Page 12 - Dungeon Master's Guide

The cult's ritual of initiation follows the pattern of its so seek to liberate their spirits from this material world
foundation myth. Neophytes retrace the god's footsteps and its evils through asceticism and contemplation.
in order to share the god's ultimate fate. In the case of Rare dualistic systems believe that the two opposing
dying and rising gods, the symbolic death of the initiate forces must remain in balance, always pulling away
represents the idea of death to the old life and rebirth from each other but remaining bound together in
into a transformed existence. Initiates are born into creative tension.
a new life, remaining in the world of mortal affairs In a cosmology defined by an eternal conflict between
but feeling elevated to a higher sphere. The initiate is good and evil, mortals are expected to take sides. The
promised a place in the god's realm after death, but also majority of those who follow a dualistic religion worship
experiences new meaning in life. the deity or force identified as good. Worshipers of
the good deity trust themselves to that god's power to
MONOTHEISM protect them from the evil deity's minions. Because
Monotheistic religions revere only one deity, and in the evil deity in such a religion is usually the source
some cases, deny the existence of any other deity. If you of everything that is detrimental to existence, only the
introduce a monotheistic religion into your campaign, perverse and depraved worship this god. Monsters
you need to decide whether other gods exist. Even if and fiends serve it, as do certain secretive cults. The
they don't, other religions can exist side by side with myths of a dualistic religion usually predict that the
the monotheistic religion. If these religions have clerics good deity will triumph in an apocalyptic battle, but the
with spellcasting ability, their spells might be powered forces of evil believe that the outcome of that battle isn't
by the one true deity, by lesser spirits who aren't deities predetermined and work to promote their deity's victory.
(possibly including powerful aberrations, celestials, fey, Deities in a dualistic system maintain large portfolios.
fiends, or elementals), or simply by their faith. All aspects of existence reflect the dualistic struggle,
The deity of a monotheistic religion has an extensive and therefore all things can fall on one side or the other
portfolio and is portrayed as the creator of everything, in of the conflict. Agriculture, mercy, the sky, medicine,
control of everything, and concerned with every aspect and poetry reside in the portfolio of the good deity, and
of existence. Thus, a worshiper of this god offers prayers famine, hatred, disease, and war belong to the evil deity.
and sacrifices to the same god regardless of what
aspect of life is in need of divine assistance. Whether ANIMISM
marching into war, setting off on a journey, or hoping Animism is the belief that spirits inhabit every part of
to win someone's affections, the worshiper prays to the natural world. In an animistic worldview, everything
the same god. has a spirit, from the grandest mountain to the lowliest
Some monotheistic religions describe different rock, from the great ocean to a babbling brook, from the
aspects of their deity. A single god appears in different sun and moon to a fighter's ancestral sword. All these
aspects as the Creator and the Destroyer, and the clerics objects, and the spirits that inhabit them, are sentient,
of that god focus on one aspect or the other, determining though some are more aware, alert, and intelligent
their domain access and possibly even their alignment than others. The most powerful spirits might even
on that basis. A cleric who venerates the Destroyer be considered deities. All are worthy of respect if not
aspect chooses the Tempest or War domain, while veneration.
one who worships a Creator aspect chooses the Life Animists don't typically pay allegiance to one spirit
or Nature domains. In some monotheistic religions, over the others. Instead, they offer prayers and sacrifices
clerics group themselves into distinct religious orders to to different spirits at different times, as appropriate
differentiate clerics who choose different domains. to the situation. A pious character might make daily
prayers and offerings to ancestor spirits and the spirits
DUALISM of the house, regular petitions to important spirits
A dualistic religion views the world as the stage for such as the Seven Fortunes of Good Luck, occasional
a conflict between two diametrically opposed deities sacrifices of incense to location spirits such as the
or divine forces. Most often, the opposed forces are spirit of a forest, and sporadic prayers to a host of other
good and evil, or opposed deities representing those spirits as well.
forces. In some pantheons, the forces or deities of law An animistic religion very tolerant. Most spirits don't
and chaos are the fundamental opposites in a dualistic care to whom a character also offers sacrifices, as long
system. Life and death, light and darkness, rna ter and as they receive the sacrifices and respect they are due.
spirit, body and mind, health and illness, purity and As new religions spread through animist lands, those
defilement, positive energy and negative energy-the religions typically win adherents but not converts.
D&D universe is full of polar opposites that could serve People incorporate new spirits and deities into their
as the foundation for a dualistic religion. Whatever the prayers without displacing the old ones. Contemplatives
terms in which the dualism is expressed, half of the pair and scholars adopt complex philosophical systems and
is usually believed to be good- beneficial, desirable, practices without changing their belief in and respect
or holy-while the other half is considered bad, if not for the spirits they already venerate.
explicitly evil. If the fundamental conflict in a religion is Animism functions as a large tight pantheon. Animist
expressed as the opposition between matter and spirit, clerics serve the pantheon as a whole, and so can
the followers of that religion believe that one of the two choose any domain, representing a favorite spirit for
(usually matter) is evil and the other (spirit) is good, and that cleric.

CHAPTER I j A WORLD Of YOUR OWN
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