D&D General Build the "Definitive Pantheon"

[Mecheon]

how are the titans not gods, a god has to many possible meanings not to include some of them?
it is not like the several different interpretations of its serveral subtypes of the faith.

Because they're not gods, they're titans. Same reason various nymphs and the like are children of gods but not necessarily gods

 

[Marandahir]

Because they're not gods, they're titans. Same reason various nymphs and the like are children of gods but not necessarily gods

Depends on the source. The Greek Titans are widely believed by scholars to be imports / analogues of Middle eastern religious pantheons, grafted onto a war between old gods and new gods to explain why the Hellenes worship the Olympians and not their forebears and not other gods of the region. It's also a useful way to say "oh hey, those dead-agriculture-god worshipers in Egypt? They're worshiping Cronus, just by another name (Osiris). They've still worshiping the Titans and not the REAL gods who are the Olympians. Cronus was ousted by his son, after all!"

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Depends on the source. The Greek Titans are widely believed by scholars to be imports / analogues of Middle eastern religious pantheons, grafted onto a war between old gods and new gods to explain why the Hellenes worship the Olympians and not their forebears and not other gods of the region. It's also a useful way to say "oh hey, those dead-agriculture-god worshipers in Egypt? They're worshiping Cronus, just by another name (Osiris). They've still worshiping the Titans and not the REAL gods who are the Olympians. Cronus was ousted by his son, after all!"

Though in general Greco-Roman syncretism favored currently-worshipped gods, which kinda pokes a hole in this. E.g. the Romans were absolutely certain that the Norse worshipped Mercury under the name "Odin."

 

[jmartkdr2]

wait what are the roles in a dnd pantheon anyway?

Back in 3e this was easier: you need to cover all the cleric domains. 5e's much shorter list of domains makes this less fun, in my opinion.

On the other hand, my favorite fantasy pantheon is Guild Wars' true gods, which has only five. Balthazar, god of war, fire and smiths; Dwayna, goddess of air, life, and magic (and nobility); Grenth, god of death and justice; Lyssa, goddess of truth, beauty, and illusions, and Melandru, goddess of earth and nature. It's pretty easy to cover most fantasy archetypes with this list. (aside from racial deities and evil powers.)

 

[Marandahir]

Though in general Greco-Roman syncretism favored currently-worshipped gods, which kinda pokes a hole in this. E.g. the Romans were absolutely certain that the Norse worshipped Mercury under the name "Odin."

To be fair – there's broad thematic overlap between Woden & his son Thor, Gwydion and his son Lleu, Cian and his son Lugh, Hermes and his son Pan, Mercury (and Faunus after syncretism with Pan), and Pushan of the Rig-Veda. See below for an relatively detailed exploration of these overlaps!

The Celtic Pushan: Gwydion, Cian, Oðinn, Pan, Merlin

The Celtic Pushan: Gwydion, Cian, Óðinn, Pan, Merlin With Hermes and Ogma's parallel with the Gandharva much more clearly seen, and specific...

taliesinsmap.blogspot.com

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Back in 3e this was easier: you need to cover all the cleric domains. 5e's much shorter list of domains makes this less fun, in my opinion.

On the other hand, my favorite fantasy pantheon is Guild Wars' true gods, which has only five. Balthazar, god of war, fire and smiths; Dwayna, goddess of air, life, and magic (and nobility); Grenth, god of death and justice; Lyssa, goddess of truth, beauty, and illusions, and Melandru, goddess of earth and nature. It's pretty easy to cover most fantasy archetypes with this list. (aside from racial deities and evil powers.)

Technically, GW1 eventually led to the ascension of a (replacement) sixth, Kormir, who had previously been human but, through deed and through the assistance of the other five, replaced the previous (imprisoned) sixth god, Abbadon. In the process, she inverted his core domain; he was the God of Secrets, while she became the Goddess of Truth.

 

[Yaarel]

Religion itself is a culturally sensitive topic that needs a Session Zero to confirm mutual consent.

The D&D core texts need to be as gentle and as inclusive as possible whenever describing the concept of religion, and any exclusivist positions require "opt-in" (not opt-out).

Meanwhile, the approach of Eberron and its cultural relativity is the most useful official position. Within the Astral Plane, each culture (and subculture) can have its own domains within the alignment planes, or if unaligned elsewhere within the Astral Sea.

Probably the best approach for D&D is to present every shared religious viewpoint as a "faction". Then by definition, each faction generates a domain somewhere within the Astral Sea, whose conceptual location depends on its prioritized concepts. Some religions are complex, and allying factions can form whirlpools that link the respective domains to each other across the Astral Plane.

 

[Yaarel]

Though in general Greco-Roman syncretism favored currently-worshipped gods, which kinda pokes a hole in this. E.g. the Romans were absolutely certain that the Norse worshipped Mercury under the name "Odin."

To be fair – there's broad thematic overlap between Woden & his son Thor, Gwydion and his son Lleu, Cian and his son Lugh, Hermes and his son Pan, Mercury (and Faunus after syncretism with Pan), and Pushan of the Rig-Veda. See below for an relatively detailed exploration of these overlaps!

The Celtic Pushan: Gwydion, Cian, Oðinn, Pan, Merlin

The Celtic Pushan: Gwydion, Cian, Óðinn, Pan, Merlin With Hermes and Ogma's parallel with the Gandharva much more clearly seen, and specific...

taliesinsmap.blogspot.com

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.

 

[Tonguez]

Though in general Greco-Roman syncretism favored currently-worshipped gods, which kinda pokes a hole in this. E.g. the Romans were absolutely certain that the Norse worshipped Mercury under the name "Odin."

The Romans were primarily panentheist anyway, the common beleif was animist - ancestor worship and veneration of nature spirits (nymphs) - and it was the Imperial Cult that adopted the Greek Pantheon, then pushed it to Henotheism and then went about syncretizing everything in to their Imperial hierarchy

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Religion itself is a culturally sensitive topic that needs a Session Zero to confirm mutual consent.

The D&D core texts need to be as gentle and as inclusive as possible whenever describing the concept of religion, and any exclusivist positions require "opt-in" (not opt-out).

Meanwhile, the approach of Eberron and its cultural relativity is the most useful official position. Within the Astral Plane, each culture (and subculture) can have its own domains within the alignment planes, or if unaligned elsewhere within the Astral Sea.

Probably the best approach for D&D is to present every shared religious viewpoint as a "faction". Then by definition, each faction generates a domain somewhere within the Astral Sea, whose conceptual location depends on its prioritized concepts. Some religions are complex, and allying factions can form whirlpools that link the respective domains to each other across the Astral Plane.

I would rather D&D just have its default assumptions. You are allowed to change it, but the default should be as it currently is. Official settings have no need to change because of someone’s religious beliefs, cause the settings are not real.