D&D General Baldur's Gate 3 Hates Religion (Spoilers)

[Queer Venger]

The best D&D gods are those of Athas. The second best are those of Eberron.

the best d&d gods are those of Deities & Demigods; the second best Forgotten Realms, the third those of Dragonlance

 

[Corinnguard]

The best D&D gods are those of Athas. The second best are those of Eberron.

Last time I heard about the Athasian deities, they lost to the Primordials and wound up in the Dead Book. This was back in 4e. As for the deities of Eberron, they're distant and not at all engaging like the Faerunian deities.

 

[Steampunkette]

Last time I heard about the Athasian deities, they lost to the Primordials and wound up in the Dead Book. This was back in 4e. As for the deities of Eberron, they're distant and not at all engaging like the Faerunian deities.

I think that's the point. A very Klingon perspective.

 

[Corinnguard]

Engaging deities are sort of like helicopter parents.

 

[Vaalingrade]

While I am inclined to agree in reality...

In a fantasy setting where there -is- a confirmed afterlife (in truth, many afterlives) it's generally better to pick the afterlife you want and get it than to turn up one's nose out of spite for authority. Especially since your soul can and will be dragged to hell by demons or devils that raid the Fugue Plane to kidnap people for some eternal torment or use as coinage.

Plus in Faerun there's, like, hundreds of gods to pick from. Offer the occasional prayer and maybe the odd goat now and again to one that tickles your fancy.

In a fantasy with a confirmed afterlife, it's even worse. They've created a system to force worship. Is serving any of them better than not existing?

And if you can get kidnapped into the blood war, why not be evil as possible and try to roll Balor or Pit Fiend instead of deamonic silver dollar?

If people understand the setup, I don't find it strange to hate all of them and be open to all the other options, from spiting the monsters, to becoming one, to just becoming an adventurer powerful enough to kill or bed them as is the FR tradition.

Hell, just wait until one of them spites all the others into mortality again and you just need a pitchfork and a dream.

 

[Aldarc]

the best d&d gods are those of Deities & Demigods; the second best Forgotten Realms, the third those of Dragonlance

None of yours would make my top 5.

 

[Steampunkette]

In a fantasy with a confirmed afterlife, it's even worse. They've created a system to force worship. Is serving any of them better than not existing?

And if you can get kidnapped into the blood war, why not be evil as possible and try to roll Balor or Pit Fiend instead of deamonic silver dollar?

If people understand the setup, I don't find it strange to hate all of them and be open to all the other options, from spiting the monsters, to becoming one, to just becoming an adventurer powerful enough to kill or bed them as is the FR tradition.

Hell, just wait until one of them spites all the others into mortality again and you just need a pitchfork and a dream.

I mean... not to get all Camus on you, Vaalingrade, but if the question is about whether serving is better than not existing one has to ask if living is better than not existing.

And then it becomes a matter of degrees. 'Cause while there -are- religions that talk about serving in the afterlife in FR, most of them are in fact evil religions. With good religions just kind of trailing off with "You go to eternal reward". Not really much statement about "Serving" in the afterlife.

Then again, if you're gonna be super evil and thus try to be a Balor or Pit Fiend, why not be super good and try to be a Solar, instead?

In either case you're acting in your life to have a result in the afterlife. Doing great works of good to serve in a higher position in the heavens (or just chillax for eternity having a party) or doing horrible things to other people in the hopes of getting ranked up in hell.

Unless you're someone who is -actively- an evil person and enjoys doing terrible things you're probably looking at Lemure status in the hells.

And... really... is that any different from being a decent person in the heavens? Either you're serving the gods or you're serving the Devils. One of which is also a god so...

You really showed them by doing terrible things to innocent people for the chance to serve a different deity. Good job!

Truly is a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. Serve heaven, Serve hell, Cease existing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think any D&D campaign heavily featuring religion almost inevitably involves questioning both the mortal religious structure and what the gods in question are actually all about.

One of my players in my 16+ year campaign plays a cleric/paladin (now just a paladin under 5E) and him wrestling with his faith has been a central theme of his character from the beginning. It's been handled in a really mature and sensitive way (since it's a D&D take on a real world religion that he's a member of and I was raised in).

Having the BG3 characters go through this feels like par for the course to me.

 

[Staffan]

Last time I heard about the Athasian deities, they lost to the Primordials and wound up in the Dead Book. This was back in 4e. As for the deities of Eberron, they're distant and not at all engaging like the Faerunian deities.

Yes. That's the point. Absent gods are the best gods.

 

[Steampunkette]

I think any D&D campaign heavily featuring religion almost inevitably involves questioning both the mortal religious structure and what the gods in question are actually all about.

One of my players in my 16+ year campaign plays a cleric/paladin (now just a paladin under 5E) and him wrestling with his faith has been a central theme of his character from the beginning. It's been handled in a really mature and sensitive way (since it's a D&D take on a real world religion that he's a member of and I was raised in).

Having the BG3 characters go through this feels like par for the course to me.

It absolutely is par for the course, yeah.

In a lot of campaigns where you've got a heavily religious character they spend a lot of their time either at odds with their faith or exploring what it 'really' means.

Take Dimension 20's Kristen Applebees! She starts out as this fundamentalist member of essentially a religious cult of sun worshippers and slowly, over the course of the multiple seasons, realizes that that particular deity's doctrines aren't for her, eventually rejects him, and seeks out new divine inspiration. Ultimately culminating in essentially creating a deity, whole cloth, from the very fabric of the cosmos. One which holds to her ideals rather than the other way around.

I don't think it's a -bad- thing or anything. It's just an interesting observation that's even driven home by Gale's ascension, in retrospect! One god I didn't include in my overview!

Everything that he was is, essentially, gone. Replaced by a pompous windbag who offers no aid to others or particular rewards because they can earn them through their own ambitions, even though his whole ascension is a big to-do wherein he wants the power to affect -good- in the world and positive change.

Instead he becomes just as detached and disinterested as the gods of Faerun were -before- the Time of Troubles.

... okay so he was a pompous windbag -before- ascension but somehow it's worse and colder afterward.

And Astarion's the same way, even though he doesn't become a "God" with his ascension, just a god among vampires. His selfishness and cruelty are amplified, even to the point of turning Tav into a vampire spawn to serve him, just as he served Cazador, with no compunction about the horrors or pain he's inflicting on them.