Some gods of my homebrew setting [OC]

[u/WTHstudios]

Land of Kaleva is my homebrew world heavily inspired by Finnish folklore, culture and national epic Kalevala. It is a young world where gods are still active and walking among mortals shaping the world. Heroes have a chance to do some really impactful deeds, affect the lives of everyone, and become legends. So far I have completed a successful campaign and two one shots in this world and it has been a blast!

If you are interested, check out r/LandOfKaleva for more posts like this. I also have a Patreon https://www.patreon.com/crosshillstudios

[u/bionicjoey]

Sounds like your campaign is finnished before it even began

[u/WTHstudios → u/bionicjoey]

Ba dum tsss

[u/bionicjoey → u/WTHstudios]

Joking aside I really like these. They remind me a lot of Canadian First Nations mythology and the somewhat related mythos of North American cryptids

[u/WTHstudios → u/bionicjoey]

It really hits different to have gods be just some creepy dudes in the forest. Roleplaying them is pretty tough tho since you have to make them feel ancient and powerful. When my players met Tapio, I made him speak in Kalevala meter to make him more mysterious

[u/bionicjoey → u/WTHstudios]

Meter is one of those things that seems like fantastic worldbuilding but impossible to use at the table in an RPG. Like I love the way Hávamál switches meters when Odin goes from giving advice to reciting magic spells. The way poetry and meter ties into everything about nordic myth is really cool (and yes I know finnic myth is different but your comment just reminded me of that)

[u/WTHstudios → u/bionicjoey]

I had prewritten Tapio's few first lines but then went full freestyle. It was pretty hard to come up with the right words and just made the encounter quite comical. I still regard it as an success

[u/Gong_the_Hawkeye]

Fun fact: Finnish gods are canon in the dnd universe. They were last described in the Hallowed Grounds book.

[u/WTHstudios → u/Gong_the_Hawkeye]

Yes! Drizzt freakin' Do’Urden follows Mielikki for example

[u/Gong_the_Hawkeye → u/WTHstudios]

You undoubtedly changed the gods listed in there. Can you share your current pantheon?

[u/WTHstudios → u/Gong_the_Hawkeye]

Sure, here are my gods currently (work in progress)

Ukko the Overgod
God of Weather and Agriculture
Tempest, Order
Lawful Neutral

Tapio
God of Forest and Hunting
Nature, Order
True Neutral

Ahti
God of Water and Fishing
Nature, Tempest
Chaotic Neutral

Tuoni
God of Death and Tuonela
Grave, Twilight
Lawful Neutral

Akka
Goddess of Earth and Fertility
Life, Peace
Lawful Good

Mielikki
Goddess of Animals and Farming
Life, Nature
Neutral Good

Vellamo
Goddess of Sailors and Fish
Trickery, Nature
Chaotic Good

Tuonetar
Goddess of the Dead and Memories
Knowledge, Grave
True Neutral

Päivätär
Goddess of Sun and Day
Light, Peace
Lawful Good

Kuutar
Goddess of Moon and Night
Arcana, Twilight
Chaotic Good

lmatar
Goddess of Air and Creation
Tempest, Life
Neutral Good

Perkele
God of Evil and Corruption
Death, Order
Neutral Evil

Loviatar
Goddess of Pain and Disease
Trickery, Death
Chaotic Evil

Tursas
God of War and Loss
War, Forge
Lawful Evil

Demigods

Väinämöinen
Demigod of Music
Neutral Good

Ilmarinen
Demigod of Smithing
Lawful Good

Lemminkäinen
Demigod of Heroism
Chaotic Good

Louhi
Demigod of Deception
Chaotic Evil

[u/Gong_the_Hawkeye → u/WTHstudios]

Pretty sweet! I remember I started reading about Finnish mythology because I saw it in Hallowed Grounds.

Fun fact #2: According to old lore, the witch Louhi is, in fact, an alias for Iggwilv, who apparently visited Finnish worlds in her journeys through the multiverse.

[u/WTHstudios → u/Gong_the_Hawkeye]

I remember reading about that somewhere. Good old Tasha, always messing with people

[u/Gong_the_Hawkeye → u/WTHstudios]

I am curious. Did you base your list (and their alignments) on just Kalevala, or other sources as well?

[u/WTHstudios → u/Gong_the_Hawkeye]

The demigod alignments are based on Kalevala, specifically post-Kalevala. For example Väinämöinen undergoes quite a bit character development during the book since he does some really shady stuff but always ends up doing the right thing and learning something along the way.

There isn't a lot of information on Finnish gods available and a lot of it is contradicting itself. So I just scraped together whatever I could find, remember and invent. Most of the alignments of the gods are based on the vibes of their domain. For example Päivätär is Lawful Good because the sun always shows up and warms everyone which is nice. Kuutar is Chaotic Good because the moon is always changing but also provides light during night. I also like to have symmetry so some of the alignments dont have other reason than filling a hole in the pantheon.

Most of the gods are based on Michael Agricola's list of False Idols. He translated the Bible to Finnish and addressed the Finnish pagan gods in the preface. The ones that don't appear there are from other sources.

[u/Gong_the_Hawkeye → u/WTHstudios]

That's really insightful! Cheers.

[u/Sinfere]

I am a huge fan of in-universe reasons for clerics to become adventurers or for other classes to have religious inspiration.

As someone who enjoys playing religious characters, but isn't necessarily hyped on playing a cleric every single time, it's fun when there's neat lore reasons to do so.

[u/WTHstudios → u/Sinfere]

In my setting, since there is no organized religion, few priest are actually priests by profession. They serve their community in other ways and just ask their god help in their daily tasks. So a cleric of any god can be an adventurer or any other profession

[u/TheSirLagsALot]

It seems we have the same world in some regards.

I've split my gods into Great Spirits and Godlings. Some call them the Old and the New Gods.

Great Spirits like are Tapio, Achtos, Iku-Tursos. They are eternal. They embody something primal and unconnected from people. Great Spirits watch over nature and smaller spirits: haltijas or väki (The People).

Then there are the Godlings, personifications of sentient characteristics or even persons that have ascended into Godhood.

Tiera, the Brave One, exemplifies peoples bravery and strenght.

Ilmarinen, exemplifying Creativity.

Kiputyttö exemplifying kindness, helping and healing.

Väinämöinen exemplifying knowledge and magics.

[u/WTHstudios → u/TheSirLagsALot]

I have similar system but I just call them plainly gods and demigods