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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 4509081" data-attributes="member: 8835">I suspect part of the problem is that D&amp;D has modeled clerics and religion &quot;wrongly&quot; compared to the real world polytheistic religions.Some of this might have been intentional (ex. vancian magic is not like real world magic practices).&nbsp; Making it &quot;unrealistic&quot; might deflect some risk of heresy or offensiveness (nevermind that D&amp;D was the satan's scapegoat in the 80's, where other darker RPGs were worse).&nbsp; Some of it might have been applying monotheistic thinking to a polytheistic culture.Let's ignore monotheistic religions for a moment.&nbsp; Consider the old norse/greek/roman pantheons, or hinduism, which clearly had a bunch of gods that all seemed to know each other and to an extent, get along.D&amp;D's model of make a cleric PC and pick a deity is a &quot;1 god only&quot; mentality (which would potentially collide with the &quot;get along&quot; trait).&nbsp; As others have pointed out, polytheistic cultures worship all the gods.&nbsp; They prey to different gods depending on their domain and need.&nbsp; Holy days are dedicated to different gods.I see a couple of ways to handle polytheistic religion's in D&amp;D.Eberron sounds like it's on the right track.&nbsp; The church building would have worship and praise for all the gods in its pantheon.&nbsp; It might have an altar for each god (like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion).&nbsp; It would have 1 or more holy days per god, spread across the year.&nbsp; I'd probably steal holiday ideas from christianity and judaism, and paganism (topics I know).&nbsp; Things like equinoxes, seasons, atonement, birthdays (or god-days).In 2e, the church was run by clerics (least the way I ran it).&nbsp; 3e tries to incorporate class-less folks in there, with cleric being more rare.&nbsp; Being more rare would probably help reduce the amount of free-miracles that would make the game get ridiculous (threads have been written on how clerics could change the world).&nbsp; By making clerics rarish, I'd say you have an interesting design point.&nbsp; Either make the cleric still represent the pantheon (with domains coming from the pantheon approved list), OR make the cleric a champion of a god, thus justifying why they pick a specific god.&nbsp; Thus at the norse church, it would be run by priests with no powers.&nbsp; Thor's champion Clyde the Cleric might hang out there, when he's not adventuring on Thor's behalf.&nbsp; Clyde really digs Thor.&nbsp; He's not going to be working at cross-purposes because he CHOSE Thor as much as Thor chose him.I suspect that each city or country would lock in to a single pantheon.&nbsp; History's rich with cultures that didn't put up with competing religions.&nbsp; (Rome might have been an exception).&nbsp; This would mainly be due to the fact that the rulers have picked a religion.&nbsp; Existance of another pantheon operating in their realm would imply that their choice may be wrong, and that they are therefore also potentially wrong.So overall, I see it as a fluff issue.&nbsp; I can make clerics work the way they work per the rules, but adjust the fluff for my campaign world to better simulate how a polytheistic culture might operate.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 4509081, member: 8835"] I suspect part of the problem is that D&D has modeled clerics and religion "wrongly" compared to the real world polytheistic religions. Some of this might have been intentional (ex. vancian magic is not like real world magic practices). Making it "unrealistic" might deflect some risk of heresy or offensiveness (nevermind that D&D was the satan's scapegoat in the 80's, where other darker RPGs were worse). Some of it might have been applying monotheistic thinking to a polytheistic culture. Let's ignore monotheistic religions for a moment. Consider the old norse/greek/roman pantheons, or hinduism, which clearly had a bunch of gods that all seemed to know each other and to an extent, get along. D&D's model of make a cleric PC and pick a deity is a "1 god only" mentality (which would potentially collide with the "get along" trait). As others have pointed out, polytheistic cultures worship all the gods. They prey to different gods depending on their domain and need. Holy days are dedicated to different gods. I see a couple of ways to handle polytheistic religion's in D&D. Eberron sounds like it's on the right track. The church building would have worship and praise for all the gods in its pantheon. It might have an altar for each god (like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion). It would have 1 or more holy days per god, spread across the year. I'd probably steal holiday ideas from christianity and judaism, and paganism (topics I know). Things like equinoxes, seasons, atonement, birthdays (or god-days). In 2e, the church was run by clerics (least the way I ran it). 3e tries to incorporate class-less folks in there, with cleric being more rare. Being more rare would probably help reduce the amount of free-miracles that would make the game get ridiculous (threads have been written on how clerics could change the world). By making clerics rarish, I'd say you have an interesting design point. Either make the cleric still represent the pantheon (with domains coming from the pantheon approved list), OR make the cleric a champion of a god, thus justifying why they pick a specific god. Thus at the norse church, it would be run by priests with no powers. Thor's champion Clyde the Cleric might hang out there, when he's not adventuring on Thor's behalf. Clyde really digs Thor. He's not going to be working at cross-purposes because he CHOSE Thor as much as Thor chose him. I suspect that each city or country would lock in to a single pantheon. History's rich with cultures that didn't put up with competing religions. (Rome might have been an exception). This would mainly be due to the fact that the rulers have picked a religion. Existance of another pantheon operating in their realm would imply that their choice may be wrong, and that they are therefore also potentially wrong. So overall, I see it as a fluff issue. I can make clerics work the way they work per the rules, but adjust the fluff for my campaign world to better simulate how a polytheistic culture might operate. [/QUOTE]

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