Best Books for Creating a Religion/Pantheon [Archive] - Wizards Community

Best Books for Creating a Religion/Pantheon [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Taddilius
01-28-07, 11:50 PM I am trying to create a pantheon I am looking for good resources/Ideas for creating religions and pantheons.

Questions\Examples of:

How would a <enter alignment here> church be organized? Examples?
What are good titles with in a church?
Ideas for holidays based on domains.
Examples temple architecture.
How does one go about constructing a temple in a DnD world?
Examples of symbols of a church (oil, water, fire etc...)

The WoTC books tend to be heavy on feats and stats but don't have a lot of meat when it comes to crafting a realistic pantheon with associated religions.
Return of the Flumph
01-29-07, 11:33 AM I am trying to create a pantheon I am looking for good resources/Ideas for creating religions and pantheons.

Questions\Examples of:

How would a <enter alignment here> church be organized? Examples?
What are good titles with in a church?
Ideas for holidays based on domains.
Examples temple architecture.
How does one go about constructing a temple in a DnD world?
Examples of symbols of a church (oil, water, fire etc...)

The WoTC books tend to be heavy on feats and stats but don't have a lot of meat when it comes to crafting a realistic pantheon with associated religions.

Describe the culture and feel you are trying to create. Are there any real world pantheons you are basing this off of?
Adrez Nesnsid
01-29-07, 01:50 PM Try the 2E "Complete Priest's [Cleric's] Handbook"
Taddilius
02-01-07, 11:18 PM Describe the culture and feel you are trying to create. Are there any real world pantheons you are basing this off of?

I don't have any real world churchs that I am baseing it on. I took the 4 elements, life, death and then dispersed them amongst the alignments. I then switched offf male/female and then began assigning domains. From that I built a story.

I guess I need to take theology 101, like, every church has a creation story...etc.

I have the following which is a very basic outline. I then began to color churchs depending on the PCs involvment.

Life (female) – Alentara
o Neutral Good
o Domain(s) Life, Healing, Good, Animal, Plant

Death (Male) – Pel'Mar
o Lawful Evil
o Domain(s) Death, Evil, Law

Sun (Female)- Zan
o Domain(s) Good, Law, Fire, Sun, Protection
o Lawful Good

Moon (Male) Zal
o Chaotic Evil (Phases of the moon, eclipses.)
o Patron of Spies/Thieves/Assasins
o Domain(s), Chaos, Evil, Destruction, Trickery

Sea (Female) Anistasia-
o Domain(s)Chaos, water, good, Luck, Travel
o Chaotic Good.

Storms (Male) Bar'loon-
o Domain(s) Air, Chaos, Luck
o Chaotic neutral

Earth – (Female) York
o Neutral
o Domain(s) Earth, Strength, Travel

Lesser God the God of Justice (Three)Tyn-Ray Male
o Domain(s) Good, Law, War, Strength
o Lawful Neutral(Good)

Magic – (Male) Orcus
o Chaotic Neutral
o Domain(s) Chaos, Magic, Knowledge

Lesser God the God of Knowledge Abradeen female
o Lawful Neutral
o Domain(s) Law, Knowledge

I have begun defining church structure based on Law/Chaos. So,
Chaotic
Chaotic organizations have a hierarchy dependent on each location. No temple is the same.

Neutral
A Neutral organization would have a hierarchy defined by all members of the group. The ranks would be filled based upon a time frame.
Lawful

A definite hierarchy defined by time in position and elevation by an agreement by superiors. New ranks will be filled upon death. The hierarchy would be church spanning and controlled by a head. Each temple would be run in a very similar manner with precise processes and procedures for running the church (think franchise restaurant.)
ElyasRavenwood
02-24-07, 12:32 PM A few years ago I took the time with a friend of mine to build a D and D world. My friend was professional editor so he was a great resource to use as a sounding board. He helped with his own ideas as well as helped me to build a cohesive whole.
I found a sourcebook called Book of the Righteous published by Green Ronin. It was very useful for pantheon building. I also stole liberally from the material provided in the book to furnish my home brewed game world.
In particular I liked the format in which they presented their pantheon.

They first had a creation mythology. This was followed by a conflict and a fall from grace.

They presented the gods as follows
First they had a myth a story about the god. It was usually a page or two in length.
Next they described what the god or goddess was associated with, In terms of ideals life death war, an element etc. In this section of associations they also mention which animals both mundane and mystical are usually associated with a particular deity and they talk about who tends to be the most fervent worshipers and why.
After that they talk about the alignment of the deity. This would often have two alignments I. E. Lawful good and Lawful Neutral. These alignments would cover different aspects of the god, different philosophies etc.
Next they went into Representations. They talked about how the deity was represented in art, what the deity’s symbols are. They also explain how a deity of the forge for example would be represented as an elf to the elves a human to the humans and a dwarf to the dwarves.
Next they go into the Purpose of the god. What does he represent, what are the gods goals, how does the god fit into the scheme of things etc.
They also go into the Servants of the god. Is it a genie a celestial a lamasu etc?

Next they cover the god’s church.
They describe the structure of the church
They describe the church’s doctrine
The describe differing interpretations of various sects within the church
Finally they list a prayer that the followers commonly use to pray to the god.

Another interesting thing they had in the book were churches dedicated to particular gods and another church referred to as the “great church” which was pantheistic. It was dedicated to the entire pantheon equally.

I liked the template, it gave me the questions to ask, to structure a pantheon and faiths.

I much prefer creating a pantheon that serves the needs of the imaginary quasi-feudal fantasy setting I am creating. I am not a fan of a pantheon set up with adventurers in mind.
I guess I prefer fluff over crunch

I don’t think that deities need divine rank, nor do they need statistics. I think this reduces the god to a big monster with gaming stats.

Those are my two cents. I hope it helps.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Taddilius 01-28-07, 11:50 PM	I am trying to create a pantheon I am looking for good resources/Ideas for creating religions and pantheons. Questions\Examples of: How would a <enter alignment here> church be organized? Examples? What are good titles with in a church? Ideas for holidays based on domains. Examples temple architecture. How does one go about constructing a temple in a DnD world? Examples of symbols of a church (oil, water, fire etc...) The WoTC books tend to be heavy on feats and stats but don't have a lot of meat when it comes to crafting a realistic pantheon with associated religions.
Return of the Flumph 01-29-07, 11:33 AM	I am trying to create a pantheon I am looking for good resources/Ideas for creating religions and pantheons. Questions\Examples of: How would a <enter alignment here> church be organized? Examples? What are good titles with in a church? Ideas for holidays based on domains. Examples temple architecture. How does one go about constructing a temple in a DnD world? Examples of symbols of a church (oil, water, fire etc...) The WoTC books tend to be heavy on feats and stats but don't have a lot of meat when it comes to crafting a realistic pantheon with associated religions. Describe the culture and feel you are trying to create. Are there any real world pantheons you are basing this off of?
Adrez Nesnsid 01-29-07, 01:50 PM	Try the 2E "Complete Priest's [Cleric's] Handbook"
Taddilius 02-01-07, 11:18 PM	Describe the culture and feel you are trying to create. Are there any real world pantheons you are basing this off of? I don't have any real world churchs that I am baseing it on. I took the 4 elements, life, death and then dispersed them amongst the alignments. I then switched offf male/female and then began assigning domains. From that I built a story. I guess I need to take theology 101, like, every church has a creation story...etc. I have the following which is a very basic outline. I then began to color churchs depending on the PCs involvment. Life (female) – Alentara o Neutral Good o Domain(s) Life, Healing, Good, Animal, Plant Death (Male) – Pel'Mar o Lawful Evil o Domain(s) Death, Evil, Law Sun (Female)- Zan o Domain(s) Good, Law, Fire, Sun, Protection o Lawful Good Moon (Male) Zal o Chaotic Evil (Phases of the moon, eclipses.) o Patron of Spies/Thieves/Assasins o Domain(s), Chaos, Evil, Destruction, Trickery Sea (Female) Anistasia- o Domain(s)Chaos, water, good, Luck, Travel o Chaotic Good. Storms (Male) Bar'loon- o Domain(s) Air, Chaos, Luck o Chaotic neutral Earth – (Female) York o Neutral o Domain(s) Earth, Strength, Travel Lesser God the God of Justice (Three)Tyn-Ray Male o Domain(s) Good, Law, War, Strength o Lawful Neutral(Good) Magic – (Male) Orcus o Chaotic Neutral o Domain(s) Chaos, Magic, Knowledge Lesser God the God of Knowledge Abradeen female o Lawful Neutral o Domain(s) Law, Knowledge I have begun defining church structure based on Law/Chaos. So, Chaotic Chaotic organizations have a hierarchy dependent on each location. No temple is the same. Neutral A Neutral organization would have a hierarchy defined by all members of the group. The ranks would be filled based upon a time frame. Lawful A definite hierarchy defined by time in position and elevation by an agreement by superiors. New ranks will be filled upon death. The hierarchy would be church spanning and controlled by a head. Each temple would be run in a very similar manner with precise processes and procedures for running the church (think franchise restaurant.)
ElyasRavenwood 02-24-07, 12:32 PM	A few years ago I took the time with a friend of mine to build a D and D world. My friend was professional editor so he was a great resource to use as a sounding board. He helped with his own ideas as well as helped me to build a cohesive whole. I found a sourcebook called Book of the Righteous published by Green Ronin. It was very useful for pantheon building. I also stole liberally from the material provided in the book to furnish my home brewed game world. In particular I liked the format in which they presented their pantheon. They first had a creation mythology. This was followed by a conflict and a fall from grace. They presented the gods as follows First they had a myth a story about the god. It was usually a page or two in length. Next they described what the god or goddess was associated with, In terms of ideals life death war, an element etc. In this section of associations they also mention which animals both mundane and mystical are usually associated with a particular deity and they talk about who tends to be the most fervent worshipers and why. After that they talk about the alignment of the deity. This would often have two alignments I. E. Lawful good and Lawful Neutral. These alignments would cover different aspects of the god, different philosophies etc. Next they went into Representations. They talked about how the deity was represented in art, what the deity’s symbols are. They also explain how a deity of the forge for example would be represented as an elf to the elves a human to the humans and a dwarf to the dwarves. Next they go into the Purpose of the god. What does he represent, what are the gods goals, how does the god fit into the scheme of things etc. They also go into the Servants of the god. Is it a genie a celestial a lamasu etc? Next they cover the god’s church. They describe the structure of the church They describe the church’s doctrine The describe differing interpretations of various sects within the church Finally they list a prayer that the followers commonly use to pray to the god. Another interesting thing they had in the book were churches dedicated to particular gods and another church referred to as the “great church” which was pantheistic. It was dedicated to the entire pantheon equally. I liked the template, it gave me the questions to ask, to structure a pantheon and faiths. I much prefer creating a pantheon that serves the needs of the imaginary quasi-feudal fantasy setting I am creating. I am not a fan of a pantheon set up with adventurers in mind. I guess I prefer fluff over crunch I don’t think that deities need divine rank, nor do they need statistics. I think this reduces the god to a big monster with gaming stats. Those are my two cents. I hope it helps.