Gods of the Wild Places

This is my attempt at making some more earthy, grounded and decidedly pre-judaistic gods. They're pretty much just fancy animals, fancy animals that you could conceivably find and kill if you were so inclined. In Bashu's case it's shocking that this hasn't happened already.

                                                                                          

Bashu the Summer Lord

Bashu the Summer Lord, Enemy of Infants, the Far Traveller

Source

A god that needs to be hunted to be properly worshipped. 

Of course he has lay worshippers, hunters from the Spine to the Black Mirror will release an occasional animal from their snares to court his favour. The bigger the better, but as most hunters know there are diminishing returns in Bashu's graces. A rabbit might not merit much attention but a deer will feed your children for a month and freeing it won't guarantee anything. Bashu doesn't care. He's a simple creature and takes his vengeance on greedy trackers by showing the animals their traps and where best to hide.

If you manage to catch or corner him he will exchange knowledge of the animals for his freedom. He sees everything that the animals of his woods see.

All spell-receiving clerics of Bashu are hunters who have managed to catch him and traded his freedom for nothing but his gratitude. Bashu respects that and rewards them with insight. Clerics that worship Bashu get a point of bushcraft every second level.

Or you could totally just kill him and take his magic stick, but so far no one has. However the Gold Citadel is very interested in Bashu but have so far failed to catch him.

• No. Encountered: One, if you're very very lucky.
• Size: An 8ft tall hairy man/bear/tree
• Speed: As fast as a healthy horse.
• AC: 16. His skin is stiff like shark leather with hair so thick you can hardly find your way to the flesh.
• D8+3  Pick something that won't take forever to beat him down on but enough so that they know they're fighting a god (5HD is probably good.)
• Saving Throw: 8
• Attack: Crutch of Summers (huge tree club 1d10+3)
• Intelligence: He understands running and hiding, he knows where the game trails are and every good hollow tree and crevices. A good runner is also a good chaser, so he could probably answer some tough questions on finding what you need in the wild corners of the world.
• Treaure: His walking stick, the Crutch of Summers, is huge and can be used as a clumsy great weapon with some difficulty by a normal fellow (1d8 damage), however if you take your time and lean into it like an old crone, your footprints will appear as whatever animal you wish them to be. Accurate enough to trick all but the most cunning and experienced tracker (-3 in 6 bushcraft roll to figure it out). Bashu can use it without all this fuss of course, it's his stick after all.
• His voice sounds like old, stretched leather and he smells like autumn leaves. 

                                                                                          

Invenit, who Makes Clear the Way

Invenit, the God of lost things

Invenit's most ardent followers eschew maps and wander around trying to be 'lost' as much as possible. Finding 'lost' items (treasure, etc) is considered a blessing from the god. Holy symbol is an open, empty hand.

Invenit appears as a shimmering blue goat with long braided hair, sometimes glimpsed at the crest of hills or the bottom of valleys, always watching and shimmering before unhurriedly trotting off. His appearance is thought to lead the lost where they need to go, even if it isn't necessarily where they want to go.

His followers are on a constant pilgrimage to find something. What "thing" they want is unknown, but they know they should be looking for it. To save time for their fellow pilgrims they tag where they've been. It isn't uncommon to find a crude carving of the open hand of Invenit in ancient temples in the heart of the most remote rainforests and on massive stalagmites in the deep dark crotch of the earth. As you can imagine they are a worldly lot and often carry the best and most juicy news from far away lands.

Some devotees think they are looking for Invenit. Some believe it is a metaphorical journey of discovery, and in fact the destination is not part of Invenit's plan for them (if s/he even has one). Some think it's gold, large quantities of gold. It can't be a coincidence Invenit leads them down those dungeons so damn often, can it?

Either way, they all agree s/he's a wise old goat.

                                                                                          

And there you are. I like the idea of giving clerics bonuses without feeling obliged to penalise them at all. It makes sense that Bashu's secrets would make you a better tracker, it doesn't make sense that he would demand you stop using bladed weapons (for instance). You have him in a pit, he's exchanging his life for you being his cleric, I feel it's a fair exchange as it is. Besides, if a god is interesting enough players will limit themselves quite happily without any crunchy intervention. The last player to worship Invenit wilfully got herself neck deep in every adventure hook just because Invenit says so. I think that's penalty enough.