Dragonlance [Dragonlance/Faerun] Anyone here met any Cataclysm/Wall of the Faithless defenders?

[Umbran]

It is very hard to be atheist in a fantasy world where clerics can turn undeads and can heal by means of divine magic.

Except, of course, that those powers aren't solely the power of clerics who worship gods.

Heck, my Battlesmith can cast Cure Wounds.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

But it is not only the divine spellcasters, but also supernatural menaces as the undeads, vampires, ghouls and company. We are talking about people who didn't studied in an university, and they don't know they will be still alive the next year. When you are praying because your children are very sick your hope in a fantasy world isn't in the science. The peasants can't see the gods, but neither to see the kings and noble houses with their own eyes to know they are real.

 

[TheSword]

Why should those tiny minority of people be punished, though? That’s the salient question.

There are real life equivalents, but we can’t go into them here.

It’s not unreasonable at all, in such a world, for some sentients to view all the gods as evil.

The Gods of the FR are far more like the Norse or Greek Pantheon. Fallible, emotional and all too human. I’m sure they consider a mere human claiming to deny their very existence something deserving of punishment.

The Wall of the Faithless is a punishment for those who deny the gods or are false in the name. Why, in a world with real gods would you think their wouldn’t be a punishment for this? It’s not about fairness or justice, it’s about those in power protecting their hegemony. Not to mention the fact as Ed G says, not believing in the gods in the FR is clearly idiocy.

In short, to answer the OP, yes there are lots of people who have no problem defending the Wall of the Faithless!

As to the Cataclysm... never heard of it... what’s a Dragonlance?

 

[FrozenNorth]

As to the Cataclysm... never heard of it... what’s a Dragonlance?

It’s an urban legend, told around campfire by grognards to new players, about that one kender PC that almost ate their soul.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The Gods of the FR are far more like the Norse or Greek Pantheon. Fallible, emotional and all too human. I’m sure they consider a mere human claiming to deny their very existence something deserving of punishment.

The Wall of the Faithless is a punishment for those who deny the gods or are false in the name. Why, in a world with real gods would you think their wouldn’t be a punishment for this? It’s not about fairness or justice, it’s about those in power protecting their hegemony. Not to mention the fact as Ed G says, not believing in the gods in the FR is clearly idiocy.

In short, to answer the OP, yes there are lots of people who have no problem defending the Wall of the Faithless!

As to the Cataclysm... never heard of it... what’s a Dragonlance?

As someone who worships the Norse gods, I genuinely don’t think they care about the people who think they don’t exist.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

IMO, the Cataclysm makes more sense when one goes back to the original concept--the Kingpriest tried to magically summon a god to purge evil from Krynn, and the Cataclysm was the natural consequences of such an act. (You have to dig into Hickman's notes and hints in the oldest game material to find this.)

I like this the most. But I want to have it fit the simultaneous Cataclysm visited upon Taladas.

 

[Hussar]

I always wonder why folks have an issue with the Cataclysm. This is pretty much straight up Bible stories being brought into D&D, same as Goldmoon and the Disks of Mishakal. This is the Flood story told from a fantasy POV. Mankind gets too big for its britches, the higher power slaps them down, killing lots and lots of them in the process, things start over.

This is hardly a new story.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I always wonder why folks have an issue with the Cataclysm. This is pretty much straight up Bible stories being brought into D&D, same as Goldmoon and the Disks of Mishakal. This is the Flood story told from a fantasy POV. Mankind gets too big for its britches, the higher power slaps them down, killing lots and lots of them in the process, things start over.

This is hardly a new story.

There is a different level of acceptance when one is a very not-literal story (I understand some out there are biblical literalists), and the other is the literal history which your characters are experiencing the aftereffects of.

I‘d be squinting side eye at the player who sat down at a Dragonlance table saying they the player (not character) was repudiating the Cataclysm as not literal history of the setting.

 

[Mecheon]

The Wall of the Faithless is a punishment for those who deny the gods or are false in the name. Why, in a world with real gods would you think their wouldn’t be a punishment for this? It’s not about fairness or justice, it’s about those in power protecting their hegemony. Not to mention the fact as Ed G says, not believing in the gods in the FR is clearly idiocy.

Its a con racket to protect beings who shouldn't be there. Break down the wall, kill the gods, shatter their thrones.

NWN2, MotB used it as its big evil point and lemme tell you, it was perfect for it

I always wonder why folks have an issue with the Cataclysm. This is pretty much straight up Bible stories being brought into D&D, same as Goldmoon and the Disks of Mishakal. This is the Flood story told from a fantasy POV. Mankind gets too big for its britches, the higher power slaps them down, killing lots and lots of them in the process, things start over.

The problem with the Cataclysm is moreso stuff around it. than the event itself. Big ol' meteor raining down death and destruction with such force the gods are uncontactable? That's the good stuff!

The instigator of this being word of the author "Good", alleged 'good' gods killing millions and withdrawing assistance, and then getting uppity when people rightfully say 'yo wtf'? Yeah, that's not 'Good' and ties into why Dragonlance handles alignments poorly

 

[M.L. Martin]

I always wonder why folks have an issue with the Cataclysm. This is pretty much straight up Bible stories being brought into D&D, same as Goldmoon and the Disks of Mishakal. This is the Flood story told from a fantasy POV. Mankind gets too big for its britches, the higher power slaps them down, killing lots and lots of them in the process, things start over.

This is hardly a new story.

The Cataclysm bugs me in some of the material surrounding it: the Kingpriest of Istar was supposedly a good man, the corruption wasn't dramatic enough to merit such extreme measures (compare it to the depiction of Numenor in the Akallabeth, one of the likely inspirations), and the 'gods' sulk for three centuries before reaching back out to humanity.