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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Levistus's_Leviathan" data-source="post: 9309122" data-attributes="member: 7023887">(I'm not trying to tell you that you're wrong, just share my stance on this issue and why I feel this way.)In my opinion and experience, the religions and characters that come from settings where gods are both proven to exist and fairly active in the world are much less interesting and inventive in settings where they're either less present or not proven to exist (Eberron). Especially in settings like the Forgotten Realms where there are hundreds of boring gods and not worshipping them is punished in-world (Wall of the Faithless, Ahriman eating their souls). Of course interesting religions can exist in settings where the gods are proven to be real (the various religions of the Elder Scrolls and the Cosmere's religions come to mind), but D&D settings tend to not do this well. Most D&D religions are weirdly monotheistic/henotheistic in that they specially venerate a single god and basically ignore all the other gods, even if they acknowledge their existence. Henotheism cannot be a primitive form of monotheism in D&D settings like the Forgotten Realms, so it's weird that the vast majority of D&D religions are henotheistic. Religion in the Forgotten Realms and similar settings would be much more interesting if it was more accurate to polytheism from the real world.There is a weird lack of transtheistic, nontheistic, and gnostic religions in D&D worlds. What's more interesting, the religion of murder that wants to murder everyone (Church of Bhaal) or a religion that refuses to worship the gods in search of some greater enlightenment (Blood of Vol)? In D&D there are dozens of apocalypse cults that want to cause the end of the world, and very few religions that do sacrifices in order to avoid the wrath of their gods (which are much more common throughout history).Interesting religions can exist in D&D settings where the gods are proven to exist, but they don't (for the most part). Interesting religions are much more common and easier to make in D&D settings where they're not proven to exist.Tangent: Settings with smaller pantheons (Theros, Nerath/Exandria) are, IMO, better than settings with endless gods like the Forgotten Realms. In my homebrew settings I try to keep the pantheon between 10 and 20 gods so it's easier to keep track of them.</blockquote>

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