Why do the gods answer clerics in D&D? Pride or balance?

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Theory: Gods draw power from their worshippers. The more and more devout their worshippers, the more powerful the god. So by rewarding the most devout with favors/spells/l33t powrz, they encourage worship, and encourage their clerics to pass the word to gain other worshippers ...

It's a divine pyramid scheme, really. But since a god who loses all worshippers dies or goes dormant, it is also necessary for survival.

 

[Nightfall]

Story,

That or they're just incredible bored.

 

[Celebrim]

Wouldn't the answer to this depend on the personality of the particular god in question?

There are I think at least two plausible universal answers though.

a) Gods get as much or more out of being worshiped than they give in return, and hense by granting requests they are encouraging thier own worship and whatever benefit they derive from it.

b) Gods don't need to be worshiped, but they share the desire of manipulating events in the moral world, and something prevents them from doing so except where they are requested to do so. Thus, encouraging the development of clerics which share thier goals allows them to indirectly achieve thier goals.

Or perhaps some combination of both.

As for the emotional need, it would depend on the deity. For some 'pride' is a reasonable answer, for others 'boredom', and for others perhaps the answer is closer to 'compassion'.

 

[Storyteller01]

Nightfall,

If the gods survival wasn't so tied to their worshippers (wasn't that started in FR, as a divine punishment??), I'd say that. It definitely makes sense with the Greek/Roman gods .

 

[shilsen]

Playability.

Good point. Of course, there's an additional fun option in Eberron, where clerics get spells and what they presume are answers from their gods, but there's no real evidence that it is actually their gods answering.

 

[Storyteller01]

Wouldn't the answer to this depend on the personality of the particular god in question?

As for the emotional need, it would depend on the deity. For some 'pride' is a reasonable answer, for others 'boredom', and for others perhaps the answer is closer to 'compassion'.

Compassion denotes empathy, something a fair percentage of the D&D pantheons seem to be lacking. While some D&D gods are truely compassionate, most do what they do because of who they are (they don't represent magic, they ARE magic, etc etc). Be it pride or enlightened self-interest, their usually in it for their own gain.

 

[Roman]

The answer is completely campaign-specific.

 

[Shemeska]

Theory: Gods draw power from their worshippers. The more and more devout their worshippers, the more powerful the god. So by rewarding the most devout with favors/spells/l33t powrz, they encourage worship, and encourage their clerics to pass the word to gain other worshippers ...

That's half of it. They promote themselves and empower those spreading their worship as a matter of gaining more power, and to ensure their own survival.

The other side is less cynical, but just as true: gods hold to certain notions, creeds, and portfolios that they desire to spread.

Gods empower their clerics not just for their own gain, but also to promote those elements of their portfolio. A god of agriculture will empower their clerics to ensure a good harvest, a deity of plagues will have their followers spread disease (and while yes this seems counterintuitive to getting worshippers, people will worship you out of fear, and even good people will offer prayers to ward you away, propitiating you which empowers you all the same as much as the pustulant leper calling herself your priestess).

 

[Nightfall]

Story,

Well I wasn't saying ALL D&D gods but maybe some.

 

[LostSoul]

It's hard to channel divine power, so you have to be wise (have a Wisdom score high enough to cast spells) and learn how to do it.

Just what "learning how to do it" means is pretty campaign- and god-specific. It could be learning the prayers and how to say them right, or gaining piety, or whatever. Though I don't know why killing orcs would make you more pious, but hey, I decided a long time ago not to think too much about it.