what is the best way to implement deities exist in the world.

[brewedenhell]

Hi I'm new here, and I'm running my first game of D&D using 3.0 rules.

I was just wondering what is the best way to implement deities exist in the world. I have one Cleric of Obad-Hai and a Paladin of Heironeous playing. It is a city adventure.

Any help will be much appreciated.

Brewedenhell

 

[Voadam]

Have temples and npcs associated with the churches so that these players can interact with their religious networks.

It is usually best to have deities in the background without direct divine intervention but have religious organizations be political forces the PCs interact with.

Clerics and paladins are dedicated champions of their gods, so give them a little background information about their gods' ethos and let them run with it. Also note this generally does not give them any special legal powers in a city.

As the characters wander around the city have them see shrines to various deities and possibly major churches or festivals/holidays dedicated to other gods.

Religious issues can be as much onstage or background as you want and it should work fine. You can even ignore them for the most part and there is plenty of interesting stuff in a fantasy city to keep a group interested.

 

[brewedenhell]

Thanks

 

[Buttercup]

Also, you can have the church hierarchies of various deities be friendly--or unfriendly--rivals. Perhaps they are competing for followers, perhaps for political power. Maybe they both want to sponsor the finest art works. Maybe the deities behind the churches dislike each other.

Then too, you can always have fun with the odd evil deity. Clerics of chaotic or violent gods make really good villains for a good aligned party.

 

[William Ronald]

Church hierarchies are one way to implement religion. Additionally, sacred places probably exist for most religions -- a shrine, or othre religious site.

Also, most faiths have a body of literature or stories related to them. You might want to find some real world quotes that symbolize views of the different faiths and attribute them to various books or individuals. This way, the PCs might hear of a few sayings that symbolize their faith. It also adds a sense of richness and reality to fantasy faiths.

 

[alsih2o]

don't forget that the party emmbers can go to the church for help, but most churches want a tithe, and adventurers are (were? ) rich!

 

[William Ronald]

It might also be a good idea to create some NPCs who can be mentors for the PCs. Most of us have someone to turn to for good advice. Such NPCs can help to give a character ties to his community and something to care about besides wealth and combat.

 

[frankthedm]

Sometimes a coincidence will work well. Like an npc who recently crushed a stray kitten underfoot, disapears while out logging. He is found a few days later in the woods, mauled to death, apparently by a mountain lion.