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ShortQuests -- Pocket Sized Adventures! An all-new collection of digest-sized D&D adventures designed for 1-2 game sessions.

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 898891" data-attributes="member: 177">Spoken like someone immersed in the modern monotheistic tradition.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />As others have mentioned, infallability and unkillability are not generally traits of gods in pagan religions.  The Norse gods could certainly be killed - that's what Ragnarok is all about.  And the Greek gods are hardly infallible - the whole Trojan War is based upon divine vanity. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />For fantasy worlds, I don't think that disbelief n the gods is like disbelief in kings.  The thing that cannot be denied is the existance of power.  Divine spells and powers exist, and the power for them comes from somewhere - but the "fact" that they come from gods is generally hearsay.  The observation is that the use of these powers is tied to belief and/or dedication.  There's generally no direct observation of the power coming from a deity - which is cool, because that still allows you play with faith-based stories.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />If you play strictly by the PHB, in fact, there's little proof of the existence of gods, because druids, clerics, paladins and rangers don't need to follow a god.  Most DMs require it, it's standard operating procedure in most settings to follow one of the setting's gods, but the PHB doesn't require it <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />If the system doesn't require the existence of gods, then the game must allow for the non-existance of those gods, and thus some form of non-belief is possible.  An "atheist" may think the power is more akin to psi, or another form of the same power as arcane magic (especialy since arcane and divine casters often produce the ecaxt same results).  Or, perhaps it's enough to have strong belief, but by and large most people frame that belief in terms of thise god icons (it's easier to have a handle on "Pelor" as a personality than on "Sun and Strength" as ideas alone).</blockquote>

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