D&D 5E (2014) The Gods in your Pantheon, Where Do They Live?

[Crimson Longinus]

I don't necessarily see gods as people that live in some physical space. That's how mortals may conceptualise them and that's even how they might manifest to the mortals if they wanted to make themselves more comprehensible, but that's not really what they are. They are cosmic forces that simply are part of the fabric of the reality.

 

[Werehamster]

In Odyssey of the Dragonlords, the gods rule cities, walk around, accompany the PCs on their adventures.

Have you run a campaign with this setup? If so, how did that go with gods accompanying the party? Seems like things could get pretty wild. Also, do the PCs rely on the god with them to do the heavy lifting? This is rather intriguing to me.

 

[S'mon]

Have you run a campaign with this setup? If so, how did that go with gods accompanying the party? Seems like things could get pretty wild. Also, do the PCs rely on the god with them to do the heavy lifting? This is rather intriguing to me.

I'm running it currently. The gods are statted more like high level NPCs than as omnipotent cosmic forces, and tend to be somewhat limited. Plus the Oath of Peace limits what they can do. The PCs don't rely on them, but it's certainly helpful having a god on your side.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

The One, revered by the Safiqi priesthood, is omnipresent, but the full intensity of the One's presence can only be felt in Al-Jana, True Heaven, which cannot be reached except by departing the spheres of the world entirely. You leave the mortal world and all its mirrors and connections behind when you go there, because there is no coming back from perfection. When the perfect comes, what is imperfect disappears, not because it is destroyed, but because it is finally made complete.

The Kahina do not really have "gods" per se, they revere the spirits, and spirits are...basically everywhere. Not omnipresent like the Safiqi beliefs about the One, but rather...there are spirits in almost all places and many things, particularly those that are old. An orchard, for example, that has existed for several generations has spirits of all of its trees, but it will also begin to manifest the whispers of a full forest-spirit, which arises from having so many tree-spirits together in one place for so long. The Spirit of All Winds is technically present in every wind that blows anywhere in the world, but only very limitedly; it takes a lot of effort to reach out to such a being, and drawing its attention is not always wise. (Not because it's malevolent, it's just very divorced from mortal concerns and its attention may have undesirable consequences for a mortal.)

No other major faiths have been directly considered, but presumably they do exist. The El'Adrin who had lived in the elf-forests to the south apparently had some kind of trefoil symbolism and knew of celestials (which are totally unknown in the present day, to the point that only religious scripture claims they exist; no well-documented celestial encounter has ever occurred). So presumably they also had a religion, one that differed from the religion of the Tarrakhuna region, but they all disappeared long ago so it's hard to say. Perhaps, when they are summoned back, they'll tell more.

 

[cbwjm]

They live on the upper plane, the place where they had many of their adventures before they became true gods. At least one, the Corrupter, has been cast out and now makes his home in the Shadowfell. The Stag King (A wild god of nature and the hunt) and the Four Seasons (not the hotel or landscapers) are often found in the Feywild, splitting their time between upper plane and the Feywild.

 

[Baron Opal II]

Where do the Patrons reside? Well, that's both easy and hard to say.

Lady Oshtur dances across the night sky along with her children, those of the Zodiacal March. You can see the path they stamped out in silver in the heavens. Rarely she dreams of past loves or her lost sister, and then you can see Her veils of green, red, and white in the sky to the north.

Lady Ishtar has a mansion of massive timbers in an ancient forest. There are all kinds of fruit trees, flowers, crops, and bees buzzing about. The lands surrounding are filled with the sounds of running water, streams, rivers, majestic waterfalls. No one is ever thirsty there, I can tell you. Her hall is in Anakarum, where the giants live. But, it is a peaceful place, and there is no fear.

Lord Brisingr travels constantly, often between Ladies Ishtar and Kirigal's halls. While He can rest easy in Lady Ishtar's repose, it is a fitful slumber for him under Lady Kirigal's slate roof in Acheron. The moans of Lord Nergal from his unhealing wound make any comfort found in Lady Kirigal's home spare indeed.

Lady Kirigal, as mentioned, has her manse in Acheron with her husband Lord Nergal. She is seldom home being of restless spirit. We see her all too often riding her storms from the West, East and South. Still she returns home to tend to Lord Nergal's Wound, allowing Him to find some rest while She is there.

Lord Marduk has his manse in Asphodel. There He learns and records the methods of all arts, crafts, and techniques for the betterment of mortals such as us. Statecraft, metalwork, fishing, reading the wind. All this he catalogs while keeping his spear close by should the Walls of Dis crumble.

Lord Bahamut gazes from his tower on the Horizon's Rim, keeping watch against the incursion of demonic might. The Seven-Eyed Sage sees all that crawls, swims, and flies by light of day or night. Demon's Guard can be found on the horizon, East of the Sun and West of the Moon.

Lastly, Lord Asmoder sits on His throne in Carceri overseeing the prison of the Iron Sun. Far, far away from us, not that we would ever want to go there. That's where the infernals reside, sometimes tempting mortals to join them in their eternal watch.

There are the others of course. We usually talk about the Seven Patrons, although there are really twelve. The Septeon are those that care most for us mortals, and who help us in need. There's also Lady Mharg whose manse is far below us. She's the Patron of the dvergar - Lord Neander beseeched Her for succor long ago and She actually agreed. Lady Sekhalah occupies Lady Pelagra's Palace of Coral and Shell since it stood vacant for ages. Now She owns the deeps and the secrets they hold. I mentioned where Lord Nergal's rests. Lady Nagamat never rests in the same place twice, eternally exploring the Spindle. Lord Zalgo's home is non-existent, being in a place between realms rather than in one. Their truest desire is to be left alone, utterly alone. Disturb It Not.

 

[Werehamster]

Lady Kirigal, as mentioned, has her manse in Acheron with her husband Lord Nergal.

It had slipped my mind that gods can be married...I love the thought of that.

 

[Bitbrain]

So how active in the day-to-day will the gods be? Do they ever visit the Prime Material Plane, or will they just be ruling from a distance?

Somewhat distant, but they can and will dispatch celestial servants to the Material Plane.

 

[DeviousQuail]

Sometimes they exist on the prime itself. Usually hanging out in great caverns or ziggaruts if they're on the world itself. Sometimes the moon(s) are their homes. These gods aren't as powerful as those featured in FR for instance.

Lately, I've been working with a stripped down version of the ethereal, prime, and astral as the sum of my cosmology. The gods hang out in the astral, usually on their personal astral planets or moons. Since the astral doesn't experience decay it is the best place for gods to house the souls of their faithful. However their personal power doesn't grow in the astral so they have to make trips to the prime and ethereal to improve themselves. This is dangerous because in those realms they can be permanently destroyed so most of the time it's the astral life for them.

The more chaotic or aspirational gods might set up their homes in the ethereal. It's a tradeoff since they have to expend more power to maintain their faithful souls and domain but can grow in power much quicker. They don't spend much time in the prime because their magical "gravity" messes with reality if they spend too much time there.

 

[aco175]

I typically play FR and have not thought about it. I like what @Crimson Longinus and @Bitbrain said about them being far away, but can communicate and send angels and such. My games have not had gods directly interfere since 2e and no PCs tried to go visit one since then as well.

I guess if a PC wanted to try and do something like this, I could come up with a plan where they live or likely a neutral place where an angel or deva would come.