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How Might D&D Religions Differ From Real Life Religions?
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<blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 4511423" data-attributes="member: 59506"><p>Something I haven't seen mentioned on here yet is the way religions are used in the <em>A Song of Ice and Fire</em> books and the <em>A Game of Thrones</em> RPG. There are a few different polytheistic religions, each with different pantheons, with a few deities with comonality to some pantheons, but not a lot of <em>real</em> examples of magic or miracles. There are stories and witnesses to what some see as miracles, but no absolute proof that these are miracles, or magic, or even proof that the gods exist. In fact, most <em>miracles</em> and <em>magic</em> can be just as easily explained as alchemical effects, or just plain tricks.</p><p> </p><p>Although never mentioned in the books, I don't see why there couldn't be people with atheistic philosophies, or even groups that adhere to atheistic concepts. Note: Historical Reference Only - Atheistic philosophies have existed in the real world since the 6th Century BC, and possibly even earlier. - End Historical Reference. But, if people in the <em>Game of Thrones</em> universe, or any fantasy setting, were atheistic, I think they would probably be very rare. They'd most likely be looked upon as either heretics, or if lucky, just crazy.</p><p> </p><p>Even in the Forgotten Realms, where giant Avatars of the Gods actually battled eachother on the surface of the world, not everyone would have seen such displays. For the majority of Faerun, they would only have heard stories of what happened, not unlike stories of the Greek and Roman gods. There could still be people who don't believe that it was real, and don't believe in the existence of the Faerunian gods.</p><p> </p><p>Using FR as an example, there could be arguments for all of the ideas presented in this thread. The argument could be made that arcane magic comes from the Gods, ala Mystra (of course, not in 4E though<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />). Someone who doesn't believe the Gods exist could make the argument that clerical magic is actually no different than arcane magic. I guess one could even make the argument that <em>magic</em> itself doesn't exist at all, it's actually all psionics of one form or another (this one could be a really fun idea to play around with for a PC, especially a psionicist character).</p><p> </p><p>I think for me, D&D religions realy don't differ at all from real world religions. Every religion in D&D, or any RPG setting, at least has a basic correlation to a real world religion or concept. As creative as RPG designers, GM's, fantasy authors, and RPG players are, I've never seen a unique religious concept in an RPG that hasn't already been done in the real world. I'd like to see a truly unique religious concept, but I just don't think it's possible (was that the sound of a gauntlet being thrown down<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />). There are real world religions and cults that are much wierder than anything conceptualized in an RPG. When it comes right down to it, I really do think there's nothing new under heaven.<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="El Mahdi, post: 4511423, member: 59506"] Something I haven't seen mentioned on here yet is the way religions are used in the [I]A Song of Ice and Fire[/I] books and the [I]A Game of Thrones[/I] RPG. There are a few different polytheistic religions, each with different pantheons, with a few deities with comonality to some pantheons, but not a lot of [I]real[/I] examples of magic or miracles. There are stories and witnesses to what some see as miracles, but no absolute proof that these are miracles, or magic, or even proof that the gods exist. In fact, most [I]miracles[/I] and [I]magic[/I] can be just as easily explained as alchemical effects, or just plain tricks. Although never mentioned in the books, I don't see why there couldn't be people with atheistic philosophies, or even groups that adhere to atheistic concepts. Note: Historical Reference Only - Atheistic philosophies have existed in the real world since the 6th Century BC, and possibly even earlier. - End Historical Reference. But, if people in the [I]Game of Thrones[/I] universe, or any fantasy setting, were atheistic, I think they would probably be very rare. They'd most likely be looked upon as either heretics, or if lucky, just crazy. Even in the Forgotten Realms, where giant Avatars of the Gods actually battled eachother on the surface of the world, not everyone would have seen such displays. For the majority of Faerun, they would only have heard stories of what happened, not unlike stories of the Greek and Roman gods. There could still be people who don't believe that it was real, and don't believe in the existence of the Faerunian gods. Using FR as an example, there could be arguments for all of the ideas presented in this thread. The argument could be made that arcane magic comes from the Gods, ala Mystra (of course, not in 4E though;)). Someone who doesn't believe the Gods exist could make the argument that clerical magic is actually no different than arcane magic. I guess one could even make the argument that [I]magic[/I] itself doesn't exist at all, it's actually all psionics of one form or another (this one could be a really fun idea to play around with for a PC, especially a psionicist character). I think for me, D&D religions realy don't differ at all from real world religions. Every religion in D&D, or any RPG setting, at least has a basic correlation to a real world religion or concept. As creative as RPG designers, GM's, fantasy authors, and RPG players are, I've never seen a unique religious concept in an RPG that hasn't already been done in the real world. I'd like to see a truly unique religious concept, but I just don't think it's possible (was that the sound of a gauntlet being thrown down;)). There are real world religions and cults that are much wierder than anything conceptualized in an RPG. When it comes right down to it, I really do think there's nothing new under heaven.:p [/QUOTE]
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