Observant, but not Devout
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Pelor, god of the sun
I’ve noticed that, for many players, the choice of what god their character worships in D&D ends at character creation. They choose the god who most matches their character’s class or race, then never think of it again. If their character likes luck and freedom, they choose Avandra. If they’re an elf, they choose Corellon. But there is no further acknowledgment of their god. In other words, they’re non-observant.
But why stop there?
The way a lot of people see it, if they’re going to truly worship a god, then they would choose to be a Cleric or Paladin. If you aren’t getting any divine boons, what’s the point of worship?
If you look at the people who believe in the religions of the world, there are those who are non-practicing, only go to church on holidays (in the case of Christianity) and never even think of religion at all beyond that.
There are, of course, priests, nuns, pastors, monks and imams. Those people I would put in the category of Clerics or Paladins in D&D. But what about those who aren’t quite on that tier?
Why couldn’t you play a character who is observant, but not devout?
Tiamat, goddess of evil dragons
Think about it: You have the fighter who wears a pendant of Kord, whispering a prayer to the god of battle before engaging the enemy. The ranger who believes that death is a continuation of life, and that life cannot continue without death, going to the temple of the Raven Queen when they visit the next town to pay his respects. The rogue who mutters a prayer to Sehanine while watching the moon, before going to bed each night. How about the wizard who can appreciate Vecna’s thoughts on secrecy, never letting the party know he secretly worships a god so despised. And come on, a dragonborn who secretly worships Tiamat? Yes please!
You don’t have to be a paladin to worship a god. Neither do you have to have your character devote all his time to making sure he follows every precept of his god’s wishes. If he worships Erathis, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t steal on occasion. People are people, right?
Remember that atheism is difficult in a world where the gods literally walk among men, where every day, you are able to observe divine magic. Don’t you think if you saw that kind of power at work, you might want to ally yourself with that?
I think I’d like to write a few more posts, perhaps discussing how religion would work through the various gods of the PHB, but I’ll save it for another day.
Just remember: the next time you make a character and glance over the pantheon to figure out what you’re going to fill in on the top of your character sheet for Religion, remember that you don’t have to be devout, just observant.
I agree with you whole-heartedly. And as a DM, I tend to try and bring out some level of “observance” in heroes at some point or another. I’ve found that the best way is to have a rep from their chosen deity show up and tap them for a mission. I think as heroes grow in power, they grow more and more interesting to deities, even ones that don’t draw upon divine power. And eventually, their god is gonna tell some npc priest, paladin, shaman (etc) – “Go ye forth and find Blank the Hero – I have chosen him to aide our divine cause.” It really throws those demi-agnostic heroes for a loop when they realize that they’ve been divinely “noticed”.
As a player, I do try to portray religion in some form – most memorably was a fighter who was an expatriate noble, disowned because he refused to allow himself to be foisted off into the religious life because he was the “spare heir”. He started the campaign with an almost contemptuous view of priests and paladins, and was eventually brought around by his clerical adventuring companion to accept that the gods and religion “wasn’t all bad”. He ended up being a fairly serious follower of the goddess of military strategy, and even built a secret shrine in his keep so he could contemplate battles.
I’ll admit it, I’m guilty! My players and I rarely, if ever, bother with religion in our games. Of the two campaigns we have going, only one character taps into the divine power source. But you make a good point, in a world where you can literally see divine magic and the influence of the gods at work every day, why wouldn’t religion have a greater part of your game. Even if, as you put it, your just observant of it rather than devout. I think I’ll start consciously adding that element back into my game. Thanks for the inspiration.
All the characters in our party worship a deity, even the non-divine ones. Well, the ranger was avowedly “anti-theist,” but she made a deal with Melora to save the party and now everyone has a god.
It’s been a lot of fun to watch it influence the characters’ interactions. When the ranger hadn’t chosen a god yet, the Melora-worshipping warlock, paladin of Torog, and fighter who worships the Raven Queen were all trying to get her on their side.
@Neuroglyph: I really like that idea about using an NPC to call a hero to action. It adds all kinds of interesting elements to the game. What happens if the PC refuses? What if the rest of the party doesn’t think they should go along on this harebrained quest just because some old priest insisted on it?
@Rook: Why thank you. I’m glad I was able to give you a little inspiration.
@Swordgleam: I’m going to try to get my players leaning more towards your party. Bridget usually plays anti-theists, which is fine, but the other players who actually choose a god rarely do anything about it.