D&D General What D&D Religion Is Your Favorite, And Why?

[Shiroiken]

The Temple of Dawn is the highly-structured, dogmatic religion of paladins, clerics, humans, and cloistered monks. Heavy on dogma and the written word, and comparatively new in the realm, it is a thinly-veiled analog for Catholicism. The pantheon is led by Bahamut, and includes St. Cuthbert, Heironeous, Pelor, Yondalla, Kord, Moradin, and Corellon Larethian. They have large, magnificent temples that serve the community as libraries, schools, and--in times of crisis--hospitals, orphanages, and garrisons.

How did you miss Pholtus?!? He's quite literally the Christian/Catholic analog for Greyhawk.

 

[CleverNickName]

How did you miss Pholtus?!? He's quite literally the Christian/Catholic analog for Greyhawk.

The list wasn't all-inclusive; he's in there with the rest. I was trying to be brief!

 

[wingsandsword]

As they say: the only difference between a Warlock and a Cleric is marketing.

Well, I've always seen the difference being that a Warlock derives arcane power from a very powerful outsider that is either not a deity (like an archfiend or genies), or does not grant divine spells despite technically having divine status (like some Lovecraftian Old One), and in exchange for that power they do the bidding of that being.

Warlocks are arcane, and Clerics are divine.

. . .I get that the distinction is a lot blurrier in 5e, but in 3.5 the distinction was crystal clear and unambiguous.

 

[wingsandsword]

How did you miss Pholtus?!? He's quite literally the Christian/Catholic analog for Greyhawk.

I thought that was St. Cuthbert. . .since he's literally the 7th century Anglo-Saxon Saint Cuthbert of Lindisfarne transplanted into Greyhawk (to the point his backstory literally says he was a mortal on an unknown world long ago and after death was raised to divinity and sent to Greyhawk to minister to the people there) and his holy symbol is a stylized cross similar to the real world St. Cuthbert's Cross.

I've always seen St. Cuthbert as the stand-in for Catholicism/Orthodox Christianity when running D&D. The fact that Planescape materials made it clear that St. Cuthbert's church made it out onto the Planes meant he could also be used more-or-less as a stand in in other settings too.

(Though, Torm seems to be the closest analogue for Forgotten Realms, like when they did the Maztica plotline and had their version of the discovery of the New World, Torm's Church was the one that played the role of the Catholic Church in that story)

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Well, I've always seen the difference being that a Warlock derives arcane power from a very powerful outsider that is either not a deity (like an archfiend or genies), or does not grant divine spells despite technically having divine status (like some Lovecraftian Old One), and in exchange for that power they do the bidding of that being.

Warlocks are arcane, and Clerics are divine.

. . .I get that the distinction is a lot blurrier in 5e, but in 3.5 the distinction was crystal clear and unambiguous.

I get that.

But in my FRs, any creature able to ''share'' spells because of their high amount of power is undistinguishable from one another. God, Demon Lord, Arch X, etc, its all just branding. Their power level varies, but in their own domain, they are pretty hard to to destroy permanently. Difference between Orcus, Velsharoon and Myrkul? Yeenoghu, Malar and Garagos? Oberon, Mammon and Siamorphe? Not much, its all a matter of cosmic allegiance and end goals, more or less.

 

[R_J_K75]

I tend to go with the Forgotten Realms (FR) gods. I have the best knowledge of them and have used them mostly since 2e days. The 3 books that came out long ago helped to explain them and how they relate in a rather expansive way. Not sure which one of them is my favorite. I tend to have temples for Chauntea, the farmer god and Lathander, the morning god now sun god. I figure most of the common people would worship these as their primary god.

This is exactly my take on this too. Those three books for 2E, as well as other sources relating to FR religion, leaves next to nothing to be desired, there is so much detail in those books that they are my go-to. Even if I'm not playing in FR I use them as templates for other deities that are similar in other settings that are less detailed to flesh them out more.

 

[R_J_K75]

I played a Priestess of Loviatar, the Maiden of Pain in a 2E FR campaign. Her portfolios were pain, hurt, agony, suffering, torment, and torture. It was fun because the other players and DM were into it and I was able to play the characters dogma without disrupting the party or the game, all while unleashing pain and torment on the unsuspecting fools of Faerun. I wouldn't say this is my absolute favorite deity and I'm sure I've played more clerics in that era but ICR any more off hand, but it was a memorable character.

 

[billd91]

How did you miss Pholtus?!? He's quite literally the Christian/Catholic analog for Greyhawk.

Not sure I'd agree with that. St. Cuthbert is no less good a fit. They're basically two different approaches to religion and two different styles of doctrinal rigidity, for that matter, moreso than Christianity in general.

 

[billd91]

I tend to DM more than I play, but as far as favorite D&D religions from a D&D perspective I've had fun with Trithereon and Wee Jas from the Greyhawk setting, and Sarenrae from Pathfinder and Golarion. The various religion articles by Sean K. Reynolds have all been pretty useful with game setting religions and giving each of them unique character.

 

[wingsandsword]

This is exactly my take on this too. Those three books for 2E, as well as other sources relating to FR religion, leaves next to nothing to be desired, there is so much detail in those books that they are my go-to. Even if I'm not playing in FR I use them as templates for other deities that are similar in other settings that are less detailed to flesh them out more.

The Faiths and Avatars books for Forgotten Realms have indeed held up wonderfully well. A quarter-century and three editions later they're still the gold standard for religion in Faerun.