Gods...

[Dunamin]

What happens with all of the monsters that are in the MM, they all will likely have deities too. Will the gnome deities be tucked into the MM or will they worship Avandra or Corellon? What about Goblinoids, Giants, Minotaurs, and the endless list of other humanoid monsters? Will they all have new gods? Or will they just use the ones presented in the PHB? My hope would be that they use the PHB ones and simply say they worship an aspect of such and such...

As I said before, I think 4E will have less of that "God of Race X" and "God of Race Y" thing. Gods will be more broad and control aspects that apply to a diverse group, rather than exclusively for a single race.

Particularly based on the Pantheon article and that article on elves, eladrin, and drow. The fact the Gruumsh is mentioned as a god that elves might serve seems to support this idea.

 

[Cam Banks]

As I said before, I think 4E will have less of that "God of Race X" and "God of Race Y" thing. Gods will be more broad and control aspects that apply to a diverse group, rather than exclusively for a single race.

Particularly based on the Pantheon article and that article on elves, eladrin, and drow. The fact the Gruumsh is mentioned as a god that elves might serve seems to support this idea.

Right. I have no doubts that there will be human clerics of Moradin and halfling clerics of Corellon. I really don't like the "God of Race X" and prefer the "Race X sees the God as Y." I mean, Bahamut's the premier god of paladins and stuff, much as Paladine was in Dragonlance, when he used to be just the Platinum Dragon. So we're moving away from that, I think, in 4e.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[ki11erDM]

She is custom made for 4th edition! Altough you could think Wotc just take what they liked about wee-jas and meshed up with eberron´s Keeper.

Did they have a write up on her in the preview books? I remember some information about her but for the life of me can't recall what.

 

[AFGNCAAP]

Well, on a related note...

Will the Cleric class abilities, powers, weapon proficiencies, skills, etc. (or any other divine class, like paladins) be influenced at all by which deity they revere? Will it affect what sort of Paragon Path or Epic Destiny the character can take later on?

In addition, what about the concept of "pantheon worship" that appeared in Eberron (where a group of deities were revered instead of just a single one)? How will that work with the cleric class?

Just a few things I was curious about.

 

[Dunamin]

Well, on a related note...

Will the Cleric class abilities, powers, weapon proficiencies, skills, etc. (or any other divine class, like paladins) be influenced at all by which deity they revere? Will it affect what sort of Paragon Path or Epic Destiny the character can take later on?

In addition, what about the concept of "pantheon worship" that appeared in Eberron (where a group of deities were revered instead of just a single one)? How will that work with the cleric class?

Just a few things I was curious about.

You could have deity-specific Paragon Paths or perhaps even Epic Destinies, just as we know there are deity-specific feats. In fact, I'd expect that campaign setting books would provide such kinds of options, just as had often been the case with prestige classed in 3.x. On philosophical orientations other than religions, I suspect there eventually will be fanmade Planescape faction paths or even faction destinies, for instance.

Also, I see no problem with worshipping a whole pantheon. You could equally make a "Seldarine Defender" paragon path or "Servant of the Feylords" feat for a PC serving an elven pantheon.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Reinforce that Avandra is a god of Chance and Fortune first, and Maiden of Halflingkind second. That's how I prefer it anyway - fewer gods with fleshed out foci, rather than an abundance of redundant gods of single species and nothing more.

Bingo bango bongo.

I'm a HUGE god-guy and I really do adore what they've done with the gods. Tying "mundane" things in with adventuring duties and racial portfolios is a good idea, and it means that we won't have dirt farmers worshipping Doctor Swordopolis, the God of Swords.

I'm very tempted to start up my big deity statting project again with this.

 

[pukunui]

Did they have a write up on her in the preview books? I remember some information about her but for the life of me can't recall what.

Yes, there is some information on the Raven Queen in the preview books.

She is a "mysterious" deity who abandoned her realm in the Astral Sea to take up residence in a "grim fortress" in the Shadowfell. Her new realm is shrouded in perpetual winter. "Obscure legends claim that she knows where the souls of the departed go when they leave creation, and that she can call a soul back even from beyond." It says somewhere else that Orcus has designs on her spot and that he has minions scouring the Astral Sea for her abandoned domain in hopes of finding something that will tell him her real name so he can gain power over her.

It also says that the Raven Queen sometimes keeps unaligned souls for her own purposes.

It finishes off by saying that it isn't clear why she tolerates the presence of Orcus', Vecna's, and Zehir's minions in the Shadowfell, but that it's possible they're the reason she lets adventurers into her domain (so they can fight the minions for her) ... "Possibly she even reveals her enemies to such scrutiny. And perhaps she knows something her enemies don't."

All in all, very cool, if you ask me. HEAPS of possibilities for adventures and intrigue and all that. I absolutely love the idea of the Raven Queen's abandoned dominion in the Astral Sea ... I could easily see a high-level adventure based on the PCs competing against Orcus' minions in order to find her lost domain and learn her true name, etc etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Yeah the Raven Queen is without a doubt one of the neatest editions to D&D. I wonder if in the Manual of The Planes they will delve into her abandoned-Dominion, or leave it ambiguous for the players/DM.

It is also fun that she has with her name and such the Morrigan-vibe going on. Since well... Morrigan is such a kickass goddess. I am even thinking of that being her True Name. With Badb and Macha being false names she has spread around to confuse those seeking it.

I am thinking of having lots of warfare oriented groups be associated with her, because of her relationship with death. But also, since she has the Shadar-Kai under her call, if they serve her well she may bless them with her mighty warriors to aid them in war.

As for Fate, I hope now God has real governance over it. I prefer Fate/Destiny to be beyond the Gods and reside within the control of the Fates. I like the idea that there is something even beyond the Gods and the Gods have to pay homage too, trick, barter, etc. with the Fates for various things.

 

[hong]

Raven Queen is a prime candidate to be a surviving Primordial.

 

[ki11erDM]

She sounds cool. But sounds a bit to goth for what I need. Avandra will do. Thank guys