5e needs a Faiths and Avatars style book

ehenning said:

True, but the mechanics can depend on what has happened since the previous editions. The lore may be there, but people want something new so embellishment (or at times complete retelling) can also work.

If you want to use previous edition lore for your campaign, of course that’s up to you. I do the same. Some people just want an official version from Mike, Chris and Jeremy for 5e. The joy of D&D is you don’t have to use it unless you want.

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I’m not opossed to a 5e version of the book. I’d love one. Not as much as a Manual of the Planes mind you, but I do want 5e versions of the classics.
But the old lore works just fine in the meantime. And a book of rules for how gods work is pretty darn niche. There’s very few campaigns were you need hard rules for how gods and divinity work.

There is no "canon". Even if you set your adventures in the Forgotten Realms, your Forgotten Realms will inevitably be different to my Forgotten Realms and every other version of the Forgotten Realms.

As for gods, just look at the real world. People who are members of the same congregation can't even agree on what is true and what is not, never mind the factions within religions. When it comes to gods and religion, uncertainty and conflicting accounts is both desirable and realistic.


And as for 5e game mechanics, there is no mechanical distinction between ranks of deities: any cleric can cast spells up to maximum level. Nor is there a requirement that clerics must be members of the clergy (and therefore be knowledgeable about ceremonies, holy days, and the like), and explicitly, most NPC clergy are not clerics.

Jester David said:

I’m not opossed to a 5e version of the book. I’d love one. Not as much as a Manual of the Planes mind you, but I do want 5e versions of the classics.
But the old lore works just fine in the meantime. And a book of rules for how gods work is pretty darn niche. There’s very few campaigns were you need hard rules for how gods and divinity work.

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For most major Gods yes, but they've added a bunch of new Gods in MTOFs and the Catlord in VGTMs that need to be detailed for people unfamiliar with them.

Paul Farquhar said:

There is no "canon". Even if you set your adventures in the Forgotten Realms, your Forgotten Realms will inevitably be different to my Forgotten Realms and every other version of the Forgotten Realms.

As for gods, just look at the real world. People who are members of the same congregation can't even agree on what is true and what is not, never mind the factions within religions. When it comes to gods and religion, uncertainty and conflicting accounts is both desirable and realistic.


And as for 5e game mechanics, there is no mechanical distinction between ranks of deities: any cleric can cast spells up to maximum level. Nor is there a requirement that clerics must be members of the clergy (and therefore be knowledgeable about ceremonies, holy days, and the like), and explicitly, most NPC clergy are not clerics.

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Actually there is canon lore for FR.

ehenning said:

True, but the mechanics can depend on what has happened since the previous editions. The lore may be there, but people want something new so embellishment (or at times complete retelling) can also work.

If you want to use previous edition lore for your campaign, of course that’s up to you. I do the same. Some people just want an official version from Mike, Chris and Jeremy for 5e. The joy of D&D is you don’t have to use it unless you want.

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Exactly.

gyor said:

5e needs a Faiths and Avatars style book.

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I believe it is called Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous, and it is the best supplement for pantheons bar none. (None of the official D&D pantheons, but better than most D&D devised.)

gyor said:

Fanon is fine for your games, but Canon is the language of the shared worlds that allows for mutual understanding and boost immersion in the setting, which boosts suspension of disbelief.

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I don't see as mutual understanding across games really has anything to do with immersion of the players at my table, nor with immersion of players in general.

The thing to note is that most folks don't take part in discussions online, and are otherwise not involved in anything across games. The don't need a language of shared worlds, because they don't talk all that much about them with players in other worlds.

We need mechanics and lore for things that are going to become plot relevant in our games. If my game does not cross between Greyhawk and Toril, then I don't need to know how events in one world impact those in another. If my PCs are not going to interact with gods directly, then I don't need mechanics for them at all. If most campaigns last a year or year and a half, and get up around 12th level, such a book really won't impact most campaigns - making it kind of a niche product.

A book generically discussing the roles of clerics in their own worlds, aside from adventuring, would be useful. And it might be better put speaking in generic terms (clerics with Domain X might have role Y and holidays A, B, and C). Lost Mine of Phandelver includes the concept of an interfaith shrine - a place where clerics of various gods will come and administer to the community at relevant times. Taking turns, in effect. It would be cool to build out structures like that, and discuss the roles they play within their communities. What does a polytheistic religion really look like, when some number of the followers get spells, and others do not?

gyor said:

Actually there is canon lore for FR.

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But as soon as you create an adventure and situate it in the Forgotten Realms, or as soon as your players do something different from some other group in an Adventure path, that version of the Forgotten Realms becomes different to the canon version. So, whist some hypothetical canon FR may exist, NO ONE actually plays games there. Ergo, it is irrelevant.

Umbran said:

A book generically discussing the roles of clerics in their own worlds, aside from adventuring, would be useful.

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From the class description in the PHB, a cleric is, by definition, an adventurer. The priests and clergy of the various religions are, for the most part, not clerics and can't cast spells.

gyor said:

Except that both make far more sense as Greater Deities, Lolth heads her own Pantheon and has a lot of worshippers and influence.

Asmodeus rules 9 layers of He'll and promotes and control Archdevils that rule entire layers.

He also has many worshipers in FR and has much influence.

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Both have already been demoted to lesser gods (DMG and MM). It makes sense, due to their recent, large losses (especially Lolth's).