Fantasy Religion Design Guide [Archive] - Wizards Community

Fantasy Religion Design Guide [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
indyjoe
02-22-08, 01:32 PM I recently finished writing what I hope is a useful article about designing religions in a fantasy game. It is available here (http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=27) (http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=27) or by going to http://inkwellideas.com/ and looking for the link.

It should be edition/rpg rules neutral (for the most part). It covers relationships between multiple religions in a world, monotheism vs. polytheism (pantheons) vs. atheism, relationships between deities, a deity's area of influence and personality, creating mythic stories to add depth to a religion, tweaking game rules for specific faiths and other ways religion adds color to a campaign.

Constructive criticism is welcome here, in comments on the site or through email/pms. Thanks!
Dan Hemmens
02-22-08, 03:05 PM Some interesting ideas, there's a couple of tricks I think you might be missing though:

Firstly, you seem to discount the idea of religious syncretism. You say that people largely do not believe gods from other pantheons are real or in the case of monotheistic and atheistic religions people do not believe any other gods are real. This is something of an oversimplification. Ancient Rome, for example, was famously syncretic in its religious beliefs, co-opting aspects of the religions of pretty much anybody they met (there was quite a large cult of Isis in Rome, for example). On a less religiously tolerant note, Christianity doesn't deny the *existence* of other "gods" it just declares that all the other gods are (a) inferior and (b) evil. Heck, half the demons named in the bible are the gods of other religions of the region. The presence of Divine Magic in Your Average D&D Setting is yet another reason to believe in the *reality* of your enemy's gods, if not their benevolence.

The other thing you miss, I think, is that for a setting-independent article you seem rather wedded to the D&D "domains" concept. Admittedly this is actually a fairly common assumption to include in fantasy pantheons, but I think it's one which people need to break away from. The idea that a God always has to be the God *of* something is actually a rather reductive one. One poster on another forum wryly observed that "saying Thor was god of Thunder is rather like saying Jesus was God of two bits of wood".
indyjoe
02-24-08, 02:22 PM Thank you for the constructive remarks.

Firstly, you seem to discount the idea of religious syncretism. You say that people largely do not believe gods from other pantheons are real or in the case of monotheistic and atheistic religions people do not believe any other gods are real. This is something of an oversimplification.

Thank you. I've amended my statement to make this point as another option for a culture/religion.

The presence of Divine Magic in Your Average D&D Setting is yet another reason to believe in the *reality* of your enemy's gods, if not their benevolence.

I hope I was getting at that same point in the section starting with "One issue with multiple religions in a fantasy game setting is how can people handle multiple competing religions when priests for each religion can prove the religion’s existence through a simple cure spell?" If you have a suggestion for a specific point I missed there or some change to clarify please let me know.

The other thing you miss, I think, is that for a setting-independent article you seem rather wedded to the D&D "domains" concept. Admittedly this is actually a fairly common assumption to include in fantasy pantheons, but I think it's one which people need to break away from. The idea that a God always has to be the God *of* something is actually a rather reductive one. One poster on another forum wryly observed that "saying Thor was god of Thunder is rather like saying Jesus was God of two bits of wood".

I've amended the beginning of the "Domains" section to point out that in a religion with a pantheon, all gods probably have some level of power over everything. How much so probably depends on the specific religion.
Thanks again!
indyjoe
02-26-08, 11:14 AM There is now a companion article which creates two religions as examples. Here's the link: Fantasy Religion Design Examples (http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=29) or go to http://inkwellideas.com/ and look for the Worldbuilding
articles.

The articles are mostly (if not completely) edition/rpg rules neutral. Topics covered are: relationships between multiple religions in a world, monotheism vs. polytheism pantheons) vs. atheism, relationships between deities, a deity's area of influence and personality, creating mythic stories to add depth to a religion, tweaking game rules for specific faiths and other ways religion adds color to a campaign.

Thanks again!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
indyjoe 02-22-08, 01:32 PM	I recently finished writing what I hope is a useful article about designing religions in a fantasy game. It is available here (http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=27) (http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=27) or by going to http://inkwellideas.com/ and looking for the link. It should be edition/rpg rules neutral (for the most part). It covers relationships between multiple religions in a world, monotheism vs. polytheism (pantheons) vs. atheism, relationships between deities, a deity's area of influence and personality, creating mythic stories to add depth to a religion, tweaking game rules for specific faiths and other ways religion adds color to a campaign. Constructive criticism is welcome here, in comments on the site or through email/pms. Thanks!
Dan Hemmens 02-22-08, 03:05 PM	Some interesting ideas, there's a couple of tricks I think you might be missing though: Firstly, you seem to discount the idea of religious syncretism. You say that people largely do not believe gods from other pantheons are real or in the case of monotheistic and atheistic religions people do not believe any other gods are real. This is something of an oversimplification. Ancient Rome, for example, was famously syncretic in its religious beliefs, co-opting aspects of the religions of pretty much anybody they met (there was quite a large cult of Isis in Rome, for example). On a less religiously tolerant note, Christianity doesn't deny the existence of other "gods" it just declares that all the other gods are (a) inferior and (b) evil. Heck, half the demons named in the bible are the gods of other religions of the region. The presence of Divine Magic in Your Average D&D Setting is yet another reason to believe in the reality of your enemy's gods, if not their benevolence. The other thing you miss, I think, is that for a setting-independent article you seem rather wedded to the D&D "domains" concept. Admittedly this is actually a fairly common assumption to include in fantasy pantheons, but I think it's one which people need to break away from. The idea that a God always has to be the God of something is actually a rather reductive one. One poster on another forum wryly observed that "saying Thor was god of Thunder is rather like saying Jesus was God of two bits of wood".
indyjoe 02-24-08, 02:22 PM	Thank you for the constructive remarks. Firstly, you seem to discount the idea of religious syncretism. You say that people largely do not believe gods from other pantheons are real or in the case of monotheistic and atheistic religions people do not believe any other gods are real. This is something of an oversimplification. Thank you. I've amended my statement to make this point as another option for a culture/religion. The presence of Divine Magic in Your Average D&D Setting is yet another reason to believe in the reality of your enemy's gods, if not their benevolence. I hope I was getting at that same point in the section starting with "One issue with multiple religions in a fantasy game setting is how can people handle multiple competing religions when priests for each religion can prove the religion’s existence through a simple cure spell?" If you have a suggestion for a specific point I missed there or some change to clarify please let me know. The other thing you miss, I think, is that for a setting-independent article you seem rather wedded to the D&D "domains" concept. Admittedly this is actually a fairly common assumption to include in fantasy pantheons, but I think it's one which people need to break away from. The idea that a God always has to be the God of something is actually a rather reductive one. One poster on another forum wryly observed that "saying Thor was god of Thunder is rather like saying Jesus was God of two bits of wood". I've amended the beginning of the "Domains" section to point out that in a religion with a pantheon, all gods probably have some level of power over everything. How much so probably depends on the specific religion. Thanks again!
indyjoe 02-26-08, 11:14 AM	There is now a companion article which creates two religions as examples. Here's the link: Fantasy Religion Design Examples (http://inkwellideas.com/?page_id=29) or go to http://inkwellideas.com/ and look for the Worldbuilding articles. The articles are mostly (if not completely) edition/rpg rules neutral. Topics covered are: relationships between multiple religions in a world, monotheism vs. polytheism pantheons) vs. atheism, relationships between deities, a deity's area of influence and personality, creating mythic stories to add depth to a religion, tweaking game rules for specific faiths and other ways religion adds color to a campaign. Thanks again!