Monotheism?

[Dogbrain]

Good alternatives, but how about:
Alternative 3: the magics of the clerics represent divine gifts to them intended to enable them to more fully embody the God's will on earth by performing acts beyond ordinary mortal ken. However, these gifts, once given are irrevocable and if a gifted one falls from the true path, s/he retains at least a portion of the gift to use or abuse.

Ah, a more "Roman Catholic"-ish interpretation of what it means to be a priest. (Under RC ecclesiology, it is not possible for a priest to ever cease being a priest, no matter what--that priest's "powers" are fully intact forever. Even a defrocked priest is still "functional", albeit forbidden to exercise those functions. Yes, it does lead to strange and contradictory results.)

 

[Kahuna Burger]

D&D DMs have the advantage of being able to lay out the ultimate truth in black and white, a luxury that we lack on the real world. "Of course such-and-such is a real god! See, he grants me spells!" as opposed to "Of course such-and-such is a real god! Well, no, he doesn't grant me spells..." Hard to argue with, really. When the priests of a god can do magic, it's pretty good proof that their god exists. If only the worshippers of one god can do magic, then it's a monotheistic world, regardless of how many false religions there are.

Actually, since D&D core rules allow godless clerics, it wouldn't work that way at all. The "false gods" would form a framework in which any person with the potential for divine magic would "choose a alignment and two domians" and ahve just as good powers as those of "true gods". Not to mention bards, druids and sorcerers who believe their powers come from one or more gods. Is this one god going to somehow strike down all spellcasters who claim that their powers come from another god?

The logic you suggest that would make monotheism self evident is based on hopeless metagaming unavailable to the denzins of the world. A world which is cosmologically polytheistic could have large monotheistic cultures, and a cosmologically monotheist world would almost inevitably have dozens of different religions. The DM might know which ones had 'real' gods, and if he houseruled away godless clerics (a big step) then the players could as well, but the characters never would.

of course if I ever get my own campaign going again after relocation and wedding travails, the homebrew will in fact be cosmologically atheist...

Kahuna burger

 

[MarauderX]

How about mono-theism as just being easier? It would be to me; no more people in cities who brag about their god being better, no more rules about cleric domains one can have, etc. Have the (one?) god stand back and watch things happen, granting powers to whomever worships and never interveneing to make certain events occur as (s)he wishes. Let the world not really know the god except through the many minor deeds of the worshippers (cure light wounds, light, etc.).

I can still see evil happening, and could also see how NPCs evolve from being a LG bishop-type to a jealous, money-laundering, egotist bent on framing the higher level PC cleric who always makes him look bad by doing minor miracles. And both worshipping the same god, no less... muhahaaaa

I need so spend less time in the RBDM (Rat Bastard DM) section.

 

[MarauderX]

How about mono-theism as just being easier? It would be to me; no more people in cities who brag about their god being better, no more rules about cleric domains one can have, etc. Have the (one?) god stand back and watch things happen, granting powers to whomever worships and never interveneing to make certain events occur as (s)he wishes. Let the world not really know the god except through the many minor deeds of the worshippers (cure light wounds, light, etc.).

I can still see evil happening, and could also see how NPCs evolve from being a LG bishop-type to a jealous, money-laundering, egotist bent on framing the higher level PC cleric who always makes him look bad by doing minor miracles. And both worshipping the same god, no less... muhahaaaa

I need to spend less time in the RBDM (Rat Bastard DM) section.

 

[CCamfield]

How about mono-theism as just being easier? It would be to me; no more people in cities who brag about their god being better, no more rules about cleric domains one can have, etc.

IF everyone really worships the god in the same way. If the god is standoffish, you could end up with rifts in the Church like the Reformation, and then, watch out! You'll have different branches of the Church excommunicating each other and waging holy war.

 

[shivamuffin]

Gotta have conflict, otherwise it wouldn't make the campaign exciting.