D&D General A Gruumsh Of A Different Type

[Flamestrike]

For me personally, it is a matter of making sense of the world.

Let us take Nerull. No one sane worships Nerull. They can't. His entire point is that he desires to kill everything.

A religion that would appeal to nihilists, pessimists, edgelords and more.

 

[Bohandas]

For me personally, it is a matter of making sense of the world.

Let us take Nerull. No one sane worships Nerull. They can't. His entire point is that he desires to kill everything. All people, all life, everything. No one sane could say "Hey, death of everthing in the universe? That is my jam"

Meanwhile, you have Pelor. The God of Healing and Agriculture. Hey, are you sick and need healing? Pray to Pelor. Planting a crop? Pray to Pelor. Hey, like the sun? Pray to Pelor.

Everyone would worship him.

But, these two entities are supposed to be equal. One with their occasional cult of madmen, and the other with continent wide constant worship.

Or you could have gods exist independent of worship.

Also, your description of Nerull sounds a lot like the religion from the movie Beneath the Planet of the Apes (and from the song Everlasting Bomb by the band Widescreen Mode)

 

[Minigiant]

A religion that would appeal to nihilists, pessimists, edgelords and more.

Such a cult would have time attracting members while not being stomped out by the good religions.

Even if gods are independent of followers, such a god would still want followers to exert their will.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Such a cult would have time attracting members while not being stomped out by the good religions.

Even if gods are independent of followers, such a god would still want followers to exert their will.

I suspect the number of followers Nerull has is closely related to the number of undead that exist. In settings where there are entire nations of the dead, Nerull probably does fine for himself.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

One thing I tend to do with this is to avoid making any nature deities. Magic as well. No god or goddess has control of magic. No dieity is the god of the sun or the moon or the sea or storms. That is the realm of nature spirits and the Druids.

So, I don't know who The Sun is, but getting their attention at all is probably a terrible idea, let alone pissing them off.

I see where you're going with this, but if the sun is a step above/outside all these assorted pantheistic deities, doesn't that make them more appealing as an object of worship, at least to a certain mindset?

 

[Minigiant]

I suspect the number of followers Nerull has is closely related to the number of undead that exist. In settings where there are entire nations of the dead, Nerull probably does fine for himself.

Undead cities seem like the same problem. Anti-undead gods' followers would crusade them.

It makes more sense for intelligent undead. If your world has a lot of vampires, mummies, revenants, and liches. Typical evil deities in D&D offer a carrot of power or the stick of fear.

 

[Flamestrike]

Such a cult would have time attracting members while not being stomped out by the good religions.

Even if gods are independent of followers, such a god would still want followers to exert their will.

Probably why the cult of Nerull is secretive in the extreme.

And not noted for having many followers in any event.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Or you could have gods exist independent of worship.

Great, they are independent of worship. Now what?

The gods aren't acting directly on the world, they act through their followers. Nerull has the least number of followers so he has the least impact on the world. Meanwhile Pelor has a massive number of followers and a massive impact on the world. And again, they are supposed to be equals.

In fact, if you make Nerull seperate from worship, would he even have any churches? How could he get clerics. It would all be cults and hidden sects.

Which tying this back into a different thread, really just makes him a Demon Lord equivalent.

Also, your description of Nerull sounds a lot like the religion from the movie Beneath the Planet of the Apes (and from the song Everlasting Bomb by the band Widescreen Mode)

Never been exposed to either of those things

I see where you're going with this, but if the sun is a step above/outside all these assorted pantheistic deities, doesn't that make them more appealing as an object of worship, at least to a certain mindset?

Sure, but that is where Druid's come in.

The way I divided Clerics and Druids is how their power is created. Clerics are a community, all of the energy of the worship of a specific deity is channeled into that deity, then who then divides it amongst the clerics or other works. If the commnunity it destroyed, the god is killed or at least severely weakened.

Druids draw their power from ancient spirits, the forces of nature that might have existed before people and the gods. A druid gathering excess energy from the Sun Spirit would find that that energy never really goes away, unless the sun itself was destroyed. To de-power druids, you have to destroy the world, but the world would continue to exist even if all the druids were killed.

So, the sun can be worshiped, but it doesn't interact with that worship in any way. It is just existing as it has always existed. Deities want to interact with their worshipers.

 

[Tonguez]

the religion from the movie Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Never been exposed to either of those things

The Heavens declared the glory of the Bomb, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. He descendeth from the outermost part of Heaven and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Theirs is neither speech, nor language, yet His voice is heard among them.

Glory be to the Bomb, and to the Holy Fallout. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Let everyone go to his private shelter. Empty the streets. There to find the city of the dead. May the Blessing of the Bomb Almighty, and the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, descend on us all. This day and forever more.

 

[Chaosmancer]

The Heavens declared the glory of the Bomb, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. He descendeth from the outermost part of Heaven and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Theirs is neither speech, nor language, yet His voice is heard among them.

Glory be to the Bomb, and to the Holy Fallout. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Let everyone go to his private shelter. Empty the streets. There to find the city of the dead. May the Blessing of the Bomb Almighty, and the Fellowship of the Holy Fallout, descend on us all. This day and forever more.

Reads more like a cult than an organized religion