D&D 5E Trying to pick a FR deity for a character concept

[Celebrim]

According to Ed, 99.999999999% of Faerûn firmly believes in the deities and pays homage to whichever one is appropriate at any time, regardless of alignment.

While I appreciate Ed's recognition of the fundamental nature of polytheism (in polytheism, you don't worship a god, and all gods are worthy of worship regardless of what they express), the notion that real people would find the FR dieties to be worthy of worship strikes me as ... comical.

The Olympic pantheon was a very powerful set of myths over the human imagination, and contained a lot of interesting dieties ruling over really iconic and important aspects of peoples lives and had a rich and varied worship life. In terms of ethics based on heroic narrative, they are probably among the more successful polytheistic visions of all time.

None of that seems true for me for the Faerun pantheon, even the ones borrowed at least in name from real mythology (and there are a lot of those, especially originally). Yet even the Olympic pantheon, which overran and absorbed Romes, tended to promote a lot of skepticism and ennui. Socrates is probably the most famous example, for saying (in effect), "I believe that there must be Gods, but I also believe they can't possibly be anything like the stories we have about them." By the time of the Roman empire, most citizens are already agnostic and fed up with traditional religion with its self-absorbed comic book heroes and long lists of gods so banal that the stories about them had already been forgotten for centuries so that not even their priests could tell you why they were worthy of worship. Fundamentally the problem I have is I can't believe anyone actually living in the world is inspired to live by the example the gods set, which is a concept fundamental to polytheism particularly.

Examples of believable speculative polythistic inventions where you could believe that the world had a thriving religious life would be the The Rulers of Heaven from 'The Book of the Righteous' or the Five Gods from Bujold's Chalion series (especially as presented in the first book, later works somewhat undermine it IMO). Faerun doesn't cut it IME. I strongly suspect that 99% of Faerun's inhabitants just want the gods to go away.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

While I appreciate Ed's recognition of the fundamental nature of polytheism (in polytheism, you don't worship a god, and all gods are worthy of worship regardless of what they express), the notion that real people would find the FR dieties to be worthy of worship strikes me as ... comical. (snip)

And why are you quoting me?

I never suggested that FR deities were worthy of worship. Whose comment are you actually replying to?

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Yesterday was the first session of the new season. What follows is the character concept I went with:

mechanics - Warforged Fighter 1 (protective style)/Cleric 1 (war domain)

brief fluff - Name: Saracen; Deity: Tempus* (sort of)

longer fluff/explanation - Saracen was not always a Warforged. Even though he's (according to the game mechanics) a Warforged, he's not a Warforged in the sense of the Eberron race. He was once a living breathing (I'm thinking human, but leaving it ambiguous is fine) follower of Helm (or possibly The Eyes of Justice, which would have been his way to still follow Helm despite the god supposedly being dead.) (snip)

I really like your take on the warforged. Heck, if I was the DM, I would ask you to stay as a cleric of Helm with a goal of seeing him returned to life.

BTW, Tempus and Helm are diametrically opposed and have almost nothing in common (of course, it's your Realms). Torm is much closer to Helm and, indeed, holds his former portfolio. There's also a cool picture of Torm-worshipping warforged in an issue of Dragon:

 

[Celebrim]

And why are you quoting me?

I never suggested that FR deities were worthy of worship. Whose comment are you actually replying to?

Ed's.

 

[Argyle King]

I really like your take on the warforged. Heck, if I was the DM, I would ask you to stay as a cleric of Helm with a goal of seeing him returned to life.

BTW, Tempus and Helm are diametrically opposed and have almost nothing in common (of course, it's your Realms). Torm is much closer to Helm and, indeed, holds his former portfolio. There's also a cool picture of Torm-worshipping warforged in an issue of Dragon:

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The choice of Tempus was pretty much because I didn't accurately remember the FR details I had recently read while sitting down to make the character. So, in hindsight, it was a mistake, but, at this point, it's an already established part of the character and has benefited me (due to speaking with other followers of Tempus in town,) so changing it mid-game seems bad form. For Encounters, it's good enough to get by; I don't expect to delve as deeply into rpg and character as I would in a home campaign where I have more time and less of a set direction. If I ever end up playing the character again, I'll likely sit down and sketch things out better.

For now, just as quick patch to try to make it make sense, I'll say that he temporarily joined Tempus because he stumbled upon some clergy members of Tempus upon returning from the grave. They believed that a walking suit of armor (with a flail) was some kind of sign from the god they prayed to (especially since Saracen then helped them defeat some enemies.) Still mentally groggy due to the shock of being stuck between life and death, Saracen didn't resist when the priests took it upon themselves to emblazon the symbol of Tempus on his chest; not noticing the small symbol of Helm (which was faded with time and from being buried) on the back of one of the gauntlets. Confused himself, having conflicting holy symbols on his newly formed body was of little concern in light of everything else he was faced with.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Ed's.

Um, right. Which Ed also never said. Not that I am defending him, per se - he's a big boy and can defend himself - but I was wondering why you were responding to a comment that wasn't there.

(snip) For Encounters, it's good enough to get by; I don't expect to delve as deeply into rpg and character as I would in a home campaign where I have more time and less of a set direction. If I ever end up playing the character again, I'll likely sit down and sketch things out better. (snip)

Got it.

I thought it must have been for a home campaign (real campaign? ). Anyway, as you subsequently explained, Tempus is better for Daggerford. Good choice from that perspective.

 

[Argyle King]

Um, right. Which Ed also never said. Not that I am defending him, per se - he's a big boy and can defend himself - but I was wondering why you were responding to a comment that wasn't there.



Got it.

I thought it must have been for a home campaign (real campaign? ). Anyway, as you subsequently explained, Tempus is better for Daggerford. Good choice from that perspective.

Typically, I try to put some thought into my characters; even if it's just for Encounters.

Tempus has turned out to be a better choice, but it was a choice made accidentally due to being unfamiliar with FR lore.


If it helps to give an idea of what I'm going for, this song was an influence on the character: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xynKO28Mb7Y
In particular, the voice at right around the 57 second mark is how I imagine him speaking.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Typically, I try to put some thought into my characters; even if it's just for Encounters.

Tempus has turned out to be a better choice, but it was a choice made accidentally due to being unfamiliar with FR lore.

If it helps to give an idea of what I'm going for, this song was an influence on the character: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xynKO28Mb7Y
In particular, the voice at right around the 57 second mark is how I imagine him speaking.

Hehe... um, what sort of Con score would a human need to have a voice like that?