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Author Topic: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all  (Read 1002 times)

FantasticDorf

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Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« on: March 16, 2018, 06:16:20 pm »

Right now, dwarves can worship many other gods at once and it creates bothersome backlogs of bugs to juggle them all and a drain on dwarf manpower to find non-utterly devoted dwarves that should have joined a covenant many moons ago.

I believe a restriction would be both better for the game & still consistent with roleplay in the archaic way, it doesn't denote that there isn't a pantheon of gods dwarves believe in but rather that for their own reasons its easier for individuals, families & civilisations to focus on single gods as ones they treasure for certain reason.

  • Each dwarf would choose a patron god off their highest sphere, then split that between their family and other ties like civilisation where present, meaning in certain hillocks you may find a majority religion of ardent "Uzmosh the light of Torching" and in another a completely different cult from the same pantheon or a more colloquially wider and broader civilisation wide dwarf religion, perhaps worshipping a god of the earth, gems & fortresses (all things dwarves like very much)
  • This leaves dwarves open to conversion applied by other civilisations where nessecary, especially if the region is a sphere that is polarised, like water & fire that are hostile to one another in a more straightfoward way. Patron gods does not diminish the dwarves appreciation of a sphere as much as let it be known who's your #1 with enough forceful or self applied dedication, it may change.
  • Civilisations with very little religious faith may to much surprise end up being secular with no particular stance on religion and no official state religion upon the land leaving many towns either godless or few religious minority worshippers to apply the effects the entity can have on its civilians
From a game perspective worshipping 1 god is a lot more of a easier need to manage, it doesn't exclude gods from the story of world-generation and opens up a lot more interactions with a lot less opposition for internal clashing. In many ways religion would become like the features of the dwarves themselves, at times variable traits between them being distinguishable but all the same, like one with auburn hair and high cheekbones and another civilisation with coppery skin and jade green eyes.
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Shonai_Dweller

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #1 on: March 16, 2018, 07:43:41 pm »

Mythgen will generate logical connections between mortals and gods. I suggest reworking your suggestion to show how it will fit with the current plans as opposed to why the current system needs to be replaced (since, well, it is about to be replaced).
« Last Edit: March 17, 2018, 03:50:50 am by Shonai_Dweller »
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Pvt. Pirate

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2018, 08:07:20 am »

i don't know how the currently aimed changes are going to be, but it sounds logical to only praise one god - and maybe a minor second of a nearby domain.
gods could have relations and even like or hate eachother and so putting distrust between the worshippers of different gods.
"Urist McBeliever pledges alliance with MightyDeity for its mightyness" etc.
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KittyTac

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2018, 08:25:17 am »

Actually, the ancient Romans worshipped all of their gods at once.
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Pvt. Pirate

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2018, 08:39:47 am »

then why not have dwarves teach their children their religious beliefs and let them form new relations to other gods aswell, that way expanding their own pantheon. a site should after a few generations form a community with almost the same personal pantheons and a common pantheon shared by the majority of the population. then there might be those who worship other gods, which can lead to complications.
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Azerty

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2018, 03:33:53 pm »

Going further, we could even see tutelary deities specifically for a given group or site, for exemple a deity for a river, a city or a family.

For exemple, Ancient Romans had lares
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FantasticDorf

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2018, 06:15:28 pm »

Going further, we could even see tutelary deities specifically for a given group or site, for exemple a deity for a river, a city or a family.

Those are more abstract means of elf worship though, elves have a tutelary relationship with the landscape. Ancestor worship however is very dwarvenly, maybe worshipping a special sacred bloodline of magic users or monarchs will sneak its way into the magic update.

The closest thing we could atleast try now is to make dwarf artifacts take on the subject of tutelary objects of worship, where a cult springs around a particular object and attracts pilgrims to see the holy creation. As a fresh idea of the artifact centrism ingame & dwarf specialty.
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Pvt. Pirate

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2018, 04:46:05 am »

then why not have family lines have their "house-deity" they teach their children. but for that to work, we need to have family lines.
also have artifacts worshipped with pilgrims visiting - who then contribute to the place by ... idk either working there for a while or paying?
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GoblinCookie

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2018, 06:59:18 am »

then why not have family lines have their "house-deity" they teach their children. but for that to work, we need to have family lines.
also have artifacts worshipped with pilgrims visiting - who then contribute to the place by ... idk either working there for a while or paying?

Since the last release we do have family lines.  Artifacts are presently carrying out the role of house-deity quite nicely.  ;)
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Pvt. Pirate

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2018, 09:05:23 am »

which hereditary rules are used? erm maybe PN, it could derail the thread too easily.
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GoblinCookie

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Re: Patron gods, instead of religious free-for-all
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2018, 09:21:37 am »

which hereditary rules are used? erm maybe PN, it could derail the thread too easily.

If I recall correctly, the families are of a particular ancestral character who has no historical ancestors.  Children belong to the family of the parent that is most important in some cases, but mostly all children of a couple will randomly be of one of their parent's family or the other.
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