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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TwinBahamut" data-source="post: 4592735" data-attributes="member: 32536">[sblock]I think by the very definition of the word (the combination of the greek words for "all" and "gods"), I will say yes to that. Every god is part of the pantheon, or else it really isn't a pantheon. I mean, Greek myth makes some distinction between the Olympians (the gods of Mt. Olympus, primarily the famous ones) and the other gods, but every god would be part of the pantheon. The only place where a distinction between multiple "pantheons" is really made that I am aware of is Norse myth, with the split between the Aesir (who are worshipped) and the Vanir (who are not), but that is fairly complicated oddity in its own right (though one that has really helped my ideas for the gods in a setting with multiple inhabited planets).Yeah, that is a problem. If you want the pantheon to be even reasonably complete, then you need something a lot more detailed than what the PHB gives you. Yet, if you make it that complete, you get a bloated mess that is practically unplayable. I suppose the only choice I think works well is to just pretend it is complete (and that there are a lot of minor gods filling the temples that you haven't named), and just work with a basic set of primary gods for playability's sake.Well, this is fairly complicated...The big problem is that things like angels, spirits, fey, demigods, saints, ancestors, and such are all pretty much just different names for the same concepts as far as the real world goes. Actually, the term "god" is almost indistinguishable from all of the above as far as real world polytheism goes. The line between spirit or demi-god and actual "gods" is pretty vague and fuzzy, after all. However, D&D doesn't really assume this is true, which leads to a bit of schizophrenia (in much the same way that the distinction between the Druid and Cleric leads to a lot of flavor schizophrenia). I suppose you could distinguish Fey as separate (being more alien than divine), and you could put possibly put Ancestors, Saints, and weaker Angels or Spirits as a tier below actual divine beings in the pantheon, but gods, demi-gods, angels, and spirits are all part of the broader pantheon.Primordials, Demons, and Devils makes this a lot trickier, really. I would happily exclude Primordials and Demons from being in the pantheon, particularly since they are described as directly opposing the gods and fill a certain mythological niche, but I can't as easily dismiss the Devils from the pantheon thanks to that accursed Asmodeus... I wish I could, but I can't.This is why I always use custom cosmologies whenever I really get into worldbuilding. Default cosmologies make my head hurt...Yeah, this would be a headache. I actually built a cosmology around a conflict between two gods, with one culture holding one up as good and the other culture holding up its rival god as good (and I am very proud of that cosmology), but I only did so by making the conflict between the gods a battle of ideals rather than morals and keeping the history and role of the gods the same for both cultures. Anything more complex than that is probably too much to bother with in a game...Yep, it would be a mess. This is why I believe that, while things in a game should not contradict the important things of the real world, and should draw inspiration from the real world, direct emulation of every aspect of the real world down to the last detail is far more trouble than it is worth.[/sblock]</blockquote>

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