DIVINE RIGHTS

by Paul W. Will
(AKA Koordar)
The contents of this article are suitable for use with AD&D (tm TSR
Hobbies Inc.) but are easily adaptable to any other major FRPG.
In considering the writing of this article, several
questions/problems became apparent. First was classification of Deities.
Second came the requirement of keeping the record keeping simple in a
complicated business (DMs already have their jobs cut out for them). And
finally; the correlate of such information previously set forth in both
the AD & D system and the fine pages of The Dragon Magazine (tm TSR
Hobbies Inc.)
With these things in mind; to work.
Gods; gods of war, passion, harvest, chance and more have been the
back-drop for countless civilizations in the past. The flavor of a
country and the personalities of it's peoples all find some root in the
otherworldly personages and legends of their religions. Any AD&D (tm TSR
Hobbies Inc.) campaign gains something special when such things are
carefully interwoven into their fabric, but this is no easy task; and
can detract from a game as easily as not.
To add a religious note to your campaign there are two strategies;
1) Use a pantheon from the DDG.
2) Create your own, taylor made pantheon(s).
As for the first method, I suggest that you research the era and
and area(s) of power, as well as the legends and tales of the pantheon
in question, in depth. Grasp firmly the concepts and theologies before
implementing them. As far as general advice goes; that is the extent of
it.
Should you choose the second method however (and probably if not)
this article should be of interest to you.
Let us discuss the basics of deity-hood. Gods are divided into five
groups (as I have concluded from information derived from the DDG,
Dragon #68, and subsequent issues) in order of potence:
Greater (as per TD #68)
Major*
Minor**
Lesser (as per TD #68)
Demi-god (as per TD#68)
Saint (as per TD #71)
As Mr. Gygax has, in his 'deities of the Flaeness' series described
some of his gods as being 'Major' and 'Minor' without further
information given I will take this opportunity to give my own versions
of these:
*Major Gods:
Anti-magic shell (2) Protection from evil/good,
Command 3rd effect (2) +2, 30' radius
Control weather Quest (2)
Cure critical wounds (2) Remove curse
Death spell (1) Remove fear
Dispel (evil/good, Restoration (2)
illusion, magic) (6 each) Resurrection (5)
Fly Shape change (2)
Gate (2) Summon #
Globe of invulnerability (1) Symbol (2)
Heal (2) Time stop (1)
Holy/Unholy word (2) Trap the soul (2)
Improved invisibility True seeing (4)
Improved phantasmal forces Wish (2)
Polymorph other (4)
* * Maximum hit dice of 35, no more than 5 creatures. * *
**Minor Gods:
Anti-magic shell (2) Polymorph other (2)
Command 3rd effect (2) Protection from evil/good
Control weather (2) +2, 25' radius
Cure critical wounds (1) Quest (1)
Cure serious wounds (3) Remove curse
Death spell (1) Remove fear
Dispel (evil/good, Restoration (2)
illusion, magic) (4) Resurrection (4)
Fly Summon #
Gate (2) Symbol (2)
Heal (2) Trap the soul (1)
Holy/unholy word (2) True seeing (3)
Improved invisibility Wish (1)
Phantasmal forces
* * Maximum hit dice of 30, no more than 4 creatures. * *
With this errata out of the way, onward . ..
What, other than the obvious powers stated, differs each rank of
gods from the others? That is a question that is arduous to answer in a
generality. Some say it is the number and power of their worshipers,
this I say is a misleading if not unworkable idea. Which came first; the
god or the believer? Obviously this is something that you will have to
define for yourself, but I operate on the precept that the god(s) was
first, shortly followed by everything they created.
Another misconception (at least in my opinion) is that divine
beings gain power directly from their worshipers and in direct
proportion to the number of their faithful. If this were the case any
mortal might claim divinity simply because he or she had cowed a few
handfulls of weaker creatures into paying homage to the character in
question. This sort of behaviour, shows plainly that the requirements
for deifacation must be up-graded.
Gods are their own power-sources, or tap into great power stores
un-attainable to mortals, for their spell abilities. It is part of their
nature; why else would men (creatures capable of attaining great power
themselves [in the form of high levels]) live in awe of any god?
This leads to yet another strange question: why then, if gods are
self-sufficient for their existence, would 'Divine Beings' solicit even
the recognition of men?
First I must lay down here a postulate that I hold to be true and
workable in gaming.
1) any divine creature has the proverbial 'snowball's chance
in
hell' to manifest it's-self in any way on a plane (material
plane, that is) where it has no supplicants.
By this rule a god has effectively zero influence on a world where
he/she is without priests. Clerics might well be sent to far lands
(worlds), there to introduce their gods doctrines. A god does not cease
to exist merely because no-one believes in him any longer, the god in
question would simply take truck to planes where he or she finds the
fields more verdant. Thus on any reality where a god has the slightest
interest he or she would actively seek to spread-the-faith. Priests are
charged to do so, and are benefitted with spell capabilities to aid in
this task. The phrase: "Wherever goest thou faithful; there shall I
be.', is an applicable statement here.
The god without a flock is able only to manifest on it's native
plane, a dangerous place indeed for a god, but any gods reason for
opening material worlds to itself are sure to be deeper than 'just to be
there'. Some gods are greedy and desire the wealth of their worlds,
other gods are curious, some wish to propagate their views, still others
simply feel a need for lesser creatures to pay them homage. A god might
simply be bored; eternity is a long time, and what about spiteful gods;
might they not seek only their nemisis' failure in that enemy god's
dealings with man? Other reasons are plentiful, referees should give
each god his or her own purpose for association with man; a task that
could (should with respect to at least a handfull of any pantheon's
gods) be tied into THE BIG PICTURE.
What are the origins of your world, cosmos or multiverse? Devise
it. Was it the Big-Bang, a mating of celestial beings, or did the Cosmic
Dung Beetle roll amorphous materials into planets? Are the stars other
suns, carnal creatures thrust into the sky, or cracks and chinks in a
great universe encircling wall? The multiverse, is it divergent
realities stemming from Day One (ala Zelazny), or the results of two
ultimate beings unknowingly trying to create Everything, in the same
spot at the same time?
It stands to reason that the Creator(s) is a Greater god, or
perhaps a group of Greater and Major Gods. As for the rest consider the
following;
Greater God:
A) The most powerful Outer Realm creature of its alignment, or
B) Any of the most powerful Perpetual Beings.
Major God:
A) An Outer Realm creature of great power, or
B) The offspring of a Greater God.
Minor God:
A) An Outer Realm creature of average power, or
B) The offspring of a Major God.
Lesser God:
A) An Outer Realm creature of little power, or
B) The offspring of a Minor God.
Demi-God:
A) Any half-divine mortal who has shown ample merit to his/her
divine
parent and granted immortality.
Saint:
A) Any true mortal who shows extreme potential through the service
of
his/her Deity, and been granted an eternal afterlife, or
B) Any Demi-God not yet ascended.
I define the Outer Realm as "that which existed before the
creation, and which still exists beyond the borders of the creation."
A "Perpetual Being" is one the "is because it is." More to the
point let me give an example: Loroth is the "God of the Good Earth," he
cane to be when the earth did and he represents all that is alive. His
priests take joy in life and its continuance, he is a Perpetual Being
because he is the physical embodiment of something that may one day
cease to exist (would this cause him to fade from existence?). His twin,
Mortis (God of Death), skips through Time, existing only in the instant
when something dies and within eyesight of that thing. He too is a
Perpetual Being, and may one day be no more. Neither could exist without
the other.
Further I have made mention of the Ascendance of Demi-Gods, this
takes place at the death of the mortal body of the Demi-God. After the
usual Astral Journey (DDG page 11) upon its arrival at the proper plane,
if it is the same plane as is native to its Divine parent then it will
become a full-fledged Demi-God. Until this time it is treated as having
only the powers of a Saint. Should the half-mortal choose in its life to
serve a cause other then that of its Divine parent's, then there would
be slim chance of another God granting him/her immortality, and thus
would remain but a Saint eternally.
Feel free to alter the definitions as necessary, but remember, the
difference bewixt various ranks of Deities must be more then just the
number of Wishes they can crank-out in a day....
Pantheons all have one thing in common. That is that they each
reflect their respective civilizations. Of the dozen or so
pantheon/cultures that I examined in preparation of this work I found
that eleven had war-gods, seven had sun-gods, six; gods of sea. Further
there were five each, gods of thunder, storms, and love. Fully one-third
included gods of wind, death, nature, air, running waters, and a king of
gods. These things can tell one much about these cultures, if not of the
nature of man. War seems to be at the foremost of man's thoughts, so he
epitomizes a god of destruction. The sun was a wonder to early man, thus
a deity represented it or vise-versa, be that god a cruel and glaring
one, or a warm and kind one. Likewise many cultures were based on their
sea-faring merchants or soldiers, they would naturally imagine a god of
the waters, who must surely watch over them, and be in control of the
seas depths and ravaging nature. Love (taken in any context) is
frequently thought of as a gift of a specific supernatural being. Air
and wind gods are attributes of sailing cultures, death and nature are
mysteries and thus deified. River-based cultures, of course, boast of
river-gods, and prevalent in family or monarch oriented cultures there
are found a "Ruler of the Gods." The latter is often a patriarch or
matriarch, or even a matched set, this lets the church help in
controlling the lower castes.
As can now be seen, a coherent pantheon should be representative of
the culture(s) that gave rise to it (also vise-versa), and must set an
example for the whole civilization.
As stated previously, some pantheons' rulers are
patri-/matri-archial. These pantheons have historically involved
incestuous relationships (again the lifestyles of the devout would,
detrimentally, reflect this). Although occasionally a new being might be
brought into the scene (perhaps from the pantheon of a conquered
nation), the nature and origins of these interlopers would likely be
jumbled or varied from church to church.
Here is a list of possible spheres of power for deities compiled
from twelve pantheons, and followed by a few additions of my own device,
the first three are more "Role-Types" commonly evidenced.
Creator Ruler Subverter War
Sun Fire Sea Thunder
Storms Death Love Wind Mature
Air Running Waters Rain Underworld*
Undead Poetry Music Magic Animal**
Archery Theft Luck Earth
Fertility Sky Night Smything
Knowledge Law Gambling Agriculture
Punishment Motherhood Guardian-of-dead Wealth
Evil Beauty Combat Hunting Strength
Moon Racing/Speed Winter Spring
Fall/Harvest Summer Cities Darkness
Devil*** Mountains Youth (eternal) Forests
Fate Medicine/Healing Chance Chaos
Life Good Gifts Justice
Multi-purpose Time Gravity Wine
Competition Travel
* Not necessarily representative of a single plane, but possibly in
charge of all of the dead souls of mortals.
** Representative of animal(s) held as sacred.
*** Usually the "Subverter" and of radical alignment.
The gods of a pantheon need not be of a single alignment, nor even
a group of related alignments. In my own campaign, my two pantheons each
represent a plethora of view-points and the full range of alignments.
Let the priest, and indeed the priesthood, fit the god. Little
details do count; the priests of Loroth (God of the Good Earth) never
wear shoes that their feet never leave the ground. The priests of Woolio
(Duke of the Drunk, and God of Gravity) must start the day with a ritual
called "Hair of the Dog" lest they be struck with mystic fits of
migraine.... Woolio, by the way, invented gravity so he could fall,
well, um, down.
The spells that each Deity can grant should be closely related to
the Deity's philosophy, and sphere of power, thus Loroth cannot grant
such spells as Levitation, nor Wind Walk. Woolio's priests are at a loss
to cast such spells as Neutralize Poison (alcohol is after all a poison,
and the reverse of this spell cast by Woolio's adherants causes the
victim to be quite intoxicated...), and True Seeing.
Gods have to be limited in both the type and number of spells that
they can grant to their priests. The former so that the spells that
their priests cast conform to the theology. The latter so that priests
will usually choose at least on extremely potent god and possible on or
two additional gods, this will serve to simulate the side-byside style
of worship so common in pantheon religions. I offer this chart regarding
the number of spells each god can grant.
Spell Level:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Deity Rank: Greater: 12
12 12 9 7 5 3 Major: 12 12 9 7 5 3 1
Minor: 12 9 7 5 3 1 - Lesser: 9 7 5 3 1
- - Demi-God 7 5 3 1 - - - Saint: 5 3
1 - - - -
According to the AD&D system a Cleric gains his/her spells through
prayer, meditation, and study. First and Second level spells are gained
from the teachings of the church, wether by rote chants, reading prayer
books or similar means. Third, Fourth, and Fifth level spells are
communicated to the Cleric via the Deity's servants: Saints, Devas,
lesser Devils or Demons, etc., as the priest prays. Finally Sixth and
Seventh level spells are granted by the deity itself.
Utilizing the rules outlined in this text observe the following
example.
Laurus the True is an eleventh level Cleric with a 14 Wisdom who
worships a Major God, a Lesser God, and a Saint of the Major God. Laurus
chooses the following numbers of spells from his deities:
Divinity:
Major Lesser Saint Spell Level: 1
3 3 1 2 2 2
0 3 1 1 2 4
1 2 - 5 0 2 -
6 1 - -
To receive the Sixth level spells he is in direct communication
with the Major Deity. The Major Deity sends a deva with the Third and
Fourth level spells.
A deva servitor of the Lesser God brings the Third through Fifth
level spells requested by the priest.
Finally the Saint himself (at least in spirit) visits the priest
with the Third level spells and possible any news of import.
In this scenario the priest would likely have a very close
relationship with the Saint, as the Saint consults with him on each day
bringing spell-knowledge.
The next step in meshing religion and Deities into the campaign is
to list each of the cities in it. Once such a list is complete, count
the churches in each city, adding them to the list categorically by
location. Now define whether each of the churches are mono- or poly-
theistic in beliefs. I recommend that such a list be patterned after the
example below.
KINGDOM CITY ALIGN- PRIM- SECOND- TE RTI-
MENT ARY ARY A RY
Southeron Portsmouth CG(N) Imparte Publius As sorte
Ghar-Dun N Ithain Woolio
Velton Velton NG Loroth Oberik Go ram
The categories of Kingdom and City are self explanatory. Alignment
is that of the Deity, or a consolidation of the Deities involved
(obviously no church should house more than a "one place" difference
between the alignments of its Deities [see DMG page 37, Alignment
Factors]). In the above example (the Southeron Kingdom, City of
Portsmouth), Imparte (the Benefactress) is Chaotic Good, Publius (the
Speaker) is Chaotic Neutral with Good tendencies, and Assorte is Chaotic
Neutral. All are of similar alignment, and their Credos are not
dissimilar, so a Cleric of one, might also recognize one or both of the
others. In this instance Imparte enjoys the position of "Most Exalted",
having the majority of direct followers. The church is designated as
Chaotic Good with Neutral tendencies, as this is the direction of the
most "counts", rational as follows.
Inclinations are: Good, Evil, Lawful, Chaotic, and Neutral.
The Primary Deity registers three (3) "counts" for each of its
Inclinations. The Secondary Deity registers two (2) for each of its
Inclinations, and the Tertiary Deity but one (1).
Tendencies are only half the normal value.
Add these "counts" up, the alignment is then derived from the
Inclinations with the most "counts". In Portsmouth all of the
Inclinations are of Good, Chaos, and Neutral.
Inclinations
Good Chaotic Neutral Deity: Imparte
3 3 0 Publius 1
2 2 Assorte 0 1
1
Totals: 4 6 3
The results: Chaotic Good (heavy on the Chaos) with Neutral
tendencies.
Setting churches up like this will make the task of choosing
Deities much easier for the Cleric, as most priest will want to be
associated with just such an established organization. It also gives the
DM more control of the religious groups, and a better method of
recording them.
The Rules set forth in this article should facilitate religion
simulation, promote pantheonism, and greatly enhance any game while
keeping the effort at a minimum.
I hope you enjoy, and bid you good gaming.