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General Tabletop Discussion
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Worldbuilding Assumptions: The Nature of Gods
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<blockquote data-quote="Pedantic" data-source="post: 9185612" data-attributes="member: 6690965"><p>I've been playing around with a mystery cult take on divinity in my latest campaign setting. Gods rule various domains in the realm of the dead, and it is a known, true observable thing that some part of each sentient being goes there when they die to live out some kind of eternal existence. It is less established or consistent where precisely you go, and you might have feelings about being a bird in the court of the Peacock Empress instead of a getting chewed forever by the Infinite Maw. Cults will teach you the rites to die properly, and how to handle the assorted psychopomps that will deliver you to various places. More gnostic "know the correct spells so the crossroads warden will show you the true path to the golden fields" less, "believe the right things and be a good person to get into heaven."</p><p></p><p>Clerics in the setting are people who have died, communed with a god, and arranged to go back with a fraction of their power and whatever task they want done or dogma they want spread in the mortal world. Kind of like warlocks who have made one big deal with a big risky upfront cost (you can't be sure any given god will send you back, and you might not even be certain you've died the correct way to meet whoever you're trying to talk to in the first place), and religions are all insular, secretive organizations that know a lot about some specific part of the underworld.</p><p></p><p>It's a bit more limiting, in that there is no god of the sea or harvests who watches over or intercedes on such things, but also avoids the weird pantheon problems you get a lot in D&D.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pedantic, post: 9185612, member: 6690965"] I've been playing around with a mystery cult take on divinity in my latest campaign setting. Gods rule various domains in the realm of the dead, and it is a known, true observable thing that some part of each sentient being goes there when they die to live out some kind of eternal existence. It is less established or consistent where precisely you go, and you might have feelings about being a bird in the court of the Peacock Empress instead of a getting chewed forever by the Infinite Maw. Cults will teach you the rites to die properly, and how to handle the assorted psychopomps that will deliver you to various places. More gnostic "know the correct spells so the crossroads warden will show you the true path to the golden fields" less, "believe the right things and be a good person to get into heaven." Clerics in the setting are people who have died, communed with a god, and arranged to go back with a fraction of their power and whatever task they want done or dogma they want spread in the mortal world. Kind of like warlocks who have made one big deal with a big risky upfront cost (you can't be sure any given god will send you back, and you might not even be certain you've died the correct way to meet whoever you're trying to talk to in the first place), and religions are all insular, secretive organizations that know a lot about some specific part of the underworld. It's a bit more limiting, in that there is no god of the sea or harvests who watches over or intercedes on such things, but also avoids the weird pantheon problems you get a lot in D&D. [/QUOTE]
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