Which do you prefer? Which style do you think is the most playable for a fantasy RPG? In many popular commercial settings, polytheism is the method of choice, but why is that?

I guess rather than true monotheism, I would have some sort of second, evil deity, fallen angel, or powerful demon lord who evil clerics could worship.

With polytheistic pantheons, you can have a variety of deities for various cultures and people to worship, and you can individually tailor them to your specific needs. It is easy to set up various conflicts and power plays between religions to use as story and plot elements. On the other hand, with a large pantheon, this can become a dividing factor in the party.

With only one god for most people to worship, the church can be a powerful organization and can really play a much bigger role in the overall world history and campaign story. If internecine conflict is desired, it's easy enough to set up various sects. The downside is you're losing some of the variety you get with multiple deities.

Another thought to consider is how do priests or divine spellcasters get their spells? Do they have to strictly follow the tenets of their faith? This could limit characters in a monotheistic world because there should be only one true way to act. In a polytheistic society, characters have a wider variety of deities to chose from that may better suit their individual tastes.

So, what do you use/like with your in-game religions?

I used a handful of deities that are either ignored or filtered through a bias for different cultures. Some cultures are the chosen people of one of these deities.

Some of the deities can be considered evil in that the philosophy they teach are not what most people want to live under. But in my mythology I took a page out of Tolkien in that I created the demons to be the enemy of all the gods even the "evil" ones. (Tolkien had multiple Valar against one Morgoth, Iluvatar "GOD" doesn't really enter much into Middle Earth."

It like the situation with Christianity, Islam, and Judaism all worshiping the same GOD but they are very different from each other.

 

These pages are what I have on-line

http://home.earthlink.net/~wilderlands/cselves.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~wilderlands/csdwarves.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~wilderlands/gods.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~wilderlands/hamakhis.html

I don't think it matters too much one way or the other.

Even a single God can have so many different cultures worship them. Like Christians, Muslims, adn Jews (to name a few).

Then you each has several sub divisions, many of which have different cultures in themselves.

I think you can have variety either way.

I prefer "polytheistic" settings. This is because I'm not a monotheist myself and don't really grok monotheism, and also because my main inspiration for fantasy is the ancient world. I'm also a student of the classics, which no doubt has something to do with it. I spent much of the last semester reading Greek sacred laws and writing about the household cult and emperor-worship in Rome, for example.

However, very few published fantasy settings present the kind of religion actually found in the pre-Christian world. Rather, it's polytheism as imagined by monotheists, which is quite different from the genuine article (I could write a massive essay on that point alone). Especially if the setting is pseudo-medieval, the religions tend to be pretty much pseudo-Christianity but with multiple "churches," such as are found in D&D and its cousins. But I guess that's to be expected, as the majority of players are coming from a monotheistic world-view.

Monotheistic systems have a higher probability of offending someone (Fuck neo-pagans). And for some kind of reason, mono-theistic systems often result into a weird, badly-researched parody of the Catholic church at its worst. And you can expect that which shall not be expected to show up...

On the other hand, the Iron Kingdoms have one of the best religious systems I've ever seen in a campaign world. All kinds of funny dualisms, resulting in two churches that can be called monotheistic, but mostly keeping away from the cliches. It still has the advantage of feeling familiar if you look at our present and past, but due to the _fact_ that there _are_ more gods, even if one of them says otherwise avoids pissing people off.

I totally agree on IK's pantheon(s).  One of the best I've ever seen, and free to read about on their website.
As for the psuedo-evil psuedo-catholic churches, I've always thought that part of the reason they show up in place of monotheism so often has to do with emotional fallout from the anti-D&D campaign of the christian right (consciously or unconsciously).  Another part is that it doesn't take much thought to have them stage an inquisition towards some group.

In my last game, I went for a mishmash of monotheistic church organisation and totemism. I'm bored with anthropomorphic gods, so I had everybody worshipping prototypical forms that instantiated themselves in specific objects, like a big white tree, or the severed undead heads of its priesthood, or any large hollow space. Each totem had multiple churches, sects, templar orders, etc. with no real hierarchy distinct from the political structure of the area. It worked well.

There wasn't any division of totems along racial lines - there was no "Elf god" and "Dwarf god" etc. but the Hobgoblin-Elvish empire (the "Tash") to the south had outlawed the worship of any totem other than a large volcano called "the Throne" a few hundred years ago after the priests of the Throne had backed the founders of the empire against their political rivals. It was the main religious controversy in the setting, and lead to constant piracy and brush wars between the Tash and the Human-Dwarf kingdoms to the north.

Quote from: McrowEven a single God can have so many different cultures worship them. Like Christians, Muslims, adn Jews (to name a few).

This is what I prefer as well.  A monotheistic relegion where the culture impacts their perception of God and their religious practices.

Quote from: GunslingerThis is what I prefer as well.  A monotheistic relegion where the culture impacts their perception of God and their religious practices.

but the problem with that in a magic setting is, who is right?  if there is one god, but say three different interpretations going about, and this god grants spells to his/her/its worshippers, someone's going to be doing it wrong.  unless that god is one of dissention, in which case anything goes, i guess.

i generally stick with polytheism.  it's just easier from a trad fantasy perspective, and otherwise i'd get too political or philosophical about modelling other belief systems.

Quote from: beeberbut the problem with that in a magic setting is, who is right?  if there is one god, but say three different interpretations going about, and this god grants spells to his/her/its worshippers, someone's going to be doing it wrong.  unless that god is one of dissention, in which case anything goes, i guess.

If clerical magic is divorced from religion - that is, practiced by clergy but not powered by deities - it still works.

Quote from: beeberbut the problem with that in a magic setting is, who is right?  if there is one god, but say three different interpretations going about, and this god grants spells to his/her/its worshippers, someone's going to be doing it wrong.  unless that god is one of dissention, in which case anything goes, i guess.

Generally, I seperate a cleric's abilities as being divine based.  I'm not a big fan of God(s) having a direct influence on the campaign world.  They may personally believe they are based on the culture.

Quote from: SosthenesMonotheistic systems have a higher probability of offending someone (Fuck neo-pagans). And for some kind of reason, mono-theistic systems often result into a weird, badly-researched parody of the Catholic church at its worst. And you can expect that which shall not be expected to show up...

Yeah, one fear I had with monotheism is that players would view the religion as a parody of Christianity or Catholicism and any negative portrayals of priests or churches would be seen as a slight on someone's real life religion.

Quote from: beeberbut the problem with that in a magic setting is, who is right?  if there is one god, but say three different interpretations going about, and this god grants spells to his/her/its worshippers, someone's going to be doing it wrong.  unless that god is one of dissention, in which case anything goes, i guess.

Yeah, another difficult hurdle for me to get over when justifying monotheism in a fantasy campaign.

Quote from: GoOrangeYeah, another difficult hurdle for me to get over when justifying monotheism in a fantasy campaign.

even if magic isn't divinely granted, what about divine favors?  somebody's going to be right, and somebody's not.  it just won't work the way it does IRL.  

i think the closest you can get for mono. in a fantasy setting would be some sort of dualism.  otherwise the drama would be greatly lessened, IMO.  sure, you could do all sorts of political intrigue, etc.  but when it comes down to divine matters or interference, there also needs to be conflict.  with one god/goddess/thing, there's a definite "the buck stops here" finality.  

i guess the only other way would be with one godbeing, and the opposition provided by lesser outsiders.  to use a christian comparision, god vs. demons & devils, or lucifer/satan vs. the choir of angels.  hmmm . . . :raise: