Different Holy Symbols for the Gods

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:22 pm

I like having different holy symbols for each of the gods so have started doing this for my players.

I have done the church of light and dark and northern gods and am working on the others, if anyone else wanted to help pm me and I'm happy to email what I have so far for you to add to. Its pretty rudimentary as I haven't been able to consistently find images in the style i like so it will likely be an eternal WIP.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:44 pm

I use an ankh for the Church of Light & Dark in the PF maps I've made. To date, I haven't made any others. I think there are some classical ones from Egypt for those gods. I do graphic design for fun and would be happy to put some together with you.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Sat Apr 02, 2022 2:35 am

Hotrod wrote:I use an ankh for the Church of Light & Dark in the PF maps I've made. To date, I haven't made any others. I think there are some classical ones from Egypt for those gods. I do graphic design for fun and would be happy to put some together with you.

That would be great and id happily pay too.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:16 am

Ok, I’ll take these on one pantheon at a time to keep things manageable. For each god and pantheon, I’ll do a simple black-and-white icon and try a more complex depiction to incorporate it into an object. While some of these will be recreations, I‘ll make each one myself so we won’t have to worry about copyright issues.

I’ll start with the Church of Light and Dark. I’ll base most of these on historical representations and artifacts associated with the ancient Egyptian gods.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Mon Apr 04, 2022 5:19 pm

Awesome

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Tue Apr 05, 2022 3:12 pm

I've created a prototype for how I'd like to proceed, using Osiris as my test case. Click here to see the results.

+The first version is a basic black-and-white icon. Osiris' symbols from classic Egyptian mythology are the crook and flail, often crossed.
+The second version is based on actual crook and flail archeological finds, which have blue and gold striping. I made these colors more bright and saturated than reality, making this version look a little cartoony, but I kind of liked it, and I'm not going for hyper-realism with these.
+The third version is an animation on top of a sandstone background. The color of the crook and flail fades, and its shadow grows stronger, and then they fade back. I meant for this to represent the kind of dead, kind of not dead aspect of Osiris, and I wanted its effect to be subtler than most GIFs I see, so as not to grab the viewer's eye with garish movement or flashes. This way, someone who wants to use this could put it next to some text without worrying about the reader constantly getting jerked away from that text.

Happy to field questions, comments, and especially critiques of this prototype.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Tue Apr 05, 2022 5:24 pm

That looks pretty cool, the colour one is better of course but i also like the simplicity of the black and white one too.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:56 pm

I do like the triquetra theme for the northern gods if that could still be worked amongst them.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Wed Apr 06, 2022 10:48 pm

Yep, Celtic knots are fun. I want to do the Churchbof Light and Dark first, but I’ll get there next.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Thu Apr 07, 2022 10:05 pm

Got the Light and Dark icon done: an Ankh. I had a little fun with the color and animated versions.

Next will be the Isis icon: the Tyet. Basically an Ankh with its arms hanging down.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Thu Apr 07, 2022 11:12 pm

I am working on little bonuses to go with the specific holy symbols as well, to separate them from the standard symbol. (Specialty priest anyone?)

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:16 pm

The Isis Tyet is done. The animated gif with this one is just a subtle glowing effect; it seemed appropriate for her.

On to Ra!

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Sat Apr 09, 2022 6:08 pm

Looking forward to them.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 1:54 pm

I've done up a Ra icon. Interesting footnote: while there is a symbol called the Eye of Ra, it wasn't actually associated with the god himself in ancient Egyptian mythology. Ra himself had a variety of symbols, my personal favorite being a winged sun disk, which is what I based his symbol off. The classical symbol also had a pair of cobras to each side; I used a generic venomous snake instead.

I did consider drawing up a couple of greyhound heads, since the Palladium Fantasy version of Ra uses a rune weapon known as the Scepter of the Greyhound. I think snake heads look spiffier. I'll think on that one.

I animated a gleaming sun effect on the sundisk of this icon to make it look as if there was some actual sunlight inside it. Overall, I'm satisfied.

Sheesh, there are a lot of gods in this pantheon. I still have Thoth, Horus, Apis, and Bennu to do, and that's just the light part of the Church of Light and Dark.

(Edit: HA! I just remembered that I did up a Phoenix icon for a little art contest last year that I never wound up using. Now all I have to do is give it some 3D effects and come up with some kind of animation for it.)

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 2:39 pm

By the way, I could totally make the animated versions of these symbols into images folks here could use in their signatures; it's just a matter of getting the image directions right. Just as an example, I altered my sig today to include the animated Ra symbol.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Mon Apr 11, 2022 3:34 pm

...and Bennu's icon is done. I found a fun and easy flame animation tutorial for this one. The result is a bit flashier and choppier than I'd like, but heck, she's a firebird goddess! Not all my gifs can be subtle.

Still to go: Thoth, Horus, and Apis (moo). Then I'll post the full collection on my Patreon page.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 7:40 pm

Thoth's icon is done: a papyrus scroll with a crescent moon above. I did the shading with gradients for the scroll, giving it a duller, but neater look than most of the other symbols I've done so far. For the animated version, I have glowing versions of the ward symbol for knowledge, the mystic symbol for magic knowledge, and the rune of magic power fading in and out.

Just have Horus and Apis to go now.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:45 pm

Wow, i was just looking for simple symbols and you have gone all the way. Really looking forward to using them now.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:35 pm

kiralon wrote:Wow, i was just looking for simple symbols and you have gone all the way. Really looking forward to using them now.

Icons are fun, and each one is giving me a chance to try out little tricks on a small scale without having to worry about tying together a large map project in a single image.

I found this historical depiction of Horus that I'll likely use as a reference for him.

I already have a bull's head icon I made for my Land of the Damned map some years back; not sure if I want to use that for Apis or try something else.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Thu Apr 14, 2022 11:04 am

Horus icon is done. I based it off the historical relief carving of Horus as a hawk-headed lion sphinx, adding wings to it. For the animated version, I transition between a colored relief look, a metallic texture, and a mosaic look. Transitioning between these three textures seems appropriate for symbolizing the three-part nature of a sphinx.

Time for Apis, and then the entire Light pantheon will be complete.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Thu Apr 14, 2022 4:54 pm

Icons for the Pantheon of Ra (Light side of the Church of Light and Dark) are done! I'm posting them to my Patreon account, with early access for my patrons (Folks who want to see them for free can wait a month). Here's the link.

Next project will be the Pantheon of Set (the dark/evil side of the Church of Light and Dark). Then it's on to the northern gods.

Questions for moving forward:
1. I did a Light and Dark combo-ankh for the broader pantheon with a quartered color scheme. I could also render it in a mostly-gold light version for the Pantheon of Ra and a mostly-dark version for the Pantheon of Set. Anyone have interest in that?

2. If anyone has a specific size or format they'd like these in, please let me know.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Thu Apr 14, 2022 9:03 pm

My favourite would be Thoth and Bennu

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Thu Apr 14, 2022 10:17 pm

kiralon wrote:My favourite would be Thoth and Bennu

Thoth’s took the most work, so I’m especially glad you like it.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:36 am

Pity the rifters are down and out. I think they would look good in a digital edition of a rifter

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Fri Apr 15, 2022 8:21 am

kiralon wrote:Pity the rifters are down and out. I think they would look good in a digital edition of a rifter

A digital Package could offer some interesting new possibilities. Imagine packaging digital products together that couldn’t be printed off in static formats. I’ve already made interactive PDF versions of some of my maps that I would love to see Palladium distribute.

If I can think of some way to create content that corresponds to these icons, I might try turning this into a Rifter submission.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Sat Apr 16, 2022 5:17 pm

I'm going down the, if a priest is of a particular god and has the proper holy symbol, a blessing does a little bit extra, depending on the god.

Veknironth · Unread post by **Veknironth** » Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:24 pm

Well, we need to crowdsource and go down the "preists of different gods have different abilities" road.

-Vek
"And put THAT in the Rifter."

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:46 pm

I’ve put together icons for Set, Angie, and Amon.

Set’s icon is simple: an Ankh-headed staff, which is also the God’s weapon.

Angie’s main weapon is a mace with a double dragon head, and that is my current version of his icon, but I don’t like it much. There’s not a lot of historical iconography for Angie that would fit what I’m doing.

Amin’s icon is a pair of hooded, mismatched eyes, with a large tear seeping from one of them.

I’m working on Apepi’s icon now.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Tue Apr 26, 2022 8:56 pm

Apepi's is done. One notable trend I'm finding is that, when it comes to adding color, I'm far more restrained with the gods of the dark; they're mostly dark greys, with maybe one or two color elements for a few specific gods' icons. Maybe I'm taking the whole "Church of Dark" a bit literally?

Kraynic · Unread post by **Kraynic** » Tue Apr 26, 2022 9:24 pm

Hotrod wrote:Apepi's is done. One notable trend I'm finding is that, when it comes to adding color, I'm far more restrained with the gods of the dark; they're mostly dark greys, with maybe one or two color elements for a few specific gods' icons. Maybe I'm taking the whole "Church of Dark" a bit literally?

Time to redo all the Church of Light icons to only use shades of yellow!

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:27 am

Hotrod wrote:Apepi's is done. One notable trend I'm finding is that, when it comes to adding color, I'm far more restrained with the gods of the dark; they're mostly dark greys, with maybe one or two color elements for a few specific gods' icons. Maybe I'm taking the whole "Church of Dark" a bit literally?

I do believe feet of clay is appropriate here.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:42 pm

Got a basic concept for an Anubis icon done: a sarcophagus. I'll come back to it; I want to embellish it a bit. Still to go:

Ammit, the Beast:Head of a crocodile, body of a lion, backside of a hippo... yeah, I'm not sure how to do this one. I'll look at ancient Egyptian iconography for this.
Bes, the Depraved: How to do an icon for a crazy midget cannibal god? My initial idea is a torture knife crossed with a bone, but I'm not very fond of that idea. I might try orienting some knives into the rough shape of an Ankh.
Sebek: It's a crocodile god. Not really sure how to do this one. A crocodile tooth, maybe? Basic, but I guess it'll work. I can always go for broke on making it pretty.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 4:51 pm

The link i sent you about the rough ones i had done had some ideas, and i found the little actual statues of Bes to be fairly good.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:14 pm

kiralon wrote:The link i sent you about the rough ones i had done had some ideas, and i found the little actual statues of Bes to be fairly good.

Yep. It may be out of creative pride as much as out of a desire to make these icons fantastical, but I wanted to at least take a rough hack at each one of the Dark pantheon based on Dragons & Gods before I consulted the history-based references you so helpfully provided.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 4:02 am

Hope it works out for you, as often the historical references didn't really match, bes is a good example of this, but i think his statue matched the d&g better than the real life.

Library Ogre · Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:49 am

kiralon wrote:Hope it works out for you, as often the historical references didn't really match, bes is a good example of this, but i think his statue matched the d&g better than the real life.

I mean, the Bes of history was a protector of pregnant women not... this.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:58 pm

Mark Hall wrote:
kiralon wrote:Hope it works out for you, as often the historical references didn't really match, bes is a good example of this, but i think his statue matched the d&g better than the real life.

I mean, the Bes of history was a protector of pregnant women not... this.

and partying and war and protecting homes from memory, but his little statues tend to look more scary than anything else to me.

Borast · Unread post by **Borast** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 9:11 pm

HR - didn't review all posts, but for your crook & flail...the tails of the flail seem too short.
Otherwise... cool.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Sat Apr 30, 2022 8:15 am

Borast wrote:HR - didn't review all posts, but for your crook & flail...the tails of the flail seem too short.
Otherwise... cool.

Thanks for the feedback! How long do you think they should be?

Borast · Unread post by **Borast** » Sat Apr 30, 2022 6:06 pm

Traditionally they seem to be about as long as the handle (and, seem to be multi-part construction). (i.e.: photos of various ancient Egyptian art pieces - statues, sarcophagi, etc.)
For example, here is an article about the discovery of Tut's tomb, and a photo with the included crook and segmented flail tails.
https://chewelahindependent.com/this-da ... eb-3-1924/

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Fri May 06, 2022 4:16 pm

Ok, so I’m not doing Ammit; he has no followers anyway and is basically an up-jumped minion attack dog of Anubis.

As for Bes, I tried creating an icon based on historical descriptions, and it reminded me so much of a racist blackface stereotype that I purged that thing off the computer right after drawing it. I’m gonna go with my first instinct with this one and try some symbolic references to torture and cannibalism.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Fri May 06, 2022 4:17 pm

Other gods of Dark are done.

Prysus · Unread post by **Prysus** » Fri May 06, 2022 4:51 pm

Hotrod wrote:Ok, so I’m not doing Ammit; he has no followers anyway and is basically an up-jumped minion attack dog of Anubis.

As for Bes, I tried creating an icon based on historical descriptions, and it reminded me so much of a racist blackface stereotype that I purged that thing off the computer right after drawing it. I’m gonna go with my first instinct with this one and try some symbolic references to torture and cannibalism.

Greetings and Salutations. Well, just to throw out some other ideas, there's the mention of a crown of feathers. So having that as a symbol might be interesting. Also, Bes used to be the symbol of love, gaiety, and feasting. While Bes is now part of the Dark Pantheon, would the holy symbol change or remain the same? I'm not the most artistic, so I'm not sure how any of that would look or if it really helps. I just figured to throw out a few other ideas. Farewell and safe journeys.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Sat May 07, 2022 4:15 am

Hotrod wrote:Other gods of Dark are done.

Cool, time for some church of light and dark themed adventures for the party, gotta show them off.

Borast · Unread post by **Borast** » Sun May 08, 2022 4:14 am

Hotrod wrote:Sheesh, there are a lot of gods in this pantheon. I still have Thoth, Horus, Apis, and Bennu to do, and that's just the light part of the Church of Light and Dark.

Just be glad Kev & Co. didn't fully import the Egyptian Pantheon... 3000+ gods of varying powers.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Sat May 14, 2022 3:35 pm

I found a way to draw a Bes icon that doesn't look wildly racist, so all the Pantheon of Taut's basic icons are done. I haven't been animating these as I go; is that something that folks here like and would use, or would you rather see me move on to the Northern Gods?

EDIT: I decided to go with animations for Set, Bes, and Amon.
Set's staff gets a flashy red pulsing light in the middle of its ankh headpiece, reminiscent of the overall Church of Light and Dark's Ankh, symbolizing his determination to dominate the entire religion.
Amon's animation is a sequential brightening/saturation of its green eyes and red tear, in order to emphasize her focus on envy and pain.
Bes' animation is a color fluctuation of the eyes, symbolizing his changed nature and the fact that he's bonkers.
If someone has some ideas for the others, I may do some other animations, otherwise, it's time to publish these to my Patreon Page and move on to the Northern pantheon.

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Sat May 14, 2022 11:49 pm

Pantheon of Taut logos are posted. On to the Northern Pantheon!

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Sun May 15, 2022 12:01 am

awesome, as i will be printing these the static ones are good, but having an animated one for each pantheon would be great for when using the projector.
I think i like the anubis one the best

Hotrod · Unread post by **Hotrod** » Thu May 26, 2022 7:25 pm

I’ve been doing some stewing on the northern gods. My plan is to go with Celtic knot designs, since these gods seem based on Norse mythology. That said, I also want these to look a little different and distinctive from most presentations of Celtic knots. Right now, I’m experimenting with varying thicknesses, textures/bevels, and edge patterns. I may also try working in some other shapes and symbols.

First up is Od. He’s the anti-dragon god and big daddy of the pantheon. I’ve done a couple of rough concepts so far, nothing I like yet, though.

kiralon · Unread post by **kiralon** » Thu May 26, 2022 11:42 pm

Rally looking forward to these for pretty much immediate inclusion in current adventure

If i could ask for an additional inclusion for the cult of Vidarr (personal inclusion for the northern pantheon)
He is the God of Strength and Vengeance and is supposed to slay Fenrir after it has killed Odin.