Something Thats Always Bugged Me About Dnd And Pathfinder’s Gods Is That… They Are Basically Monotheism

Something thats always bugged me about dnd and pathfinder’s gods is that… they are basically monotheism in polytheism wrapping AND there is no actual religion present. The lore is so obsessed with these beings as people with their extensive histories and active presence in the setting that they completely forgot to actually create religions surrounding them.

What does casual worship look like for any of these gods? Could you tell me? What does prayer actually look like? Is there specific times of the day in which you must pray for certain gods? Is there certain attire you must wear to show your faith? Are there certain foods you cannot eat? Are there certain foods that are elevated above the rest for your faith? What kind of offerings are expected everyday? Do they expect offerings everyday or on a certain day of the week? Do they expect physical offerings at all? Do they ask for sacrifices of material goods, animals, people? Why? Why do you worship this deity? How does that actually affect ur daily life? How is worship different for a cleric, paladin, priest, or casual believer? What kinds of swears, curses, exclamations, etc are associated with this religion? Are there certain activities that are banned within your religion? How strictly does the religion police its worshiper’s actions? What kind of philosophies do they preach or disavow?

These and many more are the elements that form real world religions and are absent in most fantasy “religions” including popular ttrpgs. I cant even call these faiths religions because they really arent. One god in these settings should have 20 different religions built around them that all disagree on how the god’s domain, history, and personality should be interpreted. Maybe 2 or 4 of them would be main stream but there should be more than just one monolithic faith surrounding a god. And stop calling it polytheism. Please for the love of everything. Polytheism is a type of religion that worships multiple gods at once. Faith in dnd and pathfinder is largely monotheistic because the players choose one god they like and ignore all the rest.

I am not trying to put the responsibility of creating all these religions on gms - im pointing out that the creators of these ttrpgs did all of us a huge disservice. Religion is such an expansive and fascinating and diverse concept in the real world that it infuriates me to see it reduced to choosing a god you like and thats it. And im agnostic irl!

I was talking to my cowriter about this for the lore in my ttrpg and it got me really rilled up XD Religion can be beautiful or terrible or a mixture of both. It can save people from the world’s darkness or bring out their own inner darkness. It deserves more than a cliff-notes table of deities to choose from and half baked lore about the gods without examining the actual faith they inspire in others :/

More Posts from Thekingsbutler and Others

1 month ago

Seconding Deadly Education trilogy. That had be in a CHOKEHOLD

In honor of JKR being a total waste of breath and space yet again:

Other (better) books to read instead of Harry Potter—

1. The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson.

“ Under Platform 13 in one of London’s busiest train stations is an old doorway covered with peeling posters. Behind I is the entrance to a magical kingdom and island where humans live happily with mermaids, ogres and mysterious creatures called mist makers. When a beastly woman named Mrs. Trottle kidnaps the islands young Prince, it’s up to a strange band of rescuers to find him, save him, and return him to the king and queen. But can the rescuers—an ogre, a hag, a wizard and a fey troop around London unnoticed? And what if the prince doesn’t want to go back?”

(This book contains an impoverished ‘orphan’ raised by cruel adults, a bumbling old wizard, magical young adults, and an entrance to a magical world on a train platform in London. Sound familiar? Because it was released in 1994…three years prior to the first Harry Potter book. Just sayin’.)

More below the cut:

2. A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer.

“Teenager Farris Nallaneen is the heir to the small northern dukedom of Galazon. Too young still to claim her title, her despotic Uncle Brinker has ruled in her place. Now he demands she be sent to Greenlaw College. For her benefit he insists.

To keep me out of the way more like it!

But Greenlaw is not just any school—as Farris and her new best friend Jane discover. At Greenlaw students major in…magic. But it’s not all fun and games when Farris makes an enemy of classmate Menary of Aravill, life could get downright…deadly.”

(A fabulous magical coming-of-age story with an interesting heroine and clearly defined magic system. The sequel is excellent as well.)

3. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novic.

“Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need his help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts—I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.

At least, that’s what the world expects.”

(A dark magical school actively trying to kill its students and a misfit heroine with a mysterious power. A golden retriever of a male hero who is in constant need of being rescued and a group of misfits who come into their own power by forging their own paths…the book ends on a cliffhanger but the series is complete.)

3. Anything Tamora Pierce. She does coming of age in a magical world stories so well. My personal favorites are the Trickster's Choice duology of Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen and the Beka Cooper series which begins with Terrier.

There's SO many series out there which do the themes of Harry Potter in more interesting, well-written stories that don't support the physical embodiment of a Dementor. Try some out! I love recommending these books to the students in my life that are looking for good books 'like Harry Potter', but these are just my personal suggestions. I'm always on the lookout for more...


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1 year ago
To Be A King.

To Be A King.

Collage inspired by King Robbie from the game Royal Match.


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1 year ago
[image Description: A Tweet By User @indigenousAI Saying

[image description: a tweet by user @indigenousAI saying

“fun fact: as a DV survivor i cannot register to vote because doing so makes my address public. anyone who is fleeing or hiding from an abuser is automatically disenfranchised from the political process and this is a feature, not a bug”]

8 months ago
This Month For The Creature Club I Drew Amazon River Animals. Fish, Snakes, Otters, Turtles, Weird Birds,

This month for the Creature Club I drew Amazon River animals. Fish, snakes, otters, turtles, weird birds, and more! See the full collection here.

I'm hosting a little giveaway to celebrate my shop reopening!

⭐ Follow me (@feather-bone) and reblog this post to enter.

⭐ I'll draw one random winner on Friday, Sept. 6th to receive a free creature club package (postcard and mystery creature stickers) in the mail, shipped worldwide. :-)

If you're on Instagram, I'm hosting another giveaway there!

1 year ago

When u follow a bunch of ppl who are into a series u know nothing about and your dash is full of posts about the big update

When U Follow A Bunch Of Ppl Who Are Into A Series U Know Nothing About And Your Dash Is Full Of Posts
1 year ago
The Decorated Photo Cards I Did
The Decorated Photo Cards I Did
The Decorated Photo Cards I Did
The Decorated Photo Cards I Did
The Decorated Photo Cards I Did
The Decorated Photo Cards I Did

The decorated photo cards I did

7 months ago

current fan creation landscape is kinda like if you went to a party with a homemade cake and everyone takes a slice and silently thumbs up at you with no attempt to start a conversation except for occasionally some guy sits in the corner with a tape recorder critiquing the cake as though he was a restaurant critic and another guy is handing the cake to an uber driver like "yeah i need you to find a restaurant that makes cake like this so i can have more of it" and the only person that's talked to you in 30 minutes is a very sweet little guy who was like "hey i liked your cake" and then ran away apologizing for bothering you the moment you said thank you.

10 months ago
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thekingsbutler - Hiding in the butler's pantry
Hiding in the butler's pantry

Perpetually confused. Writing, collaging, others. All Pronouns. 20s.Started this for Ao3 stuff but let's see how it goes.https://archiveofourown.org/users/ButlerOfKings

140 posts

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