5e needs a Faiths and Avatars style book

gyor · Jun 29, 2018

Paul Farquhar said:
That, I object to on philosophical grounds. The gods should be mysterious and remote. Their powers and teachings open to debate and interpretation. They shouldn't be relegated to the role of monsters for high level PCs to fight.

Why?

1) Gods walking the earth has been done to death has been done to death (quite literally) in the Forgotten Realms. If they are wise (and gods are supposed to be), they will stay well out of it, for self preservation if nothing else.

2) Divine intervention devalues the agency of the player characters. They are supposed to be the heroes of the story, not pawns pushed about by deities who can't be bothered to bash the evil minions themselves.

3) Clerics are already the least popular class (speaking from experience, not dubious statistics). It's not going to help their popularity any if they get how to play their character dictated to them, in a way that not even warlocks have to suffer.

4) Authenticity. Fantasy is all the better for having a sprinkling of real world truths.

Cleric is not the least popular class, the DMG has already stated that some Gods like Lurue dwell in the material plane, same with most if not all the Mulhorandi Pantheon, what do you mean by point 4.

gyor · Jun 30, 2018

By the way a list of FR gods not mentioned yet in a 5e source book, Velsharoon, Nobanion, Shakdrul, Hathor, Geb, Ishtar, Inanna and other dead (formerily dead Untherite Gods), Enlil, Fzoul & Obould (these two might be more quasideities), Garagos. Finder Wyvenspur, Shallia, Maztican and Celestial Buracracy Pantheons, Ubtao is mentioned, but in a AL deity legal source, the Gods of the Derro are in the same position.

cbwjm · Jun 30, 2018

I think what I'd like to see in a faiths and avatars book is info on all of the gods they've added to the various race pantheons that have no explanation of who they are so that I don't have to go digging through old editions and old dragon magazines (much as I love reading them). Even if it was just something as long as the god descriptions in SCAG that would be useful.

CM · Jun 30, 2018

SCAG had a good "in a nutshell" summary of each god and many had a unique bit of lore that was relevant to characters who worship them that seemed to ground them in the world better than previous takes on the theme.

One thing I really don't think we'll see (or want) is stats and avatars and the gods themselves, as they are supposed to be more "hands-off" now post-2nd-Sundering. I would just like a good half-page on each: How worshippers dress and behave, one or two interesting rituals or holy days, what ordinary folks think about the god and their worshippers, what servants the god employs, where their big centers of worship are, and maybe one or two paragraphs for special orders of worshippers.

ccs said:
It's too bad there's no You Tube instructional videos on how to use ones imagination.

Of course! Who needs new adventures, monsters, spells, feats, or magic items when you have your imagination! It's all so obvious now.

Hussar · Jun 30, 2018

There is a significant range between "clerics never act like anything other than fighters with a spell list" and "clerics must have daily/hourly rituals which must be detailed out."

I would just like to see cleric (and paladin and druid) players actually acknowledge that they have a patron diety once in a while and do anything at the table to make that part of the game.

Mouseferatu · Jun 30, 2018

Hussar said:
I would just like to see cleric (and paladin and druid) players actually acknowledge that they have a patron diety once in a while and do anything at the table to make that part of the game.

A while back, I was playing a cleric of St. Cuthbert in a friend's campaign. The campaign itself kind of went off the rails, but my primary character shtick was: Any time we'd encounter anything significant (a monster, an event, whatever), or any other time it felt appropriate, I would ask the party "Have you ever heard the parable of St. Cuthbert and the [Something I Pulled Out of My Butt That Seemed Vaguely Similar or Related to Whatever We'd Just Encountered]?"

It became a running joke, to the point where the other players would occasionally ask it before I could. And that's really the only significant trait--religious or otherwise--the character had. But damn if I don't still remember him as one of the most fun and interesting clerics I've had the chance to play.

Paul Farquhar · Jun 30, 2018

gyor said:
Cleric is not the least popular class

It's the least popular class amongst the groups I play in, with the total number of PC clerics = zero.

SkidAce · Jun 30, 2018

Paul Farquhar said:
It's the least popular class amongst the groups I play in, with the total number of PC clerics = zero.

Anecdotal counterpoint; our group really like them, the flavor ties them to the world.

gyor · Jun 30, 2018

Paul Farquhar said:
It's the least popular class amongst the groups I play in, with the total number of PC clerics = zero.

That is extremely acnedotal, that is an extremely small group of people.

gyor · Jun 30, 2018

cbwjm said:
I think what I'd like to see in a faiths and avatars book is info on all of the gods they've added to the various race pantheons that have no explanation of who they are so that I don't have to go digging through old editions and old dragon magazines (much as I love reading them). Even if it was just something as long as the god descriptions in SCAG that would be useful.

Yes, the Elven and Dwarven Pantheons in particular like doubled.