I'm kind of new to D&D, but I had an idea to make something in the RW that had to do with "the hand of fate" idea, but that term is human. I was wondering if any of you hard core players have come across this type of idea in any of the above referenced races and what it might be called. If anyone could contribute or point me to some material to read, I'd be grateful.
Hey Lydian8, welcome to D&D! (And the D&D Beyond forums!)
I think that term can apply to other races. Ultimately it is destiny, and that's a universal concept as I understand it. I'm not aware of any specific racial beliefs toward fate in 5e - however, if you did want to change the hand of fate phrasing to make it unique, I do have some suggestions.
Elves: Sehanine Moonbow is the elven goddess of 'divination, dreams, travel, and death'. Taking the divination side of it into an account, an elf could say 'the will of Sehanine' instead of 'the hand of fate' and still mean the same thing.
Dwarves: Vergadain is the dwarven god of luck and wealth. Combining those, a dwarf might describe someone's destiny as 'paid by Vergadain' in some manner. "You were always destined to be a hero, lad. Vergadain had paid your way."
Draconic Races: Draconic races would be more likely to call it the 'claw of fate', to take the 'hand of fate' phrase again as an example. You could also try 'fortune's claw' or 'the claw of fortune' just to make it sound different.
I actually recommend checking out the front page and Mike Mearl's discussion on elves and dwarves, before going that route.
Elves, as a naturally Chaotic race, don't quite believe in destiny. Or, rather, they see it as antithetical to their race. That's the whole root of the Elf v. Drow war - Lolth wanted to guide and control the way elves lived, and the rest of the elven pantheon said "eff that, lets just watch them." The Seldarine as a whole is very hands off and let the elves do their own thing. As a result, its a huge part of the elvish way of life, and the elves tend to see anyone who tries to control them that way as an antagonist.
Dwarves, meanwhile, are much more used to destiny. Indeed, many of them are quite used to that kind of attitude from their gods (Moradin tends to do things, like magically declare all dwarves must all give birth to twins for a couple hundred years). However, they're quite picky about which god is doing the destiny-ing. Clan comes first, and by extension, the clan of dwarf gods. If its not Moradin's will, or allied to Moradin, or even just ambivalent about it, then there might be issues.
Draconic... that's going to depend on your setting. The dragonborn in the Forgotten Realms are, for the most part, strident atheists who hate the idea of anyone having control over them, and react rather violently to anyone magically or divinely trying to dictate what happens. Draconic from the Dragonlance setting are rather used to the gods bossing them around. There's no real unified dragon culture across setting lines. The closest is that you're always going to have a group who follow Bahamut and one for Takhesis and take sides in that war.
Halflings, interestingly enough, will likely be the ones most likely to buy into destiny. Their innate luck acts as an active force in the cosmos, shifting things to their benefits. And what is destiny but manipulation of luck towards specific outcomes?
In the forgotten realms, there are a pair of goddesses who specialize in luck and fortune - Tymora and Beshuba. Fortune and misfortune. They're the closest thing to actual fates in the FR. You can read more about them on the forgotten realms wiki page.
Wow, that was really detailed. I admire your knowledge of the world of D&D. All I'm trying to do is add some short sayings to the edges of my dice tray that I'm building. After what you have said, maybe I'll just transcribe "Hand of Fate" into the 3 scripts and then English on my side. After all, when it comes to playing, everyone's destiny comes down to a role of the die.
Lydian8
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Hey,
I'm kind of new to D&D, but I had an idea to make something in the RW that had to do with "the hand of fate" idea, but that term is human. I was wondering if any of you hard core players have come across this type of idea in any of the above referenced races and what it might be called. If anyone could contribute or point me to some material to read, I'd be grateful.
Thanks, Lenore
Hey Lydian8, welcome to D&D! (And the D&D Beyond forums!)
I think that term can apply to other races. Ultimately it is destiny, and that's a universal concept as I understand it. I'm not aware of any specific racial beliefs toward fate in 5e - however, if you did want to change the hand of fate phrasing to make it unique, I do have some suggestions.
Elves: Sehanine Moonbow is the elven goddess of 'divination, dreams, travel, and death'. Taking the divination side of it into an account, an elf could say 'the will of Sehanine' instead of 'the hand of fate' and still mean the same thing.
Dwarves: Vergadain is the dwarven god of luck and wealth. Combining those, a dwarf might describe someone's destiny as 'paid by Vergadain' in some manner. "You were always destined to be a hero, lad. Vergadain had paid your way."
Draconic Races: Draconic races would be more likely to call it the 'claw of fate', to take the 'hand of fate' phrase again as an example. You could also try 'fortune's claw' or 'the claw of fortune' just to make it sound different.
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Thanks, Villain Theory. That's very helpful. I appreciate it.
Lydian8
I actually recommend checking out the front page and Mike Mearl's discussion on elves and dwarves, before going that route.
Elves, as a naturally Chaotic race, don't quite believe in destiny. Or, rather, they see it as antithetical to their race. That's the whole root of the Elf v. Drow war - Lolth wanted to guide and control the way elves lived, and the rest of the elven pantheon said "eff that, lets just watch them." The Seldarine as a whole is very hands off and let the elves do their own thing. As a result, its a huge part of the elvish way of life, and the elves tend to see anyone who tries to control them that way as an antagonist.
Dwarves, meanwhile, are much more used to destiny. Indeed, many of them are quite used to that kind of attitude from their gods (Moradin tends to do things, like magically declare all dwarves must all give birth to twins for a couple hundred years). However, they're quite picky about which god is doing the destiny-ing. Clan comes first, and by extension, the clan of dwarf gods. If its not Moradin's will, or allied to Moradin, or even just ambivalent about it, then there might be issues.
Draconic... that's going to depend on your setting. The dragonborn in the Forgotten Realms are, for the most part, strident atheists who hate the idea of anyone having control over them, and react rather violently to anyone magically or divinely trying to dictate what happens. Draconic from the Dragonlance setting are rather used to the gods bossing them around. There's no real unified dragon culture across setting lines. The closest is that you're always going to have a group who follow Bahamut and one for Takhesis and take sides in that war.
Halflings, interestingly enough, will likely be the ones most likely to buy into destiny. Their innate luck acts as an active force in the cosmos, shifting things to their benefits. And what is destiny but manipulation of luck towards specific outcomes?
In the forgotten realms, there are a pair of goddesses who specialize in luck and fortune - Tymora and Beshuba. Fortune and misfortune. They're the closest thing to actual fates in the FR. You can read more about them on the forgotten realms wiki page.
Wow, that was really detailed. I admire your knowledge of the world of D&D. All I'm trying to do is add some short sayings to the edges of my dice tray that I'm building. After what you have said, maybe I'll just transcribe "Hand of Fate" into the 3 scripts and then English on my side. After all, when it comes to playing, everyone's destiny comes down to a role of the die.
Lydian8