So I've been rereading the Crusader magazines recently and I ran across the Halfling Pantheon from "Of Gods and Monsters".
I got to wondering whether they and the other pantheons could be included in Aihrde.

Here's my thoughts:

The After Winter Dark folio lists the Val-Tulmiph (Immortals) as "gods who range from the simple hero to the very powerful lesser gods. They are much akin to the Val-Austlich, but their deification has nothing to do with the Val-Eahrakun, but rather their own deeds, destiny and well earned power. These gods are generally associated with only a few specific provinces. The peoples of Aihrde call upon them in time of need as would be appropriate. Worship of the lesser deities varies from being widespread to very localized."

I'm thinking that they're very much akin to saints and demi-gods (or godlings if you have The Primal Order). In that sense, I can't see any reason why the Halfling, the Elven or the Gnomish pantheon can't be included. Obviously the Dwarven pantheon couldn't because they venerate the All-Father above all else.

Any thoughts??

No reason why it shouldn't work. When I first read about the Val-Tulmiph it struck me as pretty similar to the Ascendants in Malazan Book of the Fallen. Some people, through supreme heroism, become immortal. Could even happen to the PCs.

@CosmicCowboy: I like the way that your thoughts are echoing mine own. The Ascendants are pretty much the Val-Tulmiph, as are the Immortals of Mystara.

Of course, the important thing to take away from that, is that they can also be brought down.

No reason it can't work; it's assumed and implied that actual gods, and powerful ones at that, once existed in the Days Before Days, and are now destroyed, banished, or forgotten. (pantheons of ancient Ethrum and Aenochia). I find that I dislike race specific pantheons. It sort of drives me crazy really, but it's a preference thing. I like to have a set of gods that exist and are then worshipped or not by any of the races; and certain races will most likely have different names for the god, different cultural ways of worshiping that god. Some may be preferred by some races over others, and so on.

But heck, that's the beauty of it. You could throw in as many pantheons as you want, and it would run just as smoothly. It really comes down to the flavor you want.

Was just reading Codex of Erde again, and thought of this thread. Yes, the dwarves venerate the All-Father, but they do the same for ancestors. No reason not to expand the dwarven pantheon at all.

Along the same lines, remember that Toth and...Taf...whatever...are the last remnant of an ancient pantheon, so you can always have small cults of that pantheon returning around gods that would fit with them.

I think that's what I've liked most about Erde/Aihrde, is that the setting framework is all laid out for me, but there's enough left open that I don't feel confined by the setting.

Good point ... a very good point. I hadn't thought about ancestor worship.



That would be Tefnut. Hmmm ... that gives me an idea to shoehorn the Aztec pantheon in there somehow.



True that. Now that I've managed to pick up the d20 Codex of Erde, it's filling in a lot of blanks for me.