D&D General what would a standard human pantheon look like?

[Afton Radav]

I've theorized that having many gods can lead to confused and disheartened masses (for several reasons, including over-reliance and loss of self determination). Similar to the ideas mentioned above, I’ve used a tight 5-god humanocentric pantheon given a midieval-ish population (strong church influence) where the effects of divinity are proven and very tangible.

I based the pantheon on the examples done by McMaster Bujold, the "no evil gods" thread, and the Angry GM. All good sources!

Titles	Goals	Means	Portfolio/aspects
The light bringer, the law giver	perfection through knowledge	determinism, justice	Law, justice, sun, sky, truth, cities, civilization/civics, peace, reason, serenity, nobility, obedience
The comforter, the wild	harmony through acceptance	compassion, tradition	Nature, seasons, death and new growth, earth, agriculture, family, fertility, fate, afterlife
The valiant, the soldier	peace through order	benevolence, safety	Honor, dignity, protection, battle, war, crusading, hunting, strength, comradery
The maker, the artist	freedom through action	freedom, progress	Crafting, creation, tools, discovery, technology, education, arts, beauty, individuality, inspiration
The enchanter, the faceless	satisfaction through autonomy	pragmatism, free will	Luck, trickery, secrets/mysteries, outcasts, shapeshifting, influence, humor, charm, revelry, insanity (as true nature)

All other non-mortal beings are fiends, angels, elementals, fey, titans, celestrials, saints, demi-gods, proteans, inevitables, psychopomps, paragons, ascended, heroes, patrons, etc.

Towns and cities will usually have at least one temple honoring the 5. Many chapter houses also exist, focused on a favored god's mission (E.g., crafting, battle training, arts, legal services, medicine, brewing, librarians).

A central Leader of the whole church is appointed every 5 years, rotating among the heads of the orders. (25 years is a cycle, called a "generation").

Conflicts within the goals and mission of the church include:

• Justice vs. Compassion
• Tradition vs. Progress
• Freedom/Individualism vs. Safety/Codependancy
• Benevolent Idealism vs. Pragmatism
• Determinism vs. Free Will

 

[J.Quondam]

people seem to be mixing up me wanting to make a pantheon for me, versus my goal of what would a default human pantheon look like, what refects us?

I think the point that some of us are making is just that a "default human pantheon" would look like a human pantheon that already historically exists in real world mythology. Such pantheons do reflect humanity because they were created by real humanity.

 

[Remathilis]

people seem to be mixing up me wanting to make a pantheon for me, versus my goal of what would a default human pantheon look like, what refects us?

I think it might be an interesting take is that the human pantheons would focus on how humans make or use things. For example, there is no God of the "sun" , but there is a god of time. There is no God of nature, but a god of agriculture and animal husbandry. No God of death, but a god of burial and mourning. And so on.

 

[BookTenTiger]

people seem to be mixing up me wanting to make a pantheon for me, versus my goal of what would a default human pantheon look like, what refects us?

A default human pantheon would be based on things humans cannot control. As we try to figure out why and how the world works, we create supernatural forces to explain mysteries.

Weather, diseases, birth, animals, tides, emotions... These are all things that are difficult for humans to explain, so we come up with the idea of other, more powerful and mysterious humans who are responsible for them.

So a "default human pantheon" would have gods that control or cause the mysteries of the natural world and inner human experience.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I think the point that some of us are making is just that a "default human pantheon" would look like a human pantheon that already historically exists in real world mythology. Such pantheons do reflect humanity because they were created by real humanity.

the point is not to just use one as the one true option and more make one that reflects us more broadly with only interesting gods

 

[J.Quondam]

the point is not to just use one as the one true option and more make one that reflects us more broadly with only interesting gods

Right. That's why I suggested a mix-n-match approach, with modifications to the myths. But clearly that's not an approach that inspires you, and that's cool. Good luck!

 

[Baron Opal II]

The earliest gods that we know of (last time I checked) tend towards

Sky Father
Earth Mother
Queen of Hell
Ferryman of the Dead
Sea Dragon

Honorable mentions go to

Fiery Messenger
Sea Traveler
Wild Huntsman
Mother of Grains

Those seem to be the predominate themes.

 

[Baron Opal II]

Interestingly, the Ferryman may be older than the Queen of Hell. Indeed, he (and it's always* male) may be in the top three oldest, along with the female Earth Mother. The third of the oldest is up for some debate. There are those that say it is the Sky Father, but also a contingent that says it is a Wild Hunter / Earth Mother pairing to explain growth, life and fecundity with the Ferryman taking away the dead to some place mysterious.

* "Always" in the sense of if you look hard enough you might find a female one, but more likely genderless. An "Orlanthi" always, if you will.

 

[Baron Opal II]

Similar to the ideas mentioned above, I’ve used a tight 5-god humanocentric pantheon given a midieval-ish population (strong church influence) where the effects of divinity are proven and very tangible.

I based the pantheon on the examples done by McMaster Bujold, the "no evil gods" thread, and the Angry GM. All good sources!

I have to say that the World of Five Gods stories by Bujold are the best depictions of "approachable" deities I've come across in fiction. For me, too, they are my touchstone when designing a pantheon.

 

[Azzy]

you know how everyone but humans have a basic generic pantheon, what if humans had one?
what would it look like?

Like any of the historical polytheistic religions, probably.

what would a setting-neutral pantheon of human gods be?
and more importantly, who would they be shameless rip-offs of?

I'd personally take inspiration from the earliest human religions, like that of Sumer, Egypt, etc. Another choice would be using the reconstructed Indo-European pantheon as a template (unfortunately, I'm not familiar with any other prehistorical religion reconstructions or I'd add them).