Why Worship Gods?

[Raven Crowking]

In my current homebrew, Rhunaria....

Sounds like an interesting place!

And, again, there are some pretty strong specifics.

People worship gods because they have reason (right or wrong) to believe that the gods are real, and affect the world in which they live (or at least the afterlife). In D&D worlds, it is possible to have superior information to that of the modern world. After all, in D&D, you can cast a spell, ask a question, and get a correct answer. Not a theory; a correct answer. And, in theory, this is a possibility for most people. Want to know if the gods are real? Pick your class accordingly!

In D&D worlds, affecting the world generally means a mechanical game effect (i.e., worship me or you get no spells, etc.) or a manifest presence (such as in Rhunaria or Greyhawk). Being forced to deal with gods as NPCs, or being forced to take gods into account in game mechanics, makes the gods real.

Religious festivals are a really good way to make that reality a cultural one as well as a manifest one. Mortal NPCs who truly believe could, I imagine, make a sort of NPC interaction by proxy, and alter the game mechanics through circumstance modifiers (i.e., "The cleric sees you do not bear the Mark of Zoh'row. Roll your Diplomacy check with a -4 circumstance modifier).


RC


P.S.: I am not trying to claim that D&D worlds shouldn't have gods. Nor am I really trying to knock the system. I am working on a rewrite of my worldbook, and want to make the gods seem more real (and more important) to the PCs. So, even if I don't agree outright with everybody's comments, I do appreciate them!

 

[Sarellion]

The personal brush with the divine works quite good but I keep it at arms length.
My group is meeting with emissaries, avatars, eternals (beings from beyond time, created before/when the universe started) and servitors quite regularly but actual gods are rather rare and do not appear in antropomorphic form.

If they meet one of the higher ups like rulers of planes I give the "You are overwhelmed treatment" or make clear that the being is trying to take on an extremely limited human perspective.

 

[Driddle]

Not a silly question in the slightest

Why does anyone in your world worship gods? 3.X establishes pretty well that clerics (etc.) gain their divine spells and powers whether or not they worship anyone. What is the purpose behind gods in your world? Does anyone get any direct benefits from worshiping them? Indirect benefits?

Any such benefits would be proof of the gawd's existence, and thereby negate the faith on which his existence rests.

So on a deeper level, I'm not sure how the cleric class is supposed to work at all.

Good question. Very good question. Thank you. Now I've got a headache.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Any such benefits would be proof of the gawd's existence, and thereby negate the faith on which his existence rests.

So on a deeper level, I'm not sure how the cleric class is supposed to work at all.

Good question. Very good question. Thank you. Now I've got a headache.

I don't buy the "knowledge precludes faith" arguement. I have more faith in things that are evidenced than in those which are not.

Or, put it this way, do you have more faith in a personal relationship that gives you regular positive feedback, or one in which you receive no feedback at all?

 

[Raven Crowking]

The personal brush with the divine works quite good but I keep it at arms length.
My group is meeting with emissaries, avatars, eternals (beings from beyond time, created before/when the universe started) and servitors quite regularly but actual gods are rather rare and do not appear in antropomorphic form.

If they meet one of the higher ups like rulers of planes I give the "You are overwhelmed treatment" or make clear that the being is trying to take on an extremely limited human perspective.

Well, I also like local DR 0 or 1 gods.

 

[Umbran]

What is the purpose behind gods in your world? Does anyone get any direct benefits from worshiping them? Indirect benefits?

From a GMs perspective, it is very simple: Gods = plot hooks. Gods = mythological story elements. Gods = world history.

By the core rules, clerics without gods are fine. But clerics with gods make for better world-building.

 

[Sarellion]

Well, I also like local DR 0 or 1 gods.

More like angels than lesser gods. Lesser Eternals could be classified as little gods and include nice guys like great dragons, elemental titans and archdemons on the lower end. Greater Eternals are guys like Mahallon, king of all dragons (whom the party had a nice time with, his spirit was parked in one of the chars minds), the three rulers of Elysium and other planar rulers.

I think the servitor my group mostly interacted with was the emissary of death who waited in the spirit world every time, one of the characters were on death´s door. Later in the campaign, the guy took a very relaxed approach and he preferred to wait instead of spilling the sermon that it´s time to pass on. Hm, our shaman got some talks with him, too.

I think if I had the time to start a new game world I would switch to an animistic spirit world for a new campaign so people would interact with the divine more closely but on a more human basis.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Because all the bars are closed on sunday morning, so where else is there to go?

 

[WayneLigon]

Why does anyone in your world worship gods? 3.X establishes pretty well that clerics (etc.) gain their divine spells and powers whether or not they worship anyone. What is the purpose behind gods in your world? Does anyone get any direct benefits from worshiping them? Indirect benefits?

Because I don't use that rule. To gain divine power of any shape or sort, be it druid, paladin, ranger or cleric, they have to worship a god of some type. It might be one of the major or minor gods, an entire pantheon, or the 'force of nature' (itself a divine thing with a consciousness), but a higher power of some type must be involved. The rule is only there, IMO, as a metagaming nod to people that may be uncomfortable with the notion.

The direct tamgible benefits are spells or special granted powers, plus the use of various magic items that can only be used either by a cleric (or whatever class), a divine caster, or a specific worshipper. If they lose their faith or transgress against the god enough times or severely enough, all such favors are withdrawn until such a time as penance is made. Some gods may brand such a person with a curse, or worse.

 

[MonsterMash]

From a GMs perspective, it is very simple: Gods = plot hooks. Gods = mythological story elements. Gods = world history.

By the core rules, clerics without gods are fine. But clerics with gods make for better world-building.

That's the main reason that it does feature in my campaign, and in some campaign worlds (like the one I play in) characters can eventually become gods if powerful enough (and able to create a base of believers).