In a fantasy world filled with magic and miraculous beings, will the religious concepts of the locals be completely different from the human of Earth?

But the people of a fantasy world demand proof, not empty words. If you were a preacher claiming that your deity was the ruler and creator of the universe, and that you were its son, you would have to prove it with miracles—if you only spoke empty words or used some rare power that others could use (like resurrecting the dead), no one would believe you.

I think in a typical fantasy world (like Toril), people's concept of "faith" is more similar to how humans on Earth would choose an insurance company————"Which insurance company has which product that best meets my needs and my tastes? are they reliable? this one is nice but I hate it."
People of fantasy world worship gods because they need their services and pay them with their own services and donations in return. and a primary purpose of faith is the hope of a better life in the afterlife, rather than becoming foods for demon or devil's BBQ party.
of course, personal preferences (or alignments) also play a significant role in determining which gods they worship and which they dislike, but ultimately, the purpose of faith is clear: to exchange service for service and to invest in their afterlife in an attempt to improve it.
In fantasy worlds, people won't worship gods who can't give anything in return,even AO worshipers of Toril are motivated by curiosity and reverence for the most powerful being in Toril, and they are extremely minority and considered weirdo since AO don't give naughty word to them. people's faith is far more rational, utilitarian business or career and by no means unconditional or unrequited.
I think that is just philosophizing about religion by way of gaming without actually interrogating what makes people religious and what religiosity even means.

So gods are real and you have to appease them and if you don't bad stuff happens. Okay. This is human reality for thousands of years, up to and including right now. Don't get too hung up on cure wounds spells or whatever because religious people even today literally witness miracles (from their perspective).

Again, I think modern westerners, particularly smarty pants needs, thing religion is for yokes when it is pretty well established, scientifically, to be a fundamental aspect of humanity. The same abstract thinking and pattern recognition software in our brains that let's us do science demands we have "gods".

So for fantasy worlds, we should not worry so much about the "proof" aspect, but the community aspect. That's whatvreligion is: a kind of community magic.

NOTE: just in case anyone thinks I am speaking from a religious perspective, I am not. I am a atheist, even a militant one at times. But our (species) religiosity is well studied and very real.
 

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I think in a typical fantasy world (like Toril), people's concept of "faith" is more similar to how humans on Earth would choose an insurance company————"Which insurance company has which product that best meets my needs and my tastes? are they reliable? this one is nice but I hate it."
So, let's think this through...I think it is right for say, the FR. How does religion manifest in these worlds? Do temples make sense? Does worship? Do deities derive some power from that, and then disburse the power for (i) nice afterlives and (ii) temporal power. Maybe they face a trade off between granting their followers temporal power and giving them a nice afterlife...this could lead to some interesting dynamics with cults, for example.
 


This video is long, but informative and thoughtful.

We live in a very secular world today. Many people, even those that are religious, think of church as something you go to once a week. It is rare for it to influence the everyday activities of people. I know this because I was raised in a religion where I was expected to think of everyday activities religiously. I was considered weird for doing so, even by other religious people that considered themselves devout. This is very different from how religion has been practiced for most of history. There are very few things that would not have been thought of religiously. The government was religious, medicine was religious, slavery was religious, even your food was religious. In polytheistic religions, many gods were identified with specific locations, such as mountains, rivers, or towns. In my understanding, if you asked a viking why they believed in Thor, they would be as confused as if you asked them why they believed in lightning.

People did talk with the gods (prayer). People gave things to the gods (votive offerings). Many people saw things they believed were gods (specific locations and visions). That is not to say Zeus provably existed. But that is to say the effect religion had on people of the past was as important as if Zeus was provably real. When people in the middle ages poured wine on wounds, they didn’t know why it helped prevent infections. They just knew that it worked and had a different explanation than the scientific one we have today. Magic was real. We just call magic that works science.

I do think religion in a fantasy world would be different from the real world, but moreso because of the mechanics of magic and divinity than the “reality” of it. Here’s is a single example for how magic might effect how people view death.

Depending on how common high level spellcasters are, I think it would influence how people think of death. If spellcasters that can cast Resurrection and True Resurrection are extremely rare, but those that can cast Raise Dead are decently common, I think people wouldn’t consider someone to be truly dead until after 10 days have past. These 10 days might be viewed as a time when the body stopped working for whatever reason, but the spirit remains inside it. People would develop rituals to preserve these bodies, talk to the spirit inside, and try to keep it from moving on. Structures would be constructed where bodies could be kept cool in a location safe from scavengers. Bards, Clerics, and Paladins all can cast Raise Dead. They would become important figures in fantasy societies, similar to doctors. This would be very different in a setting where Revivify is the highest level readily-available resurrection spell or one where True Resurrection is common.

In other words, magic wouldn’t just become science. In a game like D&D, where magic is reliable and can be taught reliably (Wizards, Bards, Clerics), magic is science.

Gods would be worshipped based on their effectiveness, consistency, and closeness. No one’s going to worship the God of Numbers, even if they were provably real, because most people aren’t mathematicians and don’t need what they’re selling. But you would worship the God of Doorknobs if that was the only way you could reliably open doors.
 
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But the people of a fantasy world demand proof, not empty words. If you were a preacher claiming that your deity was the ruler and creator of the universe, and that you were its son, you would have to prove it with miracles—if you only spoke empty words or used some rare power that others could use (like resurrecting the dead), no one would believe you.

I mean what is raising the dead, if not a miracle to the lay person?
 


But the people of a fantasy world demand proof, not empty words. If you were a preacher claiming that your deity was the ruler and creator of the universe, and that you were its son, you would have to prove it with miracles—if you only spoke empty words or used some rare power that others could use (like resurrecting the dead), no one would believe you.

I think in a typical fantasy world (like Toril), people's concept of "faith" is more similar to how humans on Earth would choose an insurance company————"Which insurance company has which product that best meets my needs and my tastes? are they reliable? this one is nice but I hate it."
People of fantasy world worship gods because they need their services and pay them with their own services and donations in return. and a primary purpose of faith is the hope of a better life in the afterlife, rather than becoming foods for demon or devil's BBQ party.
of course, personal preferences (or alignments) also play a significant role in determining which gods they worship and which they dislike, but ultimately, the purpose of faith is clear: to exchange service for service and to invest in their afterlife in an attempt to improve it.
In fantasy worlds, people won't worship gods who can't give anything in return,even AO worshipers of Toril are motivated by curiosity and reverence for the most powerful being in Toril, and they are extremely minority and considered weirdo since AO don't give naughty word to them. people's faith is far more rational, utilitarian business or career and by no means unconditional or unrequited.
I think Toril is interesting that, even in a world of 'known' deities and pantheons, some people continue to not be Believers, or maybe just donate when they need a special favor - the old Grey Box talked about it, even how people would sacrifice to Umberlee to avert her wrath before a voyage.
 

Depending on how common high level spellcasters are, I think it would influence how people think of death. If spellcasters that can cast Resurrection and True Resurrection are extremely rare, but those that can cast Raise Dead are decently common, I think people wouldn’t consider someone to be truly dead until after 10 days have past. These 10 days might be viewed as a time when the body stopped working for whatever reason, but the spirit remains inside it. People would develop rituals to preserve these bodies, talk to the spirit inside, and try to keep it from moving on. Structures would be constructed where bodies could be kept cool in a location safe from scavengers. Bards, Clerics, and Paladins all can cast Raise Dead. They would become important figures in fantasy societies, similar to doctors. This would be very different in a setting where Revivify is the highest level readily-available resurrection spell or one where True Resurrection is common.
Maybe this would be a thing for the wealthy, but even in 5e a 500gp diamond is likely out of reach for the majority of the population. Which isn't to say that keeping the body preserved for 10 days wouldn't become a a common ritual as you've outlined here, but, for example, I don't think many would be counting on a spellcaster to raise their dead son who died in a farming accident.
 

I think Toril is interesting that, even in a world of 'known' deities and pantheons, some people continue to not be Believers, or maybe just donate when they need a special favor - the old Grey Box talked about it, even how people would sacrifice to Umberlee to avert her wrath before a voyage.
Sacrificing to before a sea voyage Umberlee makes sense to me. If there is a god of the seas that might drag you down to the bottomless depths of the ocean, it wouldn't be surprising for someone to make an offering before the trip. If you're a farmer inland who follows the faerunian pantheon but who hasn't even seen the ocean before, you likely won't be giving her an offering though you will still know of her from the various myths of your people.
 

Maybe this would be a thing for the wealthy, but even in 5e a 500gp diamond is likely out of reach for the majority of the population. Which isn't to say that keeping the body preserved for 10 days wouldn't become a a common ritual as you've outlined here, but, for example, I don't think many would be counting on a spellcaster to raise their dead son who died in a farming accident.
I could imagine some religious prohibition on it. That soul is happy in the afterlife. The money can help here.
 

simply put,unlike our Earth,in the fantasy world,if a missionary attempts to spread faith with empty words without demonstrating any real miracles, no one will care them.
Many of the more successful missionaries in history were the ones that were viewed as miracle workers. Many people converted to a different religion because it was viewed as being more effective or successful than their old one. If an outside invader of a different religion conquers a different group, it was common for the native group to adopt the foreign religion because clearly the invaders did something right. Or because conversion gave more social or political power.

Also, communication is one of the strongest tools humans have. “Empty words” have caused many real effects in history.

Religion has real effects in the real world. Magic would be a different expression of the power of religion, but not the only expression.
 
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