Darryl MottNov 23, 2022

Something that gets me about D&D and similar fantasy RPGs is that little spot on the character sheet that says "Deity".

That should only really be relevant for Clerics and similar divine-focused classes. They're the priests and clergy that dedicated their lives to serve a specific deity.

Everyone else? They should be praying to whatever deity is most appropriate to the thing they want to happen or not happen or happen a specific way.

Cass.ForestNov 24, 2022
Show threadDarryl Mott

If you look at historic polytheistic religions in the Western world (which is the basis for most fantasy RPG pantheons), everyday people didn't worship just ONE god unless they were priests at the temple.

Going to war? Pray to Athena. Sailing voyage? Sacrifice to Poseiden. Nobody outside the temples ONLY worshipped just one god, and it bothers me when fantasy RPGs make that assumption.

Nov 23, 2022 at 11:07pmWeb
Show threadGraham Nov 23, 2022

@Abstruse While mostly true, there were definitely people who considered a particular deity to be their patron, due to their job (blacksmiths praying to Hephaestus, for example) or lineage (family X is considered to be blessed by Artemis.)

Most people should be as you say, though, it's true.

Show threadZi MishkalNov 23, 2022
@Abstruse completely agree. It's more equivalent to how Roman Catholics ask saints to intercede on their behalf
Show threadDiego RamírezNov 24, 2022

@Abstruse Here's the first on a series of posts on practical polytheism that is quite good at explaining this concept.

https://acoup.blog/2019/10/25/collections-practical-polytheism-part-i-knowledge/

Collections: Practical Polytheism, Part I: Knowledge

Today we’re going to start looking at one facet of how polytheistic religions function, their practicality. This is going to be a four-part series (II, III, IV) looking at some of the general…

A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Show threadAliakaiNov 24, 2022
@Abstruse Heck, inside some temples more than one God received sacrifices, at least in Greece. Reading through Pausanias and Herodotus dispels a lot of myths (pun intended) about ancient religion.