Homebrew Alignments

[Dhampire]

@Dhampire - Man, you put a lot of work into that chart, good work!  Way too technical for me though.  I prefer something a little more organic.  I am a fan of FR and the classic mythologies, so pantheons of petty, squabbling deities please me.   

-SoD

Meh, a more complicated version was in my homebrew, so it wasn't much work.  My homebrew one will probably be paired down to something similar to the above if/when it starts back up (or for Glory and Doom). 

[Squig of Darkness]

I'd like to combine this thread with a general thread for recording info about my homebrew setting as I create it.  Is there a specific forum for that or can I just start one in this one?

-SoD

[Sletchman]

The fiction and story hour thread sub-forum probably isn't a bad place for it.

Edit: Fixed.

[Wolverine]

I'd recommend putting it up under License To Improvise, unless you start posting game reports and the like.

[LordKruelos]

(Apologies for the deliberate thread necromancy, but I thought rather than making a new thread for the same topic, I'd add some of my homebrews here)

Here's an adaptation of Elizabeth moon's Order of Gird as a FantasyCraft alignment

Gird
Other Names/Titles: St. Gird, Protector of the Helpless, Gird Strongarm, Gird the Liberator
Symbol: Crescent of Gird (Silver), Cudgel
Colors: Blue, White, and Silver
Celestial Symbol: the constellation Gird’s Cudgel
Domains: Community, Good, Justice, Protection, Strength
Priest Title: Marshal (High Priest: High Marshal, Marshal-General is the equivalent of pope)
Vestments: Surcoats of White and Blue (often worn over armor), high holy vestments of white and silver.

Gird was not born a god – or even, for that matter, a hero.  Generations ago, the nation of Fintha was an oppressed, feudal society, ruled by foreign Magelords from Old Aare across the sea.  It was into this world that Gird was born – a lowly serf.  The greed and brutality of the feudal lords took his family, one by one, until he had nothing left to lose – and taught the downtrodden peasants to fight back.  More than just a revolutionary, Gird led his peasant army to break oppression and bring peace and justice to his people – and won.

“You lost children?” Others shushed that voice, someone in a leather cloak, but Gird answered it, counting them on his fingers.
“My first two sons died of fever; the lord refused us herb-right in the wood. My wife lost two babes young, one from hunger and one from fever. My eldest daughter they raped; killed her husband. The babe died unborn. My youngest son they struck down; he lives. Another daughter they struck down, breaking her arm; I know not if she lives or dies. And my brother’s children, that I’d taken in: two of them dead, by the lords’ greed. And that’s children. I lost friends, my parents, my brother.
“You ask yourselves: if they can take one child, will they stop there? Will all your submission, all your obedience, get you peace and enough food? Has it ever worked? You can sit here and let them take you one by one, or you can decide to fight back.”

The Fellowship of Gird teaches its members to defend themselves, their families, and their communities. Marshals of Gird (and their assistant Yeomen-Marshals) are stationed anywhere there are sufficient followers (yeomen) to warrant a Grange – a combination church and training hall.  Where there are not enough faithful for a full grange, Bartons (named after small walled yards attached to village dwellings) serve as meeting places for Girdsmen. 
In addition to yeomen in granges, the Fellowship of Gird also has two fighting orders: The Order of Gird and The Order of the Cudgel, in addition to being the patron saint of many honorable warriors in armies and honorable mercenary companies.

Instead of weapons drill or military theory, she found herself immersed in history and geography: which men had come to which area, and when, and why. She learned of their laws and their beliefs; she had to memorize article after article of the Code of Gird. Gradually she built in her mind a picture of the whole land about, and the beliefs of the people. She could see, as in a drawing, her father’s family perched on the side of a moor north of most trade routes. They had believed in the High Lord, and the Lady of Peace, but also in the horse nomad deity Guthlac, and the Windsteed. Their boundary stones, and the rituals for keeping them, came from Aarenis; the well-sprite for whom she had plucked flowers every spring was called the same—Piri—from Brewersbridge to Three Firs, and south to Valdaire. But in Aarenis proper, the well-spirits were multiple, and called caoulin: they had no personal names.


Dogma

“We do not argue that war is better than peace; we are not so stupid as that. But it is not peace when cruelty reigns, when stronger men steal from farmers and craftworkers, when the child can be enslaved or the old thrown out to starve, and no one lifts a hand. That is not peace: that is conquest, and evil. We start no quarrels in peaceful lands; we never display our weapon skills to earn applause. But we are Gird’s cudgel, defending the helpless, and teaching by our example that one person can dare greater force to break evil’s grasp on the innocent. Sometimes we can do that without fighting, without killing, and that’s best.”



FantasyCraft Alignment: Order of Gird
Gird calls for honor and courage in the face of tyranny and injustice and to be vigilant against the influence of evil.  Girdsmen are called to protect those who cannot protect themselves – even at the expense of themselves.  The Fellowship of Gird is a militant order, but one devoted to defense; the duty of Girdsmen is to bring justice, not dominion.
Paths: Good, Heroism, Life, Light, Order
Alignment Skills: Athletics, Crafting, Survival, Tactics
Ritual Weapon: Cudgel of Gird (Maul or Club) – it’s not uncommon for Paladins of the faith to be given cudgels with the Exotic Damage (Divine) Essence.
Avatar: Guardian Angel (Medium Outsider Flyer/Walker — 101 XP):
Str 14, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 18, Cha 18; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 55 ft. winged flight, 30 ft. ground; Init IV; Atk IV; Def V; Res VI; Health V; Comp IV; Skills: Impress X, Medicine V, Sense Motive V, Spellcasting II; Spells: Detect Alignment, Protection from Alignment; Qualities: Attractive I, class ability (Paladin: lay on hands; Sage: take heart), devoted (Good II), honorable, spell defense III, telepathic
Attacks/Weapons: Longsword (dmg 1d12+2 lethal; threat 20), metal shield (dmg 1d4+2 subdual; threat 20; qualities: guard +2)
Gear: Blessed breastplate (partial platemail: DR 4; Resist Blunt 1, Divine 4; DP –3; ACP –3; Spd –5 ft.; Disguise: obvious)
Treasure: 2M, 1T
Opposed Alignments: Liart, Master of Torments; Achrya, the Webmistress; Nayda, the Unnamer; Gitres, the Unmaker.

FantasyCraft NPCs
Marshall of Gird (Medium Folk Walker — 50 XP): Str 12, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 12; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init III; Atk VI; Def V; Resilience IV; Health IV; Comp III; Skills: Athletics IV, Intimidate IV; Qualities: class ability (Paladin: lay on hands, Soldier: fortunes of war I), feat (Club Basics, Combat Focus, Horde Basics, Horde Mastery, Wolf Pack Basics).
Attacks/Weapons: Club (dmg 1d8 subdual; threat 20)
Gear: Partial leather armor (DR 1; Resist Fire 3; DP –1; ACP –0; Spd —; Disguise +0), booze (1 use)
Treasure: 1C

[LordKruelos]

Faith of the Seven

The faith is dedicated to a pantheon of seven aspects or faces – the Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Crone, the Smith, the Maid, and the Stranger. Followers of the Seven normally only pray to six of the faces of god. Few if any ever pray to or sing about the Stranger, for he or she is the face of death. The Faith teaches that the Seven are simply different aspects of one god.

Father, representing judgment, he carries scales and is prayed to for justice.
Mother, representing motherhood and nurturing, she is prayed to for fertility or compassion.
Warrior, representing strength in battle, he is prayed to for victory.
Maiden, representing innocence and chastity, she is usually prayed to to protect a maiden's virtue.
Smith, representing crafts and labor, he is usually prayed to when work needs to be done.
Crone, representing wisdom, she carries a lantern and is prayed to for guidance.
Stranger, an exception to the other aspects, the Stranger represents death and the unknown. Worshippers rarely seek favor from the Stranger, but outcasts sometimes associate themselves with this god.

Alignment: Faith of the Seven
The Faith teaches that the Seven are simply different aspects of one god.
Alignment Skills: Crafting, Investigate, Ride, Tactics
Paths: Knowledge, Metal, Light, Order, War
Ritual Weapon: Long Sword
Avatar: A crusading dragon-mounted angel

Way of the Many-Petal Rose

The fool says "I am strong!", the Master asks "What is strength?“

According to the Way, there are five orders or processes (niyama) which operate in the physical and mental realms. Every mental or physical phenomenon could be explained by these all-embracing five orders or processes which are laws in themselves. Karma as such is only one of these five orders. Like all other natural laws they demand no lawgiver.
Utu Niyama - physical inorganic order, e.g. seasonal phenomena of winds and rains. The unerring order of seasons, characteristic seasonal changes and events, causes of winds and rains, nature of heat, etc., all belong to this group.
Bija Niyama - order of germs and seeds (physical organic order), e.g. rice produced from rice-seed, sugary taste from sugar-cane or honey, peculiar characteristics of certain fruits, etc.
Niyama - order of act and result, e.g., desirable and undesirable acts produce corresponding good and bad results. As surely as water seeks its own level so does Karma, given opportunity, produce its inevitable result, not in the form of a reward or punishment but as an innate sequence. This sequence of deed and effect is as natural and necessary as the way of the sun and the moon.
Dhamma Niyama - order of the norm, e.g., the natural phenomena occurring at the advent of a Bodhisattva in his last birth. Gravitation and other similar laws of nature. The natural reason for being good and so forth, may be included in this group.
Citta Niyama - order or mind or psychic law, e.g., processes of consciousness, arising and perishing of consciousness, constituents of consciousness, power of mind, etc.

Alignment: Way of the Many-Petal Rose
The Way is for those who would improve themselves through the twelve trials of enlightenment. Physical and mental transcendence are the goals for all who follow in the footsteps of the Master.
Alignment Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Blend, Investigate
Paths: Air, Fortune, Knowledge, Strength, Travel
Ritual Weapon: Shod Staff / 3-part-staff
Avatar: (TBD)

The Old Gods

The Old Gods are the countless nature spirits, mainly worshiped in the less settled borderlands.
The Old Gods were first worshiped before the Bloodstone was discovered and the lands settled. When the settlers from the south arrived, they brought their Faith of the Seven with them. The nature spirits were dubbed the Old Gods and the practice of their worship became more limited.
The religion of the Old Gods has no organization, evangelical movements, or holy texts, but traditions are passed down by their followers. Various actions, such as incest and kinslaying,  are considered offensive to the gods. Weirwood trees with faces carved into them, called heart trees, are considered sacred. Prayer, oaths, and marriages are often performed in the presence of a heart tree. The faces were carved into the weirwoods by the children of the forest, but their meaning or purpose is not completely understood by humans.
There remain some pockets of faith in the Old Gods whose members of a circle hold themselves responsible for the well-being of the wilderness and the continuation of the orderly cycles of Nature within their domain.

Alignment: The Old Gods
Alignment Skills: Athletics, Investigate, Sneak, Survival
Paths: Beasts, Beauty, Nature, Secrets, Wilderness
Ritual Weapon: Kukri (curved long knife)
Avatar: Nature Elemental (TBD)