What would you want in a Deities sourcebook?

[dcollins]

Say there was a sourcebook detailing a pantheon of gods for a campaign setting. What elements would help convince you to buy it? (Assume the basics are included, like each deity's description, alignment, domains, and favored weapon.) Pick your favorites below -- a post as well to explain why, or rank your personal favorites, or any elements you don't see here.

You can select more than one poll item -- choose all that you'd like to see.

 

[Nightfall]

Uhm there's not a poll...

And in any case my idea is to take elements from my three favorite books:

Divine and the Defeated (great backstory and stuff on churches!)
Complete Divine (their writes on deities was decent)
Book of the Righteous (best written myths and creation stuff I've seen in a while!)

 

[dontpunkme]

how bout dieties that don't get their asses kicked by things from the epic-level handbook

 

[dcollins]

(Apologies for the lag between when the boards post the thread, and when they post they poll.)

 

[Nightfall]

Sokay DC. I at least posted my feelings. Even if I feel you could use more sources...

 

[trancejeremy]

Topless goddesses of pain (or whatever that was in the D&DG for 1st edition AD&D)

 

[Sejs]

In order of personal preference:

1) LACK of stats for gods. I can't think of a single time I've ever needed to know what a god's grapple mod or fort save is. God stat blocks take up valuable book space that could be used for stuff that would actually see play for 99.n% of games, like details on faiths, organization and other do-dads that make God A's followers different from God B's followers.

2) Other stuff. Faith particular spells (though I kinda think the constant torrent of new domains could stand to stem off a bit), magic items and relics important to different gods and -why- they're important. What kind of servitors attend that god. What a faith's afterlife is like, and some detail of a given gods deitific realm. Information on the faiths their worship, etc. Things like that.

 

[Umbran]

You missed out on one thing I'd prefer to see - a thoughtful and detailed workup not of the deities and powers, but on the priesthoods, their structures, politics and so on. Give me a good look into polytheism and the impact it has on the culture, and so on.

In other words, don't give me a book about deities. Give me a book on religions.

 

[Sejs]

In other words, don't give me a book about deities. Give me a book on religions.

Seconded.

 

[haiiro]

Seconded.

Thirded.

The last thing I want is deity stats -- I find them completely useless. Everything else on the list I can make some use of, and tying it all together with a look at priesthoods and faiths would be the way to go.