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hymer
Acolyte
38 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Dec 2014 : 23:04:17
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I'm in the pre-game phase of my first FR campaign, using 3.5 rules. Most of my FR knowledge is what I've picked up in the last three weeks.
A player has sent me a character and background draft which raises some questions. I thought it best to run it by the good people who know before I make up my mind.
The PC is to belong to a monastic tradition I expect he made up for the occasion (though I can't be sure, of course). The order considers all the good gods as various aspects of the same god. This rather grates against the vigorous polytheism I've come to expect from FR, but what are your opinions? Does it make sense? How would various clergies react to this? Or the gods for that matter? I seem to remember the occasional cleric who worships two gods, but all the good gods seems rather a long step from that.
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2014 : 23:35:52
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| Sounds a bit more like one of the Planescape factions to me. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2014 : 23:36:04
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Well, in the Realms humans and other beings *know* the gods are real. That said, cults and any number of orders exist that venerate all sorts of things as deities (beholders, dragons, you name it). The established deities for the most part don't interfere with this activity.
Thus, as a veteran Realms DM it doesn't seem much of a stretch for somebody to come along in the Realms and say, "You know, all the good gods are really one god."
As long as the player isn't claiming any special abilities for his or her character as a result of this monastic tradition, I say let him run with it. I think there will be great roleplaying opportunities for the player and for you as the DM, since you can run cleric and priest NPCs as perhaps not liking this idea, and expressing their opinion with anything from polite disagreement to open disdain (just because someone worships a goodly god doesn't mean they can't be jerks when it comes to issues of faith). |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 14 Dec 2014 : 23:45:38
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There are lots of faiths in FR that claim several gods are the same god. Most are labelled as heresies by orthodox churches, but a few find a lot of traction among the people.
The Adama is a philosophy in Durpar which claims that all gods are part of a single unifying force. Their followers even have their own Prestige Class in 3rd edition. |
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Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
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hymer
Acolyte
38 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2014 : 08:04:29
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| Thanks for the opinions, guys. It helps a lot. :) |
Edited by - hymer on 15 Dec 2014 08:31:50 |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6354 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2014 : 08:59:04
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Having re-read the old grey box recently i'm sure it mentions that it is considered the height of rudeness to ask someone about their beliefs, in fact such a question is likely to result in a fight.
So how will other people react to your character's beliefs, i believe the answer is they will not unless he offers the information freely, and even then they would probably only react with confusion or bewilderment.
The education level of the average person in FR seems little better than real world peasants of the middle ages. Few can read or write with any great skill. What they understand of religion relates only to what they are told by a priest, and even then the understanding is imperfect at best and probably mixed with a variety of local superstitions.
When the reformation under Henry VIII occured, they found that although most people professed to be catholic few actually understood anything about the religion other than the stories they were told, certainly none of them could read latin (hence why it was translated into english later) and many of their religious rites were still "pagan"/celtic in origin.
Why should FR be any different just because the gods actually exist. The average person is unlikely to ever meet their god or talk to him. They only have the word of their local priest that the gods exist.
Many people in FR pay lip service to a variety of gods and those that are devoutly religious to one still acknowledge the other gods and call upon their aid with blessings when necessary. I would imagine that most people are in the lip service only category and likely claim to be devout to one god because of their parents or community and the chosen god matches their forebears.
For me i always keep the religion aspect of FR in the background rather than the foreground. Every player interaction does not begin with "Hi my name is xxxxx, i worship xxxxx." The gods never take direct actions, that is for the clergy who profess to be performing such acts under the orders of their gods but in reality who knows. |
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SaMoCon
Senior Scribe
USA
403 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2014 : 09:11:25
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There are the established canon heresies the other sages mentioned earlier: the Threefold God where Helm, Tyr, and Torm are considered the same; the Dark Moon where Shar and Selune are two (diametrically opposite) faces of the same deity; the Risen Sun that believed that a new deity was actually an old god that vanished (later proved true); Angharradh who is the elven deities Aerdrie Faenya, Hanali Celanil, and Sehanine Moonbow as they can be one or be separate. So there is precedent and it is not isolated, though some folk might consider it weird while some others might think it blasphemous.
Ultimately, how you choose to handle faiths and worship in your game is going to decide how big of a deal the player's request is. If religious orthodoxy and religious hierarchies are going to be components of play (major NPC interaction, objectives including the advancement/curtailment of religious objectives, players seeking position with/profit by/power from established churches). If they are not going to be components of play than it is a nice piece of PC quirkiness and a ready hook for the player to hang his "I'm roleplaying this guy, now!" hat on.
The Adama was a new one on me. I had to look that one up. |
Make the best use of the system that's there, then modify the mechanics that don't allow you to have the fun you are looking for. |
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hymer
Acolyte
38 Posts |
Posted - 15 Dec 2014 : 20:20:37
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| My thanks to dazzlerdal for another opinion, and to SaMoCon for those links. Much appreciated! |
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Topic |
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DM new to FR needs help on suggested PC background
