[a / b / c / d / e / f / g / gif / h / hr / k / m / o / p / r / s / t / u / v / vg / w / wg] [i / ic] [r9k] [cm / hm / y] [3 / adv / an / cgl / ck / co / diy / fa / fit / hc / int / jp / lit / mlp / mu / n / po / pol / sci / soc / sp / tg / toy / trv / tv / vp / x] [rs] [status / ? / @] [Settings] [Home]
Board:  
Settings   Home
4chan
/tg/ - Traditional Games


File: 36689181.jpg (59 KB, 375x500)
59 KB
59 KB JPG
How would a setting based on slavic mythology work?
>>
>>50128118
It would be only fit for high mortality games.
>>
>>50128118
>>
Almost the same as with germanic mythology, but with slight differences
>>
There would be no adventurers. The word doesn't exist in those languages, or rather it has an entirely different meaning.
The players would all be members of the same village or extended family. Enemies, representing natural and supernatural forces, would be defeated using creative tactics or thinking out of the box. Trying to attack a wolfman or a fairy directly would just end with making a new character, or with a fate worse than death.
>>
>>50128118
Everything would be focused on garnering reputation because there would be nothing more valuable than the esteem of one's peers.
>>
>>50129009
And fear and respect are the exact same thing
>>
>>50128118
The heroes are bogatyr, mortal men and women become so powerful that they surpass human limits. Their powers rival the gods.

The land is vast. You can walk for days without seeing a town. To refuse a guest is the lowest of the low. He or she might die of hunger or cold if not invited in. Any man who refuses a guest damns his house in the eyes of gods and men.

It would be magical. When you walk the land outside human settlements, you walk the realm of gods, demons and spirits. If you meet an old woman on the road be weary. Why would she travel alone if not because she knew with absolute confidence that no man could do her harm and live to tell the tale?
>>
>>50128118

The Witcher.
>>
>>50128222
Are you implying that there are no words for "adventurers" in slavic languages? Because there are.
>>
>>50129791
Can you give one?
>>
>>50129871
At least in russian "adventurer" would be avanturist (aвaнтюpиcт) or sometimes prikluchenec (пpиключeнeц). "Adventure" itself would be prikluchenie (пpиключeниe).
You can check the other languages in google translate if you are interested.
>>
>>50129951
Пpиключeнeц is a BS word made up by early Pen&Paper players
Aвaнтюpиcт while largely works (let's omit the fact it comes from French) but it implies someone risking his everything for possibly very little instead of someone going on a fun adventure romp (so, more of a Gygaxian D&D sense)
>>
>>50129951
Aвaнтюpиcт нe ocoбo пepeдaёт, пpиключeнeц - кpивaя кaлькa c adventurer. Eдинcтвeнный нe кpивoй пepeвoд, кoтopый я мoгy нaйти - "иcкaтeль пpиключeний"
>>
>>50129997
Well, пpиключeниe is an old word, what I was saying, пpиключeнeц would mostly be short from иcкaтeль пpиключeний.
>someone risking his everything for possibly very little instead of someone going on a fun adventure romp
Isn't it what adventure originally ment though?
>>
>>50129661
Nay, not in slav mythology at least.
>>
>>50130073
I agree that adventure does translate into Russian directly. And I agree that adventurer would translate into Иcкaтeль пpиключeний (Adventure seeker... on empty street*). Пpиключeнeц is still a nonsense word that I wouldn't use in a translation, though I do admit to using it all the fucking time in conversations.

>Isn't it what adventure originally ment though?
In D&D, sure
In real life... I'm not certain. I'd say this word is significantly more positive nowadays and implies excitement in a much more significant degree than pointless danger.

* Sorry, random Queen reference
>>
>>50128118
Everything from Melnitsa animation, just add more darkness and take away the stuff that keeps it family friendly.
>>
>>50130267
I don't see these meme of Russian Mythology being "Darker" than European Mythology.

It's just while Russia for decades tried to utterly stamp out it's own culture in favor of centralised communist ideals, European culture was Bastardised by Americanisation and the big cultural wastebin that is Hollywood.

As for Slavic Adventurers, wouldn't a Cossask Analogy spawn tons of adventurers?
>>
>>50130300
Probably. Just like any other martial culture with a lot of raider elements
>>
>>50128118
Are Ravenloft and Innistrad slavic enough?
>>
>>50130557
Ravnica takes more from Slavic myth than Innistrad.
>>
>>50130300
I think it has to do with the perception that, due to the niche life and the vague source material we have, Russian folklore and mythology is much more obscure which leads to people assuming it must therefore be dark and grim.

Also add to that the situation that the majority of Slavic countries have a bad infrastructure outside major cities despite being a country on European soil, which in my opinion gives them an additional layer of uncertainty that could directly fuel into the perception of inherently grimdark mythology.

Granted, all mythology becomes thoroughly obscure and grim once you actually put some effort into finding original sources or contemporary transcriptions.
>>
File: dobrynja.jpg (42 KB, 912x739)
42 KB
42 KB JPG
>>50129751
Wouldn't this make the heroes overpowered right from the start?
>>
>>50130703
Yes, but that's ok. Just put nigh insurmountable odds in their way.
>>
>>50128118
take slav believes and add whfrp rules. Warhammer fantasy roleplay is most popular system, here in polen for a reason
>>
>>50130703
Exalted does OP heroes from level one and gets away with it. I'm sure you could do something similar in a 'Slavic fantasy' setting.
>>
>>50128118
Wonderfully.
>>
Slavic would work well
But throw a real curveball at them and use Albanian mythology.
>>
File: 8f907-311650.jpg (37 KB, 640x400)
37 KB
37 KB JPG
I remember reading some stuff on slavic mythology and magic back in the days - please correct me if I'm wrong but here's the summary of what I remember:

- There's very little direct magic, no fireballs and magic missiles. The only direct thing I remember was called 'evil eye' and was some kind of curse where you had to look at the victim
- Most of the magic is based on rituals and offerings which indirectly affects you, others and the environment. E.g. you could offer some food to the river spirits in order to catch more fish or swim safely or do some kind of a ritual not to get lost in the woods or so that more children are born in your village
- Symbolism is the key to everything - using items, herbs, runes and symbols makes the magic more powerful - some of it won't even work without those items. Sometimes dressing or undressing in various ways helps if you enact certain roles in the rituals
>>
>>50132367
- Time of the day, time of the year, seasons, weather and your surroundings matter greatly. Major holidays are great for rituals linked to a certain deity. If you want to cast evil shit you can only do that at night and not in the presence of any religious symbols because gods are watching and they dislike that.
- Nature is obviously super important as well - you need to know your plants as herbalistm and proto-alchemy are playing a major role in the slavic beliefs. But again it's not the witcher style alchemy which just like witcher magic are needed to be instantaneous for the sake of the setting - it's usually long term, because that's the only way it could work. Someone got lucky or healthy month after drinking a potion - fucking magic, praise Weles, totally not coincidence. Some plants really did heal though and some really caused miscarriage.

If you wish OP here's a pretty cool source for this stuff (sadly in polish).
http://welesowy_jar.fm.interiowo.pl/new_page_6.htm
>>
>>50132367
>>50132490
Sounds like almost every other european pagan magic desu.
>>
>>50132585
When did the concept of extremely direct magic come about? Like fireballs and shit? Because most magic in mythology tends to take the form of symbolic rituals and the waiting game. Was it from the descriptions of godly powers from places like the Greeks?
>>
>>50132897
Americans and their large abomination known as Hollywood culture.
>>
>>50128222
>There would be no adventurers. The word doesn't exist in those languages, or rather it has an entirely different meaning
How is that different from anything else?
In celtic/germanic/any other cultural background, adventurers and adventuring are as much fake concept made up by rpgs as in slavic background.
>>
File: 1474873749331.jpg (444 KB, 2560x1600)
444 KB
444 KB JPG
>>50132897
The thing is that you had direct magic from the gods even in slavic myths because you didn't need to see it happen - you just heard about it in the folk tales. But those people really performed the rituals and since magic isn't real there couldn't be any direct consequences when people used magic.

The rule I would apply is that the magic used by humans can cause anything that could be explained as a coincidence within the rules of nature. Everything else should be left to the gods and never witnessed directly - e.g. a bad slav killed a priestess of a local cult and escaped, when people chased after him they didn't catch him but found a large and vaguely human-resembling rock in the forest - BAM! gods turned him into stone, case closed, time to tell this story to every trader who visits us ever.

>>50132990
this is what I believe as well
I feel like the fact that America is so young and has no ancient/medieval period to base its fantasy upon is why their fantasy is so heroic when compared to low/dark fantasy of europe (see DnD vs Warhammer FRP/Witcher). This is so weird though since the US is made of immigrants and you would imagine they would merge their beliefs and traditions into something cool, fresh and deep but no - fucking dragons everywhere.
>>
>>50133063
adventures and adventuring as understood by D&D I meant.
>>
>>50132990
Wasn't it present in the early fantasy writers too, though? Like in Tolkien for example?
>>
>>50133367
Not really. Tolkien's magic is mostly very indirect, unless explicitly divine in origin. Same for Howard and most other "classical" writers. Maybe Le Guin is one where it is more direct and staightforward, but still it is nowhere close gaming magic.
>>
>>50133125
It's kind of a shame, speaking as a Murican, because Native folklore has a lot of cool stuff in it, even moreso when combined with the Wild West. Problem is, no one really seems to take Native culture seriously beyond the typical "I feel bad, but not bad enough to learn about their culture," thing.

As for the Wild West, that just doesn't have as much of a foothold as European-inspired settings, despite it basically being our equivalent in iconicness to medieval Europe or feudal Japan.
>>
Fireballs started with wizards being reskinned siege engine pieces in Chainmail.
>>
>>50134302
Big issue with folklore is lack of, pardon the word, documentation. That is to say a lot of it is lost or at best distorted to fit the times. Meaning only like a minor part of folklore survives to be used in any practical sense.

If you go looking, you will start noticing that most, for example, slavic folk lore sites are split between people trying to aggregate what little is left, and new age hippy bullshit. Take a guess which is more popular.

Still, with a creative enough DM there is more then enough to forge one.

I disagree with need for bogatir's to be OP as fuck from get go. You can always start small, just remember, it is rare for people to abandon a village to become essencially vagabonds when land between villages is so vast that you will simply die if you can't supply yourself on the road.
>>
>>50134437
There are books that contain a lot about slavic folklore, but probably not so much of it is available online.
Here's a cartoon that fits the theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlKFk2Hp5H0
>>
>>50132897
Conjuring fire probably owes more to stage magicians than folk magicians; though the Zoroastrians sometimes called "Magians" in period texts, as their priesthood gives us the word "magus" used fire in their religious rituals, and were renowned mystics, second-hand accounts of whom would have been known across Europe.

Fire magic in a folk setting, at least in England comes from the Smith; a Smith's water-butt, which was used to quench hot metal was often purported to have healing properties; interestingly after being used for a quench the water does have mild antibacterial properties, though the precise reason why escapes me.
>>
>>50134673
I don't think Cossacks, amusing as they are, are a good ground for your slavic folklore game. It's mostly about, well, cossaks, i.e. mix of pols slavs and tatars exaggerated to an extrime with some lore thrown in.
>>
>>50130703
No, they don't start out overpowered, they earn that shit.
>>
>>50128118
if youre playing a d20 variant you'd have to design some skills feats
for example the feat: Squat
what advantages would it grant?
>>
>>50129791
There are, but they're used to desribe a boater or a mountain climber. The word also implies an antisocial loner, rather than a group of five.
>>
>>50130703
It's a question of opposition. Generally those guys fight massive multi-headed dragons or whole armies or other supermen like themselves
>>
>>50133125
>dragons everywhere
Describes pretty much all mythology ever
>>
>>50134969
We had a discussion on it already. At least in Russian there is an analogue to "adventure" and "adventurer".
I don't think adventurer in rpg context would really mean the same in other languages before role-playing games either.
Which word are you reffering to exactly?
>>
>>50128164
The fuck am I looking at?
>>
File: slav lore.png (52 KB, 813x664)
52 KB
52 KB PNG
>>50128118
>>
>>50135080
The cheekiest of breekis.
>>50128118
Baba Yaga is responsible for most problems.
Nobody's calling her(or sometimes them) on it, though.
>>
>>50130557
>>50130583
Vampires are from Slavic myths.
>>
>>50135113
Technically true. Modern vampires owe more to Bram Stoker and Anne Rice though
>>
>>50135102
>ooga booga grim n dark
>>
>>50133063
Bullshit, heroes journeys and quests are all over the fucking place in both chilvaric tales, traditional stories, fairytales, and mythology.

>>50128222
>There would be no adventurers. The word doesn't exist in those languages, or rather it has an entirely different meaning.

Monster slaying was literally a profession in many Slavic cultures.
In some periods it was fucking state sponsored.
>>
File: 0NevrevNV_Oprichniki_BISH.jpg (1.08 MB, 2003x1350)
1.08 MB
1.08 MB JPG
>>
>>50135317
Spoiler alert: there's no actual monsters in real world
>>
File: 1314387631700.jpg (399 KB, 1600x846)
399 KB
399 KB JPG
>>
>>50135317
One is a epic tale and myths, and other is an rpg party casual "adventuring". It's not exactly the same.
>>
>>
File: elders-gathering-1898.jpg (67 KB, 607x326)
67 KB
67 KB JPG
>>
File: fantasy.jpg (99 KB, 567x359)
99 KB
99 KB JPG
>>
Here is something from me.
>>
>>50135224

Also a lot of Vampire myths came from the alledged Jewish practice of Blood Libel.
>>
>>
>>
>>50135448
Post the rest of this series of pictures even if it's Ancient Aliens tier crazy
>>
>>50135386
You seem intent on not having fun. Why?
>>
File: Kitezh.jpg (53 KB, 491x394)
53 KB
53 KB JPG
Besides bogatyrs, Baba Yaga, and Koshchei, what lesser known things from Slavic mythology/folklore would make for interesting campaigns?
>>
File: hide-and-seek.jpg (46 KB, 366x563)
46 KB
46 KB JPG
>>
>>
>>50135493
You have some problems with what I wrote?
Or you really think traditional tales are the same as DnD adventures?
>>
>>
File: nastassja-korolevichna.jpg (312 KB, 515x800)
312 KB
312 KB JPG
>>
File: slav_ep01.jpg (132 KB, 1000x695)
132 KB
132 KB JPG
>>50135492
I've had it somewhere, but my image folder is too much of a mess to find it quickly.
Have this instead.
>>
File: polenov_old_mill_1880.jpg (567 KB, 2074x1300)
567 KB
567 KB JPG
>>
File: shishkin_expanse_1883.jpg (447 KB, 2000x1330)
447 KB
447 KB JPG
>>
>>50135566
>>50135586
It's a nice middle ground, aesthetics wise, between Mongolian and Scandinavian.
>>
>>50135374
That doesn't change anything.

Wandering vampire hunters and the like were a thing, whether you like it or not.
>>
>>
File: no way fag.jpg (554 KB, 1280x1280)
554 KB
554 KB JPG
>>50128118
WFRP with no martial careers allowed, and where you may not leave the first career.
>>
File: Surikov-Horseman2.jpg (698 KB, 1300x963)
698 KB
698 KB JPG
>>
File: Vasnetsov_Kulachni_boi.jpg (108 KB, 474x683)
108 KB
108 KB JPG
>medieval Russian boxing
>>
>>50135524
Anthing/Everything to do with Buyan Island.
Pantheon.
Bestiary. While it has many simularities with your run of the mill fantasy, it also has quite few divergences see >>50135425
The distrust. Every time some group of armed fuckers shows in a run of the mill setting, they usually have an excuse or an invite. If you are in a slavic setting, chances are you are from a fuck off far village and, as I said before, few people leave close nit communities, so why did you? While true that slavic hospitalty is praised, and if you are famous you will likely get a very warm greeting, if you are just a group of exiles, it's hard to tell you from bandits.

>>50135574
>Or you really think traditional tales are the same as DnD adventures?
I think you are boring. If you can't imagine a DnD campaign with the same level of epic acts/events of a folktale, you are simply lacking in imagination. Campaings can be very different, so can folktales. And your insistance on some rigid formula for either puzzles me.
>>
File: slav_ep19.jpg (116 KB, 1000x659)
116 KB
116 KB JPG
>>50135621
>>
>>
>>50135705
YOU GOT LAID THE FUCK OUT, FANCYPANTS
>>
>>
File: Vrubel_Demon.jpg (1.54 MB, 1918x1042)
1.54 MB
1.54 MB JPG
>>
File: original.jpg (6.31 MB, 3000x1954)
6.31 MB
6.31 MB JPG
>>
File: Surikov1906.jpg (290 KB, 1900x1047)
290 KB
290 KB JPG
>>50135806
>When you post the wrong image
>>
>>50135710
It has nothing to do with "you are boring xddd". They have different style andf different structure. It was not as almost an "adventurer" job as it is in DnD, where there as much adventurers as there are street cleaners.
It again has nothing to do with being "epic" or "heroic" by itself, of course you can kill billion dragons with a sword of anal ruination in your super-not-boring campaign, but it doesn't change the difference between the structure of the world in the old myths and DnD.
>>
>>
>>50135843
Again, you are operating under presumption that both campaings and folklore have rigid structure. I do not understand why you think it is so. Folklore varies from tales of heroic deeds and noble sacrifices, to tales of women fucking with vodyanoy because husband can't get it up. Campaigns vary from, go kill 5 gobos, to solve this ancient puzzle I spent a year designing because I'm an autist supreme. How, with such variety, are you so hell bent on structure, I do not know.
>>
>>50135953
I don't think you still quite get it.
I'm saying how it is done in the whole DnD lore itself, which followed into a trend in rpgs in general, and how it is done in tales. I don't even understand why do you project it on me, I'm not the one who wrote either DnD lore or tales.
In DnD adventurers are common as flies and in tales adventurers are ususally one in a million chosen ones.
You are free to do what the fuck you want with your games, but the thing still is that "adventurer" in DnD is not the same is "adventurer" in old tales.
>>
>>50136090
Ah, I see now, you mean to say that it wouldn't be by the book WOTC DND setting. I don't think it matters that much. If you want a basic DND campaign with a custom Pantheon/Bestiary/Plot based on slavic folktales you can do that. If you want a different expirience with dark woods, long trails, strange customs and monsters who will eat you for dinner if you are not prepared, you can do that too. I don't think you must follow either, do what fits your group and all that.
>>
File: (judgemental stare).jpg (56 KB, 517x572)
56 KB
56 KB JPG
>>50130145
...is this bait?
>>
File: 1421549586168.jpg (471 KB, 930x794)
471 KB
471 KB JPG
>>50135102
>tfw I was the OP for that thread
>tfw that advice helped craft a Slav-Setting
>tfw best RPG experience of my life
I love you guys. /tg actually increased the quality of my life.
>>
File: 7JpKS.jpg (633 KB, 1280x964)
633 KB
633 KB JPG
>>50135448

I was going to post this, all his works are great.

VB Ivanov was one crazy motherfucker.

Actually for a little rant, as the West digests this PC phase Russian exceptionalism has been bothering me lately, its like every Rus I meet on the web has the same exact speech.

I dont want to start an argument forgive me, I actually respect the Russian people a lot.
>>
File: 0_b4490_6fecc4c0_XXXL.jpg (594 KB, 966x1280)
594 KB
594 KB JPG
>>50138878

Going to post some I got forgot to say.
>>
File: v3nwWra.jpg (441 KB, 1280x927)
441 KB
441 KB JPG
>>50138898
>>
File: ivanov-vsevolod_jpg.jpg (553 KB, 1280x800)
553 KB
553 KB JPG
>>50138920
>>
File: Cossack.png (94 KB, 357x396)
94 KB
94 KB PNG
"O sultan, Turkish devil and damned devil's kith and kin, secretary to Lucifer himself. What the devil kind of knight are you, that can't slay a hedgehog with your naked arse? The devil excretes, and your army eats. You will not, you son of a bitch, make subjects of Christian sons; we've no fear of your army, by land and by sea we will battle with thee, fuck your mother.
You Babylonian scullion, Macedonian wheelwright, brewer of Jerusalem, goat-fucker of Alexandria, swineherd of Greater and Lesser Egypt, pig of Armenia, Podolian thief, catamite of Tartary, hangman of Kamyanets, and fool of all the world and underworld, an idiot before God, grandson of the Serpent, and the crick in our dick. Pig's snout, mare's arse, slaughterhouse cur, unchristened brow, screw your own mother!
So the Zaporozhians declare, you lowlife. You won't even be herding pigs for the Christians. Now we'll conclude, for we don't know the date and don't own a calendar; the moon's in the sky, the year with the Lord, the day's the same over here as it is over there; for this kiss our arse!
- koshovyi otaman Ivan Sirko, with the whole Zaporozhian Host."


Im gonna say a Cossack pc would be fun...
>>
>>50128118
The winters are cold and dark, spend it drinking alcohol in the huts of your friends and neighbors and gossiping.
>>
>>50139463
>>
>>50139463
>secretary to Lucifer himself.
"So what's a job that puts him in direct contact with the devil but is also demeaning as shit?"
>>
>>50139463
To give a bit of context to this reply, original letter of the sultan to cossacks was mostly a long list of titles this sultan had. Which is what this reply mocks
>>
>>50133595

A lot of magic in Le Guin's setting is based on the knowledge "true names" if you know a person or objects true name then you have power over it

e.g to know the true name of fire means you can manipulate and shape fire as you see fit but you cannot create fire from thin air their must allready be something on fire for you to work with

also the overuse of magic in Le Guins settings causes huge natural disasters, even the oldest and most skilled of mages are reluctant to use even the most basic magic's
>>
>>50139463
>>50139713
- Hey, write "fuck your mother"
- I already did!
- Well write it again!
>>
>>50139463
>an idiot before God

cracks me up
>>
>>50139463
>The devil excretes, and your army eats
Moи cтopoны
>>
>>50135374
>Spoiler alert: there's no actual monsters in real world
Thank Captain Slav for that.
>>
Ideas for a slavic setting:
>the land is heavily forested
>the forest is populated by potentially dangerous spirits
>you'd do well not to wander it at night
>most of the people live in small villages and wooden forts, pretty far apart
>magic is mostly used by witches in long healing rituals and curses, not by fireballing wizards
>there are several bigger gods, worshipped by pretty much everyone (Svetovit is a good candidate for the main god, Weles was usually thought of as a darker god associated with poisonous herbs, trickery and death)
>many places have their own smaller gods or spirits, especially true with rivers and lakes. you might want to give them small offerings for luck.
>hospitality is one of the most important virtues, refusing a guest is an extremely evil act
>feminine spirits or creatures who kill men after seducing them are a very popular trope, so are monsters or undead who drown people near remote bodies of water
The Witcher's setting some elements from slavic folklore
>>
>>50143192
that would be slavic dark ages before christianity ofc, the Witcher is high or late middle ages
adventuring parties could probably still have mages, they'd just be more centered about healing with herbs, potions and rituals, possibly some curses or terror type effects on enemies
>>
>>50139463
I would like to note that in the original slavic parts of this rhyme for added impact.
>>
>>50128169
But that's Just wrong desu. IN slovenian for example there is pustolovec, interestingly enough pusto means plain or barren. Posiblly refferencing the fact that a slavic adventurer would have to traverse large bodies of plains and generally boring land.
>>
>>50143192
Ideas for classes:
>Woj (professional warrior armed with a wooden shield and one-handed weapon, wearing thick clothing or mail (if he's elite) and a helmet, usually serves a landlord. the protoplast of a knight, but not a rich noble and not quite as concerned with honor
>Bandit (armed with a big axe or club, with light to no armor. probably descends from peasantry and has dubious morality, sort of an emalgamation of barbarian and rogue)
>Hunter (unarmored bowman, good at stealth, especially in a heavily forested environment. knows a fair deal about tracking and of course hunting, but with no armor and a flimsy knife or axe he struggles in melee)
>Znachor (pagan witch doctor or druid, has extensive knowledge on forest spirits and herbs, both medicinal and poisonous. probably knows a few ritual healing spells and simple medical stuff such as wound treatment or cures for common diseases. can fuck people up with nasty curses and probably an axe)
>>
File: 1436382304227.jpg (9 KB, 250x250)
9 KB
9 KB JPG
>>50135676
Th-that's actually fucking genius.
>>
File: 1474665346771.jpg (87 KB, 382x360)
87 KB
87 KB JPG
>>50143192
>>50144676
>>
File: druzyna-chrobrego.jpg (180 KB, 650x366)
180 KB
180 KB JPG
>>50144676
Perfect! Just change "Bandit" into "Zbój" and "Hunter" into "Łowczy" and you're set.

I'd pitch in my character idea too:
>Kniaź (armed with sword and spear, heavily armored, probably trained in horseback riding and fighting, a little bit more cultured and coming from priveleged family of local nobles/warlords)
>>
>>50128118
I had an idea once.

It was based around Chernobyl, only in case when it wasn't really a nuclear power plant accident.

Yeah right, it was a manifestation. Somehow, the gods decided to take the fucking piss. All of them. Perun's lightnings penetrate the sky here and there, chaining over for kilometers, living being to living being. Mara, the Overseer of Birth and Death, spins her wheel backwards so dead armies rise. Gagana, the Guardian of the World-tree, is a bird of iron beak that likes dining on commercial flights. Six-armed and three-headed Triglav roams the land with a sword of cold iron and a golden blindfold over all of his eyes, because blinding him was the only way for the other gods to keep a rabid-ass god of war in check, and he's looking for an army to challenge to a bout - 4th Guard Kantemir Armored Division didn't impress him.

You'd be talking about a cordoned-off area which is controlled by different parties from NATO and USSR, plus independent parties like religious fanatics, independent scientists and black market which try to estabilish control of the situation, gather information on what the actual fuck is going on here.

Think Stalker, but with occult shit.
>>
>>50146111
What about a more arcane-oriented wizard with focus on illusions, divination, and scholarly pursuits. Kind of like a court adviser/guy who does magic tricks to enthrall his lord?
>>
>>50146323
>What about a more arcane-oriented wizard with focus on illusions, divination, and scholarly pursuits
Scholarly pursuits is something that didn't really happen before christianization, and all of it really came from Greece/Byzantine Empire, so only if you want to go for a gratuitious foreign vibe - which you could. A Byzanthine sorcerer could have access to a shitload of lore actually.

>Kind of like a court adviser/guy who does magic tricks to enthrall his lord?
A rich Kniaz could get an advisor from the south, since Kievan Rus and Byzantine Empire traded.
>>
File: Horpyna.jpg (89 KB, 600x900)
89 KB
89 KB JPG
>>50146323
>>50146385
Also, court-style magicians aren't that common in dark ages Slavic stuff. When it comes to magic users it's pretty much always witchdoctors, priests and some twisted, crazy witches living in remote forests, bogs or mountains. Maybe let's elaborate the witch as a character:

>Wiedźma (twisted, dabbles in black magic, alchemy and divination, pacts with spirits and sometimes controls various feral monsters, feared but respected)

A video for reference: meeting with a witch Horpyna and her servant Czeremis from Polish movie "Ogniem i Mieczem"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoVCdGbTYYU
>>
>>50146575

>pacts with spirits and sometimes controls various feral monsters, feared but respected)
If you really wanna play the "feared but respected" card, I'd ditch spirit pacts and go with "beating spitits into submission" instead. See Lesser Key of Solomon, only from a pagan perspective - maybe she was given authority to command spirits by undergoing a sort of initiation with a powerful local god, or she's just this badass to dominate entities with her ego and will.

>dabbles in black magic, alchemy and divination
Don't forget healing. This is actually one of the things with witches in Slavic culture, they were hated and feared for their power, but sometimes they were the last resort when someone was seriously ill or wounded.
>>
>>50146323
Arcane oriented, i.e. modern magic, wasn't really a common thing. The best you can do is either someone with a bardic stint who is fascinated by gathering secrets of both man and beast. Or a lorekeeper trying to document matters of importance on scraps of birch bark. With magic, if any, being oriented around true names, or maybe even actual applied chemestry and such.
>>
File: Happy merchant.png (60 KB, 274x320)
60 KB
60 KB PNG
>>50132990
>implying (((Hollywood))) culture comes from Americans
>>
>>50146662
Of course, healing is a part of that alchemical stuff - it's mostly about potions, brews and weird food.
>>
>>50128118

It would get squatted by the developers.
>>
>>50146323
A wandering monk cleric / scholar like Gallus Anonymus would make more sense, there really aren't any fantasy wizards in slavic folklore
I wonder what about bards though
>>
>>50143192
Svantovit is an awful candidate, in that he's a perversion of a Christian saint. The svantovit idols was on rugen which was frequently converted back and forth between Christian and pagan. Under Christian rule, st Vitus was worshipped there. Beforehand, it was likely an idol to perun or Dazhbog-Hors. Over generations, they forgot the old gods and imported st vitus as svantovit
>>
>>50146792
I apologize for how unclear and scattered this is written. I just woke up and I'm hungover
>>
>>50135374
By our modern view. For the ancients, bears, wolves, tigers, lions or really any big scary animal that wants to kill you is a monster.
>>
>>50135102
dude this screencap is 146% lies
>And bogatyr took a big fucking log and slaughtered an army of Pechenegs
>And then made the whistling brigand shut the fuck up
>And then guiled a big tatar into stabbing himself
>And almost got eaten by baba yaga, but that was another, kind of dumb bogatyr
>>
>>50146787
There were a lot of bards, but they mostly preferred singing, poetry and riddles over playing musical instruments.Other than that, there were court minstrels and jesters - those used to deal more with instrumental music, dancing, acrobatics and tricks.
>>
>>50128118
The Witcher uses mythos from almost every culture. Including Slavic
>>
>>50146385
>>50146575
I was more thinking that a lot of northern lords and the like (Khans, Jarls, Hunnic warlords) tended to have a sort of "magician adviser" who they kept around for the mystique.
>>
>>50131544
> albanian mythology
You'll hve to expand that concept, cause he only albanian mythic thing I know of is that they suosedly have 200 words for different kinds of mustaches.
>>
>>50147389
...so now imagine both of those combined.

>The nasty wicked witch lives in a little hut in the middle of a bog.
>There is this warlord wanting to take over a neighboring land.
>Goes to the bog in the search of witch's wisdom.
>Using her weird connection to the spirits she conducts a ritual and gives an advice to the warlord.
>Also, she could put a curse on the warlord's rival, but at the price...
>>
>>50132897
Fireball slinging wizards come directly from D&D, or rather Chainmail; Gygax's rules for fantasy miniatures games - and in games of mass combat subtlety is not always all that useful.

In Chainmail Wizards were primarily deployed as Napoleonic-style artillery - they could throw either a fireball or a lightning bolt. Other powers sometimes given to them included the ability to move earth (allowing the player to move or re-deploy terrain on the battlefield), or flight.

When Gygax fused his rules with Arneson's Twin Cities fantasy Braunstein (featuring a referee that arbitrated actions for a number of players playing "individuals", rather than armies), D&D took shape - and one of the powers attributed to magic users was the ability to throw lightning bolts and fireballs at higher levels of power.

Even if D&D never existed the idea of a fireball slinging wizard would probably still have come about from fantasy miniatures games, allowing you to use say, Napoleonic game rules for grapeshot or cannon in your fantasy game.
>>
>>50135374
That just means they were good at their jobs.
>>
File: 1477101654477.jpg (394 KB, 1920x1080)
394 KB
394 KB JPG
>>50128118
Pretty easy:

>folk Devil
>vampires
>werewolves
>witches
>fairy folk
>krampus
>random Christian(?) saints
>taltos / shaman
>random miracles in every village
>magickal weirdos / wanderers on every road

Well?
>>
>>50148256
>Slavic mythology
>a ton of christian, germanic and finnish stuff
>>
>>50128118
witcher rpg
>>
>>50146852
Don't forget foreigners and deformed outcasts.

"Monster" has a pretty broad remit.
>>
>>50148884
Yep.

The Slavs were subjugated by the Norse in the formation of the Kievan Rus, hence the germanic strains (it wasn't that distinct from it in the first place, for instance Perun = Thor), and the Finno-Ugrics have been one of their closest neighbours forever, and there are still significant finno-ugric minorities in parts of Russia.
>>
We also had liches.
>>
>>50135227
>>ooga booga grim n dark
which does sound like the slavic areas during this time.
>turks show up to enslav
>mongols burn all your shit
>Teutonics dislike you not being christians.
You live in the worst fucking spot in the world.
and now you have magic to through in it.
>>
>>50145756
I've done it before, is why I suggest it.
>>
>A strzyga (Polish pronunciation: [ˈstʂɨɡa]) is a female demon somewhat similar to vampire in Slavic (and especially Polish) folklore. People who were born with two hearts and two souls and two sets of teeth (the second one barely visible) were believed to be strzygas. Furthermore, a newborn child with already developed teeth was also believed to be one. When a person was identified as a strzyga he was chased away from human dwelling places. Such strzygas usually died at a young age, but, according to belief, only one of their two souls would pass to the afterlife; the other soul was believed to cause the deceased strzyga to come back to life and prey upon other living beings. These undead strzyga were believed to fly at night in a form of an owl and attack night-time travelers and people who had wandered off into the woods at night, sucking out their blood and eating their insides. Strzyga were also believed to be satisfied with animal blood, for a short period of time.
Slavic vampires are fucking scary
>>
>>50150315
If system in question was CotD, could you have one soul Awaken while using non-Atlantean Supernatural merits with the other? Or have one of your souls kidnapped by the fae and Changed, and the other one die and come back as a Geist?
>>
>>50129791

There isn't. At least not in Russian.

"Avanturist" is a word borrwed from "Adventurer."
"Priklyuchenets" is not a word.
"Strannik" is wanderer.
"Puteshestvennik" is traveller.

If I had to do it, I would call them like, some kind of "druzhina" or something, but it implies a more martial bent.
>>
>>50135227
>ooga booga grim n dark
I mean you can always watch disney movies and happily ever after stories if its too "dark" for you.
>>
I've always liked Baba Yaga but I've never found a way to incorporate her into a character's backstory whenever my group plays something more.... modern/on earth and not just a fantasy game like Pathfinder or D&D.



Delete Post: [File Only] Style:
[Disable Mobile View / Use Desktop Site]

[Enable Mobile View / Use Mobile Site]

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective parties. Images uploaded are the responsibility of the Poster. Comments are owned by the Poster.