D&D General Developing a Homebrew Pantheon: Another word for "Saint?"

[UngainlyTitan]

Blessed?

 

[thullgrim]

I like Exarch and Hallowed.

 

[Yaarel]

It depends on what they are celebrated for. Are they holy, enlightened, ancients, ancestors, founders, national leaders, military heroes?

venerable
luminary
ancient
archon
rescuer
savior
hero
legend
epic
familiar
fate
ancestor

 

[DEFCON 1]

luminary

Luminaries is good!

 

[el-remmen]

Are they holy, enlightened, ancients, ancestors, founders, national leaders, military heroes?

Yes. All and any of those.

 

[MarkB]

How about Aster (ancient Greek for Star)?

 

[Charlaquin]

You could use Numen (plural: Numena). Latin for divinity or divine/spiritual power.

 

[Voadam]

The Raised.

Anointed.

Some synonym for helper, assistant, or servant.

 

[GuardianLurker]

Assuming the actual action of the Gods is required: "Chosen", and for certain ones maybe, "Consort" (e.g. Elminster and Mystra).

Also a fan of "Ascended".

I'd probably restrict to "Paragons" to the same set as I would "Exemplars". E.g. The Paragon Robilar, the First Warrior.

Also like "Numen" and "Annointed"

 

[Bedrockgames]

As I am working on my Vanity Frankenstein 5E rules, I also also developing a homebrew setting that the rules changes are built from - or sometimes creating aspects of the world to correspond with rule changes I am making - so it is a lot of back and forth that I actually enjoy (when I get tired to working on mechanics I switch to lore which usually inspires mechanics, which in turn makes me make more lore).

Anyway, one of the aspects of the 13 Gods, is that they are broad and abstract beings who have a range of servants, most of whom are mortals who were raised up into celestial service for their great acts in life. While clerics (and paladins) may directly venerate one of the 13 gods, they are just as likely to more directly serve one of those lesser beings (many of which have connections to particular locales and/or Peoples). For now I am calling them "Saints" and they are a kind of demi-god - but I would love a better term than "saint" or "demi-god" and I definitely don't like "angel."

Anyone have some suggestions? I have been googling around for possibilities and have been coming up flat. I will continue to use "saint" if I must - but want to consider options.

A friend of mine suggested "Divines" (since they are mortals risen up to divine status) but while I think that is moving in the right direction, the word "divine" itself is too commonly used for the gods and things related to them that it feels too generic and potentially confusing.

Similarly, another I considered "Exalted," felt like it had baggage from another RPG.

So I guess, what I want is a recognizable word with clear religious significance but that is not tied to a specific real-world faith (though that is not why I don't like saint, I just find the word awkward in some constructions) and might suggest a mortal blessed with a portion of their god's divine spark to help guide others or act as a go-between for mortals and immortals.

Honestly I think the more you can use real world terms like saint the better. It immediately connects it to something in my mind (even if it needs to mean something a little different from say a Christian Saint and it avoids that made up fantasy being sound that can sometimes be off-putting in fantasy settings. I am particularly averse to compound terms used for this. I would go with saint or immortal.