D&D General Build the "Definitive Pantheon"

[Clint_L]

I use the Exandria pantheon, because it's basically a conveniently updated Greyhawk pantheon, so it's in my comfort zone. But I tell players that their characters can worship any gods they want. Or not - atheistic clerics, paladins and warlocks are fine by me. If our single species can generate as many deities and religions as it has, I can only imagine how many would be created on a world with as many sentient species as D&D accommodates.

Edit: except IRL religions and deities. I ask players to not make those part of our fantasy game, out of respect, though what they do with their head canon is up to them. One player in my last campaign politely declined to identify his character's god, but as he is a devoutly religious person IRL, I suspect that he was uncomfortable with that aspect of the game.

Edit 2: it does always bug me when settings include, like, two dozen gods that are basically for humans, and then there's one dwarf god, one orc god, and so on. It's exactly like having every orc speak "orcish." If orcs are a populous species, then they probably have a bunch of different religions, deities, schisms, and so on. There should be as many orc gods as there are human. Same for dwarves, goblins, lizard folk, merfolk, etc.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I have family members named Thor (Tor) and Odin. Thor is common, Odin raises eyebrows.

The relationship of Thor and Odin is as "storm" and "sky". However, in the Norse context, Odin the sky serves as a shamanic figure, and functions more like a muse of inspirations. This is how Romans come to perceive Odin as a communicator, whence Roman Mercury. Mercury is alien to Scandinavia. However, Germany tended to embrace the Roman syncretism. The tribal chiefs of Roman Germania supplied the Roman Empire with its soldiers, whence the chiefs became wealthy, styled themselves as Roman aristocracy, and enthusiastically embraced Roman imperial culture. In this way, German native traditions became polytheistic, while Scandinavian native traditions remained animistic.

I'm aware that the Romans deeply misunderstood the traditional religion. I'm just saying, the claim that the Romans syncretized only by casting others' gods as the "inferior" or "defeated" Titans is flatly untrue; in many cases, they syncretized by claiming that existing gods were just weird local forms of existing Roman deities. Odin was Mercury, Thor was Hercules, Frygg was...Demeter I think? It didn't matter that these assignments made very little sense to someone who actually understood the native religion.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

For core rules, pretty much yes.

However, a specific alternative setting is inherently Opt-In, as is homebrew. So, while caution remains necessary, it is more ok for a specific setting to lean into a specific religion. Theros does this for Greekesque. Theros seems suitable to plug in as factions in a regional setting for many world settings.

For any world setting, I expect multiculturalism and therefore, necessarily, religious relativism.

See I don't agree with that. For something like Warhammer that basically means throwing out the entire setting, as the gods are very important to it's lore and a massive deal. D&D also has it's default settings, asking them to throw out the lore of them having gods and them being real is over dramatic.

The DMG will make it clear you can do what you want when making your own world, but the default assumptions should remain their default.

 

[Yaarel]

See I don't agree with that. For something like Warhammer that basically means throwing out the entire setting, as the gods are very important to it's lore and a massive deal. D&D also has it's default settings, asking them to throw out the lore of them having gods and them being real is over dramatic.

The DMG will make it clear you can do what you want when making your own world, but the default assumptions should remain their default.

Sometimes sexism has been "very important" to lore.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Sometimes sexism has been "very important" to lore.

Fake gods are not nearly on the same level as sexism. Though sexism has a slight role in stories, namely as a negative character trait.

 

[Yaarel]

I'm aware that the Romans deeply misunderstood the traditional religion. I'm just saying, the claim that the Romans syncretized only by casting others' gods as the "inferior" or "defeated" Titans is flatly untrue; in many cases, they syncretized by claiming that existing gods were just weird local forms of existing Roman deities. Odin was Mercury, Thor was Hercules, Frygg was...Demeter I think? It didn't matter that these assignments made very little sense to someone who actually understood the native religion.

As I mentioned, the tribal chiefs in Roman Germania were enthusiastic about this Roman syncretism. There are archeological remains in Germany of Roman-style temples to "Mercurius" and "Hercules", who are presumably part of local venerations of Wotan and Donar.

The presence of a formal "priesthood", whose job is to administer and maintain a dedicated "temple", is part of the definition of a "god".

It evidences the process of the polytheism of German tribal traditions.

Probably there are already earlier examples of polytheization, in certain areas where Celtic (and other) tribes adopt a Germanic language, hence perceiving some animistic nature beings in relationship to Celtic (and other) deities.

Fake gods are not nearly on the same level as sexism.

According to the dominant religion, or ethnocentrism generally.

 

[W'rkncacnter]

According to the dominant religion, or ethnocentrism generally.

 

[Yaarel]

@W'rkncacnter

For one among many examples around the planet:

Among Jewish traditions, both the worship of other gods and even the appearance of worshiping other gods, are forbidden. There is a rabbinic debate whether D&D qualifies as the "appearance" of worshiping other gods. Where so, the entire game becomes forbidden.

But players who come from Christian families, from the dominant religion in the US, might not understand why something like this would be culturally sensitive.

 

[Zardnaar]

@W'rkncacnter

For one among many examples around the planet:

Among Jewish traditions, both the worship of other gods and even the appearance of worshiping other gods, are forbidden. There is a rabbinic debate whether D&D qualifies as the "appearance" of worshiping other gods. Where so, the entire game becomes forbidden.

But players who come from Christian families, from the dominant religion in the US, might not understand why something like this would be culturally sensitive.

That's not a problem unless someone's forcing them to play.

It's like pork on pizza. Your choice to consume it or not.

 

[Yaarel]

That's not a problem unless someone's firing them to play.

In these religious traditions, "religious coercion" ≈ "rape".