Shintoesque D&D

[Korgoth]

Suppose that there is no overarching pantheon as typically posited for a D&D world. Suppose instead that there are only spirit creatures of relatively limited power. I say "Shintoesque" because I don't mean to just copy and paste actual Shintoism, or my notably limited understanding thereof, into a D&D world, nor do I mean that the world should be Asian-flavored or whatever.

What I mean is simply that special places, like especially tranquil or disturbed or unique or weird places all have a spirit being; it could be called a god or a demon or just a spirit but all the same it is a limited and finite creature with rather territorial concerns. And that's as far as it goes, at least as far as anyone knows (philosophers and theologians might posit a Deity, but for our purposes this does not result in granted powers to the Cleric class, etc.).

Clerics instead would be associated with a specific individual shrine, so that there would be tens of thousands of different individual religions. Some would grant powers (the Cleric class), some would not, and most would do so only inconsistently.

Further, there would be no need to distinguish between the entries in the Monster Manual / Vault and the spirits. Maybe the spirit of this blighted grove is an owlbear. It's from the spirit world (i.e. it has a non-natural 'ecology'), but for game purposes, it's an owlbear. Maybe it's twins! Or maybe it is mated to an otyugh. The spirit world doesn't play by the same rules, after all.

Such a world could be light on demi/humanoids. Maybe goblinoids are in there, maybe elves and dwarves. Whatever. If you play with tieflings, they would be the offspring of a spirit mated to a human. Don't think horns and such from WOTC tiefs. Think Inuyasha (but again, as easily in Western trappings as Eastern).

In this version, all religion would be local. I don't typically like the way religion is handled in D&D. And while I'm rather the opposite of a Shintoist personally (and I'm really only ripping off a few concepts here, not bringing in the real-world religion which I'm not qualified to do anyway), it strikes me as an interesting way to set up a D&D world.

 

[gamerprinter]

I prefer that kind of outlook on religion in the game as well.

Although I'm working with all those Eastern trappings that you don't necessarily mean, but Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story setting is actively being developed for release probably in March 2011.

I'm borrowing Shinto ideas, as well as Ojigami (ancestor worship), Shugendo (ascetic nature worship), and even some Buddhism, as I'm building a very Japanese setting and 3 part adventure arc.

Although Shinto states that there are 'eight million spirits/gods' in their faith, the number is loosely intended to mean an infinite number - as larger than what is countable. There are lone rocks along the roadside that comprise some type of local shrine. Larger Shinto shrines might feature a wooden hut on high stilts, a spring to cleanse oneself near the entrance and a Torii gate. Only the most important Shinto shrines have permanent structures. Most Shinto shrines are nature areas like a spring, a waterfall, or other natural beauty site.

While I'm working more specifically to those religions, you need only follow the idea and rely on uncountable number of 'holy sites' inhabited by spirits of varying power and their own adherents. I think your idea is very workable.

 

[Alzrius]

This isn't quite in the vein of what you were talking about, but Necromancers of the Northwest have a Pathfinder supplement called The Book of the Kami that details several natural spirits that grant a mystic effect to those within their territory, but can also manifest a body when necessary to interact more directly with their surroundings.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, the Druid, OA Shaman, KoK Shaman, AU/AE Greenbond all have elements of this kind of worldview, so would be a good starting point.

 

[Nifft]

Exalted (by White Wolf) does this pretty well. There's a god for everything, and everything has a god. It also handles ancestor cults, though they may have a bit of a sinister side.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Meek]

The setting I run most of my fantasy games has that particular metaphysical configuration, except I decided there would be spirits for concepts and objects as well as for places and peoples. Part of it is I like personifications as quick and entertaining NPCs, so I wanted spirits of melancholy and spirits of pens and spirits of alcohol to be around in some limited number. However I make a point to distinguish creatures from spirits, so an owlbear would be some nudnick's biology experiment, not a divine being, and people in the setting would be a lot less willing to kill a spirit (though thwacking it to unconsciousness is acceptable if it's pissing you off) than they would an owlbear. Also spirits interact with mortals a lot more, being essentially both an accepted part of society and a source of constant whimsical mystery. The setting has a really heavy emphasis on religion and superstition because of this.

 

[Stormonu]

Star Wars "the force" somewhat does this; spiritual power exists in all things and beings like the jedi and sith know how to use that ability instictively. It likewise can be augmented by areas aligned to the light or the dark side (like the magic tree on Dagobah).

If nothing else, its worth ripping off a few ideas.

 

[kitsune9]

What you could do with this concept is that even though the clerics have a local religion, their ties to the Shintoesque world is strong enough that they can deal with the other spirits within your realms. That way even though the spirits have limited power or only local, clerics would be able to travel, sense the local spirits, and commune with them for spells/powers/boons.

Part of your campaign or maybe a cleric's background is that he travels around the world to bring harmony to the spirits who are in disharmony. For example, the spirit of the river is angry because of the local farmers who have created irrigation channels into their fields but refuse to pay respect to it, so the spirit sends floods and destroys the crops. The only way to placate the spirit would be either destroy the channels or find an object of power that the PC's must locate and place in the river. Of course, this object of power belongs to a powerful demon in the heart of the mountain, etc, etc.

Also, you can have your clerics bargain for power from the spirits, something like how shamans works. The cleric makes a bargain to get their spells and then must perform some task or ritual. If the bargain involves accomplishing an adventure, then the cleric has spells and powers while on the adventure. The prayer time each day is just meditation. Once the cleric has completed the adventure, then a portion of the spirit's power is permanently invested into the cleric and if the cleric needs to "grow", then he seeks another spirit.

For example. You have a 1st level cleric who gets 1st level spells. He makes a pact with a tree spirit to punish a group of goblins that came and plucked all its fruit. The cleric embarks on this quest to hunt the goblins down, but in the meantime has access to 1st level spells bestowed upon him by the tree spirit. When the cleric has completed his quest and obtains a level to get 2nd level spells, he must then go out and seek a more powerful spirit; however he now permanently has access to his 1st level spells as the tree spirit gave some of its power to the cleric in gratitude.

Now we can run a couple of things from this:

1) If the cleric becomes powerful enough, his path to become a spirit who can grant powers becomes clear should the character die. Or...
2) The cleric becomes a spirit regardless upon reaching the campaign's level cap. Or...

Another idea is that more powerful spirits will have a greater range of spell power so if you have modules in which should last several levels, then the cleric can perform the bargain with just one and have access to a growing reportoire of spells as he advances in level.

Have fun with it Korgoth!

 

[Korgoth]

Good ideas here.

I like the idea that the travelling priest bargains with other spirits besides his local spirit (which won't be around, presumably). This makes the Cleric class especially important because he becomes the group's primary emissary and diplomat.

On the other hand, the Cleric's extra influence may come at the price of having to make bargains with these creatures... they may constrain him somewhat but ultimately make everyone's lives more interesting inasmuch as they get him and the party into adventures.

 

[Shades of Green]

This kind of a setting would be a very refreshing change from the typical D&D cosmology with its omnipresent deities. And, suddenly, religion involves even more role-playing than usual - as minor "gods" (i.e. spirits) have to be bargained with, so you - the DM/GM/Referee - get to "play god" in almost every adventure, while the Cleric gets to have a chat with "god" a lot of times in a campaign!

If you want to go to a more radical direction, you can change the way magic - especially divine but possible also arcane - works in the setting (I'll be using 3.xE terms as I don't know 4E well enough).

First and foremost, "gods"/spirits/kami/fey become monsters/NPCs with powers of their own. They can use their powers just like any monster - in many cases requiring a line of sight (or a given range) and maybe even having a limited number of uses per day. Any character - not just shamans - can try and convince a "god" to use its power for the character's benefit. For example, a mighty forest spirit (say, the spirit of an ancient oak) might have the power of Reincarnation, and might be convinced to use it to bring a dead friend back from the dead - typically at a price. Shamans, though, would probably have an advantage when bargaining with spirits in this way, as they'd know how to better approach the spirit and what gifts or services would best work with it (or how to find the spirit in the first place).

Second, you might want to ditch most spellcasting classes and replace them with something along the lines of a Sorcerer. This shaman or sorcerer won't need a spellbook and won't need to memorize spells (and should also get a good number of uses per day), BUT will have to learn his spells from somewhere (and NEVER get the automatically) - in most cases, from a "god". And convincing a "god" to teach spells shouldn't be too easy. This goes well with the trope of Sorcerers consorting with "demons"/fey/etc. Of course, the more powerful the spell, the greater the lengths you'll have to go to to learn it; a forest spirit, for example, isn't likely to know Fireball - you'll have to seek a powerful Fire Spirit or Dragon and bargain with it! Another option, for the more nefarious Sorcerers, would be to make sacrifices (and some "gods" would only accept [demi-]human sacrifices!) to bribe a "god", or, alternatively, to trap a "god" and force it to teach a spell as the price for its release (and, later, the "god" might try to get revenge!).

EDIT: I just realized that many D&D monsters could very easily serve as "gods" in such a campaign, from fey to dragons to aboleths!