D&D 5E (2014) Two more Classic Settings to go

[Maxperson]

I like having stats for the gods, even if those stats are beyond anything a mortal group can handle, like the 3e design. It's fun.

 

[Sithlord]

I like having stats for the gods, even if those stats are beyond anything a mortal group can handle, like the 3e design. It's fun.

I would be more impressed with specialty priests for them. I wouldn’t Rather see adventures around thwarting the plans of these evil gods and PC’s beating them with their wits.

but deep deep deep down inside me I want to see a badass write up for Thor, Ares, Hecate, Momus, and a few other.

 

[Maxperson]

I would be more impressed with specialty priests for them. I wouldn’t Rather see adventures around thwarting the plans of these evil gods and PC’s beating them with their wits.

but deep deep deep down inside me I want to see a badass write up for Thor, Ares, Hecate, Momus, and a few other.

Totally agree. I'd love for each god to have its own clerical(and paladin) subclass.

 

[Aldarc]

In Mesopotamian myth, Tiamat was chaos itself, the primordial waters from which everything else emerged. How can you kill the universe and still exist?

Because the Babylonians and Akkadians didn't think of it the way that you do. True creation was only able to happen once Marduk killed Tiamat and was able to use her divided body to create "the heavens and earth." You're trying to impose D&D understanding of terms and deities on ancient ones. It's generally not advised.

 

[Mecheon]

Also D&D Tiamat is a very different beast to mythological Tiamat.

One is a 5 headed dragon
The other, well, depends if you also agree that Nammu is also her in which case she's responsible for humanity being created due to her telling Enki to wake up and help out, which results in him deciding to be lazy and just make humans instead

 

[Marandahir]

Because the Babylonians and Akkadians didn't think of it the way that you do. True creation was only able to happen once Marduk killed Tiamat and was able to use her divided body to create "the heavens and earth." You're trying to impose D&D understanding of terms and deities on ancient ones. It's generally not advised.

Point taken.

 

[SkidAce]

Because the Babylonians and Akkadians didn't think of it the way that you do. True creation was only able to happen once Marduk killed Tiamat and was able to use her divided body to create "the heavens and earth." You're trying to impose D&D understanding of terms and deities on ancient ones. It's generally not advised.

I'll grant the "heavens and earth" were created after, but there was a lot of creation (verb) going on prior. Elder dieties, 11 monsters to avenge Apsu's death etc.

I think for D&D purposes, using Tiamat as the primordial chaos sea from which all arose is a valid mythos.

Another D&D version could choose to add in Marduk as the architect of the current state of the cosmos.

But I feel it was more of a change of command situation "old guard out, new guard in" like many of the worlds myths.

 

[darjr]

Yes

Maybe?

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I'll grant the "heavens and earth" were created after, but there was a lot of creation (verb) going on prior. Elder dieties, 11 monsters to avenge Apsu's death etc.

I think for D&D purposes, using Tiamat as the primordial chaos sea from which all arose is a valid mythos.

Another D&D version could choose to add in Marduk as the architect of the current state of the cosmos.

But I feel it was more of a change of command situation "old guard out, new guard in" like many of the worlds myths.

In D&D (Forgotten Realms) Bahumut IS Marduk, or one of his more human forms.

Marduk

 

[Mercurius]

I think the confusion lies in the difference between what, in our world, is exoteric vs esoteric religion. Or rather, religion vs. mysticism.

The esoteric (mystical) traditions generally see that there is "the One" and then an array of beings between humanity and the One. The Abrahamic traditions call these angels, with some very detailed hierarchies (e.g. Dionysius the Areopagite). In Hinduism you have devas, asuras, rakshasas, etc, similarly in Buddhism.

Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy, which draws from Western esotericism and follows the structure of Dionysius's hierarchy, says that angels are actually evolving beings, that the first level above humans (angels proper) were at a human level on a previous Earth, just as the second level (archangels) were at a human level two previous eons ago, and were at the angelic level when angels were at the human level.

Meaning, Steiner takes an evolutionary perspective on all beings, and that the "gods" were once at a human level. This doesn't apply to the Absolute or One. Funnily enough, this resonates somewhat with the MCU take, in which we could see the Asgardians being at a higher evolutionary level than humans.

The exoteric view varies by religion, and it seems that D&D, by and large, takes this approach, but adds its own cosmology on top of it, which in some sense muddies the waters (and I think what @doctorbadwolf is taking issue with). Ultimately D&D is about playability, but I do hope that any future planes product emphasizes the "build your own cosmology" approach. Or maybe that's simply a product that I need to write .