A discussion of the name "orc" reminded me of just how cool William Blake's mythology is, and how strange it is that, to my knowledge, it's never been used for swords & sorcery or heroic fantasy gaming. Even the names are cooler and more fantasy-esque than the ones we see in commercial settings: you've got your rather remote sky god/creator god Urizen, a force for Law but not necessarily for good; you've got Luvah, the god of love, passion, and feeling, who masquerades these days as the more violent and rebellious Red Orc, on the verge of breaking free of his chains; you've got a creative, inspiring force embodied as Urthona, who could be a great patron of magic-users.
It's an especially useful pantheon if you want to do a battle between Law and Chaos with Chaos as the (potential) good guys.
I usually try to go back to Greek & Babylonian origins and tweak names accordingly. I'll have to check out your link to William Blake; it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteGood, Bad, they're the ones with Divinity ;)
Tom Moldvay's Lords of Creation includes a world based on Blake's poetry, including the deities you mention here.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Blake! Absolutely. His writings evoke a ton of images and ideas.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I was looking for a simple pantheon for my Labyrinth Lord game and this is PERFECT!
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