Page 11 - Dungeon Master's Guide

for example, might also be patron of magic and strictly devoted to their single god, though even
prophecy, while the god of Light could be the sun god members of aberrant cults pay lip service in the temples
and the god of time. of the tight pantheon.
The Norse deities serve as an example of a tight
A SAMPLE PANTHEON pantheon. Odin is the pantheon's leader and father
The pantheon of the Dawn War is an example of a figure. Deities such as Thor, Tyr, and Freya embody
pantheon assembled from mostly preexisting elements important aspects of Norse culture. Meanwhile, Loki
to suit the needs of a particular campaign. This is and his devotees lurk in the shadows, sometimes aiding
the default pantheon in the fourth edition Player's the other deities, and sometimes working against them
Handbook (2008). The pantheon is summarized in the with the pantheon's enemies.
Dawn War Deities table.
This pantheon draws in several nonhuman deities MYSTERY CULTS
and establishes them as universal gods. These gods A mystery cult is a secretive religious organization
include Bahamut, Corellon, Gruumsh, Lolth, Moradin, based on a ritual of initiation, in which the initiate is
Sehanine, and Tiamat. Humans worship Moradin and mystically identified with a god, or a handful of related
Corell on as gods of their respective portfolios, rather gods. Mystery cults are intensely personal, concerned
than as racial deities. The pantheon also includes the with the initiate's relationship with the divine.
archdevil Asmodeus as god of domination and tyranny. Sometimes a mystery cult is a type of worship within
Several of the gods are drawn from other pantheons, a pantheon. It acknowledges the myths and rituals of
sometimes with new names for the gods. Bane comes the pantheon, but presents its own myths and rites as
from the Forgotten Realms. From Greyhawk come primary. For instance, a secretive order of monks might
Kord, Pelor, Tharizdun, and Vecna. From the Greek immerse themselves in a mystical relationship to a god
pantheon come Athena (renamed Era this) and Tyche who is part of a broadly worshiped pantheon.
(renamed Avandra), though both are altered. Set A mystery cult emphasizes the history of its god,
(renamed Zehir) comes from the Egyptian pantheon. which is symbolically reenacted in its initiation ritual.
The Raven Queen is akin to the Norse pantheon's He! The foundation myth of a mystery cult is usually simple
and Greyhawk's Weejas. That leaves three gods created and often involves a god's death and rising, or a journey
from scratch: Ioun, Melora, and Torog: to the underworld and a return. Mystery cults often
revere sun and moon deities and agricultural deities-
OTHER RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS gods whose portfolios reflect the cycles of nature.
In your campaign, you can create pantheons of gods
who are closely linked in a single religion, monotheistic DIVINE RANK
religions (worship of a single deity), dualistic systems The divine beings of the multiverse are often categorized
(centered on two opposing deities or forces), mystery according to their cosmic power. Some gods are worshiped
cults (involving personal devotion to a single deity, on multiple worlds and have a different rank on each world,
usually as part of a pantheon system), anjmistic depending on their influence there.
Greater deities are beyond mortal understanding. They
religions (revering the spirits inherent in nature), or
can't be summoned, and they are almost always removed
even forces and philosophies that don't center on deities.
from direct involvement in mortal affairs. On very rare
occasions they manifest avatars similar to lesser deities, but
TIGHT PANTHEONS
slaying a greater god's avatar has no effect on the god itself.
In contrast to a loose pantheon, a tight pantheon focuses
Lesser deities are embodied somewhere in the planes.
on a single religion whose teachings and edicts embrace Some lesser deities live in the Material Plane, as does the
a small group of deities. Followers of a tight pantheon unicorn-goddess Lurue of the Forgotten Realms and the
might favor one of its member deities over another, titanic shark-god Sekolah revered by the sahuagin. Others
but they respect all the deities and honor them with live on the Outer Planes, as Lolth does in the Abyss. Such
sacrifices and prayer as appropriate. deities can be encountered by mortals.
The key trait to a tight pantheon is that its worshipers Quasi-deities have a divine origin, but they don't hear or
embrace a single ethos or dogma that includes all the answer prayers, grant spells to clerics, or control aspects of
mortal life. They are still immensely powerful beings, and in
deities. The gods of the tight pantheon work as one to
theory they could ascend to godhood if they amassed enough
protect and guide their followers. You can think of a
worshipers. Quasi-deities fall into three subcategories:
tight pantheon as similar to a family. One or two deities demigods, titans, and vestiges.
who lead the pantheon serve as parent figures, with Demigods are born from the union of a deity and a mortal
the rest serving as patrons of important aspects of the being. They have some divine attributes, but their mortal
culture that worships the pantheon. A single temple parentage makes them the weakest quasi-deities.
honors all members of the pantheon. Titans are the divine creations of deities. They might be
Most tight pantheons have one or more aberrant birthed from the union of two deities, manufactured on
gods-deities whose worship isn't sanctioned by the a divine forge, born from the blood spilled by a god, or
otherwise brought about through divine will or substance.
priests of the pantheon as a whole. These are usually
Vestiges are deities who have lost nearly all their worshipers
evil deities and enemies of the pantheon, such as the
and are considered dead, from a mortal perspective. Esoteric
Greek Titans. These deities have cults of their own,
rituals can sometimes contact these beings and draw on
attracting social outcasts and villains to their worship.
their latent power.
These cults resemble mystery cults, their members
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CHAPTER 1 I A WORLD OF YOUR OWN
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