D&D General Updating non-human pantheons for the new world orc-der (+)

[jmartkdr2]

I really liked the “Races Of…” series from late 3.5 for a lot of reasons, but thematically interesting species deities is one of them. The halflings got a goddess of stealth, trickery and roguishness; the gnome got an evil god of cruel tricks, etc. I wasn’t a huge fan of their elf re-write but they can’t all be winners.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Citation please? I want to make sure I know exactly what they say before I mark this as another step in D&D's road to perdition.

"Gods aren’t defined by mortal conceptions of alignment, and different mortal worshipers might interpret a god’s behavior and teachings through the lens of different alignments."

"People can worship a god without obeying that god’s tenets or conforming to the god’s presumed alignment. People from all walks of life might participate in the annual festival of innocent mischief associated with a trickster god—even people whose alignment is generally lawful and opposed to the trickster’s teachings. To stave off disease, good-hearted people might make offerings to appease the wrath of a god associated with plague. Even Cleric characters don’t need to have any particular alignment to serve their gods."

It does mention that the plane the deity resides in does give some indication of their preferred worshipers, but even that is not always the case.

 

[aco175]

I tend to have any individual capable of worshipping any of the gods as their specific god and also many of the gods as they go about their day. A merchant may like Waukeen most as the god of merchants and commerce, but when getting on a ship might donate to Umberlee to not destroy his goods, or Talos for good weather.

Towns and villages tend to have a favored god that most everyone uses as the main god since that's how it always been. Same with the other races, but I tend to have the specific gods in areas dominated by other races.

I also look at the gods as part of the same thing or concept. The god of healing might show himself to humans as one thing and orcs as another thing, but still be the same god, just using different faces. Although my games do not get into this that much and it has mot come up in play. May this is a bit like the Star Trek movie with the god at the end of the galaxy, and he kept changing faces.

 

[Chaltab]

"Gods aren’t defined by mortal conceptions of alignment, and different mortal worshipers might interpret a god’s behavior and teachings through the lens of different alignments."

That's a good way to handle it probably. I have a NG worshipper of Gruumsh in my homebrew world who sees his defiance of Gruumsh's commands as an act of worship because he is overcoming Gruumsh, the theoretically mightier will, through his refusal to give in to hatred.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I've also abandoned species-specific gods, but my first point of reconstruction would be getting rid of the Tom / Jerry dynamic that springs up between a number of species gods (Mostly Corellion and Gruumish, but also Gaarl Glittergold in particular) where one god seems to be constantly antagonized and losing to another and its' the fact that they're constantly failing that seems to be what makes them the bad guys.

 

[fuindordm]

• If alignment is just a role-playing aid indicating ethics and tendencies, and gods intervene, then gods should have an objective and observable alignment.
• If alignment is a role-playing aid and gods don't intervene, then their alignment should be subjective (relative to worshipers' interpretation of them)
• If gods are real in the game, and alignment represents being subject to or empowered by cosmic forces, then gods should have an alignment.

On the other hand, if every player's PC concept must be supported and validated, to the point where we can have a LG elf paladin of Gruumsh, who is not really an elf but a goliath in an elf's body... then play D&D5e24.

 

[CleverNickName]

The orcs in my campaign are more like the Klingons from TNG-era Star Trek: a very proud people with a highly-structured society, they value bravery and honor and victory. So as for orc religion in my campaign, I just carried that theme forward.

So without gods, the orc clerics and paladins practice ancestor worship instead. They believe they are all descended from great warriors of legend and they pray to them for their blessings. Ancestors known for winning a great battle might be suited to the War Domain, or perhaps a great-great uncle once undertook a quest of great vengeance against a rival and are now the go-to for an Oath of Vengeance paladin...I leave all that to the player to write up, and then I add their creation to my ever-growing campaign folder.

 

[dave2008]

Citation please? I want to make sure I know exactly what they say before I mark this as another step in D&D's road to perdition.

I posted it in another thread recently:

Home Plane and Alignment​

Gods aren’t defined by mortal conceptions of alignment, and different mortal worshipers might interpret a god’s behavior and teachings through the lens of different alignments. That said, gods tend to live on the Outer Planes that most closely match their general alignment tendencies, so it’s safe to assume that the teachings of a god who resides in Pandemonium (a plane of rampant chaos and evil), encourage behavior that is Chaotic Evil, while a god who resides in Elysium (the plane of pure good) encourages Neutral Good behavior.

EDIT: ninja'd by @Demetrios1453

 

[Tonguez]

Gnomes have one token evil god, Urdlen, who is a ... giant albino bloodlusting mole? Not a major gnomish personality trait that I'm aware of.

I really like Urdlen the Crawler Below with its great iron claws,
Gnomes are a small burrowing race, and IMC they are eusocial and their society is very similar to that of the naked molerat. I like the idea that their greatest fear is a mindless mole creature from below - something that they themselves might devolve into.

Its even better when we remember that Xvarts and Jermlaines are mutant gnomes, so gnomes have direct evidence of such devolution. Other gnome-like creatures exist, so Urdlen inspiring bloodthirsty cults of Redcaps works too.

 

[Stormonu]

The orcs in my campaign are more like the Klingons from TNG-era Star Trek: a very proud people with a highly-structured society, they value bravery and honor and victory. So as for orc religion in my campaign, I just carried that theme forward.

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Not too long ago, I ran a Lawful Good Dragonborn Paladin of Tiamat. He believed that she had been unfairly abducted, tortured and imprisoned in Hell and was on a crusade to drum up draconic support to get her free of her bonds, end her torture and return to her rightful place as Queen and peer to Buhdamit.