Organic Mythology

[slwoyach]

Most DND pantheons seem dead. Hey look, it's so and so. She's the godess of rain. That's as far as they really go. Gods are created and just assigned portfolios that follow a theme and we move on.

I find this unsatisfying, and I have a hard time believing I'm the only one. Mythologies exist for a reason, they explain the unexplainable to peoples who lack scientific answers. Why does it rain? What are the stars and the sun? Why are their lakes and oceans? I think it would work better if gods were created to answer these questions instead of the cut and paste way TSR and WotC did/do things. Why does it rain? Common answers are that it's a godess' tears. They could be tears of joy or sorrow. Perhaps spells to bring rain could be solemn pleas about suffering through a drought or a joyous dance to bring happiness to a fickle goddess. Has anyone ever worked on a mythology to answer these questions? What questions need to be answered?

 

[haakon1]

Of course, you could just use real mythologies, or make up your own stuff.

I use Norse, Greek, Greyhawk (Gygax's inventions are pretty good), and a combo of American Indian + Sumerian, as interpreted by AD&D, for the different human cultures in my campaign.

Most gamers are at least passingly familiar with Thor and Athena and friends, so why not use them?

 

[the Jester]

Well, it really depends on the nature of the gods in the campaign- maybe they don't exist because people made them up, they might even just be super-powerful outsiders.

I always think a lot about my campaign's religion. I have multiple overlapping pantheons of different fundamental natures from different regions of the game world. For example, the native religion of Pesh was worship of a pantheon of gods known as the Great Family. Pesh's (extremely extended) ruling family's oldest member was in charge of the government, leading to an intrigue-laced political system with a lot of assassination. The Great Family of gods each represented something cultural; they were ranked in power by age, with Old Grandmother being the matriarch.

On the other hand, the Sun was ignited one million years ago by Galador, a god from a different (and more or less monotheistic) pantheon. The pcs in my epic 3.5 game eventually learned that the Sun is some kind of divine artifact.

Then there is a primitive jungle island whose inhabitants worship gods who, when angry, make the mountains belch smoke, fire and lava. Gods that represent the forces of predation- when a hunter is taken by a tiger, it is the will of one of the gods.

So yeah, I think about these things.

As to what questions need to be answered by religions, think carefully about this: in a dnd game world, creatures can learn the true answers to most questions. The gods are demonstrably real, magic works, there are divinations to answer your questions. What happens after you die? You can find out, by dying and coming back.

So you have to answer those questions as a dm before you can really decide how they interact with your campaign religions.

Of course, there's also the option of having ontological flux, where the answers o those questions depend on the circumstances and whom you ask.

 

[Orius]

The thing is, there's different paradigms between the two. Real world mythologies evolve out of an attept to understand the natural world, or to rationalize ethical beliefs and so on. These mythologies developed over centuries. RPG mythologies are usually created by a single person or a small group of people to give background to gods in the game world. Since the most important thing about these gods to most players is what kind of power is granted to their clerics, there's naturally going to be a different feel.

 

[Kzach]

I would go further to say that all racial histories and the plethora of races clashes with the concept of logical and organic evolution of ideals, philosophies and dominance.

It's one of my pet peeves about settings like Forgotten Realms. Where did all these monsters and races come from? Poof! Magic.

It's a primary motivating factor behind my desire to create my own setting. I want everything to be a logical extension of the events, beliefs, peoples, magic, etc.

A for instance is, in my setting, why silver is the dominant metal for coin usage. All denominations are fractions of the 'silver piece' standard. This evolved from the overthrow of the first orcish god, known as 'Silverbeard'. All gods in my setting are ascended mortals. Part of the basis for the setting is that souls are a form of power that is fought over and all beings that exist in the Mortal Realm are mortal.

He cools his own blood in the spear tip impression in the snow of the cave where he dwells. This silver dagger is given to an assassin who kills potential new orcish gods and their souls are absorbed through it and given to the god. Using this power, he maintains an immortal existence in the mortal realm. The soul is believed to be silvery in nature, and therefore Silverbeard's blood turned to silver over the hundreds of years he maintained his existence by absorbing souls.

Assassination in orcish culture is lawful if done to prove a crime was committed. If you die from an assassin's blade, it is obvious that you weren't worthy of living; only the guilty would suffer such an insult to their prowess. When a potential god rose to power amongst the orcs and got other potentials on his side, Ashen of the Silver Blade (the immortal assassin and Silverbeard's right-hand lady) went to kill him. She was thwarted in her attempt and ended up siding with the new god because she believed him innocent of the crimes Silverbeard accused him of.

The new gods killed Silverbeard with the dagger Ashen was given to kill the new god.

Because of this, the orcs have a reverence for silver. In my setting, the orcs maintain an empire that has spanned over 900 years and dominates roughly 1/4 of the continent. Imagine a cross between Imperial Rome and the Klingon empire and you get the gist.

One other nation (human) is a dominant trader on the continent, facilitating trade between most races and being the most successful in bringing foreign trade to the continent. They even happily trade with the orcs, despite having warred with them for centuries. It just makes economic sense.

Because of all these elements, silver has become the default standard throughout most civilised nations on the continent.

 

[Nightson]

Would the gods encourage mythological thinking? Or upon being asked whether she made the rain fall would Melora explain precipitation to her followers?

 

[slwoyach]

Would the gods encourage mythological thinking? Or upon being asked whether she made the rain fall would Melora explain precipitation to her followers?

To me that's patently boring. What purpose do gods fill if all the natural laws are the same as in the real world. I much prefer a godess' tears to precipitation. Besides, who says the gods answer questions directly.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Take a look at these deities I've created for Urbis. I tried to convey the sense that the worship of these deities changes over time, fulfilling different needs for different people in different time periods.

They are still relatively sketchy, but any feedback you could give me to make them more organic in feel would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Byronic]

I created some deities because I believed they were fun and build the rest because they were needed (for example someone wanted a War God) or because there should be one there logically.

 

[Jack7]

Most DND pantheons seem dead. Hey look, it's so and so. She's the godess of rain. That's as far as they really go. Gods are created and just assigned portfolios that follow a theme and we move on.

I hear ya Slwo. That's why we use real world religions and myths in our setting. Because game versions are anemic, plastic, unreal, uninspiring, and bore the crap out of me and my players.

Then again that's not really religion and myth creation, it is just myth and religion play.

Then again we've never found an artificial myth and religion construct that's nearly as interesting or enthusing as the real thing.