Why Worship Gods?

Arkhandus

First Post
In my current homebrew, Rhunaria, only a few cultures believe in gods, and some have very good reason to, but most Rhunarians venerate spirits. Shamans, druids, wu jen, certain clerics and sorcerers, and shugenja can all see the spirits and know that they exist, and the miracles they work through pacts with the spirits convince other folk that the spirits are truly there. Deities are less easily confirmed, but there are a few obvious cases. The Theocracy of Riza is ruled by a godling Pharaoh, who demonstrates obvious divine powers now and then, and even foreigners can attest to the fact that Rizan Pharaohs never seem to grow old and die, though a few have been slain in epic battles of the past. Even then, when a Rizan Pharaoh dies or grows tired of life in the mortal world, his body and soul merge and he ascends, visibly, as a being of light floating up to the heavens. The progeny of the Pharaohs are also noticably more powerful, gifted, and comely than common humans, and some of their progeny even bear fiendish or celestial appearance such as horns, a barbed tail, vestigial feathered wings, a halo, or a scent of sulfur about them.

Besides the Rizans though, other races with deity-worship have less frequent and less obvious signs of their deities' existence. Occasionally a Gilden human will demonstrate remarkable divine gifts even if he or she's never been a priest, just a devout follower of a deity like Allesandro LeSalle or Rickard LeBeaux. Ordinary warriors of great faith may receive visions and blessings from such patron deities of warfare, and their blessings can rarely be confused with paladin or clerical magic, especially in the more chaotic or neutral warriors that receive divine blessings. The occasional appearance of such a prophet or champion reinforces the Gilden faith in their pantheon, which they believe to be more noble than the Rizans' godlings and too respectable to be as flashy and gauche as the Rizan deities. So blessed champions run around doing good deeds in Gild once in a while, and so-called deathless warriors march in the Pharaonic Elite Guard, demonstrating the blessings of their faith.

Elves believe the Spirit King has manifested briefly from time to time to show his favor for their people, and dwarves swear that they've seen their deities' avatars on occasion when they needed them in battle. Tradition mostly keeps folks believing, because only gnomes, lizardfolk, and one or two other godless races have demonstrated clerical powers from philosophy alone, which other races just think is some kind of demonic pact or the blessings of some anonymous deity that gnomes and such just won't talk about to other races.

Presently one of the sorcerer PCs in my campaign has received a special feat from his divine patron, for his 9th-level feat, and is pursuing a quest for Altania L'Salle, the Gilden goddess of nature's cycles, night, arcana, and mystery. He may eventually take the Scion of Night mini-prestige class I've built for the favored minions of Altania.
 

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Trickstergod

First Post
Crothian said:
Just because you haven't meet a god doesn't mean you are not certain they exist. People do see their power and their miracles. That alone is enough to remove all doubt.

Any more than a sorceror dropping a fireball on a church and saying "There is no god!,"?

Or being able to predict an eclipse or create an explosion using a bit of gunpowder and the like and stating that it's an act of god? There's all sorts of perfectly mundane things one could do in the real world that other people wouldn't understand (depending on the time and place) to mimic a miracle. A basic understanding of science and the proper materials can do wonders when you're dealing with a relatively uneducated culture.

Or, conversely, get you lynched.
 


Ace

Adventurer
hexgrid said:
Well, in the real world, people worship gods wether or not they receive any tangible, spell-like benefits.

Why would we expect people an a fantasy world to behave differently?


Thats my answer too. The Gawd situation IMC is a little strange -- the afterlife consists of a New Age spiritual evolution track coupled with reincarnation --This is public knowledge and a proven fact to everyone given by the Metron -- the Voice of Creation that is Truth

There are about 7 major religions (Imperial gods, Northlander Gods, Wicca, The Way, The Lawbringer, The Shan Gods) and a number of minor ones that basically compete on"shortening the way" to reunion with the creator

Not everyone cares about that sort of thing though

Other games don't have Clerics at all

My "All the World is Trees" setting has Shaman who intereact with the Spirit World instead
 


VirgilCaine

First Post
Crothian said:
The gods control the weather, the animals, influence the goblin and orc hoards...

So THAT'S why goblins always have so much money! The deities are increasing their hoards! And that's how there are so many of them--the deities are increasing their hordes!
 
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There's that whole life after death thing...

I'm a player in a homebrew campaign with only two deities. They do not represent good or evil or different races. They tend to represent "opposite" concepts like nature and progress, as an example.

There's no real benefit to worshipping them, and so atheists aren't that rare on the world. But for those who believe strongly in certain concepts, it makes some sense to worship the appropriate deity.
 

Raven Crowking

First Post
NewLifeForm said:
Rather it's Gods saying, "Hey worship me, my afterlife rocks!" " Screw that, my worships are cool while alive, worship me and gain a permanent +1 to your Cha! How's that sound?"



It sounds pretty specific, and includes mechanics. Which is what I mean. Without the gods being hooked into the mechanics of the setting, why bother?

Religious festivals are cool (I have several in my game, too), but, again, there has to be some reason for the PCs to care.

I am begining to believe that the Gygax/R.E. Howard/Tolkein method is best: You believe in the gods because you might meet them. They take an active interest in the world. You are more likely, at any level, to have a brush with the divine than you are to meet a dragon.
 

Storm Raven

First Post
Raven Crowking said:
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 in my campaign there is no "godless cleric" nonsense. Divine casters worship a divine power. Worshipping an ethos doesn't cut it.
 

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