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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sorinth" data-source="post: 9810333" data-attributes="member: 7050650">But this also should change throughout the world, ie one society might be monotheistic, another might be polytheistic, etc...In my worldbuilding I don't like having there to be an actual factual history of how the world was created, different people/societies will believe different things. Mechanically this means in part that spells like Commune are influenced by the caster's own beliefs, one caster might cast Commune and think/believe they are speaking to the spirit of the river, another might think/believe they are speaking with a celestial servant of a god, another might think/believe they are communing with a god or cosmic force. This way everything can remain fuzzy and contractions not only can but will exist because nobody actually has a proper understanding .I think you generally start with a Animist baseline simply because there will be lots of minor sources of divine magic that can be interacted with. But it's down to an individual's belief whether they think they are interacting within the confines of an Animist world or whether it's actually part Polytheist/Monotheist/etc...So if you aren't starting with how the world is created and all the divine stuff what do you start with? My suggestion is to focus first on the type of societies that you want to exist in the world, once you have that list you can then you can start placing in a world and decide how much of the world is even defined. Build out religious instituions as part of that society building wherever it's approriate. Some ideas of mine:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A city state led by a Lich with divine magic. Necromancy is used everywhere and generally for the good of all. So zombies basically work as manual labourers on farm, ghosts act as librarians in the city's main library, carriages are drawn by skeletal horses, etc... The rich pay to be turned into intelligent undead like Vampires when they feel the time is right, the poor have to sell their body to be reanimated as zombies/skeletons after they die.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A small kingdom that is a constitutional monarchy that takes the old idea of guilt/innocence in the eyes of "god" being proven by a trial by combat to an extreme. So anyone who is accused of a crime can fight in gladiatorial style games to prove their innocence, and whenever the king dies/steps down their's a huge set of gladiatorial games to decide the new king and basically even a peasant can challenge and win if they are good enough. Lawyers are basically gladiators who fight in their client's stead.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A viking/pirate inspired island(s) where the line between pirate/raider and honest trader is basically non-existant and there are dozens of small/medium sized rulers that attack each other as much as anyone else and nobody can consolodate power. I like Dwarves having a prominant role in this place.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A Tenochtitlan/Venice type of city built on water but with an underwater undercity of merman/tritons and other aquatic humanoids</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">In terms of existing FR societies that off the top of my head I would re-use, a city state like Waterdeep/Skullport, the Thayan empire, Calimshan.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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