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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cedric" data-source="post: 3187175" data-attributes="member: 2044">I was reading <a href="http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=180099" target="_blank">this thread</a> and noticed that several posters were talking about finding a resource to assist in building a cosmology not based on the four tenets of good/evil/chaos/law or the four greek elements or the like. That got me to thinking, I'd bet we could each share some pointers on how to build your own cosmology. Having just recently built a cosmology for my recently developed home-brew...here are my thoughts. First, some fundamentals. Why are there Gods in the world? I usually go with two types of Gods:  - Gods that exist because the belief of the people gives them power. The prayers of their followers help to make them what they are. - Gods that exist because they work hard to elevate themselves to the status of Deity. The Gods who elevate themselves will have to work their way to the top, starting at Demi-God (once they have any divine influence) and working their way up from there. By the time they begin to reach the level of power of the other gods, they will almost certainly have worshippers of their own. Now, who are these Gods?Well, in keeping with my first type of God...imagine just about anything a person could pray for (which, conveniently most of which are covered in the Domain list) and ensure that there is at least ONE god to answer prayers for each of those Domains. From that basic premise, you can add layers of complexity as you see fit. A mono-deific world could have a single Neutral deity that is able to answer prayers for each one of those Domains no matter who the worshipper is. However, I think that is a little simplified. So what did I do? I chose a small selection of Gods. Three "good" Gods, related to cover everything from travel, to war, to nature. They have wide areas of influence, so I gave them multiple Domains. I then chose a single deity that most evil races could respect, in this case a great Black Dragon God. In the middle, between the two, is the God of Magic and the Balance which is central to my Cosmos and worshipped by all sides. Now, I chose a young Cosmos...recently developed. My Gods are halfway between the young, developing Gods and the old established Gods. There is a bit of cross-over in both directions. There are still stories ...relegated now to the realm of bedtime stories and wives tales, about the Gods adventures when they were mortal. It's been long enough that Churches dismiss these as just tales, but some still believe the Gods were mortal. I also chose a single representative for each of the other races, kind of a central Deity to their belief system...I borrowed the flavor for these Gods from the years of published material available.As you can see, I chose a pretty simple Cosmology. It's not that my players wouldn't have appreciated a complex Cosmology...but I have to ask myself. Honestly...how much does it add to my game to add those layers of complexity? As long as the religious "needs" are covered (major Domains represented, etc.), the flavor of the Deities works with the world and the Deities have a reasonable relationship to one another...I think my players will be completely satisfied with the Deities and Cosmology. That leaves me time to spend on other parts of the game world development. Feel free to add as much depth to your Cosmology as you want...just keep in mind the high points: - A God for Every Need - The Gods fit together - The Gods fit the concepts of their WorshippersFeel free to add your own thoughts to this. I'm sure there are PLENTY of people here who disagree with me. Cedric</blockquote>

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