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Worlds of Design: RPG Gods - Benign or Malign?
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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8729474" data-attributes="member: 22779"><p>Thinking about it a little further, I think I prefer the extremes, rather than the middle, when it comes to the divine in a setting. Either the gods are really far away and don't directly impact anything (meaning that the individual faiths/churches/cults/whatever you want to call them) are the primary way that the impact of the divine is seen on the setting. </p><p></p><p>Or, the gods are right there, everywhere. Small gods, big gods, doesn't matter. You have shrines and religion everywhere. Every pretty pool you might stumble across might have a local god that can influence that area. Larger gods have managed to accumulate enough of a following to spread their influence further. A really Terry Pratchett approach. </p><p></p><p>I think I like either approach because I want faith and religion to be major elements in my campaign. Sort of standard D&D approaches to faith mean that it gets largely ignored. No one cares which temples are where because it's all very far removed from what the players have to deal with. Unless there's a specific reason for it, the players probably couldn't care less that there's a temple of Procan in Saltmarsh. Until they happen to need something like Restoration or a Raise Dead, they just don't care because it has zero impact on what they are doing in the game.</p><p></p><p>But, if you have Small Gods, then the party is routinely interacting with gods. That Nymph/Dryad/random nature spirit is the god of that very small area. That's where the whole Lair Effects thing can really come into play. A regular dryad might not have lair effects, but a Small God Dryad now can do things in that small area - all sorts of miracles, of varying power. Paying a toll at a local shrine when traveling down the road actually has direct impact on your journey. That sort of thing.</p><p></p><p>I find it works much better in the game to have religion actually be far more front and center in the campaign to make it matter to the players.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8729474, member: 22779"] Thinking about it a little further, I think I prefer the extremes, rather than the middle, when it comes to the divine in a setting. Either the gods are really far away and don't directly impact anything (meaning that the individual faiths/churches/cults/whatever you want to call them) are the primary way that the impact of the divine is seen on the setting. Or, the gods are right there, everywhere. Small gods, big gods, doesn't matter. You have shrines and religion everywhere. Every pretty pool you might stumble across might have a local god that can influence that area. Larger gods have managed to accumulate enough of a following to spread their influence further. A really Terry Pratchett approach. I think I like either approach because I want faith and religion to be major elements in my campaign. Sort of standard D&D approaches to faith mean that it gets largely ignored. No one cares which temples are where because it's all very far removed from what the players have to deal with. Unless there's a specific reason for it, the players probably couldn't care less that there's a temple of Procan in Saltmarsh. Until they happen to need something like Restoration or a Raise Dead, they just don't care because it has zero impact on what they are doing in the game. But, if you have Small Gods, then the party is routinely interacting with gods. That Nymph/Dryad/random nature spirit is the god of that very small area. That's where the whole Lair Effects thing can really come into play. A regular dryad might not have lair effects, but a Small God Dryad now can do things in that small area - all sorts of miracles, of varying power. Paying a toll at a local shrine when traveling down the road actually has direct impact on your journey. That sort of thing. I find it works much better in the game to have religion actually be far more front and center in the campaign to make it matter to the players. [/QUOTE]
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