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Message: <blockquote data-quote="SKyOdin" data-source="post: 5397668" data-attributes="member: 57939">For future reference, the general term for this kind of world-view is "animism". I am actually in the planing stages for a campaign that is very much dominated by the idea of animistic gods dwelling in rivers and mountains. I think bringing gods closer to home and making monsters into more than wild animals gives a world a much more mythological feel.BTW, while Nifft brought up the idea of conflict between older animistic/polytheistic religions and later monotheistic/idealistic religions, I have to recommend the opposite. Japanese religion in particular is actually based on the concept of religious syncretism, where individual people practice multiple different religions at once. In Japan's case, there has for centuries existed a mix of traditional Shinto with various forms of Buddhism, folk practices, imported Hindu deities, and Confucian beliefs. In particular, Buddhism is seen as the religion people go to in regards to death and similar issues, while people go to Shintoism to pray for good fortune in their current lives. It is also not at all unusual to see a Shinto deity like Inari enshrined in a Japanese Buddhist temple.There are similar syncretic combinations of animistic or polytheistic religions with monotheistic religions elsewhere in the world, such as the mix of various local folk religions with Catholicism that can be seen in countries like Haiti or even in European religious practices. I think it would be an interesting idea for a D&D setting to have Clerics worshipping a monotheistic divinity alongside Shamans venerating and dealing with local spirits and gods.</blockquote>

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