monotheism in C&C

[Arduin]

Runng a game where you do not railroad is not story telling.
Nyarlathotep5150 you described a railroad. That is not typical D&D unless you count most 3e/4e modules as typical.

Bingo.

[ArgoForg]

In my campaign world, there is a monotheistic worship of the god Phelar that has spread over much of the southern regions of the western hemisphere. Most of the rest of the world is polytheistic.

Gamewise, the polytheistic priests tend to specialize-- a priest of the goddess of Love and Healing has bonuses to their curative spells, while a priest of the god of the sun will have greater effectiveness turning undead, but they may not have access to certain priestly spells-- sorta like the 2E Spheres. The priests of Phelar are more well-rounded and can access any spell.

Priests of Phelar often teach that each of the other gods in the world's other pantheons are merely lesser aspects or facets of whole of Phelar, and see it as their purpose to lead the uninformed masses to the light and understanding of Phelar. That leads to some friction, naturally, between the more zealous Phelarians and the polytheistic types when they come into contact, often ending in heavily armed missionary excursions, lots of chest-thumping, and a good-natured heathen burning or two.

I don't know that it answers your question, but I definitely use a monotheistic approach-- but I don't think I could bring myself to completely strip the polytheism out. It's too ingrained into the genre for me.

[Andred of Albans]

deleted by author - double post

[Andred of Albans]

the Maker seems to be a distant Deity. Though powerful and Good this Deity dos not keep a hands on approach like most D&D Gods. A Cleric is granted powers(spells) for service but has no governing celestial body overseeing his actions.

This means that the LG deities priests can become corrupt and selfish if not downright evil and still receive spells and benefits... Giving them the same freedoms to be selfish,greedy ect was a new way of thinking about clerics for me,at least.

This is pretty much the approach of official Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus is too busy running the universe for G-d so he grants certain powers to his priests simply because they are priests ordained by the church. The pope has the full authority to speak for Jesus on earth (that's what being "the Vicar of Christ" means) and his words carry divine authority - if the priest or pope in question is a moral reprobate, this changes nothing since the powers aren't really his own and are not a function of his "works" but rather the outright, irrevocable gift of Jesus, and by extension, G-d. You, therefore have good precedent for this

In my campaign world, there is a monotheistic worship of the god Phelar that has spread over much of the southern regions of the western hemisphere. Most of the rest of the world is polytheistic.

A situation similar to our real world until about 500 years ago. Monotheism of one degree or another really only existed in the West. It wasn't until European traders and missionaries arrived in India, China, and Japan that monotheism became the dominant religious paradigm. Even today, while it is the majority opinion, it is far from universal.

Priests of Phelar often teach that each of the other gods in the world's other pantheons are merely lesser aspects or facets of whole of Phelar, and see it as their purpose to lead the uninformed masses to the light and understanding of Phelar.

Similar "explanations" of polytheism have been advanced by Jewish and Christian scholars over the years. As well as the ever-popular "you are just wrong, my god hates you and so do I"

I don't think I could bring myself to completely strip the polytheism out. It's too ingrained into the genre for me.

I hear you, I used to feel the same way but once I rolled over to a monotheist campaign with competing religions I have found it plays much smother with less moral angst.

[ArgoForg]

Priests of Phelar often teach that each of the other gods in the world's other pantheons are merely lesser aspects or facets of whole of Phelar, and see it as their purpose to lead the uninformed masses to the light and understanding of Phelar.

Similar "explanations" of polytheism have been advanced by Jewish and Christian scholars over the years. As well as the ever-popular "you are just wrong, my god hates you and so do I"

As a "12 years of parochial school" former Catholic (it's been a long while since I've set foot in a church), I would have to say that similarity was more or less intentional.

Now, I will admit that I don't know if this is the 'angst' you referred to, but I actually rather like the moral ambiguity of both sides fighting-- mono a poly, as it were. (Grooooaan. )-- for what they fervently believe to be 'right', having the other as an obstacle that must be overcome for their 'side' to win. It's not necessarily good vs. evil (although there are certainly both ends of the spectrum on both sides, which makes sense-- not every 'heretic' was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, and not every priest and pope was a Torquemada) but it provides a lot of great conflict.

And who doesn't like a good nonbeliever burning, anyway?* Especially during the winter months! Bring the hot dogs and marshmallows!


* - well, besides the unbelievers, I mean. They're usually not quite so thrilled.

[GameTroll]

yea but i love all the different gods it brings so much to the table example, me my friend ron and his brother kyle were all playing a game of c&c at gameogre's house and ron's character was a cleric of .....well i cant really remember what his good was his character died not long after but it was an evil god anyway we were in a dungeon and we found an altar to st.cuthbert and there was a bible there with some extra stuff written in it by the priest we had just killed about the dungeon we where currently in and we always gave all the party loot to the cleric so we gave him the book and went on doing our thing and later we came across something that referenced the book so we asked the cleric for the book. To which he explained he had burned and destroyed all knowledge in the book to bring favor upon his self from his god one. for burning a book of st.cuthbert and two. giving up the knowledge we would need latter. granted we were pretty pissed at the time and we all died because of it but i think i made a pretty good example

[Dead Horse]

Just because you run a 1 or 2 deity campaign doesnt mean you cant use the other deities.

Just declare them as false gods. The major religons will seek to stamp out thier worshipers and eventualy destroy the false gods.
This allows the gods book to be an extended (very high level) monster book.
Limit the powers the gods can provide also. like only 1-3rd level spells.

[Andred of Albans]

As a "12 years of parochial school" former Catholic (it's been a long while since I've set foot in a church), I would have to say that similarity was more or less intentional.

Well, it's okay - as an old Yeshiva Bochur I feel your pain

I actually rather like the moral ambiguity of both sides fighting-- mono a poly, as it were. (Grooooaan. )--

I see you are an incorrigible punster - I will not encourage you

It's not necessarily good vs. evil (although there are certainly both ends of the spectrum on both sides, which makes sense-- not every 'heretic' was completely innocent of any wrongdoing, and not every priest and pope was a Torquemada) but it provides a lot of great conflict.

True enough, but as a GM you have to understand how your game universe works even if the players never figure it all out. For my money, I go with a monotheistic universe for no other reason than I, as GM, am playing the role of a god to this fantasy world of mine and therefore, at least in that sense, the world IS monotheistic since there is only one of me.

The "Tempest Damnosa" campaign I have run on and off since high school now encompasses several dozen large binders of information and well over 1000 pages of notes and encyclopedia entries. In college, a friend was looking over my stuff and found my notes on religion - it became a running joke "thou shalt not take the Dungeon Master's name in vain" or if someone should call me by name during a game the response was "don't speak the name of the holy!!!" Borderline blasphemy, I admit but it was a great ego boost.

When he and two other members of the guild decided to take over DMimg so I could play (one of only 2 times in my hobby career I was NOT the GM), they decided the world would be polytheistic since there were 3 of them and combined with the number of combinations of their Trinity, there were a total of 12 gods. Sadly, that campaign only lasted over summer break and the next fall I was back behind the screen

but however you set things up you should decide what "The Truth (tm)" is even if you never reveal it to your players

And who doesn't like a good nonbeliever burning, anyway?* Especially during the winter months! Bring the hot dogs and marshmallows!


* - well, besides the unbelievers, I mean. They're usually not quite so thrilled.

Me like you! You're silly

[Andred of Albans]

Just because you run a 1 or 2 deity campaign doesnt mean you cant use the other deities.

Just declare them as false gods. The major religons will seek to stamp out thier worshipers and eventualy destroy the false gods.
This allows the gods book to be an extended (very high level) monster book.
Limit the powers the gods can provide also. like only 1-3rd level spells.

Yep! That's pretty much the old school approach