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Need advice: Making Religions, Not Just "Here's The Gods. Pick One"
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<blockquote data-quote="zeldafan42" data-source="post: 6889612" data-attributes="member: 6853887"><p>I can sympathize with this post as turning the deities of my homebrew setting into actual religions is something I've given a lot of thought to. </p><p></p><p>One thing I find helps is to come up with actual myths and stories that followers of that religion might tell. </p><p></p><p>One of the deities I've come up with is an Elven God of Death. Rather than most deities of death, he's not seen as dark or evil but rather a necessary part of the cycle of life. He is not just the God of Death, but also God of the Hunt and God of Winter. However, Winter was not an original part of his portfolio. Legend has it that his wife, the Goddess of Life and Growth had begun a season of growth that was unending. At first, the elves praised it. Fruit grew in abundance and they knew no hunger. But soon the plant life began to grow out of control. Weeds grew just as rapidly as crops. Ferns and other undergrowth grew huge, making hunting difficult as the animals could hide more easily. The warm weather caused bugs to multiply in greater numbers, including things like mosquitoes and ticks that spread disease. So the elves prayed to the God of Death. Hearing their prayers, he went on a great hunt, eventually tracking down a great elemental of ice. He slew it with a single arrow, and from its body crafted blizzards and snow storms, and brought them to the world, and thus he made winter. The moral of the story is that growth unchecked can be dangerous too, and that all things must die to allow the new growth to find its own place. It's a guiding tenant of his followers that "All things must die" and more than anything else his order abhors those that seek to usurp the natural order of life and death, especially sentient undead such as liches and vampires. </p><p></p><p>Myths are tools that real world religions use to teach lessons and impart morals, so designing them for your deities can do wonders at shaping their dogma.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="zeldafan42, post: 6889612, member: 6853887"] I can sympathize with this post as turning the deities of my homebrew setting into actual religions is something I've given a lot of thought to. One thing I find helps is to come up with actual myths and stories that followers of that religion might tell. One of the deities I've come up with is an Elven God of Death. Rather than most deities of death, he's not seen as dark or evil but rather a necessary part of the cycle of life. He is not just the God of Death, but also God of the Hunt and God of Winter. However, Winter was not an original part of his portfolio. Legend has it that his wife, the Goddess of Life and Growth had begun a season of growth that was unending. At first, the elves praised it. Fruit grew in abundance and they knew no hunger. But soon the plant life began to grow out of control. Weeds grew just as rapidly as crops. Ferns and other undergrowth grew huge, making hunting difficult as the animals could hide more easily. The warm weather caused bugs to multiply in greater numbers, including things like mosquitoes and ticks that spread disease. So the elves prayed to the God of Death. Hearing their prayers, he went on a great hunt, eventually tracking down a great elemental of ice. He slew it with a single arrow, and from its body crafted blizzards and snow storms, and brought them to the world, and thus he made winter. The moral of the story is that growth unchecked can be dangerous too, and that all things must die to allow the new growth to find its own place. It's a guiding tenant of his followers that "All things must die" and more than anything else his order abhors those that seek to usurp the natural order of life and death, especially sentient undead such as liches and vampires. Myths are tools that real world religions use to teach lessons and impart morals, so designing them for your deities can do wonders at shaping their dogma. [/QUOTE]
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