God(s) and Me.

[catmage]

I'm curious about how people RP their character's relationship with the deity or deities that they worship. I don't mean things like "how pious are they" or "How exactly does your character show their worship", but the actual way your character sees the divine in his or her life.

Example 1: To Ailren, the gods that matter most to him are seen almost like family, and he sees them as having a very direct relationship to him. When he calls Tiamat the Dark Mother, he's not thinking of her as a goddess, he views Tiamat quite literally as a mother, and true dragons of any real power as older siblings, and less powerful chromatic dragon related creatures as little siblings. Oghma, his last patron, is viewed like a particularly well loved teacher, the cool one who made learning fun and wonderful.

The other two gods that mean the most to him are also viewed as family, albiet a more dysfunctional one. Corellon is hated as a father figure that turned him out, and Ailren's intense dislike of elven culture and teachings is actually just getting back at daddy. His relationship with Hanali is also seen as a mother figure (Ailren has three mommies), and the relationship is something like(in his mind) a fight that both parties are too proud to admit are at fault.

In all these cases, he sees the gods as vital and active, and tends to see omens in all sorts of things, particularly in loot finds and gems.

Example 2: Taihaer sees the gods as active, but is much less passionate about it. To him, Hlal is more like a fellow trouble maker than a patron, and he doesn't think she'll go out of her way to help him, and wouldn't expect her to. The other mischief and rogue related deities are viewed much the same way, with the exception of Erevan, whom he's set up as a rival to set himself against. He knows mortals can become gods, albiet rarely, and so he sees it as a goal worth reaching for, at least as much as he works for any goal of his.

So, now it's your turn. No need for such detail, or such little detail.

[Lady Frost]

Zoe views her religion like a corporation. Loviatar is the very demanding President that rarely shows her appreciation. Feelings and emotions don't matter in this business and only people that can get it done get to stay. Zoe is one of the many Vice Presidents, who gets substantial perks and a fancy office, but has to work hard everyday to make sure she keeps her job. She knows she's important and that her position is critical to the success of the company but, should she ever fall behind, there's a hungry workforce full of people that will be happy to try to fill her spot.


Lavina views her god as an fickle evil prison warden with a sadistic side. Everyday is a hope that her god's attention is elsewhere and that they're satisfied with picking on someone else.

Kherei sees Waukeen as a business partner and that Waukeen works hard to help Kherei just as much as Kherei works hard for Waukeen.

Shaestra views her god like a mafia boss. Its dangerous dealings, but they can take care of her when nobody else can.

[The Supreme Watcher]

Garum looks to Tymora as the reason for his happiness. Tymora's the one that made him and Mithika tumble into each other, after all. During his mercenary days, Garum gave praise to Helm, Tempus, and any other mercenary deities, as he saw them as the patrons of his profession, sort of the caretakers of all those who do what they do.

Gerard has a much more direct relationship with his deity. He knows Helm exists, and communes with him quite often (Helm is known to offer visions in the dreams of his followers, according to 2e). The Calling affects Gerard in many ways. He believes that Helm is the pathfinder for his life, and leads him to his destiny, and will embrace him in Everwatch when he has served fully. He believes Helm guided him to Vorel, and that the Vigilant One has rewarded him for his service with their love and his family: something for him to protect and love, while they return the love more than campaigns against orcs and giants ever could.

[sandcastles]

Mithika has a delightfully down to earth view of the gods, considering them somewhat to be just like people, with a different set of responsibilities and abilities. She thinks of them kind of like overseers, in the sense that the kitchen master makes sure everyone in the kitchen is keeping up, and the captain of the guard makes sure all of those under him are doing their duty and minding others. Gods if anything are to be respected as the 'masters of the house' yet Mithika doesn't revere so much as accept, appreciate, and in some cases, loathe or fear from afar.

Tymora is if anything, her best friend. The "ma'am" is the top adventurer, proof that the better side of things is always turned up eventually, and inclined to help out those that follow such whimsical ways do well. In mithikas mind the gods take very active parts in daily life; or at least, pay particular attention. True or not, she rarely neglects saying a few words when she thinks it's appropriate.

Other gods are referred to regularly, they've all got their business to attend to. Ma'am Wind(Akadi) or Talos sir might be referenced on a particular day of interesting weather, or 'Kelemvor sir" might be mentioned in the presence of dead. She doesn't know all of the gods, but she does her best to pay them sound mind when she does.


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Vorel considered gods to be 'they who are more than we in that which we are'. Quite literally meaning 'beings that are beyond us.' She did not however grasp a great deal of knowledge on the gods, and venerated only a scant few in her own odd way.

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Lily considers Ilmater to be her 'master' or 'leader' - She follows him, and serves him, with unswerving dedication. She recognizes other deities as facts of life, ultimately secondary to her lord. The words of Ilmater are the greatest truths, and she as his servant shall ever do all she can to bring those truths to others. She is somewhat of a fanatic.

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Risi doesn't understand gods to any great degree, and generally sees what she knows of the seldarine to be forces of nature. Nature to her, is the greatest force in life. She reveres her bow, and it's representation of the way of nature, and in that, her druidic 'worship' falls under solonor.

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Other characters think little or lots of the gods, as they are, typically dependent on their back story, upbringing and the like. I find that the interactions with deities can in some cases be pivotal to a characters mannerisms and add a lot to rp, or be entirely superfluous and rarely mentioned in the slightest.

[probablyamage]

Lustig views Quicksilver more as a big brother and friend. He's the one that Lustig is consistently trying to outdo, or impress. He feels that Quicksilver's the one who will always have his back in those few matters that Lustig himself can't handle (death and the afterlife, primarily). Through Quicksilver/Hlal and Sashara, Lustig considers himself a sort of honorary pseudo dragon, and feels closer to any given metallic dragon (and even some of the chatty chromatics) than he does a random human.

As he's grown in power, he's viewed the rest of the gods less as unknowable existences, and more like regular people. He looks upon Helm now as he might have looked upon an epic paladin of Helm when he was an apprentice, and is fully convinced that he will work his way up to directly challenging/playing with them, even if he won't be anywhere near to their level. Ao is, surprisingly, a source of great relief to Lustig. He's an unknowable, supremely powerful and enigmatic being. He ensures that Lustig will forever remain ignorant about at least one diety, which means that no matter what, he will always have something to strive for.

[ritefoot]

When it comes to gods, Telk sees them as a living integrated part of his life and fundamental in the function of his culture.
Telk views the elven people as the ultimate cause to serve. Corellon is to him the undisputed leader of this. He is the patron of Telk's clan and so he follows him like a distant lord. To date he has never run into conflict in this belief. In the end Telk does not see himself as being a world shaker.
Now Hanali is a different god altogether. Telk spent almost all of his life writing and singing love songs and though it is without question that his views on love are skued and wildly out of whack, they are in the end his strongest driving passion and faith.
Given Telk's frightful bad luck in love (until late) he has lost contact for extended lengths of time. After the death of his last love so soon after they had met sent Telk into a schism with Hanali that lasted two years. He felt she was teasing him with something he truly cared for.
In the end through Telk's passion is song he is a defender of the elves (any good at it is up for debate but it is his aim) Corellon guides him in his love for his people, his place and his honor. Hanali shines down his joy.
He might seem flakey but he is loyal and true to his causes.
So these two get about equal prayer. Though he still says he follows Corellon.
He tends to go to them when he is unsure and in need of counsel. He also thanks them when things go well.
They give him guidance in causes he believes in. But they are not buddies nor do they talk to him like friends.
He holds them in awe as lords above his station.
There is honor in service.

Rite.

[iangallowglas]

Lin thinks of Oghma as a God. Not his buddy, not someone he can eventually pall around with, or some smiling family figure, but someone that is so far beyond him that he truly has no hope of comprehending him in all his glory, even though he must always strive to do so. Lin prays for his blessings in the morning and evening at the Cornerstones, but when asked to pray at other times he declines, because "Oghma is busy studying or performing and doesn't need me disturbing him". He'll only pray for blessings at other times of the day when there is a dire emergency, such as when someone needs to be raised from then dead, and then he begs for forgiveness for interrupting Oghma. Lin refers to Oghma as "My Lord Oghma" and feels he is subservient to him in all aspects of his life. He thinks that those that refer to the gods casually are disrespectful and arrogant. He thinks all Gods deserve respect as do their clerics and not to do so is the ultimate sign of hubris. He thinks those that are boastful about their knowledge are attempting to take upon themselves some of Oghma's glory, which he finds offensive.

To Seamus, the gods are real, and will reach out and effect your lives, sometimes without you knowing, and sometimes it's very obvious. Seamus' patron is Sune, and he feels she has a direct influence in his life, but now that he's retired, the other gods, while still there, only effect him indirectly. He was raised in Sune's faith, but didn't truly become one of her followers until she led him to Darina. He enjoys his life, but dreads the time when Darina will pass and leave him, instead looking forward to the time when he passes and he will join Darina and Sune in Brightwater. When Seamus was still a soldier, he prayed to Tempus daily for the skill to be the best warrior he could be, and to Garagos on the day of a fight to have the passion and fire to fight, regardless of the odds and opponent, until there was nothing left of him to fight with.

My first character that I made here, Garbag, has no real conception of the gods, so he doesn't think of them one way or the other. Garbag's mental capacity is such that his vocabulary is about 12 words. He lives in the present with no idea of what the future holds and no real understanding of how things in the world work. He can't understand why sometimes when he sees a bear or wolf, it's all nice and furry and fun to touch "when he's with elvalith" and other times they want to kill him. So he tries to pet them all and is surprised when they bite him. He prays, but only when others do, and he doesn't really understand what he's doing, simply mimicking others actions. I would guess that maybe his patron would be Ilmater or Chauntea, since they would seem to have the most compassion for someone as childlike and mentally stunted as Garbag, but he has no idea who his patron is, or even what a god is.

My other characters have other varying relationships with the gods, depending upon their back story.

[Deleted]

Darkharp has had an evolving relationship with Oghma for years now. At first he was really just a deity to be admired from a distance as Darky was first a musician and songwriter, and only second a scholar of the obscure and magical. Oghma to him at that time was a far away influence to be appeased and revered when convenient if and after more immediate goals such as earning gold to survive and writing new songs, were met.

Later though, Darkharp got more serious about his worship. The turning point for him was called 'Chapter Azure'. He was asked by Yulena Hawkrune (then Yulena Korin) to join and help to found a museum and further to goals of serious scholars in Cormyr. During this phase discovery, exploration, study, and long term goals moved to the forefront and writing music and making gold for survival took a back seat. By this time he was well established as a Cormyrian Bard and easily attracted crowds and earned money with little effort. It was time now to thank the Binder for everything he had, and become more serious about religion. The presence of a Priestess of Oghma on a regular basis contributed to his newfound devoutness.

Moving on from Chapter Azure, Darkharp became a full time scholar, and only spent a fraction of his free time performing and writing music. He wasn't only influenced by Yulena, but also by Ailren, who had and has a much more personal relationship with his Godess. He came to see just how an individual, if determined to do so, could advance the goals of his faith. Alizarin Academy was founded and for a scholar, I suppose the founding of a house of lore and learning can be considered the ultimate achievement for a scholar, and it was definately so for Darkharp. Alizarin is in it's own way, Darkharp's own personal tribute to Oghma, and all of the gods of knowledge. His relationship with Oghma in present day FRC is very strong, as his his relationship with many other deities. They are seen by him as 'superpowers' and rightly so. They all have their time and place in the lives of mortals, but in this time and place, Oghma is the most important.

[goldstar]

My characters tend to be of the age where they lived through the Time of Troubles, and are old enough to remember what the incident was like, and the outcomes to it. This isn't to say they know all the extensive details of what happened amongst each and every god....but they are aware that the gods can be killed. My PC's tend to have above-average enteluhgents and wisdom as well.

This does have an impact and influence on the PC's mentallities. I've yet to make a younger PC that is outside of this generation, so I won't comment through that perspective. The host of my PC's tend to view the gods the following way in their lives:

"We've powerful beings that are not beyond death and dieing, that we give praise too, because we believe in a salvation at the end of the ride, no matter how vulnerable they may become on a given day. We live to serve, for what'er reason this may be, and we die for a cause...for them."

The PC doesn't need to be of clerical/priestly/divine backing to have this mentally either, as all my PC's have faith in someone. I do favor PC's with "divine backgrounds": cleric, druid, paladin, etc. This may inherently make me biased in some fashion.

My PC's, as childs, were taught versions of the Story of Creation involving Chauntea, Shar, & Selune. I tend to not make it go beyond those three. Depending on the region they are from, they may view the outlook of the event differently, and alignment has influence. All in all these 'primary gods of creation', as they generally view them, are important in their lives because they represent 3 things: Life, good, and evil. In one sense, Chauntea is constituted as Neutral on all fronts to my PC's, despite what source might say...it just happens that Chauntea seems to favor more positive and ethical means to encourage life, than vile and sinister. Good or evil, my PC's will think that Chauntea is very valuable. I /have/ made PC's that are opposed to Chauntea, and their opposition isn't done lightly, and with intense care and respect. Then again, whose to say those were ever taught the story of creation during their childhood? The aquisition of that knowledge in later years could be "blasphemous," too.

Anyway...This can get very deep and portraying the mindset of divine respect in my PC's on a general key is extensively hard to do and conviluted, short of going into very picky detail. It's a polythestic setting with terrible damnation should there not be great power achieved, nor if a faith is found; therefore, my PC's have faith. It's not unfeasible to claim that clerics talk about the consequences of an unfulling afterlife should faith not be adopted. Ultimately the gods are bread, meat, water and veggies for my PCs...they are mother and father figures, inspirations, motivators and above all else...Beings not to be triffled with lightly unless you've some very good reason to do so. Clerical types fall into that "Good reason" category, as an immediate example....Faiths have enemies, and all.

[EDM Entori]

I see Entori currently as polythiestic.


Entori strives to example and exemplify the Seldarine in the world around him.

The Seldarine are not all-powerful, but they massively effect the world elves live by, by following their image. not one, but throughout all of them. This as a -whole- is where Entori preaches of labelas, as Labelas is a philosopher, and keeper of history and teacher, Entori does teach of the Seldarine as a whole, for Labelas doesn't directly interact with others, Entori does not soley supply his gods single belief.

he seeks Corellons versions of magic, as "the art".. and in elven circles refereed as "the life" and he continues to find his own philosophy upon magic, based in nature, and with random ideals about how magic, and the weave, is costant throughout the multiverse, as life is.. etc etc random philosophy, which is his own which he draws once more from Labelas being a philosopher, and Corellons teachings as a mage.

In Sharvesh he finds hatred of the drow, which kindles old fires in Ent, Strictly speaking in corellons philosphy to gaurd against the return of the spider queens followers. Entori Pans out that expression to include Elistraelee. Daughter and accepted, however seperate. This has lead to much conflict between many people, and it is quite enjoyable. He considers Elistralee, a god of drow, and not of the seldarine thus, his philosophical side takes over, and it is clear cut in his mind that elsitraelee followers have drifted from elven ways etc etc.

The other Elven gods, pass on things to entori in a philosophical discussions and in teachings. Amongst Solonor thedra, and Hanali.

AS for others,

Mystra has played a big part in Entori's life, Entori has Always Always provided, praise to the creator of the weave, wearing a band emblazened with the seven stars for years. Entori has seen this goddess as a woman "co-handler" of the very thing hes devoted his life for. While he disagrees with her faithful's ideals to spread magic everywhere. also a reaccuring theme with ent. He strongly respects her teachings that magic is not primarily a weapon.

Oghama has also played a small role, in a respectful way through a friends wife whom always seemed to bring about a level head in Entori.

As Lustigs player pointed out, there comes a point where the gods change for a mage and I think Entori too has a insight of this, He openly opposes bane and other dark gods, without fear of reprisal, for he knows he bears enough magic and power in a small way to challenge that. That said, he does not seek trouble, but on occasion does undermind things.

and thats all I got to say on that one.

[elysiumfields]

For Tiberius all of the Gods are fickle beings with way too much power who place too much importance in themselves. That's why he likes Tymora more than any of the others - at least she (in his mind) recognises this fact and rolls with it. Pun intended.

He views himself as being properly insignificant in the big scheme of things and any favour from Tymora only comes from outrageous boldness in adventuring. It costs me, as a player, xp and gold from time to time, but I never bite off any more than Tiberius can chew when others are around.

[lucid]

Nahra is truly pantheistic...she gives all the gods their due, wherever they touch her life. She has even adopted a few of the human gods to blame/praise for things that happen, in particular Tymora, who has no analogue in the Morndinsamman. She basically treats them like forces of nature with personality and whim, who are hidden by some unseen curtain nearby, snickering behind their hands. She takes everything they do personally, like they specifically had it on their day-planner to ruin/make her day.

Alindra is a walking talking manifestation of Selûne's favor. She does not consider herself a worshiper, because that word lacks oomph...her entire being, her very existence, all she does and says and thinks, are in service to the moon goddess. She brushes her teeth in the morning in the way she thinks will be most pleasing to her goddess. While she's only human, as human as I am and therefore capable of screwing it all up, she strives her utmost to lead by example, and be as true to the tenets of her religion as it's possible to be. The only other god she thinks about for more than like two seconds at a time would be Shar, who is a constant danger to any Selûnite's soul. She's not one of those Selûnites who is smite-happy and hunts Sharrans for a living, but they are her nemesis, and they are really the only By-Name exceptions to her "live and let live, takes all types to make a world" CG philosophy. Everyone else has to earn her wrath by harming travellers, taking slaves, etc...severely violating Selûne's dogma. Sharrans will just start with it, they don't actually have to do anything except be what they are.

[pattiiie]

Roxy looks up to Sune like her older sister. She follows her teaching as if it were house-ruling.