birth omens

[Quickleaf]

What are examples of some birth omens that could occur at a child's birth?
For example, a "blood moon rises" or "twin-tailed comet". Thanks!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A faerie flits into the room, slaps the Mother and kicks the Father in the junk, and leaves with a fart.

If that's not an omen, I don't know what is.

More common ones:

1) Numeric- 7th son of a 7th son; Firstborn

2) Celestial/Seasonal- equinox; solstice; harvest; eclipse; comet (possible multiples or unusual in appearance); planetary conjunction; unusual star or constellation in the sky; blood moon; blue moon

3) Shamanistic- certain animal appears or is born (white buffalo, eagle, day flying owl, night crowing rooster)

4) Mortal- death of a famous or infamous person on the day of birth

5) Supernatural- a being of power (deity/wizard/priest/fey/dragon, etc) delivers a prophesy, curse, blessing, gift or the like (see first sentence of post)

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Another to add to Mortal would be the death of the family member or someone close. The most obvious of which is the mother dying in childbirth that is a nice one too cause it is more ambiguous whether or not it is simply a part of character background or a actual omen.

Another Shamanistic one which runs counter to that be the death of some animal or perhaps crops. I imagine having the crops die or your livestock get sick on the day of your birth be a pretty prominent omen.

If you want more especially fantasy based. How about Ley Lines? Your born during the time when certain ley lines cross or are born on the nexuses of a pair of ley lines.

Twins have also been seen as omens before. Oh, how about if the infant cries or not when born? Almost all do (opens up the airways) but what if this one simply starts breathing normally, that could be very omen like since runs against the norm.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Physical- birthmark (especially if in a recognizable shape); polydactyl (6+ fingers per hand/foot); unusual or mismatched eye color; pointed ears; vestigial horns or tail; malformed hands, feet or other feature; unusually large or small; full head of hair at birth; baby teeth at birth (esp. incisors or canines).

Location- ley lines (good one, FS!); haunted house; consecrated ground; monument; ancient ruins; graveyard; battlefield; crossroads; mountaintop

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BTW, Quickleaf, this is an excellent thread topic- I hope you get a boatload of responses!

 

[Quickleaf]

BTW, Quickleaf, this is an excellent thread topic- I hope you get a boatload of responses!

Thanks Danny

Great ideas so far, here are the ones I've come up with...

Apparition: A spirit appeared at the birth
Thrush Song: Thrushes flew above newborn, a sign of quick wit and flightiness
Selkie’s Kiss: A selkie kissed the newborn promising to keep them safe
Mysterious Hermit: A hermit from far away anointed the newborn’s head in oil and declared them a child of the gods
Sacrificial Bull: A bull was sacrificed in honor of the newborn – a sign of good health for the community
The Gray Fox: A shifty sign, a gray fox caused some mischief at the birth
Oak Hollow: Shortly after birth the newborn was bonded to an oak tree
Natural Disaster: Born during a fire, storm, or quake – a sign of a wild disposition
Twin-Tailed Comet: A sign of great heroes and tyrants
Blood Moon: Ominous sign of foul wizards, the dark feminine, and those who uncover secrets
Midsummer: Born on the avestial solstice, a sign of wakefulness and lurking evil. Your tree sign is the Oak.
Longest Night: Born on the hibernal solstice, a sign of rebirth and indulgence. Your tree sign is the Elder.
Wyvern’s Shadow: A wounded wyvern far from home flew over the place of birth.


In the campaign I'm preparing for birth omens are part of character creation, each providing a benefit and hindrance.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Are all PCs going to have birth omens, or is this going to be something like a Bloodline/Heritage Feat?

 

[Quickleaf]

IMC we're going to use a D&D lifepath in addition to race/class, plus I'm adding in kingdoms of origin and celtic tree signs. Birth omens are an option during the lifepath system (about 1:12 PCs will have one, so it's possible no one in the party will).

Game wise, they have varied effects. So "The Gray Fox" provides help from the gray fox when lost, but authorities are suspicious of you. While the "Midsummer" omen means you suffer no penalty to Perception when asleep to noticing approaching danger, but spirits preferentially target you in combat.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Characters - Zelrig - Heroscape Aquilla's Alliance

some solid stuff and a lot of what you're talking about is in there. I would't buy it for those prices...

Might want to check on the publishers board and see if the Ultimate TOolbox is going to have something like that too.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

IMC we're going to use a D&D lifepath

I'm not familiar with those- is that 4Ed?