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The Generic Deities of D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Chaosmancer" data-source="post: 7960307" data-attributes="member: 6801228"><p>Thinking about the various gods and the pantheons was one of the big drivers behind my homebrew world. </p><p></p><p>One thing I quickly decided is that the "core" pantheons are actually no such thing. They are the human deities. For a simple example of why this is, I'm going to assume the Forgotten Realms.</p><p></p><p> Tempus -> The God of War</p><p>Vandria Gilmadrtih -> Elf God of War</p><p>Selvetarm -> Drow God of War</p><p>Clangeddin Silverbeard -> Dwarf God of War</p><p>Deep Duerra -> Duergar God of War</p><p>Arvoreen -> Halfling God of War</p><p>Gaerdal Ironhand-> Gnome God of War</p><p></p><p>And so on and so on. I noticed it when doing wiki research into the Dwarven Pantheon (because the PHB had like five different Elf gods and only one dwarf god). And, I realized this created a problem for me. It makes no sense for their to be no human specific deities and just having the humans worshipping the "overgods" of each portfolio. I mean, if you want to pray about war, why does everyone have their own god of war when there is a general version? </p><p></p><p>Because there is no general version. All of the "non-claimed" deities are actually the human deities. And, once I decided that something actually interesting happened, that I think is a cool thematic thing. </p><p></p><p>The humans have, by far, the largest and most varied pantheon. It makes us the most religious race compared to the other big four. I mean, sure, the dwarves are often making a big deal about Moradin, but the halflings and Elves are rarely shown to be very religious. And, in most video games or summaries about DnD, what is the party make-up? </p><p></p><p>Dwarf Fighter, Elf Wizard, Halfling Rogue, Human Cleric/Paladin</p><p></p><p>Now, as to why this is not called out. I blame DnD having cold feet. Human religion is a touchy subject, and a subject DnD has a history with. So they try and not rock the boat too much, keep plausible deniability. After all, few people care about the gods of the elves or the dwarves, so they can make a stable pantheon and lore for them. But the humans? That would get messy, especially considering how much DnD liked to poke at the idea that their universe could connect to ours.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Chaosmancer, post: 7960307, member: 6801228"] Thinking about the various gods and the pantheons was one of the big drivers behind my homebrew world. One thing I quickly decided is that the "core" pantheons are actually no such thing. They are the human deities. For a simple example of why this is, I'm going to assume the Forgotten Realms. Tempus -> The God of War Vandria Gilmadrtih -> Elf God of War Selvetarm -> Drow God of War Clangeddin Silverbeard -> Dwarf God of War Deep Duerra -> Duergar God of War Arvoreen -> Halfling God of War Gaerdal Ironhand-> Gnome God of War And so on and so on. I noticed it when doing wiki research into the Dwarven Pantheon (because the PHB had like five different Elf gods and only one dwarf god). And, I realized this created a problem for me. It makes no sense for their to be no human specific deities and just having the humans worshipping the "overgods" of each portfolio. I mean, if you want to pray about war, why does everyone have their own god of war when there is a general version? Because there is no general version. All of the "non-claimed" deities are actually the human deities. And, once I decided that something actually interesting happened, that I think is a cool thematic thing. The humans have, by far, the largest and most varied pantheon. It makes us the most religious race compared to the other big four. I mean, sure, the dwarves are often making a big deal about Moradin, but the halflings and Elves are rarely shown to be very religious. And, in most video games or summaries about DnD, what is the party make-up? Dwarf Fighter, Elf Wizard, Halfling Rogue, Human Cleric/Paladin Now, as to why this is not called out. I blame DnD having cold feet. Human religion is a touchy subject, and a subject DnD has a history with. So they try and not rock the boat too much, keep plausible deniability. After all, few people care about the gods of the elves or the dwarves, so they can make a stable pantheon and lore for them. But the humans? That would get messy, especially considering how much DnD liked to poke at the idea that their universe could connect to ours. [/QUOTE]
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