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Post by browman on Feb 18, 2013 20:54:36 GMT
Religions and dieties are a key part of any setting for D&D. As such I think it is important to determine a few key guiding factors about these issues in this setting. I feel like an issue like this should be an agreement between key contributors rather than a 1 person decision.
So, a few key concepts need to be ironed out early.
A. Is there only one pantheon for the entire world, with possibly differant names?
B. Are the gods distant or actively involved in the world, ie granting visions, prophecies and orders to their devout?
C. Can a mortal become a god, or are the gods vast ancient beings?
D. Can gods manifest themselves in the material realm?
I think those points are a good place to start the discussion from.
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Post by Eyore on Feb 19, 2013 15:25:28 GMT
So far in play testing we have uses the 3.5 core pantheon with a few tweaks. I think we are leaning more towards Eberron (gods are very distant, if they exist at all) rather than forgotten realms (gods are very active).
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Post by browman on Feb 19, 2013 16:53:59 GMT
Ok, so distant gods. I can work with that. Has your playtesting mostly taken place on the one continent? If so, does that mean that there could be other pantheons on different continents?
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Post by ungentlemanly on Feb 19, 2013 17:37:06 GMT
I agree with Eyore, Gods should be distant. I love the way the Eberron Gods are set up and I am very much of the opinion that if it aint broke, don't fix it.
What I thinks need to be fleshed out is names, domains and history.
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Post by browman on Feb 19, 2013 18:07:40 GMT
Sounds good. I personally think the world should have at least 3 pantheons (weither these are actually differant gods or just people believe they are, is a different issue)
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Post by Eyore on Feb 19, 2013 19:03:05 GMT
Lol, yeah so far we haven't even left Beria. The church of Pelor is a major religion on Celenor.
I can definitely see other continents having different religions.
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Post by browman on Feb 19, 2013 19:07:31 GMT
So are we going with the standard 3.5 rulebook names or creating our own?
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Post by Eyore on Feb 19, 2013 20:06:34 GMT
So far we've used the 3.5 god's names, as it helps with familiarity. We've 'toned down' the connection between certain gods and races. For instance, Moradin isn't 'the dwarf god'.
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Post by browman on Feb 19, 2013 20:23:57 GMT
It is at the end of my career that the loremaster of Antochi, that I write this treatise on the Celentate. It was only a few years before my birth that our traders first reached those nearby shores and were introduced to those gods. We met this gods at a critical moment in our history, we had just begun expanding our trading empire to keep up with food demands in Delos, we had never had enough food to go around but the drought made the situation far worse. By the time of my birth their missionaries had spread into our lands, even reaching inland to Antochi, and our own gods were starting to fade away as these missionaries explained that we were worshiping a perversion of their gods and this was the reason for our troubles. By the time I was grown I had already forgotten the names of our native gods, though I know them now thanks to the ancient texts I can access. But enough of my ramblings, on to the subject at hand, the gods of the Celentate.
Loremaster Xander’s introduction to his treatise on the Celentate Divines, written in Illim Adventum 137
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Post by Eyore on Feb 20, 2013 0:46:49 GMT
I like this  I'm also thinking that it could be good to come up with alternate names for the gods we do have. Different cultures could know them by different names. |
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Post by Dungeon Master Deveraux on Feb 20, 2013 22:37:52 GMT
Sorry I am late to the party....
To answer your (excellent and well posed questions):
A) I had envisioned a one pantheon approach to religion, with room for some monotheistic religions (perhaps as a regional thing?). People acros the world know the gods by different names, and as they are distant from people, they cannot get answers which set these schisms straight.
B) I see the gods being a more distant force than many D&D settings, giving more room for discussion and potential story/conflict.
C) The questions of mortal apophosis is not one I have considered. I feel that it is a possibility but may not have happened for a long time... if ever.
D) I prefer not to have the gods manifest. It removes too many of the unanswered questions if they show up, and also stops mortals being the ones who are in charge of the world and their own destiny.
I hope those answers are some help?
I like your look at the gods so far, it makes for interesting reading
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Post by browman on Feb 21, 2013 3:13:48 GMT
I struggled to decide which of the Celentate this first chapter should be one. At first I was drawn to Merdrael, the first king, then strangely to the lord of hate, Odii, master of the apocalypse. I was almost settled on Elthor the wonderer, when I realized that the first would have to be Frangit, the true smith. His cult has spread the most widely in Antochi, likely due to the many mines and smiths in our territory. The priest-smiths of Frangit were among the first priests of this new pantheon to arrive this far inland but their cult spread like alchemist’s fire over an ooze. Within ten years Antochi had its own high runesmith who answered only to Anostacles King, the Grand runesmith and Frangit himself.
Excerpt from the beginning of chapter 1 of Xander’s treatise on the Celentate Divines
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I'm also thinking that it could be good to come up with alternate names for the gods we do have. Different cultures could know them by different names.
