Not too hard to find out:
So there's ten gods instead of dozens.
Please don't post links to pirated PDFs.
Greco-Roman Legacy + Germanic Traditions + Monotheistic Christianity = Medieval Europe. #WesternCivilization.
I concur with this.
But they all fall flat on their faces when it comes to religions.
(snip)
If you want to have a Monotheistic religion for your Medieval setting, you will need to have the following "Christian" analogues/equivalents:
1: A Monotheistic religion
2: This religion must command virtuous behavior and the rejection of Sins
3: It should promote a universal morality
4: It should promote some measure of forgiveness.
My take on it is that you need one dominant religion for the culture in question with a single deity as the head and a hierarchy for the rest, espousing a universal morality that dictate virtuous behavior, the idea of sin, and a means for forgiveness.
The way I handle this in the Majestic Wilderlands is that there is a culture the Ghinorians who believe themselves to be the chosen people of Mitra the goddess of honor and justice. That her creed, the five-fold path is relevant in all times and places as its words are a manifestation of creation itself. That Mitra purpose is teach the path and defend those who follow it. So Mitra is not GOD but an agent of an unnamed forces that brought the universe into being.
Much like the Romans on Earth, the Ghinorian established an empire that reached every corner of the known world bring their love of legal system and Mitra's word to multiple other cultures. However the empire experienced internal conflict and collapsed and the former colonies merged with local cultures to form successor kingdoms and still supporting the Church of Mitra. In the north, the local cultures I designed shared a lot with historical germanic tribes. Thus merged with Roman like Ghinorian to lay the grounds for the medieval culture of the present day in my setting.
Then I reinvented it for my Points of Light/Blackmarsh setting
In the loose shared setting I created there was a Bright Empire that spread across the known world. Originating in the city of Ramos. Like Rome, Ramos was a republic and transition into an empire. Then they had their version of the troubles of the 3rd century. The empire was reborn as the Bright Empire when philosophical revolution occurred that united four pagan church into one. Delaquain, justice; Veritas, truth; Thoth, knowledge; and Sarrath war; Much like I did with Mitra, the United Church viewed the world was created by an unnamed creator. That was a universal truth to how one must live, that mankind was fallible and prone to sin. That the four deities of the church each represent an aspect of the truth. Each deity was an agent of the creator that taught their aspect of the truth. Unlike a pagan pantheon, the 'truth" was a fundamental aspect of creation not the deities themselves.
However the establishment of the Bright Empire and the spread of the United Church was only able to stave off collapse for two centuries. The Bright Empire became torn by conflict, and the surrounding barbarian cultures took advantage of this and invaded. This culminated in the Shattering a battle that destroyed the last legions capable of holding the entire empire together.
Afterwards the barbarians culture merged with that of the Ramosan particularly in the old northern provinces of the empire. Again these culture I depicted as basically Germanic. The United Church was also split. In the south, the Bright Empire never lost its continuity but the United Church hierarchy became dominated by those who followed Sarrath. Eventually the common name for the empire became the Ochre Empire.
In the north a variety of kingdoms arose based on the new fusion cultures. There the United Church became dominated by the followers of Veritas as the follower of Delaquain were gutted in the civil wars that led to the Shattering. By the "present" Delaquain only had a small following in the northern church.
Like I said the south with the Ochre Empire retained continuity with the Bright Empire so I generally borrow a lot from our world's Byzantine Empire. The north collapsed harder and a kaleidoscope of successor kingdoms emerged. Thus leading to a feudal economy and a medieval culture. In recent centuries a Grand Kingdom has emerged in the north and is now a rival to the Ochre Empire. I borrow a lot from Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire for ideas. There are still many independent feudal kingdoms.
While I don't have an Unconquered Sun or One God in either the Majestic Wilderlands or Blackmarsh, the medieval cultures are thoroughly dominated by churches teaching a universal truth with the forgiveness of sins. My workaround for multiple deities is that that they are agents in service of a higher truth. They and the lesser divinities function much like archangels and saints do in our history's medieval church. Supernatural beings that guide and intercede in the name of a higher truth.
I run both in campaigns and the players felt they were medieval although obviously not historical. They felt it was medieval because NPCs and PCs were expected to act and did act just like our world's medieval counterparts and acting for similar reasons fear for their souls in the afterlife. The impact of the church in both setting on their cultures was also consistent with the impact of western and eastern christian churches on the cultures of our history.
The main reason you don't see Monotheism that often in RPG settings is because all the writers just take the easy Fake "polytheism" cop-out and run with it.
My opinion because it touches too close to real life issues due to most RPGs being sold in western civilization.
You would need to be imaginative, but a "fantasy monotheism" can be done.
IMHO it is because they lack any real understanding of the historical effect Monotheistic Christianity had on Europe before and after the fall of the Roman Empire.
I am quite aware of the effect and thought it through when designing my take. I feel like the debate between the Pundit and I and now you has elements of what happened over the
Filioque. How important it was for a time and how unimportant it seems now centuries later compared to other religious issues.
There needs to be universal truth, however you don't need a omnipotent, omniscience, divine creator that is worshipped to make it work. In both of my takes there is the One, who is similar to God of the Bible. However in both the Majestic Wilderlands and Blackmarsh, he elected not reveal himself to be worshipped, instead he appointed others to guide and intercede. Now as to why he seem to be chill with these being being worshipped as deities is an answer that nobody knows. Only that in both settings, after centuries, one or more cultures figured out that the deities were agents of a unnamed higher power and a religion grew from their insight that over time encompassed other cultures much like the monotheistic religions of our own world did.
Pundits argument of Broken pantheism still holds.
Again don't link to pirated PDfs. In the Kingdoms of Kaldor, Melderyn, Kanday, and Chybisa. The churches of Larani, Peoni, and Save K'nor function in their respective society much in the same way the religions I described do in my culture. They dominate the culture of all four kingdom. They all teach a higher truth and so on. The Church of Larani is dominate, the churches of Peoni and Save K'nor are their own corner much like various order of monks and shrines dedicated to saints.
The exception in Harn are Orbaal which are pagan Vikings. The Elves and Dwarves which have their own thing. Tharda which is a relic of an older empire and a religous melting pot. And Rethem which was once a barbarian kingdom carved out of the empire that Thara formed out of.
The religion articles don't come off medieval, however when you read the location articles for Harn it become apparent how religion work within the setting. Hence to me, Harn feels and play medieval authentic but it very much it not historical. I opted for my own setting to be more overt with the monothestic elements.