Saga of the Ortegids: Thoughts on Religion

Art by chuckcg

Religion does not play a very big part in the Erdrick Trilogy. Remember, these games belong to an era where the difference between a JRPG and a western RPG had more to do with presentation than anything else. The trope of the corrupt church hiding a sinister conspiracy had not yet been established, and temples in the Trilogy play pretty much the same role they do in old-school D&D - they're a service you go to to resurrect dead party members and remove curses for a fee. However, there are still some implications we can overanalyze in the name of worldbuilding, and I feel it's possible to make some assumptions about the role of religion and the divine in The Saga of the Ortegids.

The predominant religion, in both Erdland and Torland, is that of the aforementioned temples. Its trappings appear to be grounded in your traditional fantasy Catholicism - priests wear miters; temples have stained glass windows. There's some ambiguity as to how many gods are actually worshiped here. The only deity mentioned by name is the goddess Rubiss, who plays an important role in the plot of Dragon Quest III.

Most discussion I see on the subject seems to assume that the temples belong to a monotheistic cult worshiping Rubiss alone, but I feel like this has more to do with people projecting the trope of JRPGs depicting a Catholic-like organization worshiping a goddess instead of a male god onto Dragon Quest. The Erdrick Trilogy never actually makes this explicit, and it's something that probably owes just as much, if not more, to The Legend of Zelda. Modern localizations lean into this, having priests invoke "the Goddess" in NPC dialogue. As I have previously stated, I am very much not a fan of the modern localizations. They make so many changes to the game script and terminology that I don't think this says anything about the canonical intent. Besides, we're basing this on the NES-era localizations.

Art by darksouls1

As a matter of fact, the Dragon Quest novels (yes, there are novels - I told you that no matter how big you think this series is in Japan, it's bigger than that) do depict multiple gods existing in the world of the Erdrick Trilogy, most notably Gaia, a Hephaestus-like forge god (just go with it). I'll only be taking light inspiration from this lore, because not only were these novels not available in English at the time the NES games were released in the West, they aren't available in English now. Still, the Japanese Dragon Quest wiki is fascinating to poke around in, and takes Google Translate reasonably well.

Anyway, the version of DQ3 I played as a kid has the priests very specifically mention "gods," plural, and as such, I'm inclined to make the people of The Saga of the Ortegids worship a polytheistic religion. This does, however, mean I'm going to have to make up most of the pantheon out of whole cloth. Some gods I can get away with borrowing from later entries in the series, but that's still not enough for a realistic pantheon. More on that in a future post. I'd also probably use more pagan imagery to add to the sword-and-sorcery atmosphere, so temples would have more sacrificial pyres and strange rituals of dancing and chanting. The miters and stained glass can stay, though.

On the subject of localization, the NES version of DQ3 actually - unintentionally - solves the issue of the discrepancy between adventuring clerics and the priests that play a role in society. At the time, Nintendo was so afraid of offending anyone that religious references in games were usually removed in translation, and the class later translated as "Cleric" or "Priest" was called "Pilgrim" in the first English release. However, considering the term already carries connotations of travel, I think this presents a great opportunity. In The Saga of the Ortegids, "clerics" are divided into two traditions, perhaps indicating a schism in thought - priests stay in temples and conduct rituals for the benefit of the community, while pilgrims walk the roads in the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment and to aid the weak so that they may become closer to godliness. They likely have similar abilities if the services temples provide is any indication, but this would explain why a cleric would ever go dungeon-delving.

An interesting point of the setting is how universal many things seem to be. Although Erdland's geography superficially resembles Earth's, all continents are available for exploration, and all of them seem to be on equal footing in terms of development and power dynamics. There are no places that are presented as unexplored frontiers or colonized subjects, even if their real-world counterparts would have been in the Middle Ages. The same temples, with the same services and aesthetics, are present whether you're in Romaly or Baharata, and even between the overworld of 3 and the hollow earth of Torland. Part of this is surely due to game limitations - it lets you reuse the same assets in each town, after all - but I think it has some interesting implications. After all, the same game also features a class of martial artists who are always drawn in Chinese clothing and who use katars and other such exotic weapons, yet can be found in a medieval European setting with no one batting an eye. I think it's interesting if we assume that traditions have disseminated far further and contacts have been more thoroughly established than they had in the real world by medieval times, and perhaps it means that Erdland is much smaller than Earth, even if the continents have recognizably similar shapes.

Art by Biel Bahi Pla

In the case of religion, though, it is quite interesting that the traditions in Erdland and Torland are seemingly identical, despite the two realms being on opposite sides of the planet's crust and having no way to contact one another. I'd personally interpret this to mean that the qualities of this religion are a fundamental part of how deities are worshiped, and that the same deities are worshiped universally (accounting, of course, for the possibility of sinister cults worshiping evil, forbidden gods - that's still pantheonism, just worshiping certain parts of the pantheon mainstream pantheonists don't want you to). Other religions exist, but they seem to worship different forces entirely.

Satorism, given its obvious comparisons to Buddhism, is likely a religion that focuses on internal spiritual growth, meditation, and the pursuit of knowledge over external divinities (and, with regards to the universality of religions, likely has adherents all over the world). Thus, it doesn't share much in common with Pantheonism, as it rejects the pantheon entirely. The only other hint we see at another religion is in Zipangu, the equivalent of Japan; as an isolationist culture, it does not worship the same gods as other lands, as noted by a foreign priest stationed there. They might instead worship animistic nature spirits, or they might be Satorists. If we look at real world precedent, it's probably both.

Friday Encounter: The Curse of Feebleness

This encounter could be used in a variety of situations, including in a town, on the road, in the wilderness, or in a dungeon. The idea is to use it wherever the PCs could be impacted by a curse. The simplest way to do this would be for the party to accidentally bump into a witch (perhaps knocking into her from a carriage while on the road and injuring her, or bumping into her on the street in town and causing her to spill what she's carrying) who, feeling vindictive, decides to place a curse on them. But it could just as easily be the result of a cursed treasure in a dungeon, or inflicted upon the party by a recurring villain. Feel free to use it wherever and however you think it would be enjoyable.

Some way or another, the PCs are all stricken with a curse that penalizes them in a fashion that is detrimental to their class and general play style, making it hard for them to fit their typical role in the party. For example:

• Martial classes have Disadvantage on all Strength checks, to-hit rolls, and damage rolls, and their carrying capacity is halved.
• Magic-users have Disadvantage on Knowledge checks, any checks to successfully cast spells, and saves against magical effects.
• Rogues have Disadvantage on all Dexterity checks, and their footsteps become loud and conspicuous, making it harder for them to sneak around silently.
• Bards become tone-deaf and have Disadvantage on Performance checks. They also lose proficiency in any musical instruments until the effects of the curse wear off.

You get the idea. Feel free to tailor these to your party - if any of the PCs wouldn't be affected much by these penalties (for instance, if you have a Finesse fighter), come up with an alternative effect that would negatively affect them.

The idea is to make it harder to play the PCs the way the players normally would, forcing them to act outside of their comfort zone. This could present a fun opportunity to challenge players to think outside the box if their typical strategies wouldn't work, or to give them a chance to experiment with play styles they aren't used to. If you have a player who always plays one class, this might be a way to force them to branch out.

For maximum fun, don't have the curse take effect right away. Instead, the effects should start to become apparent 1d4 days after the inciting incident. Don't tell the players that the curse takes effect, either - just start asking them to reroll their rolls and take the lower result, without elaborating. Eventually, they'll figure out something's wrong, and this could kick off an investigation of what might have placed the curse on them. If you have the curse placed on them by an NPC, it's probably best if it's obvious that some sort of spell was cast even if it doesn't take effect immediately. The players will be a lot more likely to draw a connection between the little old lady they knocked over and the fact they can't hit the broad side of a barn if that old lady started waving her hands at them and speaking in tongues before they saw a bright flash. Otherwise, they might end up on a wild goose chase that leads nowhere.

Because I've left things open-ended as to what triggers the curse, I'll also leave it open-ended as to what breaks it. If the PCs attracted the ire of a magician, for example, they may need to find them and right their wrongdoing. Or potentially kill the mage that cursed them, but that might not be possible if they're in polite society. If they picked up a cursed artifact, it may simply be a matter of disposing of it - but cursed artifacts have a habit of turning up again, unless the curse is passed on to someone else. One fun option would be to have the curse be broken for a given PC when that character performs a great deed or overcomes a great challenge without having to fall back on their area of expertise, proving that they can thrive on their own merits even if their greatest assets are taken away from them.

Dharma Abbey

Of all the locations in Dragon Quest III, Dharma Abbey is the one most tied to in-game mechanics. It's here that you unlock the ability to multiclass your characters, allowing them to keep the features and abilities of their current class while gaining access to those of another. The Saga of the Ortegids is not supposed to be a "meta" setting, and one of my goals in creating it was to reimagine the world of the Erdrick Trilogy as a classical fantasy setting that doesn't depend on its roots in a video game. However, in spite of all that, I do think Dharma Abbey has a place in the setting. It's an evocative location, and one that could have a lot of potential in a tabletop campaign.

Dharma Abbey is located in the mountains north of Baharata, in the area corresponding to the Tibetan Plateau. It's populated by reclusive monks who have little contact with the outside world, but there are a few outsiders there who have sought the Abbey for guidance in their personal journeys. Though termed an abbey, the pseudo-Christian iconography of the temples in most cities is lacking, and the place instead has a Buddhist feel (if you couldn't guess by the name).

I plan on addressing the subject of religion in another post, but I feel it's quite apparent that the monks of Dharma Abbey practice a different religion than the rest of the world. Of note, Dharma Abbey is the only way to make one of your characters a Sage - they're the strongest class in the game, with access to the best healing and offensive spells, but in order for one of the party members to become one, they must pass a test involving retrieving a sacred scroll from a dungeon to the north - if the scroll is located there, this is likely the ruin of another temple of the same faith. This item is called different things in pretty much every release of the game, but the NES version calls it the Book of Satori, which is a nice evocative name, so I'm calling the religion Satorism. I would also presume that the Sage class thus represents people who have been taught in the mystic arts at the Abbey, and who have mastered the teachings of Satorism. This also means the monks are likely powerful magicians, versed in different disciplines of magic.

Art by Leland Klanderman

Taking all of this together, I feel it's quite natural to imagine Dharma Abbey as Erdland's Shangri-La, an inhospitable place shrouded in mystery home to mystics and sought out by outsiders, but guarded by considerable danger that one must brave in order to prove their worthiness of their teachings. For a campaign, I think a place like Dharma Abbey would work best as a place to meet mentors or gain information needed for a quest. The sages of the Abbey would be useful allies thanks to their magical prowess and their great knowledge and wisdom, but they clearly do not share their secrets with just anyone, and there would be other quests needed to earn their respect. This would be a great way to gatekeep character progression to in-universe accomplishments, rewarding PCs with resources or abilities for completing quests, or even for undergoing personal growth as a character under a teacher at the Abbey.

There isn't too much in this area of the map besides the Abbey, but in the interests of fleshing out the world, I'd likely put some nomadic tribes in the surrounding hills. Most of the overworld's equivalent to Central Asia is covered by forest (again, more on that in another post), so this seems like the best place to work steppe nomads in, because I have to have steppe nomads somewhere. To maintain the Shangri-La allusions, these people would likely know of the Abbey through local rumor, but those who had laid eyes upon it would likely be few in number - PCs would have to seek them out as guides just to get to the place.

Baharata

As any polyglots out there could probably guess, Baharata corresponds to the Indian Subcontinent in the overworld of Dragon Quest III. It's a large region, with considerable swathes of wilderness, but isolated from the rest of the world, with large mountain ranges separating it from Ashalam and the region I've dubbed the Worldforest. Baharata is a key point in the spice trade, and its wares fetch a high price in the outside world, likely in part due to the difficulty in getting there. There is one pass in the mountains near Ashalam guarded by a hobbit who answers to the King of Portoga and will only let those who have his permission pass - this, to me, suggests the mountains are a mythic wilderness home to many creatures and fey spirits, one that humans likely have little contact with or authority over. If one wanted to expand on the setting, this would be a great place to drop monster lairs, dwarven holds, lost treasures, or even a megadungeon or two. Navigating the route between Ashalam and Baharata could be fraught with many dangers and adventures - enough to drive plenty of action at the table.

I've always held the belief that the history, culture, and mythology of India is criminally underused in fantasy gaming. Anyone who's read the Ramayana or the Mahabharata can tell you the average Hindu myth has more gods, demons, monsters, and magic than a lot of D&D sessions. Even if we narrow our scope to sword and sorcery, we need look no further than The People of the Black Circle to see how much room there is for pulp fantasy adventure in an Indian-inspired setting. I would liberally fill Baharata with warring kingdoms, hill tribes, lost rock-cut temples, roving demons, impenetrable jungles, and ancient curses. Luckily, such a large region gives me plenty of room to do so.

Art by Devashish Pradhan

There's only one town in Baharata we visit in DQ3, and it's solidly Hindu in character, with mention of a sacred river being used for purification rituals (interestingly, the river appears on the town map, but not on the world map), which gives me shades of Varanasi. I would interpret Baharata as being largely based on the Vedic era - not only because it's one I find personally interesting, and because it's roughly the era of the aforementioned epics, but also because this era predates the unification of India under a series of empires.

I think a points-of-light approach, with many small states, tribes, and kingdoms, would work well for Baharata. The town in DQ3 does not seem to house any regional authorities, so it does not seem to be a capital of any sort, and the region is too far from any other capitals to make sense as part of the same empire. There are two possibilities that I can see - either the capital of Baharata is one we never visit because there isn't anything interesting there, or Baharata is split up into a multitude of different states, with no one being particularly larger or more powerful than any other. The latter option would offer more opportunities for gameplay - think about negotiating rivalries between kings, or sparking a war between them, to say nothing about the potential for domain-level play - so I'm inclined to go with that. The chapter on the Hundred Kingdoms from Yoon-Suin might be helpful here, although it's based on a later era than what I'm going for. I'd also like to make some of those kingdoms and tribes made up of beastmen, probably in the wilder northern regions. Admittedly, part of that is me ripping off what Warhammer Fantasy did with its fantasy-India, but it's also entirely in keeping with the precedent of Hindu mythology, so it fits.

Friday Encounter: The Island Fish

Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas

Here's an encounter to bring one of my favorite tropes in folklore and mythology to the table. It should be used while the PCs are traveling by boat, preferably on a voyage through a relatively uncharted body of water.

While traveling the open sea, the PCs come across a small island that is not marked on any of their maps. The ship's crew has grown tired over the long journey, and they petition the captain to stop and rest here, perhaps foraging for food to replenish their meager rations. If the ship's captain is an NPC, they agree to moor the ship here; if they are a PC, that decision is up to the player(s).

If the ship docks, the crew wishes to spend the night on the island, and they suggest the PCs explore before sun sets. PCs exploring the island will find that it is mostly flat and rocky, covered in sparse shrubs and grass, with a few short trees here and there. There are no land animals native to the island, but a few seagulls can be found, and there are some crabs on the shore. The island is 160 feet long and 100 feet wide, with a circle of rocks and trees at the center of the island forming a natural campsite, 80 feet from the ship. Keep track of how far the party ventures into the island - it will become important later.

At nightfall, the ship's crew will make camp at whatever suitable spot the party found, and make a fire from some driftwood and fallen branches to cook some birds and fish they were able to catch. However, this is where the island reveals its secret. The "island" is in fact a gigantic fish that has laid dormant here for years, and over the ages, enough soil has built up on its back to form solid ground. However, when a fire is lit, the fish will wake up, and seek to retreat into the water - with everyone still on it! The fish will also wake up if a fire is lit on the island before the crew does, or if the PCs make any extremely loud noises (such as that of an explosion).

Once the fish wakes up, enter Action Time. The fish takes a turn at the beginning of initiative order every round. On its turn, the fish always sinks two feet into the water. The PCs must use this time to run back to the ship before they sink with the fish! If they make a move or dash action, they must make an Acrobatics or Athletics check (whichever best fits the action); on a failed check, they can only move at half speed that turn due to the rising water. The DC for this check starts at 5, and increases by 5 for every two feet the fish sinks after the first. If any PC is below the water (this would typically be when the fish has sunken six feet for a medium-sized creature, or three feet for a small one), they must swim to their destination, and they must hold their breath unless they have some means of breathing underwater.

You don't need to roll for the crew during this part - you can just assume that enough redshirts drowned to make things suitably dramatic, but enough survived that the ship is still in working order. However, if there are any named NPCs on the ship, you may wish to have them act during the initiative order like the PCs, following the same rules.

If you so desire, you can add other obstacles to overcome during the run to the ship if you want make the encounter more challenging. Do not forget that, although most parties will likely run for the ship, other courses of action are possible and should be allowed according to the DM's judgment. If anyone in the party is able to communicate with the fish, for instance, they may be able to convince it to take them to their destination - though the fish will likely demand something in return.

Portoga

In my opinion, the Kingdom of Portoga is where the History's Greatest Hits nature of Dragon Quest III really shows through. After clearing a dungeon in an area based on ancient Egypt, you unlock an area based on the Age of Sail. Nobody ever comments on it, or acknowledges that there's areas  coexisting simultaneously similar to those that existed in the real world thousands of years apart. Well, why not? Robert E. Howard didn't think twice about having Conan fight Egyptians in one story and 18th century pirates in the next, and neither, evidently, did Yuji Horii.

Portoga spans the area corresponding to the Iberian Peninsula. Its name recalls Portugal, but the capital city is located where Spain would be, so it isn't that specific. I personally wouldn't be opposed to throwing in some influences from renaissance Italy - scheming courts, powerful clergy, grand displays of the arts - and making it a catch-all for early modern Mediterranean Europe, seeing as how Romaly is solidly Roman.

A note on gunpowder: there are no guns in DQ3, and there is a bomb, but it's the creation of a lone alchemist and explicitly magical in nature. There are, however, cannon located on a ghost ship that serves as one of the game's dungeons, so there's arguments for both including and not including gunpowder in the setting. I'd personally go with gunpowder being unavailable (maybe with the exception of cannon) in order to keep the more ancient areas from feeling too out of place, and to preserve the sword-and-sorcery character of the setting, but Solomon Kane exists so that may not be a problem for you.

Portoga is a major naval power. It's known for its shipyards, and it controls territory on either coast of the sea to the south, with a lighthouse just north of the Isisian desert (incidentally, connecting to a portal that leads to Aliahan, suggesting it was built over an ancient Aliahanian ruin). It also has a strong mercantile character, trading with distant lands. The king is acquainted with a hobbit who guards the pass between Ashalam and Baharata far to the east, which implies the kingdom maintains many important trade routes, and is perhaps located at a nexus of them - it is, after all, quite close to both the Romalian Empire and Isis, and its ships would allow access even further beyond.

Spices are very valuable in Portoga - a bag of black pepper from Baharata is enough to buy a ship. This, incidentally, is a very good example of what Solomon VK of World Building and Woolgathering called "Vikings in Clown Trousers" in the comments of this post. That is, authentically historical details where you don't expect them. This is only one such example in DQ3; while Dragon Quest is now synonymous with a particularly idiosyncratic genre of Japanese high fantasy influenced heavily by anime, the earlier games at least were grounded in historical fantasy, and that's something I want to call back to with The Saga of the Ortegids. Incidentally, it reminds me that spices really need to be used as treasure more. In a pre-industrial society, spices from distant lands might well be worth as much as if not more than gold, and they might be harder to transport as well, as PCs would have to lug around bags and jars; it's not like they can stuff a handful of cloves in their purse. This could present some fun challenges for getting treasure back home.

Portoga would make a good home base for a campaign centered on trade, with the PCs as merchants venturing forth to distant lands. While DQ3 doesn't mention pirates being a problem in Portoga, its nature as a maritime trade power and its historical inspiration would certainly make it plausible for one to fight a lot of them in the area. Or you could combine the two, and have a pirate campaign set off the coast of Portoga.

Friday Encounter: What Is It, Lassie?

This encounter can be used anywhere - a town, on the road, in the wilderness, or in a dungeon. However, it's probably best used in an environment one might conceivably encounter a dog - having one turn up in the middle of a dungeon might invite unwarranted suspicion from the party. A PC with access to speak with animals or similar effects may make this encounter trivial to solve, so you may want to consider your party composition and determine if it would be suitably challenging for your table.

The PCs are approached by a large dog, which runs up to them wagging its tail and sniffing them excitedly. If they respond affectionately (most players will, in my experience), the dog will tag along with them, following them wherever they go. Even if they try to get rid of the dog, it will catch up to them as soon as possible, taking every measure possibly to keep up with the party, unless it is physically incapable of doing so (such as if the party crosses a bridge that falls behind them, and the dog is unable to clear the chasm). Notably, the dog will bark and try to get the party's attention once it is sure they are friendly. It seems almost like it's trying to communicate with them.

As a matter of fact, the dog is trying to communicate with them. It is in fact Athansios Panossias, a powerful wizard who, upon being defeated in a magical duel with his rival Hermokrates Nikolaios, was cursed into the form of a dog. Though he retains his memories and his learned mind, Athansios can only speak and act as a dog can, and thus is incapable of performing the gestures and incantations needed to work his magic. Desperate to lift the curse and get revenge on Hermokrates, he seeks out any passing adventurers who he might be able to lead to his mortal enemy.

Athansios cannot say or do anything a normal dog couldn't, but he will nevertheless attempt to get the party's attention and lead them in the direction of Hermokrates's tower, trying to explain his predicament as best he can. However, he faces significant limitations in doing so. The PCs will likely misunderstand his directions, and this may well lead them on a wild goose chase. It's okay if this happens - it's fun!

In the Lunar Lands, all animals are sapient, but have their own languages indecipherable to other species. Athansios might not be able to communicate with the party, but he can communicate with any dogs they have with them, and they will understand them. These dogs may try to pass on the same message if they're swayed to his side, but of course they face the same difficulties in doing so. If there's a Really Good Dog in your party, you should relay Athansios's messages to their player privately and have them try to relate things to the rest of the party without using verbal communication, to keep things balanced.