5/25/98

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Jim's DragonQuest Campaign:
Religions

Christianity

In DragonQuest terms, Christianity corresponds to the Powers of Light. The following DragonQuest rules apply:

• Anyone in a church or other holy place is standing on consecrated ground, thereby receiving a +50 bonus to magic resistance.
• Anyone who has joined a Christian religious order (including the religious military orders) counts as a Creature of Light in the DragonQuest rules. For example, these characters are subject to the Spell of Summoning Entities of Light from the College of Summonings.
• In the DragonQuest rules, certain creatures have an affinity with the Powers of Light: eagles, dolphins, brownies, nagas, unicorns, and golden dragons. Christian characters should treat these creatures with respect.
• Star Mages in the College of Celestial Magics are also Light-aligned. In campaign terms, this means their aims are consistent with Christian behavior, even if the Star Mages aren't Christian.
• Members of the College of Necromantic Conjurations suffer penalties on Christian holy days: Epiphany, Candlemas, Annunciation, Easter, Pentecost, and Christmas.

Priests, monks, nuns, and lone hermits in the wilderness are the most devout practitioners of Christianity, and they can be sought for advice and healing.

The Powers of Darkness are present in the form of witches and heretics. Members of the College of Necromantic Conjurations are shunned or even persecuted by righteous members of the Christian community. Less righteous individuals don't mind benefitting from their spells, however.

Paganism

Druids are the specialists in pagan supernatural lore. They have prestige and authority in pagan communities, and they can even cross tribal boundaries with little fear of being misused. Pagan kings sometimes resent the druids' power, but they never act openly against them.

Among pagans, druids are the only ones who can read and write in the culture's native form of writing. Irish and British druids write in ogham, and Pictish druids write in glyphs. Most non-druids can't read and write at all, but those that learn for non-druidic reasons learn another language.

In DragonQuest terms, druids are members of the Elemental Colleges. Druids don't teach their magic to non-druids.

The British and Irish gods are listed in the table below. The Picts worship the "Dark Gods;" all Pictish druids are Dark Mages of the College of Celestial Magics.

Pagan Gods

Area	British	Irish	Notes
Air Magics	Lleu (m)	Lugh (m)	+20 to cast chances on Lugnasad (August 1)
Earth Magics (pacifistic)	Arianrhod (f)	Danu (f)	+10 to cast chances under a full moon
Earth Magics (primitive)	Arawn (m)	Dagda (m)	Ritual Sacrifice (of a human or other intelligent creature) replaces Ritual of Purification, but has same effects
Fire Magics	Belenos (m)	Bel (m)	+20 to cast chances on Beltaine (May 1)
Water Magics	Manawydan ap Llyr (m)	Manannan mac Lir (m)
Celestial Magics (Star Mages)	Math Mathonwy (m)
Celestial Magics (Shadow Weavers)	Scathach (f)
Celestial Magics (Dark Mages)	Meligraunce (m)
Agriculture	Cerridwen (f)	Bres (m)
Bards	Bran (m)	Ogma (m)	Annual Eisteddfod competition in Cambria
Crafts	Gofannon (m)	Goibhniu (m)
Healing	Diancecht (m)		Associated spells: Waters of Healing (Water), Healing (Celestial) Healer rank doubled (even beyond 10) on Imbolc (February 1)
War	Morrigan (f)		Associated spells: Weapon of Cold (Air), Diamond Weapon (Earth), Armor of Earth (Earth), Weapon of Flames (Fire), Shadowsword (Shadow, Dark), Starsword (Star)

The British also honor the goddess Britannia (Britain personified), and the Irish honor the goddess Eire (Ireland personified).

On Samhain (November 1), the boundaries between the natural and supernatural worlds are weakened. A properly conducted Samhain festival creates a mana rich area. Furthermore, the following talents, spells, and rituals have a +20 bonus on their cast chance:

• Air: Ritual of Windspeak, Ritual of Binding Air (when used to create an elemental), Snow Simulacrum, Ritual of Summoning and Controlling Air Elemental
• Earth: Spell of Conjuring and Controlling Earth Elemental, Sinking Doom
• Fire: Ritual of Binding Fire (when used to create an elemental), Spell of Summoning Salamander, Spell of Summoning Efreet, Ritual of Summoning and Controlling Fire Elemental
• Water: Seablessing, Ritual of Binding Water (when used to create a water sprite), Waters of Vision, Ritual of Summoning and Binding Water Elemental
• Celestial: Speak to Shadow Creatures, Ritual of Conjuring and Controlling Dark Sphere

Wotanism

Wotanic "rune priests" are members of the College of Rune Magics. Rune priests don't teach their runes to those who are not rune priests.

Each talent, spell, or ritual in the College of Rune Magics is associated with a particular god. This is mostly a role-playing issue, just so the characters know which gods are "sponsoring" a given spell. If the character offends a particular god, that god's spells will be withheld. The Spell of Summoning Totem Spirits summons a different creature depending on the particular rune used.

Wotanic Gods

God	Area	Spells
Wotan (m)	Chief god, war, eloquence, magic	All General Knowledge, Summoning Totem Spirits (Hugin or Munin [ravens], Freke or Gere [wolves]), Banishment, Smite, Runeweapon, Casting the Runes, Dimension Portal, Runes of Doom
Aegir (m)	Sea	Summoning Totem Spirits (undead), Binding (water), Wasting Doom
Eoster (f)	Fertility	Summoning Totem Spirits (Bergreda of the Forests)
Foiste (m)	Boats, travel	Summoning Totem Spirits (Raedgar the Navigator), Rune Portal
Nerthus (f)	Earth	Summoning Totem Spirits (cow), Binding (earth)
Phol (m)	Life, healing, light	Summoning Totem Spirits (Osruna the Child), Visitation, Binding (fire)
Seaxneat (m)	Justice	Runewall, Summoning Totem Spirits (Hengist the Warrior), Truth
Thunor (m)	Storms	Summoning Totem Spirits (Tanngrisner or Tanngjost [goats]), Binding (air)