TheFlamingRheo
First Post
Yeah, but at least I can successfully bluff you on a roll of a 1 his character's wisdom is 10, while my Cha is 28
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Monotheism?
- Thread starter Azuretiger
- Start date
It has to do with the seperation of the Father (God) the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Ghost.
As for monotheisim.
I have dabbled with it in various undertakings but it is very hard to pull of convincingly. As with in real life the Eygptians believed breifly in one divine power ( most likely around the time the bible says that Joseph was sold into slavery) But when they reverted back to polytheisim it was a violent reversion. Their is evidence of defacing the Pharoh whose brilliant Idea it was, and Chipping out his name from Hyroglyphs. The God that was targeted as the one god was tarnished for a while and then was absorbed by another god.
In my humble opinion I think the bible tells us that there are other Gods. For God is a Jealous god, of what, or who? And we cant say that God is the only god because of Satan, the Great Dragon. the Leviathan at some point in the past did the serpents greatest species exist as Gods? Genesis says that they were made to slither does that imply feet?
Anyway those are creative arguments that got my brain going on more than one occasion. The simple fact is that Monotheisim, and Polytheisim can and do exist together in the sphere of our world why not on a fantasy one. A friend set up Pelor as the one true god of his world, with Wee-Jas playing the scholarly satan, and a Fanatical Paladin Pelors chosen son. Gods are the third to last thing I put in my world. after carefully examining real world religions similar to what I want to see.
As for monotheisim.
I have dabbled with it in various undertakings but it is very hard to pull of convincingly. As with in real life the Eygptians believed breifly in one divine power ( most likely around the time the bible says that Joseph was sold into slavery) But when they reverted back to polytheisim it was a violent reversion. Their is evidence of defacing the Pharoh whose brilliant Idea it was, and Chipping out his name from Hyroglyphs. The God that was targeted as the one god was tarnished for a while and then was absorbed by another god.
In my humble opinion I think the bible tells us that there are other Gods. For God is a Jealous god, of what, or who? And we cant say that God is the only god because of Satan, the Great Dragon. the Leviathan at some point in the past did the serpents greatest species exist as Gods? Genesis says that they were made to slither does that imply feet?
Anyway those are creative arguments that got my brain going on more than one occasion. The simple fact is that Monotheisim, and Polytheisim can and do exist together in the sphere of our world why not on a fantasy one. A friend set up Pelor as the one true god of his world, with Wee-Jas playing the scholarly satan, and a Fanatical Paladin Pelors chosen son. Gods are the third to last thing I put in my world. after carefully examining real world religions similar to what I want to see.
MeepoTheMighty
First Post
Sidran said:
If you can get a date to begin with, you're not very Star Wars.
Jack Daniel
dice-universe.blogspot.com
I use monotheism in my campiagns. There are a lot of changes that have to be made to fit Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to D&D characters, but it doesn't take too much. Here's what I did:
1. Player clerics, rangers, and druids must all be good-aligned to draw on holy power. Not neccessarily lawful good like a paladin, just good.
2. Divine spells are renamed divine miracles. That causes a LOT of name changes. Metamagic becomes metamiracle, Spellcraft and Scry are replaced with Sacrament and Vision, and Craft Wand and Brew Potion are relegated to arcane casters only in favor of Craft Icon and Bless Draught.
3. Raising and ressurection isn't a sure thing. You have to pass a check vs. a DC of 20 - your level to see if God thinks you're important enough to the cause of good to bring back. The check is a simple roll of the d20, with a +4 bonus assigned to good characters, and a -4 penalty assigned to evil characters. The dead have a chance to come back with no level loss or constitution loss if they beat Death at a game, but as per the Bill & Ted movies, death is allowed to keep calling "best of 5, best of 7, best of 9...."
1. Player clerics, rangers, and druids must all be good-aligned to draw on holy power. Not neccessarily lawful good like a paladin, just good.
2. Divine spells are renamed divine miracles. That causes a LOT of name changes. Metamagic becomes metamiracle, Spellcraft and Scry are replaced with Sacrament and Vision, and Craft Wand and Brew Potion are relegated to arcane casters only in favor of Craft Icon and Bless Draught.
3. Raising and ressurection isn't a sure thing. You have to pass a check vs. a DC of 20 - your level to see if God thinks you're important enough to the cause of good to bring back. The check is a simple roll of the d20, with a +4 bonus assigned to good characters, and a -4 penalty assigned to evil characters. The dead have a chance to come back with no level loss or constitution loss if they beat Death at a game, but as per the Bill & Ted movies, death is allowed to keep calling "best of 5, best of 7, best of 9...."
Desdichado
Hero
I've considered something very much like Tolkien in the Silmarillion. Both D&Dg and MotP offer the idea of an "overpower": some kind of god that the God's worship, while the normal schmuck's just pray to the gods. However, in Tolkien's work, the "overpower" was very much the God of the world.
Tolkien initially, I strongly believe, set out to write a mythology, so like any mythology had a polytheistic background. However, as the years went by, more and more he wanted it to be consistent with his own religious beliefs, so the polytheistic "gods", while keeping most of their same power, eventually became tools and agents of God, Eru. It's a nice mix of polytheism and monotheism without sacrificing too much of the flavor of either.
So in my campaign, everyone would pray to the monotheistic God. Praying to the lesser gods would be done by some (especially to evil or vain gods) but would technically be a heresy. Praying to the lesser gods to get them to intercede in your behalf with the monotheistic god might also be done by some sects, while it may be frowned upon by others.
Nobody knows for sure what powers their prayers. Does the One God power them himself? Has he delegated that to the lesser gods so that praying to them is possible? Or can you get your prayers answered and your soul damned by doing so?
Lots of religious questions to answer about such a setting, but as far as I'm concerned, leaving those questions open to interpretation by various clergy is a good thing, as it leads to ambiguity about what exactly is right, and it paves the way for religious differences and the conflict that can bring.
EDIT: and actually, my wife is a big Star Wars fan! And she's definately not your typical star wars geek.
Tolkien initially, I strongly believe, set out to write a mythology, so like any mythology had a polytheistic background. However, as the years went by, more and more he wanted it to be consistent with his own religious beliefs, so the polytheistic "gods", while keeping most of their same power, eventually became tools and agents of God, Eru. It's a nice mix of polytheism and monotheism without sacrificing too much of the flavor of either.
So in my campaign, everyone would pray to the monotheistic God. Praying to the lesser gods would be done by some (especially to evil or vain gods) but would technically be a heresy. Praying to the lesser gods to get them to intercede in your behalf with the monotheistic god might also be done by some sects, while it may be frowned upon by others.
Nobody knows for sure what powers their prayers. Does the One God power them himself? Has he delegated that to the lesser gods so that praying to them is possible? Or can you get your prayers answered and your soul damned by doing so?
Lots of religious questions to answer about such a setting, but as far as I'm concerned, leaving those questions open to interpretation by various clergy is a good thing, as it leads to ambiguity about what exactly is right, and it paves the way for religious differences and the conflict that can bring.
EDIT: and actually, my wife is a big Star Wars fan! And she's definately not your typical star wars geek.
Last edited:
jstater
First Post
Monotheism
To maintain consistency, I decided to create a system of deities/allegories such as love, war, temptation, despair, virtue, spring, fall, winter, fire, etc. These are the background gods, the "real gods" if you will. For each culture in my world, I then designed a religion that interprets these "real gods". Mechanically, the emotional/humanocentric gods (love and war, for example) are confined to the Ethereal Plane, as they are really just concatenations of like-minded souls (the idea is stolen from Warhammer's Realm of Chaos). These entities can only interact with the real world via their outsiders, who then become the basis for the gods people worship.
The nature allegories (spring and winter, for example) are tied to the real world, and I made them into the kings and queens of the various fey races. They are generally quasi-deities (divine rank 0) and epic level characters, which keeps them more powerful than the PCs but also makes them tangible and within reach - somewhat like the way the gods interacted with people in folklore and mythology, and in the Hercules and Xena television shows.
So, to get on topic, yes, there are monotheistic religions in my campaign, usually worshipping the God of Law ("I am a jealous god, yadda yadda yadda). My system allows me to combine monotheism and polytheism (and animism) in such a way as to create conflict, which is the basis for adventure. The God of Law, for example, isn't the only true god in existance, but he expects his followers to behave like he is, and he expects his clerics to drive the point home to the unenlightenend who would argue otherwise.
To maintain consistency, I decided to create a system of deities/allegories such as love, war, temptation, despair, virtue, spring, fall, winter, fire, etc. These are the background gods, the "real gods" if you will. For each culture in my world, I then designed a religion that interprets these "real gods". Mechanically, the emotional/humanocentric gods (love and war, for example) are confined to the Ethereal Plane, as they are really just concatenations of like-minded souls (the idea is stolen from Warhammer's Realm of Chaos). These entities can only interact with the real world via their outsiders, who then become the basis for the gods people worship.
The nature allegories (spring and winter, for example) are tied to the real world, and I made them into the kings and queens of the various fey races. They are generally quasi-deities (divine rank 0) and epic level characters, which keeps them more powerful than the PCs but also makes them tangible and within reach - somewhat like the way the gods interacted with people in folklore and mythology, and in the Hercules and Xena television shows.
So, to get on topic, yes, there are monotheistic religions in my campaign, usually worshipping the God of Law ("I am a jealous god, yadda yadda yadda). My system allows me to combine monotheism and polytheism (and animism) in such a way as to create conflict, which is the basis for adventure. The God of Law, for example, isn't the only true god in existance, but he expects his followers to behave like he is, and he expects his clerics to drive the point home to the unenlightenend who would argue otherwise.
ciaran00
Explorer
Unfortunately, all the real world and even literary examples don't fit with D&D because the system is able to create characters who exhibit god-like abilities. Any 20th level mage in a relatively isolated land is going to be considered a god by quite a great many people. He can affect nature in a significant way, he can effect miracles, and he is-- by all those who observe him in a general way-- invulnerable. Monotheism is always a great "ambience" but it's hard to make it a mainstay... unless you deny all epic-level from your players.
ciaran
ciaran
John Q. Mayhem
Explorer
A bit ago, I read a book about monotheism and polytheism. It was very interesting. Basically, the author presented evidence that at the heart of most of the old religions was a monotheistic core. I don't remember all of it, but it seemed well-documented. Just my 2 cents
ciaran00
Explorer
Consequently, if you look at it, D&D makes room for more-or-less monotheistic religions. Granted, multiple powers exist that have worshippers, but there is no real polytheism (a few paladins are granted the ability to represent "Good", for example, or druids to an extent). Clerics are monotheistic: they accept only the authority of their god... the rest are more like forces of nature than a god that they worship and gain power directly from.
In my campaign, being a Dark Sun setting at its core, has four major elements as the four major gods: entities that represent the very primal aspect of them. Beyond them paraelemental and quasielemental deities exist, but are so far removed in power that the major four seem to be, if anything, the only real gods. With this, there are feuding powers-- multiple entities that would make the claim of being "Fire" or "Water" ... much like there have been alternate Vaticans in the darker recesses of the history of the Catholic church.
Pure monotheism is unachievable, unless you're shooting for a simplistic setting. Even Ammon, worshipped by some Egyptians, had to share its stand with the polytheistic selection that existed alongside it.
D&D very nebulously caters to a "one god"... things like Ao exist... but you may just have to invent your own. Playing in the Jester's campaign for a short time, Galador was the god of the sun, and he was pretty darn close to being the only one.
ciaran
In my campaign, being a Dark Sun setting at its core, has four major elements as the four major gods: entities that represent the very primal aspect of them. Beyond them paraelemental and quasielemental deities exist, but are so far removed in power that the major four seem to be, if anything, the only real gods. With this, there are feuding powers-- multiple entities that would make the claim of being "Fire" or "Water" ... much like there have been alternate Vaticans in the darker recesses of the history of the Catholic church.
Pure monotheism is unachievable, unless you're shooting for a simplistic setting. Even Ammon, worshipped by some Egyptians, had to share its stand with the polytheistic selection that existed alongside it.
D&D very nebulously caters to a "one god"... things like Ao exist... but you may just have to invent your own. Playing in the Jester's campaign for a short time, Galador was the god of the sun, and he was pretty darn close to being the only one.
ciaran
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