Homebrew Worlds: Racial Gods?

[DragonLancer]

I'm curious how many homebrewers out there use multiple pantheons - one for each racial type and how many gods in each. In preparing to set forth with world design (I always start with the gods) I have been pondering this... lets take a god of smithing and the forge for example, I can see at least two pantheons having this, human and dwarves, but is there a need for multiple pantheons with this in mind?

Just some random musings floating through right now. Thoughts and ideas?

 

[the Jester]

I have multiple regional pantheons. There is one main religion that is semi-monotheistic, and a large number of less prominent 'old religions' in various places.

Much of the time, the various races put a racial spin on the gods they worship; so dwarven culture looks at Galador as dwarven, while humans see him as fundamentally human.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I have both racial patrons and generic gods that can be portrayed in a racially specific fashion by some races. So, no, you don't need multiple smith gods, you need Moradin's non-dwarven aspect.

 

[Crothian]

I have one panthion of gods, however different races give them different name s so it can seem like there are racial panthions. Also, the different races make statutues of the gods in their own image so the gods don't look the same to everyone.

 

[Lobo Lurker]

Eh, it depends on the race, the location, and the situation really.

For example, Elves might traditionally worship an Elven pantheon. But the Elves of Frostwind Canyon might worship a patron diety that is more suited to helping them out in thier local situation.

Some small groups might even worship gods or pantheons that belong to another race. How cool would it be to design a group of Elves that worshipped Gruumsh because they felt that Corellon had abandoned them and that only the might of the orcs and thier god had delivered them from certain destruction? I like it, it's evocative, not run-of-the-mill, and it's a story hook.

I try to design my games around plot/story hooks rather than define everything up front. That includes dieties and who worships them.

 

[Turjan]

I have regional and tribal gods who are sometimes linked to something like a pantheon in common myths. As the myths of the main races don't have much overlap, gods tend to be different for different races. Sometimes a specific god of one culture is equated with a similar god of a different culture, but this depends on local custom.

 

[Slobber Monster]

I prefer a "less is more" type of approach for these things, so I do not have separate racial pantheons. Humans and dwarves would worship the same god of the forge. They might represent him a bit differently, use different nicknames, or have some dogmatic differences, but the cleric domains, legends, and principles would be the same. I feel that with a homebrew there's already a lot of unfamiliar material for the players to get accustomed to, so it's best to keep things simple where you can.

Now it'd be different if strife between multiple pantheons was a central theme of my campaign. Then it would be worth the addittional complexity, and I would keep things simple in other areas to draw the players focus to this area.

 

[JimAde]

I do the same as Crothian. I have a big spreadsheet with the gods down one side and the various races/nations across the top. In each cell I have the local name of that deity and any notes along with the domains they grant (which sometimes differ). There is only one pantheon but many people are unaware of it.

 

[DragonLancer]

Wow. I pop out for five minutes and I get a lot of replies. Thankyou.

I think with racial pantheons I dislike redundency. If theres a god of the forge why do I need two of them? That sort of thing.

 

[Turjan]

I think with racial pantheons I dislike redundency. If theres a god of the forge why do I need two of them? That sort of thing.

I suppose that the big question is: how intrusive are the gods of your homebrew? Do they interfere with worldly matters and do people know which gods exist and which don't? Do your gods exist at all? Do you have myths with different gods creating different races? Do you have small spirits revered to locally? Answering these questions will help you with finding an answer to your pantheon concept.