D&D 5E Everybody's got to have a Patron deity. Where did it come from?

[guachi]

The Mentzer Basic set, which actually WAS D&D doesn't deal with gods at all. And that product was the highest selling RPG product of all time.

"In D&D games, as in real life, people had ethical and theological beliefs. This game does not deal with those beliefs. All characters are assumed to have them, and they do not affect the game."

"A cleric is a human character dedicated to a great and worthy cause. This cause is usually the cleric's Alignment."

Yeah, Immortals became a part of the game with the Immortals set (which didn't sell nearly as much and so was, de facto, not a part of most games) and were added to the Known World in Gazetteers. But D&D, actual D&D as opposed to AD&D, expressly eschewed gods.

And even when it did add gods (or Immortals...) there was no assumed default of a cleric serving a particular god. So from at least 1981 to the games demise 15 years later D&D (actual D&D and not AD&D) that's the way the game was. I don't own a copy of Holmes D&D so I don't know if that assumption dates back further.

 

[Azzy]

The Mentzer Basic set, which actually WAS D&D doesn't deal with gods at all. And that product was the highest selling RPG product of all time.

"In D&D games, as in real life, people had ethical and theological beliefs. This game does not deal with those beliefs. All characters are assumed to have them, and they do not affect the game."

"A cleric is a human character dedicated to a great and worthy cause. This cause is usually the cleric's Alignment."

Yeah, Immortals became a part of the game with the Immortals set (which didn't sell nearly as much and so was, de facto, not a part of most games) and were added to the Known World in Gazetteers. But D&D, actual D&D as opposed to AD&D, expressly eschewed gods.

And even when it did add gods (or Immortals...) there was no assumed default of a cleric serving a particular god. So from at least 1981 to the games demise 15 years later D&D (actual D&D and not AD&D) that's the way the game was. I don't own a copy of Holmes D&D so I don't know if that assumption dates back further.

To nitpick, the Mentzer basic is from 1983, the earlier (1981) Moldvay basic set actually mentions clerics serving gods. The Rules Cyclopedia (1991) states, "A cleric is a human character who is dedicated to serving a great and worthy cause. This cause can be an Immortal being dedicated to a specific goal or attribute; sometimes the cleric is serving only his alignment, and has no interest in immortal beings. The D&D game does not deal with the ethical and theological beliefs of the characters in the game."

 

[Ilbranteloth]

The Mentzer Basic set, which actually WAS D&D doesn't deal with gods at all. And that product was the highest selling RPG product of all time.

"In D&D games, as in real life, people had ethical and theological beliefs. This game does not deal with those beliefs. All characters are assumed to have them, and they do not affect the game."

"A cleric is a human character dedicated to a great and worthy cause. This cause is usually the cleric's Alignment."

Yeah, Immortals became a part of the game with the Immortals set (which didn't sell nearly as much and so was, de facto, not a part of most games) and were added to the Known World in Gazetteers. But D&D, actual D&D as opposed to AD&D, expressly eschewed gods.

And even when it did add gods (or Immortals...) there was no assumed default of a cleric serving a particular god. So from at least 1981 to the games demise 15 years later D&D (actual D&D and not AD&D) that's the way the game was. I don't own a copy of Holmes D&D so I don't know if that assumption dates back further.

Holmes says "Clerics-are humans who have dedicated themselves to one or more of the gods."

As to what's D&D? Gygax wrote AD&D and the name change was a legal ploy to avoid paying royalties. Clearly WotC also considers AD&D the continuation of the original Gygax D&D as well since that's the line they have continued.

Without the legal aspects, I doubt there would have been a BECMI line, they would have retained the Basic set as the introduction and the PHB would have just been the Dungeons & Dragons PHB.



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[BoldItalic]

There was a voice from heaven and the gods spake. In unison did they speak, as one great voice. And the voice could not be gainsaid for it was the voice of the gods.

"Serve us if you will. It makes no difference."

 

[Lanefan]

To nitpick, the Mentzer basic is from 1983, the earlier (1981) Moldvay basic set actually mentions clerics serving gods. The Rules Cyclopedia (1991) states, "A cleric is a human character who is dedicated to serving a great and worthy cause. This cause can be an Immortal being dedicated to a specific goal or attribute; sometimes the cleric is serving only his alignment, and has no interest in immortal beings. The D&D game does not deal with the ethical and theological beliefs of the characters in the game."

By 1991 they were in full retreat from the Satanic panic crowd. A disclaimer like this - while unfortunate, sad, and really quite disappointing - is merely a sign of the times at the time.

Lan-"and how a game with defined alignments can also claim to not deal with the ethical beliefs of its characters is beyond me"-efan

 

[Azzy]

By 1991 they were in full retreat from the Satanic panic crowd. A disclaimer like this - while unfortunate, sad, and really quite disappointing - is merely a sign of the times at the time.

Apparently the Satanic Panic had nothing to do with leaving gods out of the Mentzer-era BECMI product line. See here.