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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 7600223" data-attributes="member: 6677017">I will say that over the editions D&D has gradually started doing a better job of representing religions. For example, the way the 5e SCAG describes the day to day experience of religion in the Forgotten Realms is a polytheistic pantheon where everyone performs appropriate acts of ritual worship towards any deity that is relevant (including offerings to appease evil ones to keep their wrath away). But because of the wonky jerk-faced way they rule their crystal sphere, everyone also has to have a patron deity. So, the Forgotten Realms is both getting better at presenting believable polytheism...while at the same time reinforcing the D&D tradition of picking your own personal deity/religion. *shakes head*I think Catholicism with patron saints is really our closest real world analogue to the way D&D does it.Of course, if you try too hard you just fight against what the game/setting is doing, and you've got to decide how much is worth it. For instance, the main religion in many parts of my world explicitly has a medieval Catholic feel. Instead of patron saints you do have deities ("Immortals" as a call-back to BECMI), but it's really rare to dedicate yourself to one of them as in "I'm a follower of ____". Instead, each of them has a particular role to play in society. There are separate priests (the exception) for each deity, and some deities have multiple separate (or sub) orders of priests. The priests of one deity overseer local churches, perform marriages and funerals, and do the day to day things that one might expect a priest to do. Those of another counsel and attends to rulers and performs major civic rituals. Those of another run hospitals and orphanages and provide free healing. Etc. But everyone is part of the same religion, and everyone in the area literally "goes to church" at the same building. (Except the nobility. They get special treatment and are entitled and expected to attend worship meetings in the grand cathedrals of the Law-Giver unlike the average person.) Thieves and criminals don't have patron gods. They probably just aren't very devout people. There are evil gods, three of them in that pantheon to be exact, and they are explicitly viewed as enemies. Doing anything to appease them would get you in trouble. They have their own secret groups of followers that pursue different brands of evil goals. So basically I preserve the idea that you have various clerics serving different deities with each having their own hierarchy, while at the same time, average people don't choose a patron, and you don't have competing religions in the society. I really like the way it flavors the society without fighting too much against the way D&D has always worked.</blockquote>

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