D&D 5E Could Theros and Tasha's Cauldron the way they're going to handle real-world pantheons?

[Kobold Avenger]

What! Of course he does! In case you can't read it in the snip below, the last line reads:

"His battles with Tiamat are legendary."

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Tiamat's rivalry with Bahamut completely overshadows her rivalry with Marduk. I don't think they've even acknowledged Marduk as existing since 2e.

Also on a related note, why are the Babylonian and Sumerian pantheons 2 different pantheons in D&D, but not the Roman and Greek?

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Also on a related note, why are the Babylonian and Sumerian pantheons 2 different pantheons in D&D, but not the Roman and Greek?

 

[dave2008]

Tiamat's rivalry with Bahamut completely overshadows her rivalry with Marduk. I don't think they've even acknowledged Marduk as existing since 2e.

Who cares about 2e man, Legends and Lore was terrible compared to Deities & Demigods.

 

[cbwjm]

Tiamat's rivalry with Bahamut completely overshadows her rivalry with Marduk. I don't think they've even acknowledged Marduk as existing since 2e.

Also on a related note, why are the Babylonian and Sumerian pantheons 2 different pantheons in D&D, but not the Roman and Greek?

Probably because there isn't such strong syncretism between the babylonian and sumerian gods. Were Anu and Marduk considered the same in as much the same way as Zeus and Jupiter?

FR kept Tiamat's ties with the babylonian gods, I believe she came through with them, but you're right that her rivalry with Marduk dwindled in favour of the Bahamut/Tiamat rivalry. She has pretty much morphed into her own thing at this point, starting from at least 2e.

 

[Ancalagon]

and often based on certain dubious interpretations, like the D&D Norse pantheon being strongly based on Snorri Sturluson's interpretation of Norse mythology.

One thing I would say about "dubious interpretations"... is that a lot of these old pantheons were very... fluid.

I ran a game where I needed an Egyptian pantheon, and I wanted it to be accurate... only to find out that there are several versions and permutation. I ended up settling on one that worked for the game... and honestly, that's more important than an exact "historical" one that only represent a moment in time.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Also on a related note, why are the Babylonian and Sumerian pantheons 2 different pantheons in D&D, but not the Roman and Greek?

Because American public education teaches that the Greek and Roman pantheons are the same gods with different names. Meanwhile it barely touches on the Babylonian and Sumerian pantheons at all. Yes maybe kids get the later in one section of one chapter of their 7th grade Social Studies textbook, but Greek and Roman gods not only get more time in the Social Studies class but then come up repeatedly in literature classes, and it is invariably taught that they are the same gods.

 

[SehanineMoonbow]

I just hope they keep the gods, whether that is from a specific setting, or real world (at least inspired by), or both.

 

[Ace]

Because American public education teaches that the Greek and Roman pantheons are the same gods with different names. Meanwhile it barely touches on the Babylonian and Sumerian pantheons at all. Yes maybe kids get the later in one section of one chapter of their 7th grade Social Studies textbook, but Greek and Roman gods not only get more time in the Social Studies class but then come up repeatedly in literature classes, and it is invariably taught that they are the same gods.

America education often doesn't cover mythology or ancient religions at all in large parts if the country . Back in the day that the DDG was first published it was assumed that any likely D&D player had read Edith Hamilton's Mythology which covered Greece/Rome and the Norse myths. It was sort of an unofficial appendix N book.

They are very familiar to most Americans heck still are you see those two in DC and Marvel movie forms but almost none of the others outside of maybe American Gods which is niche.

Now in my second game world I just went with bitheism instead of polytheism. Its based very loosely with Christianity and Wicca so just as lazy world building as ripping off Greek and Norse but less to keep track off and no need for temples, event calendars and all that to have a detailed feeling in game religion. When I need something else just throw in a cult with some small Gods or Denomlators or the like and viola.

 

[see]

Tiamat's rivalry with Bahamut completely overshadows her rivalry with Marduk. I don't think they've even acknowledged Marduk as existing since 2e.

FR kept Tiamat's ties with the babylonian gods, I believe she came through with them, but you're right that her rivalry with Marduk dwindled in favour of the Bahamut/Tiamat rivalry

The official take in the Forgotten Realms (as of 2006's Dragons of Faerun) is that "Tiamat battled an Untheric alias of Bahamut, known as Marduk the Justice Bringer, time and again, but neither wyrm could prevail", that eventually Bahamut-Marduk "killed" Tiamat "at the cost of his own life" in an event that didn't actually kill either but did demote them both from godhood, and then they both became gods again something like 2,400 years later.

 

[cbwjm]

Actually, isn't bahamut also taken from babylonian mythology? Maybe not in the form of a dragon nut could have sworn they had some god named Bamut that he was based on.

After a quick google search, maybe not. There is a giant fish in Arabian mythology named bahamut taken from behemoth, but I can't find anything about Babylonian mythology.