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<blockquote data-quote="GypsyComet" data-source="post: 372592" data-attributes="member: 1992">Re: Polytheism Problems&nbsp;As previously noted, however, creation myths *should* be a bit messed up.The answer to this depends a LOT on how active the god is among his followers and the two nations as a whole. If the two sides both gain direct guidance from the deity (ie. his statues animate and teach the priests and/or masses) then conflict can still result, but are less likely unless this &quot;law&quot; god is actually a bit on the heartless side as well (ie. a hidden streak of LE). If, on the other hand, this Law god is fairly distant (&quot;here is my law, follow it and achieve paradise, but don't bug me until then.&quot;) and the two races still manage to practice different cultures under this Law, then conflict is fairly likely just due to the usual mortal crock-headedness...&nbsp;The other factor, of course, is whether the two nations are, themselves, monotheist or polytheist. Is this Law god the Big (or only) Kahuna for these two nations? Or is he just the patron of the city guard and the library?Scores of names as seen in Myth, yes, but not necessarily scores of deities.&nbsp; Depending on whether there is a unifying Myth in the world (ie. all the big racial patriarch deities started a brothers, but are now portrayed as the races they created, and no longer get along...), a number of the lesser gods can appear using yet another Gloranthan bit: the &quot;subcult&quot;. They either represent one of the big deity's aspects by having mythically reinforced it in the tales, or are different faces of the same deity. The upshot is the same, or can be, mechanically: the main deity has a large collection of Domains, but most of them cannot be taken together, as they represent different subcults. There are two or three Domains which define the Big Guy, and normally a Cleric will take one of these and one from the subcult which suits...This brings up a question that I've not yet seen heavily addressed in this thread: how is &quot;true&quot; polytheism represented at the level of the divinely gifted: the CLERIC?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="GypsyComet, post: 372592, member: 1992"] [b]Re: Polytheism Problems[/b] As previously noted, however, creation myths *should* be a bit messed up. The answer to this depends a LOT on how active the god is among his followers and the two nations as a whole. If the two sides both gain direct guidance from the deity (ie. his statues animate and teach the priests and/or masses) then conflict can still result, but are less likely unless this "law" god is actually a bit on the heartless side as well (ie. a hidden streak of LE). If, on the other hand, this Law god is fairly distant ("here is my law, follow it and achieve paradise, but don't bug me until then.") and the two races still manage to practice different cultures under this Law, then conflict is fairly likely just due to the usual mortal crock-headedness... The other factor, of course, is whether the two nations are, themselves, monotheist or polytheist. Is this Law god the Big (or only) Kahuna for these two nations? Or is he just the patron of the city guard and the library? Scores of names as seen in Myth, yes, but not necessarily scores of deities. Depending on whether there is a unifying Myth in the world (ie. all the big racial patriarch deities started a brothers, but are now portrayed as the races they created, and no longer get along...), a number of the lesser gods can appear using yet another Gloranthan bit: the "subcult". They either represent one of the big deity's aspects by having mythically reinforced it in the tales, or are different faces of the same deity. The upshot is the same, or can be, mechanically: the main deity has a large collection of Domains, but most of them cannot be taken together, as they represent different subcults. There are two or three Domains which define the Big Guy, and normally a Cleric will take one of these and one from the subcult which suits... This brings up a question that I've not yet seen heavily addressed in this thread: how is "true" polytheism represented at the level of the divinely gifted: the CLERIC? [/QUOTE]

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