy symbol and a small chunk of iron or iron nail.
• Rust Protection
• Sphere: Protection
• Range: Touch
• Components: V, S, 
• Duration: 1d4 days +1 day per level
• Casting Time: 7
• Area of Effect: One target
• Saving Throw: Neg.
• The Rust Protection spell protects all metal from natural rust occurring from sea water and other natural ways for the rust process to start. Scrolls of this spell are valuable, especially to sea-faring folk such as those in Vermilion. This spell protects armor from Rust Monster attacks.
• A second effect of this spell is that it causes 2d6 damage on a successful touch attack when used on a Rust Monster. There are also rumors that if cast on an Iron Golem, it confuses it momentarily, causing the golem to focus attacks on other enemies and ignoring the caster for 1d6 rounds. But this has been difficult to prove.