D&D General Godless Settings

[ColinChapman]

I'm curious, which settings, whether official (such as Dark Sun with its elemental clerics) or unofficial, are godless, in a literal sense? Either because divinities never existed, or they died/were killed, or left their creation, or were banished, or what have you. Note, a lack of actual deities does not necessarily mean a lack of faiths or religions.

 

[Faolyn]

Ravenloft may be godless. The gods that arose in that setting (Ezra, Hala, maybe the Lawgiver/Bane) might actually just be products of the Mists, and the Mists seem to act as a wall between the gods of other settings and their worshipers.

 

[Krachek]

The Romans have a cult to the emperor as well as many other cultures.

 

[jmartkdr2]

If I recall correctly, technically Krynn was at the start of Dragonlance Chronicles - the gads had all been gone for 300 years (to the point where only the elves were confident they ever existed.)

My one dm like to not have anything that called a "god" in her settings, but it can a bit semantic as warlocks and clerics still have can-alter-the-world powerful patrons.

 

[mamba]

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[Staffan]

Eberron and Dark Sun are the prime examples. Ravenloft might count. Ravnica and Strixhaven if you count the M:tG crossovers.

Eberron still has religions that worship pantheons (mainly the Sovereign Host and Dark Six), but the existence of their gods is not confirmed. There are also atheistic/transtheistic religions like the Blood of Vol and Church of the Silver Flame. As you mentioned, Dark Sun doesn’t have gods like other settings do.

Eberron is, as usual, a bit of a special case. While the gods do not manifest in the world, their followers do believe they are semi-omnipresent (present wherever their domain is involved). Kol Korran is present wherever trade goes on, Onatar wherever someone crafts something, and the Mockery in every betrayal. And while the gods of the Sovereign Host and their Dark Six rivals do not manifest, there seems to be at least some Truth to them. At the very least, it seems significantly easier to channel Divine magic by dedicating oneself to something that is recognizable as one or more of the Sovereigns. That's why you get things like giants and drow worshiping gods that are easy for Khorvaire priests to identify as the same gods as theirs.

 

[M.L. Martin]

If I recall correctly, technically Krynn was at the start of Dragonlance Chronicles - the gads had all been gone for 300 years (to the point where only the elves were confident they ever existed.)

Technically the gods were still there, just not properly worshipped/possessing active clerics.

Or you can use my Anti-Canon for Krynn, which has the High God, five (originally six, but one's dead) enslaved elemental lords/nature spirits, and sixteen dragons who set themselves up as gods.

 

[sunny---folk]

I'm curious, which settings, whether official (such as Dark Sun with its elemental clerics) or unofficial, are godless, in a literal sense? Either because divinities never existed, or they died/were killed, or left their creation, or were banished, or what have you. Note, a lack of actual deities does not necessarily mean a lack of faiths or religions.

I would argue that Barovia counts. Strahd had kind of killed religion in the area, and people feel really hopeles. You could certainly run a Curse of Strahd game godless if you wanted.

 

[Yaarel]

When Eberron officially became part of the 5e multiverse, the gods of Forgotten Realms became factually existent.

But this then raises the question. Yes there are powerful Astral creatures. But are they worthy of "worship"? Do these creatures even want to be "worshiped"? Perhaps some or most dont. It is possible to remain nontheistic despite factual existence. The Greekesque Theros setting explores this via the Iconoclast. It is the Buddhist approach as well, with the understanding that if gods exist, then they lack personal enlightenment. The Planescape and Sigil setting has room to explore this philosophical question too.

With 4e and 5e, the Eladrin relocated from the Astral to the Feywild to function as Fey beings. Probably, the Norse nature beings should as well, specifically inhabiting the skies of the Feywild and looking down at the Humans below in the Material Plane that the Plane overlaps. The Norse world tree Yggdrasil remains canon in 5e 2024. In Norse cultures, this tree has three roots. One leads to the region of the dead in the underearth comparable to D&D Shadowfell, plausibly one root leads to the Feywild sky above, and the third root leads to the realm of the þursar, a kind of Giant, possibly in the Ethereal Plane. These are shamanic concepts of nature-oriented animistic cultures.

The overall point is, in D&D powerful creatures exist. But it is human opinion that decides if these should get worshiped or not. Many cultures lack the concept of "worship", which assumes the cultural structure of a lord/servant relationship.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Eberron should never have been forced into the "multiverse" as it really messes with its rather different conception of the divine. (To be honest, apart from Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk, none of the settings should share cosmologies. It just messes too much with their core concepts)

 

[Staffan]

Eberron should never have been forced into the "multiverse" as it really messes with its rather different conception of the divine. (To be honest, apart from Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk, none of the settings should share cosmologies. It just messes too much with their core concepts)

I liked the conceit in the 3e Manual of the Planes that each setting had its own cosmology, but were connected via the Shadow Plane. That lets the cosmology serve the needs of the setting, but still opens the door for cross-setting travel.