5e needs a Faiths and Avatars style book

[MechaTarrasque]

I don't know about need, but I would like one. I would be more interested in a DMG type book then a SCAG type book (more universal than setting specific). I would like a couple of examples of (well-defended) temples/groves/holy spaces and maybe some planar ally worthy celestials/fiends/elementals or templates for certain gods (or gods fulfilling certain functions) that could be applied to existing monsters for PA (maybe as a boon for a job well done you can get a flaming deva of Pelor when you cast PA). And of course, it wouldn't be a 5e book without some new goodies for players.....

 

[SkidAce]

They tried that with 4th Edition, and we all know how that turned out!

4E was not my bag...but it had plenty of lore.

/tangent

 

[SkidAce]

I don't know about need, but I would like one. I would be more interested in a DMG type book then a SCAG type book (more universal than setting specific). I would like a couple of examples of (well-defended) temples/groves/holy spaces and maybe some planar ally worthy celestials/fiends/elementals or templates for certain gods (or gods fulfilling certain functions) that could be applied to existing monsters for PA (maybe as a boon for a job well done you can get a flaming deva of Pelor when you cast PA). And of course, it wouldn't be a 5e book without some new goodies for players.....

emphasis mine.

I assigned varying servants to the different pantheons in my world.

The "Imperial Temple" has 4E style angels of "Retribution" , "Valor" , "Protection" etc., winged forms that trail off into mist below the legs.

The "Old Faith" uses elementals and nature spirits, mostly created or sent as needed, for example, there was a spirit wolf that guided them out of the "forest of death", a earth elemental that protected a temple, and a valley spirit guardian that went bad.

The "Pantheon" uses a mixture of devas/angels from older versions and Pathfinder, mostly refluffed to have multiple arms, extra wings, two faces, third eyes, etc.

The "Vaesir" pantheon is semi-norse like, and mostly uses einheriar (warrior spirits) and valkyries.

The final example for now is the "Sunarian" gods, vaguely Egyptian, Bablylonian. Naturally the emissaries and servants of this pantheon are anthromorphic (archons/agathions) and/or are Maruts and Inevitables.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

5e needs a Faiths and Avatars style book.

It strikes me that these details would better appear in setting books, rather than having a single book with contradictory sections in.

It may be better left as something for DM'sGuild, since it would involve mostly rehashing previously printed material with only a few, mechanical changes. Other than the usual similarities between FR and Greyhawk, much of the information would be very setting specific, but a book with only a single section on FR for example, would probably not be regarded as sufficient to cover that aspect of the setting.
Add to that the limited appeal of a book detailing this single aspect of the game and it seems unlikely that there would enough appeal for the book to meet the target number of copies expected to be sold for WotC to produce it.

 

[gyor]

It strikes me that these details would better appear in setting books, rather than having a single book with contradictory sections in.

It may be better left as something for DM'sGuild, since it would involve mostly rehashing previously printed material with only a few, mechanical changes. Other than the usual similarities between FR and Greyhawk, much of the information would be very setting specific, but a book with only a single section on FR for example, would probably not be regarded as sufficient to cover that aspect of the setting.
Add to that the limited appeal of a book detailing this single aspect of the game and it seems unlikely that there would enough appeal for the book to meet the target number of copies expected to be sold for WotC to produce it.

More limited then MTOFs?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Are you confusing Mystara the D&D basis setting with Mystra the FR goddess?

Possibly, but in that case the post I was replying to makes little sense. There is no "Mystran faith" in the Realms. That's not how polytheism works. Individuals will generally select a particular deity as a Household god (to use the Roman terminology), and keep a holy symbol of that deity around. However, when they wanted something from a god, they would make an offering at the temple of whatever deity had control over the area the they wanted to influence. Or whatever temple was local, if that deity didn't have a temple convenient. So someone who has Mystra as their household god would make an offering of gold at the temple of Walkeen if they wanted a commercial venture to be blessed.


The roll of priests would focus on dressing the temple and the statue of the deity, and performing sacrifices on behalf of petitioners. Some would have a sideline in cryptic divination.


There would be "mystery cults" for those who wanted to delve into the deeper secrets of a deity, so it would be fair to talk about a Cult of Mystra (which would be a part of the FR-polytheism religion). However, the cult may well be completely separate from the temple. What they actually got up to would be very very secret, for insiders only, with levels of initiation providing access to new secrets. They would also be highly localised, so a Cult of Mystra in Cormyr might have a very different set of secrets to a Cult of Mystra in Amn.


As for things specific to Mystra, her historical equivalent as goddess of magic is Hecate (who is not as dark as the early Christians made her out to be).

 

[cbwjm]

I think that in the realms, real world polytheism isn't how it really works.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

SCAG very clearly bases it's version of FR religion on Ancient Roman polytheism. And as others have pointed out, this wasn't new, it was just a little more obvious.


If you want to know how people behave, look at the real world. It doesn't matter if a world has magic or not, people are people.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

More limited then MTOFs?

I think so, yes.
More to the point, assuming that it would be the same size as MToFs, do you think that it could cover everything that you would want it to cover regarding faith in the Realms in a single section of the same size as one of MToF's sections?

And while most of MToF could be twisted to fit most settings, there would be very little in the FR gods section that would be relevant to the Eberron section: the entire metaphysical system of deities, gods and faith are completely different. Likewise the Eberron section wouldn't have much applicable to the Dark Sun section, and so on.

There are entire book already out there detailing the workings of faith, deities and gods for several of the settings. Only the actual crunch would be new material.

Ultimately, its WotC who have the information and statistics to determine whether the response to such a book would be worth the cost of publication however.

 

[Irennan]

Possibly, but in that case the post I was replying to makes little sense. There is no "Mystran faith" in the Realms. That's not how polytheism works. Individuals will generally select a particular deity as a Household god (to use the Roman terminology), and keep a holy symbol of that deity around. However, when they wanted something from a god, they would make an offering at the temple of whatever deity had control over the area the they wanted to influence. Or whatever temple was local, if that deity didn't have a temple convenient. So someone who has Mystra as their household god would make an offering of gold at the temple of Walkeen if they wanted a commercial venture to be blessed.


The roll of priests would focus on dressing the temple and the statue of the deity, and performing sacrifices on behalf of petitioners. Some would have a sideline in cryptic divination.


There would be "mystery cults" for those who wanted to delve into the deeper secrets of a deity, so it would be fair to talk about a Cult of Mystra (which would be a part of the FR-polytheism religion). However, the cult may well be completely separate from the temple. What they actually got up to would be very very secret, for insiders only, with levels of initiation providing access to new secrets. They would also be highly localised, so a Cult of Mystra in Cormyr might have a very different set of secrets to a Cult of Mystra in Amn.


As for things specific to Mystra, her historical equivalent as goddess of magic is Hecate (who is not as dark as the early Christians made her out to be).

In the Realms, there are people who are worshipers of a certain deity first, even though they still pay homage to all deities. In any case, when I talked about the Mystran faith, I was referring to her clergy. In the Realms, clerics do, in fact, put their deity above others when it comes to personal importance.

Also, aside from the common rituals&the likes that most cults of the same deity share, examples of how the cult of a certain deity works in different regions are included in the things that I think should be included in such a book (and it was exactly what I meant when I said that the existence of common practices and goals within a faith doesn't exclude particular interpretation of the worship).