Deities are an important part of the fabric of Realm of Runes. Two classes, Clerics and Paladins, are required to follow a deity in order to function. Monks that choose to awaken their qi through divine power also must follow a deity. Following a deity in this way is more than just reverence. Each one offers immense power to those that serve its agenda faithfully.
Realm of Runes gives you the tools and formatting you need in order to create your own deities from scratch or convert your favorites from another system, but also provides a full pantheon of twenty original options of its own. These deities are always available, and make up the assumed pantheon for first-party adventures in the world of Rimukyr. Check out the Cosmology of Realm of Runes blog entry for an overview of how deities work in the system, and also the Cleric and Paladin entries for more details about how those classes interact with their patrons.
These twenty deities have varying relationships with their mortal followers and with each other, but also fall into five distinct categories. In descending order of age (as supposed by religious scholars) there are the creators and destroyers (see Part 1), the elemental lords, the intellectuals, the guardians and conquerors, and finally the anthropomorphics. These next several entries will take a closer look at each of these groups. This week we continue with the elemental lords.
THE DUCHESS OF WAVES (Neutral Good)
Symbol: trident draped in seaweed
Allowed Alignments: CG, NG, LG, N
Opposition Alignments: CE, NE, LE
Channel Energy Type: positive
Signature Skills: Acrobatics, Medicine
Favored Weapon: trident
Signature Spells: feet to fins (1st), wall of water (3rd), wall of ice (4th)
Domains Offered: Dreams, Healing, Moon, Passion, Water
Anathema: Deliberately allowing another to suffer dehydration is anathema to The Duchess of Waves.
From the rulebook: "Believed to be the eldest water elemental in the elemental plane of water, The Duchess of Waves provides a stark contrast to the overwhelming lethality of its plane. While the unprepared that visit the plane of water typically drown in minutes, The Duchess embodies the nurturing and benevolent aspects of the element. As such, The Duchess tends to have a large following in coastal areas, and many of the most important ceremonies in her honor are performed entirely underwater with the help of magic.
"The Duchess is not usually connected with other deities, except for The Prince of Flame with whom there is an eternal feud. While The Duchess is believed to care strongly for mortal followers, this does not extend any special protections against the effects of water beyond that which magic can offer. Whether The Duchess cannot or will not take steps to prevent the harsher aspects of the element is not known.
"The Duchess of Waves is typically depicted as a benevolent being made of pure water. While the name implies femininity, the actual entity has no gender, and the presumption of the feminine is typically only because it is opposite to the gender most commonly attributed to The Prince of Flames. Most illustrations of The Duchess show her engaged in mortal combat with The Prince."
As the elemental lord of water The Duchess embodies not just the element itself, but also many aspects of reality that tend to be associated with it. As a result, this deity has a more well-balanced suite of domains than its elemental nature might indicate. While The Duchess makes for an excellent choice for characters looking to play the archetypal healing-focused divine caster, the strength of the variety of domains gives access to hidden depths of versatility. Interestingly, since The Source and The Void are unaligned, The Duchess of Waves is the only deity that can grant a paladin the water domain.
THE LORD OF WIND (Chaotic Neutral)
Symbol: elemental rune of air
Allowed Alignments: CG, CN, CE, N
Opposition Alignments: LG, LN, LE
Channel Energy Type: choice between positive or negative
Signature Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics
Favored Weapon: longbow
Signature Spells: gust of wind (1st), wall of wind (3rd), punishing winds (8th)
Domains Offered: Air, Freedom, Indulgence, Luck, Travel
Anathema: Deliberately imprisoning or controlling another creature is anathema to The Lord of Wind.
From the rulebook: "Believed to be the eldest air elemental in the elemental plane of air, The Lord of Wind is a flighty and easily-distracted being. Much like the element from which it originates, The Lord seeks to be everywhere and anywhere at once, and does not stay in one place for long. Mortals invoke The Lord’s blessing before taking flight, and many cults develop at high altitude where air is a scarce and precious resource.
"The Lord is not usually connected with other deities, except for The Master of Earth with whom there is a grudging respect. While The Lord is not believed to harbor any malice or benevolence to mortal followers, the prevailing belief is that The Lord simply does not devote enough attention to any one thing at a time to take full notice. As such, practices of various cults devoted to The Lord of Wind develop wildly different rituals, but these traditions are never held so strongly that they become dogma, and frequently change over the course of months or years.
"The Lord of Wind is typically depicted as a loose being with a vaguely humanoid or goblinoid outline. Attempting to categorize the shape any further than that is as futile as trying to draw the air itself. While followers of The Lord might laugh at those who try to illustrate their patron in detail, there is usually no animosity held against those that attempt it."
As the elemental lord of air The Lord embodies not just the element itself, but also many aspects of reality that tend to be associated with it. As a result, this deity has a more well-balanced suite of domains than its elemental nature might indicate. The Lord of Wind is one of the few deities that offers a ranged weapon as a favored weapon, making for a popular choice among the more dexterously inclined divine supplicants. The domains available make for much more highly mobile characters than the typical assumptions made of clerics and paladins. Since The Source and The Void are unaligned, The Lord of wind is the only deity that can grant a paladin the air domain.
THE MASTER OF EARTH (Lawful Neutral)
Symbol: a stone hammer
Allowed Alignments: LG, LN, LE, N
Opposition Alignments: CG, CN, CE
Channel Energy Type: choice between positive or negative
Signature Skills: Athletics, Crafting
Favored Weapon: earth-breaker
Signature Spells: earthbind (3rd), shape stone (4th), wall of stone (5th)
Domains Offered: Ambition, Creation, Earth, Perfection, Wealth
Anathema: Deliberately destroying art or structures with no replacement planned is anathema to The Master of Earth.
From the rulebook: "Believed to be the eldest earth elemental in the elemental plane of earth, The Master of Earth is a great builder of continents and towering structures of natural crystal. Few of The Master’s structures will ever be seen by mortals, but the process of creation is more important than the result. The Master tends to have a large following among those that live deep underground, and mortals invoke his blessing to maintain the structure of cave systems and to prevent collapses.
"The Master of Earth is not usually connected with other deities, except for The Lord of Wind with whom there is a grudging respect. While The Master does not appear to harbor malice or benevolence toward mortal followers, neither are they ignored. The Master even seems to have a favorable view of mines and miners, especially the more complicated the structures they create. Mines dug after being consecrated to The Master frequently survive tremors with minimal reinforcement, or discover lodes that are much larger than anticipated.
"The Master of Earth is typically depicted as a symmetrical, humanoid or goblinoid outline comprised of complex fractal patterns. Many artists will spend months, or even years, creating fractal patterns to the very limits of their talents, and often smaller than the viewer can even distinguish. Once each year dedicated craftsmen will convene in a great, week-long fractal design competition. While there is always a winner crowned, it is expected that the pattern will never truly be complete, and elder competitors have usually worked their entire lives on the same entry no matter how many times, or how few, the pattern has won."
As the elemental lord of earth The Master embodies not just the element itself, but also many aspects of reality that tend to be associated with it. As a result, this deity has a more well-balanced suite of domains than its elemental nature might indicate. The juxtaposition of the rigid inflexibility of pure order with the boundless nature of creativity gives The Master an almost paradoxical nature, though its power to help its followers become richer tends to be one of the main draws for less scrupulous acolytes. Since The Source and The Void are unaligned, The Master of Earth is the only deity that can grant a paladin the earth domain.
THE PRINCE OF FLAME (Neutral Evil)
Symbol: a flaming scimitar
Allowed Alignments: CE, NE, LE, N
Opposition Alignments: CG, NG, LG
Channel Energy Type: negative
Signature Skills: Acrobatics, Intimidation
Favored Weapon: sawed-off carriage gun
Signature Spells: produce flame (cantrip), burning hands (1st), wall of fire (4th)
Domains Offered: Destruction, Fire, Freedom, Light, Pain
Anathema: Deliberately extinguishing a fire is anathema to The Prince of Flame.
From the rulebook: "Believed to be the eldest fire elemental in the elemental plane of fire, The Prince of Flame has gained power far beyond that of its kin. While mortals use fire for many purposes, The Prince of Flame embodies the destructive and consuming nature of flame, and as such does not have a strong following in areas of civilization. In more wilderness areas, especially those prone to wildfires, small cults will pop up, hoping that their patron will choose to consume others in their place.
"The Prince of Flame is not usually connected with other deities, except for The Duchess of Waves with whom there is an eternal feud. The Prince also cares little for mortal followers, preferring instead to focus attention on dominating its home plane or battling the forces of The Duchess. When The Prince of Flames does take note of mortals, it typically results in massive, uncontrolled conflagrations that ravage entire settlements.
"The Prince of Flame is usually depicted as a malevolent being made of pure fire. While the name implies masculinity, the entity itself has no actual gender. Most illustrations of The Prince show him engaged in mortal combat with The Duchess."
As the elemental lord of fire The Prince embodies not just the element itself, but also many aspects of reality that tend to be associated with it. As a result, this deity has a more well-balanced suite of domains than its elemental nature might indicate. Despite being one of the oldest deities in existence, The Prince nonetheless is the one that has best kept up with the advancing state of mortal technology. The only deity to offer a firearm as a favored weapon, this evil deity offers one of the easiest paths to using this mysterious and devastating form of weaponry. Since The Source and The Void are unaligned, The Prince of Flame is the only deity that can grant a paladin the fire domain.
A setting's deities have a great deal of influence over how a setting feels, and exert an even greater impact on those characters that choose to follow them, whether for power or otherwise. The primary pantheon of Rimukyr likewise provides a cast of diverse and interesting options to make different divinely empowered characters feel very different in play. Next week we'll continue our exploration of deities with part 3: the intellectuals.
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