Discord
Changelog
10-27-2009, 04:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-05-2022, 12:21 PM by Bertram Anders.)
Religion is a big thing in Faerun, one of my favorite aspects of the Forgotten Realm setting to be honest. It is rare you encounter a fantasy world with such rich religious background material. Religion offers a rich font of roleplaying possibilities, for Holy, Unholy and Secular characters.
The reason for this thread is that I wish to see more of the religion that Faerun is so filled to the brim with being used on the server by characters to enrich their backgrounds as well as their personalities.
The first step on this road is to remember that it is not only Divine casters who might be devout individuals. It is fully possible to be a faithful Lathanderite without being a Paladin or Cleric of Lathander, for once. The Divine casters are just the only individuals who are REQUIRED to be devout. Realize also that class is not a restriction, a Wizard might be just as or even sometimes more devoted than a Cleric. Same with a Fighter or Monk.
The second step is realizing that Faerun is a polytheistic setting. Polytheistic means roughly "more-gods" which means that in general, people worship not single gods but rather a group of gods, most all of them at one point or another. This is in contrast to the view people usually have of Faerun as being a pantheistic setting, which means that in general, people know other gods exist, but worship only one of those as "their" god. For most common people of the Forgotten Realms, the gods are ALL to be shown respect, only a fool thinks otherwise.
Every person has one patron deity, but that is hardly the only one they pray to. It is simply the one to whom they feel most attached and whom are promised their souls when they die. A Lawful Good king might have Tyr as his patron as he is most near his heart. But he would still pray to Lawful Good Ilmater when he is sick or even Chaotic Evil Cyric when he wishes to ward him off. Including a deity is usually done to soothe that deities anger or draw his favor, while excluding a deity, even one of the opposite alignment, is like playing with fire. People simply do pray to Chaotic Evil Umberlee when setting sails for fear of drowning, anyone who does not tempts fate.
The third step is information, it is this step that I can help with the most. A good place to find most information regarding deities in Faerun in the age and time that Thay PW takes place is this lovely site (http://www.nj-pbem[.]com/data/Gods/Gods.htm)(//This link is broken. -Bertram), click the pantheon you wish to read on for more information, its full of it. I will also start a new thread named "Religion in Faerun Q&A" in The Tavern shortly hereafter (http://thaypw.com/showthread.php?tid=403). Go there to ask any question you might have left after perusing these links, I will answer with frequency.
- Edin
The reason for this thread is that I wish to see more of the religion that Faerun is so filled to the brim with being used on the server by characters to enrich their backgrounds as well as their personalities.
The first step on this road is to remember that it is not only Divine casters who might be devout individuals. It is fully possible to be a faithful Lathanderite without being a Paladin or Cleric of Lathander, for once. The Divine casters are just the only individuals who are REQUIRED to be devout. Realize also that class is not a restriction, a Wizard might be just as or even sometimes more devoted than a Cleric. Same with a Fighter or Monk.
The second step is realizing that Faerun is a polytheistic setting. Polytheistic means roughly "more-gods" which means that in general, people worship not single gods but rather a group of gods, most all of them at one point or another. This is in contrast to the view people usually have of Faerun as being a pantheistic setting, which means that in general, people know other gods exist, but worship only one of those as "their" god. For most common people of the Forgotten Realms, the gods are ALL to be shown respect, only a fool thinks otherwise.
Every person has one patron deity, but that is hardly the only one they pray to. It is simply the one to whom they feel most attached and whom are promised their souls when they die. A Lawful Good king might have Tyr as his patron as he is most near his heart. But he would still pray to Lawful Good Ilmater when he is sick or even Chaotic Evil Cyric when he wishes to ward him off. Including a deity is usually done to soothe that deities anger or draw his favor, while excluding a deity, even one of the opposite alignment, is like playing with fire. People simply do pray to Chaotic Evil Umberlee when setting sails for fear of drowning, anyone who does not tempts fate.
The third step is information, it is this step that I can help with the most. A good place to find most information regarding deities in Faerun in the age and time that Thay PW takes place is this lovely site (http://www.nj-pbem[.]com/data/Gods/Gods.htm)(//This link is broken. -Bertram), click the pantheon you wish to read on for more information, its full of it. I will also start a new thread named "Religion in Faerun Q&A" in The Tavern shortly hereafter (http://thaypw.com/showthread.php?tid=403). Go there to ask any question you might have left after perusing these links, I will answer with frequency.
- Edin
"We are convinced that liberty without socialism is privilege, injustice; and that socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality."
- Mikhail Bakunin, September 1867
- Mikhail Bakunin, September 1867