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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
229 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Aug 2013 : 02:23:47
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There are a lot of them and they play a pivotal role in the Realms. How do you do a good job at incorporating them into your games and making them feel present? Do you open them all up to your players? Do you drop in little events to keep them prevalent? So on and so forth.
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2013 : 07:50:09
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First thing is that I do allow any/all deities and fiends-pretending-to-be-deities that have been described in any D&D book. Monster Mythology, the 1e Deities & Demigods, the cheerful blokes from the Demonomicon of Iggwilv... everybody is invited to the party. That doesn't mean they all show up; Boccob isn't a Realms deity, and Annam doesn't waste much time on human PCs.
But in theory any deity/thing should be available as a patron power for PCs. If I don't allow a particular deity, and there isn't a powerful reason for the ban, players feel artificially limited/handicapped/pigeonholed/railroaded/whatever. But you can't just let a LG dwarf pick Lolth, right. So I let the player provide a reason why the PC should venerate a particular deity or selection of deities. If the reason holds water, then it's on me to incorporate their choice(s) into play.
In addition to the PCs' patron deities, it's important to have active churches dedicated to the deities who are popular in whatever region the PCs are in. Tempus and Torm in any place that has fighting-people, Azuth and Mystra wherever there are mages, and some places like Nimbral have local or national favored powers.
Which reminds me; in my particular campaign the Time of Troubles and the Spellplague didn't happen. The reason, if it matters, is that I didn't feel the need to kill any gods off and killing gods off is the only reason for either of those events to happen. Point is that Leira and Bhaal are in my game too.
Shaundakul (in theory) and Tymora (for sure) should have temples or at least wandering priests in pretty much any town where adventurers go on a regular basis; they're the quintessential "adventurers' gods." Chauntea (rural) and Waukeen (urban) are universal and should have some representation pretty much everywhere.
Finally, a handful of the greater powers should have temples, and they should all have a couple of shrines, in the major cities. In small towns maybe there's an old farmhouse converted into a "temple" of Chauntea or Lathander, but other than that household shrines (most probably consisting of a statue and perhaps an informal and purely decorative altar) would take the place of big expensive temples, which means that PCs wouldn't really see the level of piety in the community on a daily basis.
So for me the priority list is (1) the PCs' patron deities, (2) the local favored gods, (3) the rest of the "greater powers."
As far as making them feel present, I don't think about it very much. Temples are big and noticeable where they exist, and plus PCs seem to often go looking for them, when they trip over curses and traps and get themselves wounded. Every religion has holy days, so I try to have the priests make pompous and obnoxious appearances on the appropriate days.
Temples (and religious folks in general) are also a source of adventure leads which I often overlook, so I'm going to work on that. Priests of Chauntea should be interested in hiring adventurers to ferret out and chase off dangerous predators. Lathander is a goody-two-shoes and his temples and followers are constantly targeted by darker faiths, and it makes sense that they would call on professionals such as the PCs to "put the hurt on" their tormentors... moreso than the masochistic followers of Ilmater anyway.
But yea, I think it boils down to being aware of the PCs' patron powers and what churches are in the local area, plus tracking holy days and just putting a few people in appropriate garb on the streets listening/talking with like-minded locals, offering their blessings to those who are interested, and encouraging all to pay their respects (and a gold piece or five) in their nearby temple.
There's also a lot to be said for tailoring the portrayal of gods, churches, and priests to the preferences of the players. If you have a tableful of atheists you probably want a little more cynicism and sarcasm than you would if your players were all reverent churchgoers.
My 2 coppers.  |
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MisterX
Learned Scribe
Germany
118 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2013 : 14:43:08
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In my Underdark-campaigns (Drow group), the gods of the surface don't play any role, at all. Even gods like Ghaunadaur or Eilistraee, who belong to the Drow Pantheon, didn't show up until now.
In my surface-campaigns, I always placed random shrines of random gods in towns and cities. Additionally, some NPC had not-so-common patron deities and some plots where related to gods the players never heard of. The great variety of gods where something I loved the pre-4E Realms for. One time, I was in an RPG-shop and the shop-owner tried to convince me that 4E was the better game "because: Be honest – which of those ten minor deities did you ever incorporate in your game?" – the look on his face when I dryly answered: "All of them. More than once.". Priceless. ;-)
To the little events: Most of the deities have holy days and there are calendars on the web. Sometimes I described celebrations or other ceremonies in the streets (or whereever) as the PCs walked by. |
I've lost track of recent realmslore, since my campaigns are still in the 1370ies. :-)
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When talking about rules (and related stuff) I always refer to 3.5e unless explicitly noted. |
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The Arcanamach
Master of Realmslore
1885 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2013 : 03:57:01
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| I try to make sure that there are shrines in every village/hamlet/town the PCs come across. Obviously, the local favorites are the priority (Chauntea in a farming village, for instance). I tend to try and incorporate even non-Faerunian deities in my games if I can justify it on any basis (perhaps they are known on another continent). All PCs have to justify their patron gods, especially the priests. |
I have a dream that one day, all game worlds will exist as one. |
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Veritas
Learned Scribe
209 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2013 : 04:44:37
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| I can see Waukeen incorporating into Waukeen, LLC. What goddess of wealth wouldn't want to limit her liability? |
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The Arcanamach
Master of Realmslore
1885 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2013 : 15:50:15
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I would think that Waukeen would be a multinational conglomerate corporation v. an LLC. You know, the Walmart of the Realms ...Realmsmart!  |
I have a dream that one day, all game worlds will exist as one. |
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Veritas
Learned Scribe
209 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2013 : 22:34:50
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| Waukeen's followers do seem similar to shareholders.... |
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Incorporating all of the dieites...
