D&D 5E Life Without "the Gods" or Playing D&D without the DDG.

[needle75]

Possibly the most interesting thread I've read on ENworld since I started lurking here! Very interesting stuff guys!
[MENTION=58172]Yaarel[/MENTION] I had a lightbulb moment with your explanation of animism

 

[I'm A Banana]

I have toyed on and off with a setting that focuses on the various monotheistic traditions in history (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity primarily), where PC's are highly exceptional (as in, unique-in-history) people. There, most characters do not receive insight or communication from any god, and vanishingly few NPC's can cast magic. A PC cleric who asks questions or summons celestials gets the mechanical effect, but without any hint as to what force or mind (it never answers questions about itself, the angels are always silent on where they're from), leaving it open to their individual interpretation. They can even get this effect if they're outside of the monotheistic traditions, so you could have some atheist or pagan summoning angels and getting divine revelations.