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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 05:45:13
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You know, sometimes the accountant in me flares up and I just have to run some numbers . . .
Okay, lets assume that Faerun does indeed have the population that is given in the 3rd edition FRCS, that number being 68 million people, which only takes into account the "civilized" Realms, i.e. people that build cities or towns or have some form of formalized government.
If you take the number of unique gods from Faiths and Avatars, Powers and Pantheons, Demihuman Deities, and Monster Mythology, you get around 225 gods in total.
Now bear with me for a moment. Lets assume that no person in Toril can worship more than one god at a time. I know its not accurate, but just bear with me. Each person gets one "vote."
Now lets do something kooky. Lets assume that there are four times as many gods in Faerun as we currently know about. Lets set the total number of gods to about 900 gods. Heck, 900 is close to a thousand, so lets just jump up to 1000.
Each one of those gods would then have 68 thousand worshipers. That would mean that, essentially, each one of these gods would have a group of worshipers which would fill a city twice the size of Silverymoon. And while gods are certainly better equipped to deal with such things, 68 thousand worshipers praying to the gods for favors, granting spells to the clergy within that population, granting minor boons to nudge your followers one way or the other, picking up a few major interventions that you hope aren't too major that you step on another god's toes seems to be enough to keep even a god's hands busy.
Now, keep in mind, not only is the number of gods inflated, and the fact that many people have multiple patron deities, but also, many of the gods counted among our supposed 1000 include gods worshiped by people not counted in the 68,000,000 population figure. Orcs, goblins, kobolds, giants, dragons, etc. aren't part of that figure, but their gods are counted as part of this figure.
Do I have a point? Well, sometimes I just like to do things like this to put things in perspective.
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 05:59:47
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Oh, one more thing . . . if anyone has their old 1st edition material, I'd be interested to see what "rank" 68,000 worshipers gets a deity. I know its not quite as relevant these days, but again, for perspective, I seem to remember that they actually had a breakdown of how many devoted worshipers it took to be a certain rank of deity.
Thanks all. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4689 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 06:00:58
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I believe that 68 million number was debunked for even "civilised people" based on source material. IIRC it calculated to over 100 million, not counting the others.
OK mood not good, considering what I just read about Drow, but that does not negate world population did not add up to known region population. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 06:02:48
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| I was just assuming the number in the FRCS as a given, for the purposes of this discussion. That having been said, a higher "civilized" number actually underscores the results even more. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4689 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 06:11:16
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Oh, one more thing . . . if anyone has their old 1st edition material, I'd be interested to see what "rank" 68,000 worshipers gets a deity. I know its not quite as relevant these days, but again, for perspective, I seem to remember that they actually had a breakdown of how many devoted worshipers it took to be a certain rank of deity.
Thanks all.
Takes a quick look at what I have.
Deities & Demigods (1980) provides little. General overview is stats should reach 20 or so and devote followers are required. Both needed, that is you could have stats in 30s but no followers so can not become a deity.
The book does not notate with number of followers, however perhaps hit points could be an indication. That is higher the hit points the more followers/worshippers. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
Edited by - Kentinal on 22 Dec 2007 06:14:32 |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 06:12:48
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| Hm . . . mayhap my brain is just malfunctioning . . . I could have sworn in some 1st edition source they provided a rough breakdown of number of followers versus divine rank. Thanks for the information though, and for checking on it. |
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Kentinal
Great Reader
4689 Posts |
Posted - 22 Dec 2007 : 06:17:14
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quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Hm . . . mayhap my brain is just malfunctioning . . . I could have sworn in some 1st edition source they provided a rough breakdown of number of followers versus divine rank. Thanks for the information though, and for checking on it.
Hey there are more source books out there, just took that one as was near to hand. Also I do not have all of them (Gifts freely accepted *wink*) and I am sure there there are millions of followers listed for major deities in souce books, just not this one. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 23 Dec 2007 : 19:31:23
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In any case, I think I get the point of this topic. Of course, the "pantheon pruning" seems to have been done solely for the benefit of players and designers, not for world realism. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Fun With Numbers (Population Figures)
