RELIGION

[DasClay]

Does anyone have information on the Symbols of the different religious groups and rank structures? Anything more indepth than the main book?

 

[Hyborian Apeman]

I wish! REH never went into a lot of depth, and if Vincent hasn't compiled it into the various sorce books, there is a decent chance that de Camp, and other authors haven't gone into great depth either.

But I defer to more acomplished Conan scholars than myself . . .

 

[DasClay]

Well the other night when I was Running the game, I was asked" what symbol does Mitra followers wear, and those of other Gods...and I didnt have all the answers... So I didnt want to just "wing it".

 

[Hyborian Apeman]

I have gotten similar questions, and have had to either make it up (if it was a lesser known diety) or tell my PCs I would get back to them. Perhaps it will be delved into in further supplements?

 

[EricKRod]

Im sure some of the religions would be easy to guess at, like Set for example. I would bet good money that his religious symbol has something to do with a snake.

I think I remember seeing a symbol of Mitra used several times in past Conan comics or magazines. It looks very similiar to the Christian cross, except that it has a half circle on top of a "T" symbol with three lines coming out from the crect of the half circle, kind of like holding a letter "T" with a small half-sun on top.

Eric in Vegas

 

[Bregales]

Sorry folks, I'm heading to bed and only just saw this post. I don't think religions in the Conan game use holy symbols like dnd does. But check out the story "Black Colossus" for descriptions of a bunch of gods. (The second chapter has princess Yasmela going to an idol of Mitra and praying to it, with a description of a shrine and sculpture of the god, with Vateesa saying, "This is but an emblem of the god. None pretends to know what Mitra looks like. This but represents him in idealized human form, as near perfection as the human mind can conceive. He does not inhabit this cold stone, as your preists tell you Ishtar does. He is everywhere - above us, and about us, and he dreams betimes in the high places among the stars. But here his being focuses."

This story goes into various gods to more or lesser extent. Also, "The God in the Bowl" goes into Mitra vs. Set more or less too. So the stories are the best sources of how different religions work. I put in a list of gods after a query from LokiOne in this thread: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=85826&highlight=#85826. It has references to where I found mention of the god, but not spelled out. Maybe this would help? I didn't spell out the stories, but could if anyone wanted to know/cared.

 

[DasClay]

I Thank you for that information. I just belive that there is a need for the religions,cults, etc... in this world because they talk about them on a regular basis, but never really get into them. Everyone knows about Set from the movies, but how many people really know about Damballah, or Hanuman ? you would have to be a die hard fan of the books. I just feel like there should be some information on the Gods, and religions,cults, and occults... It also adds for good background and some interesting NPCs.

 

[VincentDarlage]

The Road of Kings goes into more detail about several of the gods. Also, Robert Yaple wrote four articles for The Savage Sword of Conan detailing the gods. These appeared in issues 6 through 9, inclusive, and can often be found on eBay.

 

[Raven Blackwell]

Me- I'd wing it. Everybody's Hyboria is different. Since Mitra was orginally a bull cult in the RL, horns wouldn't be out of place. Since it is a martial cult, throw in a an arm bearing a hammer or sword and encirle it all with a laurel wreath of victory- there we have an image to inspire slaughter and imperial domination. 8)

Some of the more primitive cults might not have a symbol, either because they haven't evolved to the point to where they can think in abstract symbols or fear their god(s) to the point where they don't want to attract thier attention (e.g Crom). Some cults could use an actual living symbol like an animal or tree. [If I recall in some pastiche wasn't there a 'King Bull' worshipped as a God by the Border Kingdom lords. I know it was mentioned in C:tRoK. Good adventure idea- a rival cult/tribe/city/nation hires the party to steal the sacred icon from another rival cult.

[Actually if I recall, wasn't there a Roy Thomas comic about two cities fighting over the living 'god-king' Tarim where Conan got entangled with various plots?]

Raven

 

[XcomSquaddie]

Next time they ask, have their characters abducted by religous fanatics of the deity in question. Have the cultists brand the holy symbol across the characters buttocks.

Then see if they ask again.


:twisted: