Choosing A Deity's Weapon Of Choice

So I'm developing a race of beings for a Mutants And Masterminds setting that have traits similar to Marvel's Asgardians and Olympians. And one trait I've given them is that they usually have an enchanted weapon similar to Stormbringer. With some, choosing their Weapon Of Choice is fairly simple; with others, I'm not so sure.

The main focus is on a specific group of individuals. Their themes:

• Creation (similar to Hephaestus): A warhammer feels most likely; goes well with a blacksmith motif.
• Hunt (ex. Artemis, Sif): A sword (though I'll figure out the type later).
• War (ex. Ares (Mars)/Tyr): A huge axe.

These, on the other hand, I can't think of weapons for them.

• Chaos (not evil; more of a Trickster Archetype, like Loki)
• Death: A scythe, maybe. Seems cliche, but it could work. (The death character is female).
• Harvest
• Immortality

Any suggestions?

Well, you could subvert the Death-with-a-scythe trope by giving a scythe to the harvest god, which makes sense. Then give Death a net to represent the original idea of collecting souls.

A chaos weapon could be a pair of dice to represent the random nature of chaos. Each roll has a different effect, mostly bad but some good. Or all embarrassing, to go with the trickster idea.

I've never heard of a god of immortality. Aren't all the gods immortal? If a mortal prays to it, what happens?

• Harvest : Kusarigama
• Death : ...Something cross-shaped ?
• Chaos : Maybe a morningstar or nunchakus ? This kind of stuff can be dangerous for both enemies and allies if the guy is a bit too Hot-Blooded ^^
• Immortality : Well, if he/she is immortal, something that would be fun to use even if impractical to stay alive. Depending of the tone of your series, you can go for ridiculous stuff like a frying pan, a spanner...Or a swordcane (or a regular cane ?) to show he/she's OLD.

edited 25th Aug '11 2:14:15 PM by DhanaRagnarok

I've never heard of a god of immortality. Aren't all the gods immortal? If a mortal prays to it, what happens?

I was thinking of a character similar to Idunn from Norse Mythology. Essentially, an individual who's responsible for keeping track of the source of the culture's Immortality.

Just curious, why is the god of hunt using a sword? Aren't swords bad for hunting? Surely a bow and arrows would be more suitable, especially if it's inspired by Artemis.

Tricksters generally don't have weapons— it works with their chaotic nature. The true weapon of the trickster is his mind and ability to shift and adapt to situations. If you must, though, I think bow and arrows would work for them as well— I can envision a force of chaos releasing thousands of arrows into the air and not caring who they hit or what mischief they caused. Thinking of Eros/Cupid's trickster antics in specific.

Immortality... maybe a grail or chalice? It's not really a weapon, but maybe it could be magic, and sometimes you drink and it gives life, and other times you drink and it causes death.

I second Ralph's suggestions for death and harvest. I particular like the idea of a net for death to trap his victims. Very clever!

Just curious, why is the god of hunt using a sword? Aren't swords bad for hunting?

'Cause of the way Sif's portrayed in the Marvel Universe as carrying a Cool Sword. Also, I forgot to mention: with their "arsenals", it's more like they've got one "enchanted" weapon, and one or two generic weapons (for instance, a character might carry an enchanted mace, along with a generic falchion and shortbow).

I was going to say that Hunt should have a bow, but considering said it, I will instead present to you the Spear. Potentially badass, actually used by hunters, and also has more precedent as a weapon of a god.

A spear could also work for the hunt god, or if you want to get fancy, a crossbow (still a bow, but a little different I guess). A sword just makes no sense though, it is purely a war weapon, completely useless in hunting.

edited 25th Aug '11 4:19:12 PM by NoirGrimoir

You guys are right about the sword. It could work for the Death deity, though (partially due to the whole "a samurai sword has to drink blood when it's drawn" legend), or due to ANOTHER DEATH.

I like the Hunt goddess carrying a spear, though.

Since the immortality deity was (loosely) based on Idunn, I thought about twin axes, for trees and such.

Immortality (and Idunn) seem to be more about life and innocence. Is there any reason you couldn't subvert weaponry expectations and give them a shield? Aside from the obvious defense uses, they can be used as, well, a blunt smashing weapon.

^ Also support this idea. Way better than mine.

I think the concept of poison works well with death, since death is a slow and inescapable process. A hand crossbow with envenomed bolts?

Chaos needs something that ricochets—maybe a sling that adds supernatural force and bouncing power to its bullets, or a bladed boomerang that moves in a seemingly random pattern before returning to its user?

If the scythe for harvest is too cliche, a monk's spade might do.

Immortality . . .a length of rope that ties into Instant Knots. When heavily knotted, it's hard to find a beginning or end to it.

edited 26th Aug '11 3:02:46 AM by feotakahari

It strikes me as obvious that the god of chaos would use something with links or a chain: flail, nunchuku, chain whip, etc. Perhaps bolos for a ranged weapon.

@ Katrika

What about a shield with razor-sharp edges? Off with His Head!!

Chaos could use a big wheel that mows stuff around. Death could use a needle-point dagger. Harvest really should be a sickle, like farmers use to cut their crops down into manageable pieces. Immortality should be no weapon at all and use kung-fu.

As long as the Goddess of Marriage has a whip.

Are you a sub? Joking. Whips can be hawt...I mean, hard and they hurt.

edited 26th Aug '11 8:40:30 AM by darkclaw

The God of Chaos should use fire! Nothing is more chaotic and primal than fire.

edited 26th Aug '11 9:55:35 AM by EnglishMajor

Actually I was making a reference to the List Of Things Mr. Welch Can No Longer Do In A Roleplaying Game. Specifically, number 28.

I can't believe I hadn't thought of this as an appropriate weapon for Chaos/Trickery: Twin daggers!

Yes, as popularized by characters like Belkar Bitterleaf and others, they're simple, easily concealable, and the blade design is variable, depending on how the player imagines the character (so they could have funky jagged edges, or be a simple elongated triangle, or whatever).

I still like the idea of Death carrying a sword. Probably a curved one, like a tulwar or Kirehashi (even if she's not 7 feet tall, dressed in black, and sounds like Christopher Lee).

•Chaos: why choose one? It's Chaos, roll the dice and play the odds

•Death: Poison seems like a good idea here, so maybe a cup

•Harvest: This is where I would put the sythe

•Immortality: maybe turns a person into stone, since stones doesn't ever really go away, it just erodes into sand and is scattered.

edited 26th Aug '11 1:27:24 PM by TheEmeraldDragon

Oh, idea for Death (inspired by ): S/he could have a goblet with an infinite amount of acidic poison in it, which erodes away anything and everything (just like real death will turn you into dust). S/he would reach into the goblet, and toss it on hir enemies.

Bear this in mind: They're not the actual Olympian/Asgardian deities. They've got a lot of traits similar to them, but in terms of actual power, they're more like the Marvel Universe versions. (In other words, primarily being semi-immortal and having Super-Strength. And I STILL haven't been able to come up with names for their races).

In terms of powers, the Asgardian equivalents are stronger, and focus more on combat-related stuff. The Olympians are a bit more resilient to injury, and have low-level magical abilities.

After you guys' ideas, and discussion with some of my friends, I've decided to change a few things, so here are their weapons:

• CHAOS/TRICKERY: Twin kukri knives, since they're just cool looking. My original thought was a sword that constantly changed shape (a gladius one scene, a katana another, and so forth).
• CREATION/FORGE: A heavy mace (I thought about giving him a twin set, but decided against it).
• DEATH (Female): A two-handed curved sword, like a jagged-edge scimitar. (It's a bit scythe-like, and it's a nice Discworld reference).
• HUNT (Female): A spear.
• OCEAN: Though a trident is cliche, I thought it'd probably be best.
• WAR: As I said before, a huge axe (not a two-handed one).
• WISDOM (Female): A monk's spade. (I thought about a sword & shield, but since she's from a culture similar to Shangri La...)

Bear in mind, they tend to carry a few other regular weapons as well. It's just that these specific weapons have the following traits:

• They're near-indestructible.
• They're "programmed" to who can or can't use them (the Asgardian ones can only have one user; the Olympians are limited to members of their race).
• They can be thrown, only to return to their user.