I am moderately new to the pantheonic lore of d&d, and as such want to make sure that what I'm putting together will make reasonably good canonic sense - I don't mind bending the canon, but I want people who know the lore to say "yeah, that makes sense"!
By my understanding, the Raven Queen is the goddess of death, fate, and winter. She is power-hungry, and does not hold her loyalties too tightly, and also happens to be the patron of one of my players PCs. This puts her in an excellent position in my game for plot-weaving!
The world has strong ties to the Norse pantheon, thanks to another character, who is the son of Thor. I am planning to mash these up with a bit of fantasy rewriting to make an awesome plotline for the game.
So, the Raven Queen has her eyes on Ysgard, with a view to take control of the entire pantheon. This has been her goal ever since she became queen of winter. Her plan is to slay Baldur, and so initiate Fimbulwinter, which leads to Ragnarok. When the Einherjar march from Valhalla, they will fall in battle as prophesised (which she knows, as the goddess of fate) and she will finally claim their souls, which Odin had been holding. Her plan is to use the souls of the Einherjar to attack Ysgard and slay the norse gods. She will also be working her plots and ploys to release Fenrir and Jormungand to join in Ragnarok, using two separate cults/religeons I'm writing for the game.
Now, this makes sense to me - power hungry goddess of winter could learn of the story of Ragnarok and put it into motion to claim the gods powers, and another realm of her own. But, does it fit well enough into the standard D&D lore for her?
Lots of thought was put into this I can see. It is a good start. IMO The Raven Queen isn't power-hungry, and in the version, we see in D&D Not too closely associated with winter. She is more akin to the Morrigan in Celtic myths. That role of power monger would fall more toward The Queen of Air and Darkness in Fey myths Queen Mabd. She was the Queen of the Winter Court. So that would work with your plans for winter. Some could and can argue that the Raven Queen and Mabd are the same, as The Celts loved tri-fold divinity. (The whole 3-in-1 is not a solely Christian idea.) You can fold Mabd, the Raven Queen, and another aspect into a 3 fold goddess. perhaps all three are working against each other. Up to you though, your game. Enjoy.
If you go down a marvel Loki style Raven Queen you could meld in some manipulation shennigans on the god front. Odin apparently had a couple of ravens, based on the wiki I read one is called Hunginn (norse for thought) and the other Muninn (norse for mind), so you could have these two ravens show up from time to time to give info, set quests etc. The ravens are actually sent by the Raven Queen and are a relaying details of what is happeneing in the various planes to her before then flying onto Odin (who may or may not be getting all the same info relayed to him by the ravens) and the Raven Queen could be using them and other ravens to manipulate events according to what she decrees is fate.
You could use kenku cultists as a more direct nod to her influence especially if the leader of said cult talks with the same voice as the Raven Queen thanks to their mimicry ability.
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Lots of thought was put into this I can see. It is a good start. IMO The Raven Queen isn't power-hungry, and in the version, we see in D&D Not too closely associated with winter. She is more akin to the Morrigan in Celtic myths. That role of power monger would fall more toward The Queen of Air and Darkness in Fey myths Queen Mabd. She was the Queen of the Winter Court. So that would work with your plans for winter. Some could and can argue that the Raven Queen and Mabd are the same, as The Celts loved tri-fold divinity. (The whole 3-in-1 is not a solely Christian idea.) You can fold Mabd, the Raven Queen, and another aspect into a 3 fold goddess. perhaps all three are working against each other. Up to you though, your game. Enjoy.
Thanks for the replies everyone!
I have been thinking this through moderately obsessively in the last week! Having to keep reminding myself this is about the Character's story, not mine!
I beleve the info I'm going off is the Raven Queen pre-5e. I'm defintely up for gods being ovelapping.
If you go down a marvel Loki style Raven Queen you could meld in some manipulation shennigans on the god front. Odin apparently had a couple of ravens, based on the wiki I read one is called Hunginn (norse for thought) and the other Muninn (norse for mind), so you could have these two ravens show up from time to time to give info, set quests etc. The ravens are actually sent by the Raven Queen and are a relaying details of what is happeneing in the various planes to her before then flying onto Odin (who may or may not be getting all the same info relayed to him by the ravens) and the Raven Queen could be using them and other ravens to manipulate events according to what she decrees is fate.
You could use kenku cultists as a more direct nod to her influence especially if the leader of said cult talks with the same voice as the Raven Queen thanks to their mimicry ability.
I am tryng to avoid marvelising my game, not least because I and 2 of my players are quite fond of Norse Mythology. You have no idea how hard it is to find the myths online when you have Marvel and God of War out there muddying the waters! I do like the idea of the Raven Queen using ravens to decieve the party, and it fits the twists I am after! Kenku cultists is definitely an option!
It sounds like your version of the Raven Queen is very similar to the Norse goddess Hel/Hela.
I may well fold Hel, Rave Queen and the above mentioned Mabd into the one entity. The myth of Ragnarok des say that the forces of Hel, Giants, and Demons march on Ysgard, so she would be trying to get the other two to mach of their own volition, so that she can say she did not coax them.
This works so well in my world, as the world has very few dragons left after a hero slew them all, and so the Giants have formed a huge kingdom to the north. If they united, they would be an incredibly formidable force. I am now having the Snake Cultists who are trying to awaken Jormungandr strike a deal with Dagon, the demon prince of the deep, to release him if he releases Jormungandr from the depths.
This apocalypse is looking to involve a wolf that eats the sun, a world serpent, an eldritch horror, three armies, one of which is dead souls, and a group of adventurers piecing together that it's all because of them going to a festival!
I guess I am the only person confused on your basis of who the Raven Queen is. In my experience I have only come across that name in Forgotten Realms and the Raven queen is a mysterious deity of the shadar-kai. Supposedly she has total dominion over the souls of shadar-kai. She rules the Fortress of Memories which has been a prize that Orcus and Vecna have envied. She is obsessed with collecting and observing mementos and fragments of memories. She also seems to have ties to the Lady of Pain, and some associate her with the Queen of Air and Darkness that rules the Unseelie Court. Supposedly she was the first to have forged weapons infused with shadow magic which makes her a popular patron of the Hexblades. She also has been rumored to control a domain in the Shadowfell known as Letherna.
It would seem a lot of ways to use her involve the Shadowfell lore, and her dominion over the Fortress of Memories which is a coveted prize among a lot of powerful beings. But that is all I have read about. I would imagine she would have connections to the Blood War, and possibly with the Night Hags and their control of soul larvae that come from the Grey Wastes.
I read about her in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and the 4E of Manual of the Planes. Not to mention there are various fan fictions about her
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I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!
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I am moderately new to the pantheonic lore of d&d, and as such want to make sure that what I'm putting together will make reasonably good canonic sense - I don't mind bending the canon, but I want people who know the lore to say "yeah, that makes sense"!
By my understanding, the Raven Queen is the goddess of death, fate, and winter. She is power-hungry, and does not hold her loyalties too tightly, and also happens to be the patron of one of my players PCs. This puts her in an excellent position in my game for plot-weaving!
The world has strong ties to the Norse pantheon, thanks to another character, who is the son of Thor. I am planning to mash these up with a bit of fantasy rewriting to make an awesome plotline for the game.
So, the Raven Queen has her eyes on Ysgard, with a view to take control of the entire pantheon. This has been her goal ever since she became queen of winter. Her plan is to slay Baldur, and so initiate Fimbulwinter, which leads to Ragnarok. When the Einherjar march from Valhalla, they will fall in battle as prophesised (which she knows, as the goddess of fate) and she will finally claim their souls, which Odin had been holding. Her plan is to use the souls of the Einherjar to attack Ysgard and slay the norse gods. She will also be working her plots and ploys to release Fenrir and Jormungand to join in Ragnarok, using two separate cults/religeons I'm writing for the game.
Now, this makes sense to me - power hungry goddess of winter could learn of the story of Ragnarok and put it into motion to claim the gods powers, and another realm of her own. But, does it fit well enough into the standard D&D lore for her?
Any help is appreciated!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Lots of thought was put into this I can see. It is a good start. IMO The Raven Queen isn't power-hungry, and in the version, we see in D&D Not too closely associated with winter. She is more akin to the Morrigan in Celtic myths. That role of power monger would fall more toward The Queen of Air and Darkness in Fey myths Queen Mabd. She was the Queen of the Winter Court. So that would work with your plans for winter. Some could and can argue that the Raven Queen and Mabd are the same, as The Celts loved tri-fold divinity. (The whole 3-in-1 is not a solely Christian idea.) You can fold Mabd, the Raven Queen, and another aspect into a 3 fold goddess. perhaps all three are working against each other. Up to you though, your game. Enjoy.
If you go down a marvel Loki style Raven Queen you could meld in some manipulation shennigans on the god front. Odin apparently had a couple of ravens, based on the wiki I read one is called Hunginn (norse for thought) and the other Muninn (norse for mind), so you could have these two ravens show up from time to time to give info, set quests etc. The ravens are actually sent by the Raven Queen and are a relaying details of what is happeneing in the various planes to her before then flying onto Odin (who may or may not be getting all the same info relayed to him by the ravens) and the Raven Queen could be using them and other ravens to manipulate events according to what she decrees is fate.
You could use kenku cultists as a more direct nod to her influence especially if the leader of said cult talks with the same voice as the Raven Queen thanks to their mimicry ability.
It sounds like your version of the Raven Queen is very similar to the Norse goddess Hel/Hela.
I really like D&D, especially Ravenloft, Exandria and the Upside Down from Stranger Things. My pronouns are she/they (genderfae).
Thanks for the replies everyone!
I have been thinking this through moderately obsessively in the last week! Having to keep reminding myself this is about the Character's story, not mine!
I beleve the info I'm going off is the Raven Queen pre-5e. I'm defintely up for gods being ovelapping.
I am tryng to avoid marvelising my game, not least because I and 2 of my players are quite fond of Norse Mythology. You have no idea how hard it is to find the myths online when you have Marvel and God of War out there muddying the waters! I do like the idea of the Raven Queen using ravens to decieve the party, and it fits the twists I am after! Kenku cultists is definitely an option!
I may well fold Hel, Rave Queen and the above mentioned Mabd into the one entity. The myth of Ragnarok des say that the forces of Hel, Giants, and Demons march on Ysgard, so she would be trying to get the other two to mach of their own volition, so that she can say she did not coax them.
This works so well in my world, as the world has very few dragons left after a hero slew them all, and so the Giants have formed a huge kingdom to the north. If they united, they would be an incredibly formidable force. I am now having the Snake Cultists who are trying to awaken Jormungandr strike a deal with Dagon, the demon prince of the deep, to release him if he releases Jormungandr from the depths.
This apocalypse is looking to involve a wolf that eats the sun, a world serpent, an eldritch horror, three armies, one of which is dead souls, and a group of adventurers piecing together that it's all because of them going to a festival!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
DM's Guild Releases on This Thread Or check them all out on DMs Guild!
DrivethruRPG Releases on This Thread - latest release: My Character is a Werewolf: balanced rules for Lycanthropy!
I have started discussing/reviewing 3rd party D&D content on Substack - stay tuned for semi-regular posts!
Happy to help. As much as it is the player's game, remember it's yours as well. Everyone can have fun without being in total control.
I guess I am the only person confused on your basis of who the Raven Queen is. In my experience I have only come across that name in Forgotten Realms and the Raven queen is a mysterious deity of the shadar-kai. Supposedly she has total dominion over the souls of shadar-kai. She rules the Fortress of Memories which has been a prize that Orcus and Vecna have envied. She is obsessed with collecting and observing mementos and fragments of memories. She also seems to have ties to the Lady of Pain, and some associate her with the Queen of Air and Darkness that rules the Unseelie Court. Supposedly she was the first to have forged weapons infused with shadow magic which makes her a popular patron of the Hexblades. She also has been rumored to control a domain in the Shadowfell known as Letherna.
It would seem a lot of ways to use her involve the Shadowfell lore, and her dominion over the Fortress of Memories which is a coveted prize among a lot of powerful beings. But that is all I have read about. I would imagine she would have connections to the Blood War, and possibly with the Night Hags and their control of soul larvae that come from the Grey Wastes.
I read about her in Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, and the 4E of Manual of the Planes. Not to mention there are various fan fictions about her
I am not sure what my Spirit Animal is. But whatever that thing is, I am pretty sure it has rabies!