10 Ways to Make D&D Religion More Meaningful and Impactful

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Religion in D&D and RPGs often falls flat. It doesn't feel like it matters or impacts the game world. Today we discuss 10 ways dungeon masters can use religion in their Dungeons & Dragons games so that it's more meaningful and impactful to the game.
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#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[@theDMLair]

𝗱𝗦𝗰𝗿𝘆𝗯 - Get finely crafted boxed text for your RPG game ▶▶ www.dscryb.com/thedmlair - Use coupon code THEDMLAIR for 10% off! 𝐋𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐞 - Reduce prep time and improve your games with this monthly D&D magazine ▶▶ www.patreon.com/thedmlair 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 - Get your DM questions answered ▶▶ www.twitch.tv/thedmlair

[@gogeta667]

dScryb is operated by woke cultists. If you have a problem with politicizing DnD by way of suggesting that the Drow are racist or that Orcs are racist, you should have equally as much of a problem with dScryb. They claim to strive towards the goal of "inclusivity and allyship." Know when allies are needed? Wartime. When you allies, you have enemies. Sorry. I like you as a creator, but if you're going to promote the diversity and pride cult then I'm out. Next time I see an ad for dScryb I'm unsubscribing. Not giving money to people who seek to abolish the biological definitions of man and woman in the name of "inclusivity."

[@Albertosn3]

Here's another thing to keep in mind: Deities and religions don't need to be restricted to divine caster classes. A Fighter could simply be a more passive follower who focuses more on king and country than the deity so he never got divine powers or a Rogue could be a follower of the philosophy of a Warlock's patron but was never crazy enough to strike a deal with the Fae.

[@trappyboi8678]

That's how it works in the FR. Godless Mortals have a horrible fate after death.

[@celticdenefew]

My Barbarian has a deity from when I thought I was going to go Zealot... I went Wild Magic Path instead, but kept the deity. It doesn't come up much, but it does occasionally and usually leads to touching moments (she worships the god of rebirth and redemption)

[@AuntLoopy123]

In the game I DM, each PC has a connection with some god or other. One is a cleric, of course. Another is an acolyte. Their connections are easier. Another is a worshipper, but never really got all kinds of into it, like an acolyte would. She's a bard. But a bard of Tymora DOES do well at the tavern games, and she has learned to toss the dice a time or two every day, in worship to her goddess. Meanwhile, the fighter and wizard who deserted their army, when they saw that the army was committing atrocities, both worship Tomanek, the god of War, Truth, and Justice, and are well on the way to becoming his champions, because they are warriors (battle mage and fighter), who try to establish truth and justice, wherever they go. And then there is the new-comer, a paladin, who worships the number 4, and I'm not sure HOW I'm going to role-play that, but she's a true believer in the One True Number, and that's how she made her Oath of Devotion, so there's that. Really, it's all in how the players role play their characters. ANY character can have a connection to a deity, or a faith or just a wish for a faith, something to think about and hold onto during a tight spot. As Shepherd Book said to Mal, "I don't care what you believe. Just believe in something." Because no matter what you do for a living, a person needs some core belief, or their life is meaningless.

[@jamestitus472]

@@AuntLoopy123 4 in japanese kanji is Shi or Death. So it has unlucky and ominous connotations.

[@willmena96]

This might be sound like a hot take, but here it goes: I feel like a lot of people (not all, of course) treat the religion aspect as something irrelevant due to one (or both) of the following reasons: - They don't have a good relationship with religions in real life, so they don't wanna bother with that or maybe religion only matters to use an evil god that will destroy everything. - They use Forgotten Realms or another setting and they don't know much about the lore of these deities, so it becomes a burden to think about so much information. I've seen that happen with a lot of people I know. I don't know if it's just coincidence or what, but it happens. Then, you end up with a lot of Paladins, Clerics, Warlocks, etc that serve themselves, their cat or something like that instead of a deity (by RAW a lot of that is allowed, but you get me). Also, Luke doesn't completely suck. His videos inspired me to become a Dungeon Master :D

[@trappyboi8678]

That's one of my problems as a DM. I'm an atheist who has had, to use a dramatic term, a tragic past related to religion and how toxic it is and thus I treat religion often as just "whatever, its part of the game."

[@sebbychou]

I think an issue with the first bullet point is also the mindset that "gods" are omnipotent, omniscient beings and not just a gaggle of moderately-to-very-potent, single-minded immortal petty assholes... and that the afterlife question is not only solved, but unattractive because it's going about living with those assholes forever.

[@greaterrestoration6214]

I have had that same issue in games, some of my players don't believe in God outside of game so that they view gods in game as some sort of insult to their God the self. And same thing goes for players that are heavy into religion outside of game in a similar way. One worships the self the other worships there God. I just try and make sure everyone understands that D&D is FANTACY.

[@AuntLoopy123]

@@greaterrestoration6214 Once upon a time, I was playing Stardew Valley, and I made a suggestion to Concerned Ape that the players be able to sacrifice to Yoba's Altar at Pierre's store, and worship, and build up a relationship, just like with the other villagers. And the rewards would be something like extra luck, or their own altar they could have at home. One player saw that suggestion and got all riled up, because, "It's unfair to us atheists, who know there is no god! How dare you inject religion into MY GAME! I don't want to HAVE to worship some god! I am an atheist in real life, and worshipping a god in a game would spoil the reality of that game!" Someone responded, "You play a game with witches, wizards, and little alien apples, and give them presents in the game, but you throw a fit about giving gifts to an altar, because it would spoil the reality of the game?" It's a FANTASY. It's pretend. You can make it any way you want it to be. You can have religion be a wonderful thing, or you can make it a horrible, evil thing that is just a cover up for the BBEG's conniving plots and conspiracies. Or both. It's all up to you. In fact, if religion caused you trauma, then being DM for a while, and using that to play a religion the way you wished it actually were, and could be, may be just what you need to help heal from that trauma.

[@snakedog9694]

People who can't separate their irl hang ups and a fantasy setting probably have some deep spiritual problems they need to remedy. Spiritual is not the same as religion btw.

[@bensonprice4027]

My campaign focuses on religion. A fallen angel found a powerful weapon that prevents mortals from passing onto the after life. He's targeting all the major gods in my world, each on their holy day by perverting the celebration of that day and often destroying the temple to that deity where they are worshipped most. So to stop him, the player characters will need to identify the holy day coming up and which town worships that deity the most

[@AuntLoopy123]

OOoooooh! That sounds REALLY neat!

[@bensonprice4027]

@@AuntLoopy123 What's more is this fallen angel killed all the PCs on the first session. Because they were stuck and couldn't pass on to the afterlife. I created a system for them to gain benefits when they die. Each time they die, they get stronger benefits, but will slowly turn into something more demonic or fey.

[@GrimGoblinLives]

A good idea is to have religious disputes, like priests of Talos tryimg to convert Orcs by claiming Grummsh is merely an aspect of Talos, which priests of Grummsh are less than happy about

[@chrisperrien7055]

Shortly, there will be no "orcs" in D&D ;) or religion

[@GrimGoblinLives]

@@chrisperrien7055 If I gave a shit about such whining, I wouldn't be watching Luke's channel where I could actually learn something, I would be watching some reactionary idiot making up bs to farm outrage clicks.

[@allankirk3412]

@@GrimGoblinLives well said

[@AuntLoopy123]

But they all know that Talos is actually merely an aspect of Grummsh.

[@GrimGoblinLives]

@@AuntLoopy123 See, that's when the religious war starts and PCs have to either pick a side, stop it or get some other religion to crusade against those two.

[@maitrecorbeau_gm]

Writing a new pantheon in a way it's interesting to share, those informations are dully noted. I really like having religions being shown more than the deity itself, as their what the PCs are going to interact with. Thanks for the video !

[@foxtoxic9722]

“Professionally written box text, no matter how beautiful is no basis on which to place your faith.” Damn, did you just call out every religion? lol

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Could be worse. You could base your government on water tarts lofting about scimitars.

[@foxtoxic9722]

@@MonkeyJedi99 Lmao! Yes! Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

[@charlybravo1354]

@@foxtoxic9722 mandate from the masses? Is this some kind of peasant joke I am too rich and too noble to understand? :D

[@tyler1673]

Religion has taken a front seat in my game this year. It's a pretty fun thing to play with especially when you include corruption within a supposedly good organization caused by human flaws.

[@christophercronkhite5694]

Same. I like the idea of a cleric or Paladin being given tasks by the church, but as the game goes on they begin to either conflict with the characters belief system, or they somehow begin to see the corruption. Eventually the character has a moral dilemma and either succumbs to the corruption or turns against the church to stand for what they feel is right.

[@aaronstreitenberger6012]

Excellent practical advice! I'll add three things that I find useful as an atheist to remember when designing religions for my homebrew worlds. 1. "Religion is the opiate of the masses", Marx was largely condemning religion with that statement but it is useful for us as DMs. Religion and religious experience need to be euphoric, narcotic, or life affirming in your world. It is the thing that gets people through the day sometimes but it is also something that is sold to people who are suffering as an aliment to that suffering. The religious experience and benefits of a religion needs to worth it to be popular. 2. Religions as social movements. There is a huge difference in the way religious activity is used by different religions to affect society. Puritans used religion as a counterculture, turning away from contemporary English society that they saw as stagnant and oppressive. They believed in things like civil rights and separation of church and state. Yet today a lot of people think they were harsh conservatives who dominated English thought. By a similar token, Islam was revolutionary in its beginnings, advocating for the rights of slaves and women in a society where they had none. Religion isn't always about oppression and maintaining the status quo. 3. Rituals, pilgrimages, and organization define the level of commitment required. This one is fairly simple. Does the faith require daily or weekly meetings of the faithful? Does it require you to do something every time you eat, sleep, or recreate? How many times a day do you pray? Is prayer even the way to show reverence for this god? What type of pilgrimages or sacrifices are necessary to show your faith? How does the church organization reflect upon its basic values and tenets? Religions come with codes and rituals, players who chose to follow a religion in your setting should be aware of those if they aren't actively creating them. Again great video!

[@krispalermo8133]

AD&D2ndE PC 12th-level wizard using Polymorph Other to recreate healthy or whole bodies for the main and cripple. Creating " Flag/ Banner of Hope " to comfort the villagers. Then argue about bending the rules on wizard casting cleric style healing spell. Tome of Magic and Planescape setting deals with the Positive plane of energy, and how it heal people with infusing them with positive energy till they over load and flare up. So a wizard fire trap can use positive energy to heal the living and harm the undead, such how the AD&D2ndE Complete book of Necromancers cover replacing elemental fire with negative energy to harm the living and heal/ boost under hp. End result anyone who pledges their Faith to this given cultist wizard priest will end up in a camp on the first level of the Nine Hells of Baator. Then I had a 3.5e half shadow dragon drow that created a forest strong hold and also one in the demi shadow plane/ now the Shadowfell and sends Simulacrum of himself out to aid free drow and the local humans. After three months of campaign play covering ten years in the setting, my game shop four DM decide for the story line to promote him to demigodhood. His simulacrums snappy wit mused that they could now be regarded as angels, well each of them already had their own nick names and prayer following. Hope you can have a bit of fun with these two NPC concepts in your campaign.

[@noclue4108]

Sorry, for the necro, I just wanted to say that this was a wonderful comment, and I agree with everything you said, save for how you present that Marx quote, as I feel it carries more nuance than what I felt you implied; just in case anyone happens to be interested.

[@aaronstreitenberger6012]

@@noclue4108 all good dude. I was only using Marx to illustrate my point, the guy had a very complex relationship with religion and Calvinism in particular. I'm glad you liked my comment. It's tough for guys like me with not a ton of religious experience (and most of it negative) to run a game with Clerics and Paladins for "believers". Tough to make it good, at least. Just trying to make the three other guys with my problem's lives easier.

[@noclue4108]

@@aaronstreitenberger6012 To be fair to you, that quote does go a long way to illustrate your point, I was just in a mood to be a nitpick, and you were what was in front of me. Gotta say, that's really kind of you to make the effort to flesh out beliefs and expierences in your world for your players, even though you don't share their beliefs. Shit, I might even call it brave. Religious and spiritual concepts and communities I feel often act as force ampliflier's for the human expierence, for good and for ill, so I want to commend you for taking something you may have had negative expierence with and portraying in a nuanced manner.

[@Beth-cj7ip]

"think of stories as powerful NPCs" Exactly. The DM isn't a god. Gods are merely NPCs.

[@lordravne]

Hey. You don't suck. Really enjoy the skits in the beginning. Keep doing them so long as you're having fun

[@BleydTorvall]

Just give the rogue his hood and dagger back already! The God of Thieves wouldn't want him stabbing people with a pen with his face exposed!

[@AuntLoopy123]

Agreed!

[@TheWhiskeyDictionary]

Your videos have been super helpful to me!

[@primeemperor9196]

The Barbarian has had more character development than the entire sequel trilogy combined.

[@theDMLair]

The sequel trilogy had character development???

[@igorzuccolin6981]

Nice topic Luke, thanks for talking about it, naturally it's a dangerous topic that can make the players go wild, cause is far too easy to find an analogy with real-world and God save us to going all politics at the party table, but is a heavy underused part of world-building and probably is one of the stronger possible adventure-engines if your party is mature enough

[@theDMLair]

Yeah as long as it's kept strictly a part of the game world and doesn't Veer into real world religion arguments then it shouldn't cause an issue. I've never had religion in game cause any issues in my game tables. And I know that I play with people who have different beliefs than I have. But it's never become an issue.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

While I was in the Navy, one of our regular Players was the Chaplain of the ship, a Baptist Minister by formal training... AND I often ran religion on (If I recall from the vid) Luke's 6'th principle "Of secondary importance"... SO every town and village had at least one Temple and at least one Patron Deity... Cities were often large enough to have several, creating Theo-Political factions that sort of created neighborhoods/districts around which religion was most influential to which ever among the denizens... Even when I intro'ed one of the villainous Cults following a Demon, we didn't have an issue. Oh I got some chat with the Chaplain just out of curiosity of "where I was going" with that plot arc... BUT as soon as I just explained "It's just a different batch of villainy, because you heroes need some bad guys to squash"... that was that. AND it's worth note that the Chaplain was one of the best Rogues we could get whenever he had time to play. ;o)

[@igorzuccolin6981]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 yes and this is the easy route, you only oppose demoniac cults, but for example in Ebberon where the authors chose a more risky way the church of Silver Flame a reasonably good cult chose to indict a crusade against lycanthropy, and basically this means a genocide and one will be targeted for what he is or what ones become non for what ones did. But even without a big secular organization going crusade-ing, the main point is that a man of faith receive his set of values from an incontestable source that he put above every else, even the laws of the society in which he lives, this can generate John Brown and bunch of epic Paladin characters, but also restriction to abortion laws and many of today Theocracies and this is great fuel for stories but can also set your gaming table in flames

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@igorzuccolin6981 THAT's a matter of listening to your Players and reading the Table at hand. If you listen to them, it's not hard to figure out the "problematic" mindsets that will NEVER IN HELL listen to the ideas for those stories. You'll know before you start that it's not going to float... I've even RP'ed Evil PC's among Tables full of Good ones... without trouble. While the GM's wouldn't have stepped in to prevent PvP, at least not on my account, the other Players were decent enough at RP to "play it legit"... rather than bother through meta-gaming to just go on a murder spree after me for "being the evil alignment"... BUT not everyone is going to be open to every kind of storyline. As often as I might've avoided a demonic flavor for the devout... I've also given up on a religious salvation theme because of a couple of "anthi-theists" (even beyond atheist). It's worth saying, that you CAN pick and choose among those you believe to be mature enough to handle "rougher" or "darker" content in the Game to play in particular Settings and Campaigns that you wouldn't otherwise bring to "just any Table", for a fear of burning it into a hole in the ground. ;o)

[@dopplesoggoth]

Nice video! In all, good advice on making things feel more real and immersive in a campaign or story arc. While I've played/dm'd for many many years, it's good content like this that helps me continue to grow and improve my d&d/gaming experience.

[@theDMLair]

Awesome happy to here I can help!

[@GrandOldDwarf]

My current campaign revolves entirely around the three primary deities losing their worshippers. It's an alternate history game, so I'm including the Vatican, the Inquisition, and the upcoming Protestant Reformation.

[@Arcticmaster1190]

Recently used religion to do a small exposé on my PCs at their request, using a Cleric of Oghma (I treat them more as Pathfinders and Psychologists rather than just librarians and scribes). Religion also helps for one of my PCs (Gunslinger Drow) who is very spiritual with Eilistraee and was recently blessed with her power, as well as having the occasional encounter with Lolth’s subjects patrolling the world, looking for heretical drow to return home to the Underdark. Clerics are also a pressing aspect in that in this world, the gods CANNOT come in at all. And the few that succeeded basically got powered down to human levels and can’t leave. There’s lore reasons for this that are too long to get into right now but the short of it is that the Deities almost have to operate in this world via clerics, Paladins and chosen champions to have influence in this world. Same goes for the bigger demons and devils.

[@goliathcleric]

Ah yes, a video after my own heart lol. But in seriousness, religion is actually a substantial part of my game (depending on how you define religion in the game). One of the characters is possessed by a devil, the fighter is a devout servant of Gond and aids the church when he can, one of them is a cleric, and they're all allied with the temple of lathander, having multiple times sought them out for advice and aid. Ah, and on top of that, the characters suspect that the BBEG is either allied or controlling a cult of myrkul, and they're a little worried about that.

[@theDMLair]

Except that Goliath's can't really be clerics. I haven't really had the heart to say anything to you dude but yeah. Sorry.

[@bleddynwolf8463]

@@theDMLair serious or joke

[@Tullowit]

Great video! You are so right to remind us that as DMs we forget all about characters' deities once character creation is done. The original hardcover adventure did a pretty good job at weaving the dragon cult into the story. If I ever run it again, I am likely to do a few pre-adventures building on the threat of the dragon cult and the trouble it is stirring up in the land.

[@georgechristian6852]

What about using the Piety system? I have found it focuses in Religion a little bit more and prevent Clerics who normally, or supposedly, depending on Cleric type of course, to be playing nice healer type from being a murder hobo and promotes great RP opportunity with NPCs and between players themselves.

[@trappyboi8678]

The DM Lair hates giving players more power than their base classes offer them so the piety system would be a bane of his existence. He even bans Ancestral Guardian Barbarian simply for the fact that unconvinces him.

[@georgechristian6852]

@@trappyboi8678 I get that, he seems very much a base game type of DM which is perfectly fine. Some of the advise he gives here is ok to incorporate in as good RP perspectives and possible side mission, but in my mind it still leaves Deities a bit lack luster. Sure me mentions a minor boon here and there. For my games I use Piety and my players love it. I have even noticed the RP ramp up because of it. I don't make it easy to get the bump ups and they really do have to work for it so the reward of working on it through RP and actions in the game earns them their Deity's favor is well received and they work harder at getting the next bump. I also add in a degrading scale too, they don't keep to their god's view or work on their piety they eventually start to lose it slowly as other are gain their deities favor over the player.

[@trappyboi8678]

@@georgechristian6852 I also love the Piety system.

[@torva360]

I take so much of your content that whenever you ask a question about games, I have to stop myself from replying with what you gave me. Definitely taking that "clerics on strike" encounter. May even spin it into a religious civil war. The main religion in one of the countries in my homebrew world is the Church of Knowledge, but they tend to gather more than they share, so a strife could brew over that and lead to a split. The party can choose to join the dissenters or crush them.

[@stevejolly8231]

Actually kind of love the idea that an in game deity would be aware that they are part of a game

[@Ambers128]

My group went up against a cult of tiamat. The cult had killed my character's parents and destroyed her family. When we approached an alter of tiamat, I casually tossed an amulet of asmodeus on the alter saying "asmodeus sends his regards."

[@Darkwintre]

Been wondering about this! Still working through this so its great to have a video on the subject!

[@franciscarpentier5452]

Thanks for the awesome video! Religion seems like this big deal when tou read the book, but there's so little about how to use it in game. Can't wait to add some of this to the table next session!

[@TheNerdzerker]

This was really helpful. I'm beginning to write a campaign in the Grim Hollow setting, where my players are basically members of a "Witcher" guild and will have to deal with cults, or the history surrounding the death of the gods

[@mattalford3862]

This was a really fantastic video. I had to rewind it and take notes. I really love fantasy religions and the gods in my games. I do try to use them as often as I can, but this provided me several new ideas. Thank you so much!

[@sorlis5777]

I'm just starting a campaign as a new DM that will heavily feature my homebrew pantheon and demons (basically the canon forgotten realms ones but each is mixed with an equivalent deity from Egyptian mythology) and I'll definitely be using a lot of the advice in this video moving forward!

[@johnbass8480]

Thank you for talking about this neglected aspect of the game. Great tips and insights. I’ve played this video twice so far and will most definitely revisit it, as I do many of your videos. Next time to take notes. Would you consider another video for the player, focusing on how to role play a religious character? I’ve played a couple of clerics and feel like I am just scratching the surface on how to approach role playing the fundamental aspect of the character. I don’t enjoy being overly preachy. Which my fellow players seem to appreciate. I would value your insights as I would a legendary magic item.

[@theDMLair]

Glad to hear you find it useful! I'll consider another for players. Honesty, I'm a player far less than I'm a DM, so I may have less to contribute on that subject.

[@lindenhowlett6723]

I love your videos im a new DM and your videos help me shape my world in a more open world feel that my players love

[@theDMLair]

Awesome! I'm happy to be able to help! :D

I want more about religion! Like descriptions or ideas on how to use it as a player

[@thomasace2547]

In my Wednesday game when I’m playing a PC Goblin Wildfire Druid, he worships his power as an unknown deity, and actively preaches about it in his downtime, and as such has created a cult and accidentally created a Human Cleric so far

[@garionhenry1742]

Currently working on a setting I'm soon gonna DM in that heavily features religion so this was very timely and helpful

[@pathfinderGM]

You can reward players buy using religious knowledge to make a violent into something nonviolent. We had to pass thru a temple of the god of secrets. It was guarded by defenders and a high priestess. We could have fought them but we were hurting and wanting to save spell slots. We decided to sell our secrets for safe passage. My players secret was so valuable that when another player secret turned out to be untrue, unbeknownst to the player, my secret was enough for them to get thru. This also created plot points for us to be attacked in the future with these secrets as well as a side quest for the one player to discover the truth.

[@robstevens1706]

You don’t suck. Thank you for the video. I found I am doing some of these and have created 2 Demi gods which is part of the main plot

[@Shwartzer]

As a cleric unironically working for the foundation and spreading the good word of the galactic spirit, this has been very helpful.

[@jasonsterlingentertainment478]

I rewarded my players to a deamon merchant who buys their goods, sells them magic items, and offers boons for favors, thanks for the tip to make this NPC and religion more prominent in the major story. I've got some great ideas to build on what he's been up to behind the scenes

[@RottenRogerDM]

2. Atheists get no healing except from potions of healing. Healing does not work on PCs with rival Gawds. 6. Paladin can't go adventuring this weekend due to religious holiday.

[@trappyboi8678]

In the FR that type of behavior is punished by Ao. It's also more effective to convert them over than punish others who'll then spread the word of how evil and selfish the god is - reducing potential worship.

[@erc1971erc1971]

I love using religion in my fantasy games. In my current Forgotten Realms Campaign Uthgar, Shar, Mystra, Tempus, Eldath, Meilikki and Selune have been featured heavily in campaign the and are all going to be involved in the conclusion (which admittedly is still a couple years away).

[@eafigarella]

Now all this got me wondering. I tried (and somehow did) to create a world of my own. I purposely made it mostly unexplored because of a major invasion that almost erased the humanoid existence and they are flourishing again thanks to the sacrifice of one of the 2 major gods of that world. What I would love to see is how to properly create (and take note) of the needed elements to create and enrich that world. Because all that is mechanics can be done easy, but how to implement the different cults, write and describe how cultures and races works, how to structure and religion works in society, but as I already said, how to write it down, which order and what descriptions are necessary . I wouldn't like to find myself writing an entire series of game of thrones for creating a world (although is possible), I like to settle down everything and continue to make history because of the players running campaigns in that world. Also you could make it like a discussion with another DM's as experienced creating as yourself, such as the Dungeon Coach. Thanks for your videos, Even if you tube don't recognize it, you certainly don't suck.

[@Romanus7867]

Thanks, just gave me an idea to spice up my next campaign in Waterdeep.

[@ajcoetzer4711]

I had no idea that Garry could growl 😂

[@CthuliusRex2023]

Just multiclassed into cleric. So this was super useful. Thanks!

[@leandrochavez6480]

I have a playlist to help me make adventures this video will be there too, thanks Luke!

[@Federe76]

I hope you take this as constructive and I know maybe it's just me. The sketchs at the start are nice, but not that appealing to me. For several videos now, I find myself skipping the sketch, because I want to hear what Luke has to say. I throw this out there just in case other people feel similar, and in the extreme possible case that you would be going through all the work that I assume a sketch takes when ir's not that necessary. Love your core content, thanks for everything you do.

[@theDMLair]

Thank you for your feedback dude. Happy to hear that you like the other content.

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

Second session I ever ran for the guys, there was a religious procession associated with a festival. I was using the festival just to mark the calendar and give me a unique ambiance to describe the mood of the city. They ended up leveraging the day of goodwill and good deeds to force the Church of the silver Flame to publicly right a wrong from generations ago. I gave the instigating player inspiration each morning for a week (I think I got that from Xanathars guide). The campaign's not even religion-centric.

[@wildankautsar7148]

6:00 this is the important part about fantasy religion in my opinion.. Mythos has a good example for the system

[@odgreen9113]

I see a skip the skit time stamp in the description. Nah, those skits are great, watch them every time

[@jgr7487]

D&D having a polytheistic basis helps a lot with that. just to mention real life stuff, Aphrodite was worshiped as a war goddess in Sparta, & only there, while Rome had its Imperial worship & the Emperor was something between the Pope today & a minor deity. DMs aren't bounded by what the DMG says about religion. go crazy, have your special pantheistic temples where *all* gods are worshiped or have your Oath of the Crown Pally worship the ruling monarch.

[@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046]

Thank you! This topic is close to my heart, as I have worked for years to learn to handle D&D religion the way religion operates in the Real World. In our Real World, there are religions that disagree with one another & even split over their disagreements, thus creating a maze of religious pitfalls - even within the same religion. I also apply this idea to non-religious groups, such as Harpers. Look at the background: Harpers groups popped up at various times throughout history, and always according to the needs, fashions, and opportunities at the time. What if several different leaders & views popped up about the same time? Would these would-be Harpers agree on everything? Would they always be willing & ready to cooperate on projects? Would they trust one another? Would the leaders be happy for having competition? Would they want all want the other groups to join theirs? Would they be happy to give up their vision & join the other group? The same also happens with religions, so let's try to make it "real" by allowing variation & disagreement among followers of the same deities & principles. Notice I've not mentioned Good or Evil until now. I generally assume that churches are themselves neutral, while their followers, acolytes, priests, clerics, etc., might tend toward good or evil. This allows followers of a "good" or "evil" deity to fall from the path & take actions deemed uncharacteristic, while remaining more or less within proper standing of the church. Now, while organizations of every kind tend to be lawful, neutral & chaotic organizations simply blend in varying degrees of local vs. central authority, autonomy vs. compulsion, liberty vs. discipline, etc. Again, these can simply be thought of as neutral, so that members, followers, npcs, pcs, etc., can be of various alignments while all remaining within the organization's parameters.

[@erraticpaladin5]

I just started a new campaign and I have two paladins in the party. I decided to do something different from the typical holy avenger style paladin and instead their powers don’t come from a deity. One character’s oath to bring back his deceased family is so strong that it imbued him with power. Another idolizes an ancient hero so much and strives towards the concept of heroism so greatly that her powers come from that drive alone.

[@Wolfen5207]

"Religion is usually an afterthought." While I'm creating my first homebrew setting and the end goal is for the players to stop a cult that worships one of my evil gods, meanwhile the cult has corrupted the leader of the Theocratic country that neighbors the country they will be starting out in.

[@zendikarisparkmage2938]

On a scale from 1 to 10, I am extremely tired right now, but I will still remind the algorithm that Luke Hart doesn't suck.

[@MrChristophSteininge]

Particularly important on Toril, where even Druids and Rangers need a definite patron deity. I cannot imagine a campaign in Faerun where the gods dont come into play. And there are so many of them, some are even dead and can be "resurrected"! When you play 3.5e there are even prestige classes of non cleric devotees of particular gods. And when you hit level 40 you need to think about becoming a god (or quasi deity).

[@AvengerYouT]

I like to add those small cultural details. In my Greyhawk campaign, the Flan people usually leave potted plants by the window to honor Obad-Hai. If the plant is in good health, it's a sign of the god's favor.

[@Hedron-Design]

Good tips especially for someone that is using a custom pantheon like I am in my own setting. I do not want to plop down a dictionary size book of religious lore but instead showcase the religion/s organically as the game unfolds.

[@Rubymagicalgirl88]

Solid tips. I have added into my game world the concept of tokens that act as invites to attempt to scale the paths to the godly realms. Basically dungeon I still need to design, and have had two gods show themselves. It has created problems as the players liked it. I did it as part of Rime of the frostmaiden as their is a relevant sun boon. Long term not the best idea but only because ai have been lucky.

[@theDMLair]

Well considering that many players enjoy playing the game because they gain power and level up I think that the idea of being able to Ascend to godhood would appeal to players as well.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

As someone who's had to deal with "Ascension" from time to time in the past, it's not an all terrible thing to dread looking forward to... It's just experience and opinion, here... Based on a premise that upon actually achieving god-hood, there's a limited amount of play-space to remain... SO I've always reserved whatever test, ordeal, or other ritualized engagement that achieves "full official Ascension" to be a last Act of the Character's Arc, retiring the PC and allowing the Player to create a sort of Epilogue to share. The reason for the share, is that we're ALL (at least part time) GM's at the Table. SO a resource for one should be shared, at least to a limited basis in case there's no escaping it at some point later. We often rotate during Campaigns, allowing regular breaks from GM'ing, and letting each new "Acting GM" start with the next Adventure Arc... (just to be clear) Not all PC's actually manage to gain full Ascension at our Table. It turns out, without the potential for failure and stakes to be substantially involved, Players aren't so tempted to enjoy or respect it as a process or mechanic... Otherwise, remember to breathe, and that just because a PC made it to full deification, that doesn't mean that particular new religion necessarily be a part of EVERY game in the future... It's just another resource you MIGHT add into the next setting. ;o)

[@Rubymagicalgirl88]

@@theDMLair That wasn't actually what I meant but giving people a chance to become a god is definitely a good idea. I just liked the idea of a multi Tier dungeon of celestial creatures and human worshippers. I especially wanted to play with the godly offspring creature. I forget the name.

[@zenhikerjoe844]

Great content, even better skit! :D

[@theDMLair]

Thank you!

[@christophercronkhite5694]

One idea I recently had is to include either quests, trials or some kind of initiation that the character(s) have to complete. If they do, then their deity, or some agent like an Angel or high priest/priestess endow them with extra gifts of either magical items or special powers. OR, as a nasty surprise twist, they find out that the church/temple where they were given the the task is actually corrupted by another god/demon/whatever. So now there’s that to deal with 😈 either join that entity and accept their “gifts” or stand firm and get nothing, except maybe pain and torment 😈😈😈

[@mordaeu1411]

My mini campaign has some religion sprinkled in due to my character being a paladin, but I might also add it somehow to effect the other players. I know there's going to be minor conflicts between religious areas, resulting in the party to intervene. Making up my own lores, cultures and geography but using the handbook as guides and references.

[@Fenlander216]

Had a few sessions in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. One of the players was a follower of Shallaya who was the goddess of mercy and healing. The party found a mutant child and rather than kill due to the law of the land they turned on a local witch hunter instead and defended the mutant child. The cult of Shallaya was already in hot water after harbouring mutants in their hospitals and this just gave the followers of Sigmar the excuse to arrest the cult members and have some of the burned at the stake for heresy and harbouring chaos spawn. As the players left the city under a cloud they started to find wanted posters with their pictures on them for being chaos worshipers. This resulted in the monk of Shallaya (the players) falling to Tzeentch and gaining mutations after he made a deal with a demon to escape prison, and the party mage gaining mutations and the rest of the party killed them on the spot. Now the players are helping the Witch Finder General of Nuln in stopping a cult of vampires who seek to infiltrate the Empire's nobility. They worked hard to clear their names from these crimes, and the burnings are starting to come to a stop as the word is spreading that it was chaos followers spreading this misinformation about Shallaya.

[@JMDornb]

When I was co-DM'ing a game in Waterdeep many years ago I had an idea concerning Loviatar, the Neutral Evil Maiden of Pain and Cold (if memory serves correct). I made up a sect of her religion that believed in 'No Pain, No Gain' as a guiding principle of life. This sect were all fitness fanatics and were more neutral than evil. A healthy body is a good body and to get a healthy body you need to suffer and prove you deserve it! In Waterdeep they opened an exercise facility called Lovi's Spa where they really put it to their customers on treadmills, iron maiden sauna's, etc. When you ran around the indoor track you were chased by a flail-wielding fitness coach, and if he (or she) caught you, they owned your body. Customers said it made for a great workout. So its possible that a religion of a given deity may have two or more sects, and some may not get along with the others, seeing them as blasphemous or an annoyance. Could lead to some interesting adventures.

[@EatAnOctorok]

My first game was Tomb of Annihilation, and my PC, a bard, has DD’s. After a near-miss encounter with a bunch of sailors in Port Nyanzaru, she’s generally got the idea that if they ever show up again, she’ll run up to the Temple of Sune and complain of the “brutish males who wish to make a mess of beauty”.

[@camerongunn7906]

Always love playing a cleric of Lathander. The look on the party's face when the cleric hooks up with hot barmaid and is like "I follow The Morning Lord, not that stuffy Paladin god!"

[@Eric.Charnesky]

Hey KZbin, this guy doesn't suck! For real though, very cool ideas to incorporate the commonly pushed aside religion aspect of the game

[@mentalrebllion1270]

Recently took to playing an astral elf. Since the race description mentions that astral elves migrated to the astral sea to be closer to their deities, I figured this meant that religion had some impact to the daily life of an astral elf. That meant picking one. Since they were an elf I figured Corellon was the best and suited a lot of what my character did, especially the arts aspect. Religion still doesn’t play much of a role for my character. He doesn’t expound on the virtues and value of his god, but I do utilize the presence of one to show it as a sanctuary for him to deal with his trauma. It’s a personal thing for him though. I have another character in a campaign who is actually fighting a winter goddess, going so far as to taunt her by leaving fabric snowdrop flowers at places of her worship. He has his own goddess who I show he has a deep respect for. Given he is also a drow he also has a contempt for Lolth and her place in the pantheon and presence for drow society. This I directly correlate to his disrespect of the winter goddess he is fighting because to him she is essentially “more of the same” type as Lolth is. On top of this my drow was provided a blessing by the god of dawn (can’t recall the name off top of my head at the moment) who is in opposition to the plots of the winter goddess. So my drow is actually backed by two gods, his goddess Eilistraee who he turns to in his daily life, and “friend of a friend” dawn god whose current motives match his own and so they are essentially helping each other. My drow has even gone as far as to leave his snowdrop fabric flowers at the temple as an offering as a way of promising he will try to bring spring to the winter trapped lands. Dm even had the god give a small acknowledgment through that offering that the vow was received. As for his own goddess, he spends each full moon in the forest playing his flute. He prefers to keep most of his worship private but he keeps a personal shrine in his room (he owns an inn) and lives next to a forest where he does this. Most of the towns people of that village are aware of his worship though. Anyway. Mostly I don’t have characters to do much more than use it as a way of privately seeking solace and advice. It’s a personalized comfort and ritual to them, not a back and forth conversation. It’s probably because I don’t actually play a Paladin or a cleric however. So I usually lean into real world daily usage a normal citizen might have for religion, namely, as something to turn to in hardship or give them the comfort of ritual or community to be part of that might be like minded.

[@Darkwintre]

I've been tinkering with a setting where a Gith Warlock crafted a series of artefacts that granted their bearer (himself) the power of a god, but it went bad after he killed the wrong sacrifice allowing his true target to escape with one of his combined artefacts. Stunned by the event he was killed by his lieutenants who took one or more of the remaining artefacts and set about trying to acquire the others to ascend like their late master tried. Before he lost control he created the Divine Gates denying the gods and their celestial and fiendish servants access to the mortal world. The only exception being a Vestigal Celestial Archon who was bound to the artefact stolen by the wood elven child. That entity is stuck in the Feywild unable to return to her true home and the only entity able to cross into the mortal world. The deities preyed on her wish to return to her celestial birthplace using her to secure entry into the mortal world, however this resulted in these commonly thought good deities being merged with their evil variant as most ignored the plight of the goddess helping them. However two evil entities chose to try to help the stricken Moon Goddess namely the Maiden of Spiders and the Maiden of Scorpions both entities previously under the control of the Oblivion freed by accident by Kestra (the Moon Goddess) bringing them out of the Abyss and into the Feywild where they're getting used to their new status (now CN and not CE doesn't mean that effects their followers mind you!). Sorry its very much a work in progress but couldn't help trying to type this up here.

[@johncoviello8067]

In my current campaign arc the entire plot revolves around the ancient gods and their priests. They were persecuted and their deities lost to time….until now

[@michaelramon2411]

Pathfinder Adventure Paths usually do a good job of integrating a religion or two as recurring elements throughout a six-book series, though it occasionally gets a little odd ("It's those guys AGAIN?") One good way to use religion is to introduce an unusual or counter-stereotypical group or worshipper. In my own campaign, I had a cult of the Neutral Evil goddess of undeath and gluttony, Urgathoa, that worshipped her in a probably-heretical True Neutral form that is JUST about hedonism. The players were super-suspicious of them, but they weren't actually doing anything bad. They were basically a group of punk goth who threw really wild parties. The PCs actually ended up on good terms with them.

[@littlegiantj8761]

I made a ruleset for praying in my campaigns (roll a d100; get an inspiration die). Anyone can do it. Ripped the items for it from a 3rd edition Cleric/Paladin book.

[@Leniathan]

Another good video

[@Simonar1000]

It’s very interesting thanks for the tips!

[@rayraysully5486]

I love this! Thank you so much ❤

[@Kizzy-qb9si]

I’ve had religious melee characters. My first character was raised by wood elves so she worshipped the gods and my certain rogue is a follower of mystra for backstory reasons. Of course, I’ve had plenty of paladins but I usually take a god for backstory reason.

[@agsilverradio2225]

The Acolite background is religious too. Druids, warlocks, hermits, and cultists, can also be religous or suito-religious.

[@MasterTMO]

My campaign is a medieval fantasy version of Egypt. Churches are everywhere (the PCs are actually renting rooms from one to stay in), and *a* god has shown up twice. But I really need to figure out what the difference is between a church that primarily focuses on Ra vs Horus vs Isis (and so on). It's a weak point in my campaign world.

[@Darkwintre]

listening to the situation regarding Avernus and the Feywild. My wood elf cleric: Hey stay out of my temple! Is now unable to return to her Refuge an abandoned temple in the Feywild until she can find a way to banish the various demons and devils loitering around her temple before they find a way in!

[@alaskan6430]

ATTN KZbin: Luke Doesn't Suck!!

[@JK-jt3lr]

I like this approach as it strikes me as odd that people in our gaming worlds are not fawning all over these deities that can cure their wounds, lift curses and raise the dead. Favours in agriculture, hunting and building, just underscores this. While wizards might be good, their powers are for the select few, but the powers of deities are more readily accessible to the common man. Maybe we have let the prevalent atheism in our western culture, come in the way of realigion as it would logically be viewed in DnD?

[@thatdmguy4512]

Really helpful im currently running a cult takeover in the land atm

[@andrewbriggs2692]

ravnica/eberron hybrid. guilds can have some members with religious level of devotion. the part of the political landscape. but there are also conclaves and circles out side of guilds. also specific cultures worship certain deities.

[@justanotherdayinthelife9841]

I am a staunch atheist and anti theist, and honestly religion in games I play in or run just turns me off from it immediately, though I recognize that when I run games where pc's are religious, or they want religion in the game world, I realize I am extremely weak in doing so. Videos like this are very helpful for me on this topic. Thank you.

[@wanderdragon1075]

I like having active greater powers in my worlds. They give advice, sometimes grant miracles, and are generally active with their faiths. But, they don’t solve everything for two reasons. 1. This isn’t a monotheistic setting. If one god makes a move, another could respond and makes things worse in the long run. They serve as a check and balance on each other in the cosmic order. 2. They have planar concerns they’re dealing with, not just events on the Prime Material. They aren’t omniscient, or all powerful. Even the Greater Powers have their limits.

[@AflacMan13]

I played a game of 5e once, where one of the players played a Paladin of "The Zaa Lord". As in Pizza. His deity was a guy who had an animal form of a Schnauzer, and was the deity of "Home and Hearth" and had "given the gift of pizza to the world". The player was on a quest to become The Pope of The Zaa Lord's religion; said religion that we created just for this silly joke, that became a rather integral part of the RP and lore of the world. His religious symbol was an Ankh shaped like a rotary pizza cutter.

[@snick9314]

ive already made a structured political system behind my worlds but when it comes down to its leaders capabilities they are still mere mortal so I was thinking on throwing in some minor demon lords/dieties into the mix to make em more interesting (kinda reincarnated as a slime style structure) to make things more interesting

[@n0n4m3_17]

I for one plan to use religion as the main difference between most races in my fantasy world. You see, in my world, the planet was "terraformed" by old and powerful Dragons. They have a religion. One of the Dragons have a separate religion. (A hateful one) also I have Chaos Gods(they are purple eyed demons of hell). Also there are Celestials as "Rebells" from Angelhood or Demonhood. Also two separate ones for Humans... I literally wrote each one's background for at least several 10s of hours by now...

[@derekstaubitz]

Have you used any of the tips in THEROS to give your religious players personal quests?

[@jamesmachuta2010]

I plan religious ideas for all my characters, and use religion as both major and minor themes in the games I run

[@kylethomas9130]

Playing a Dragonborn in Faerun is odd, the culture has an almost militant agnostic set up. As a Barbarian he has a respect and confidence in the wilderness and natural powers. How do I rectify the clash of culture and class for my character?

[@Joshuazx]

Videos I didn't know I wanted!

[@theDMLair]

Happy to help!!! :D

[@keiths81ca]

Is schism possible in gnostic settings such as Forgotten Realms?

[@ZeroSurviv0rs]

In the game my DM is running we just had an almost TPK in a large battle, My PC died and since I had not chosen any religion to follow I ended up being dragged tthrough the deepest parts of hell before I was resurrected. Needless to say I am now seeking a religion for my rogue before this happens again.

[@greaterrestoration6214]

I absolutely love having a fun pantheon in my game, and you don't always have to be a cleric or paladin to become a champion of a god. Some of my plots are from dreams or "visits" from God's to set things in motion, it also helps them feel like there is a much grander scale to the universe and it gives the possiblity of a otherworldly danger they must overcome.

[@timothymaddux9018]

KZbin, this guy DONT SUCK

[@Hedron-Design]

I used to play an Orc that took his mission to spread the "gospel of Gruumsh" quite seriously. His preaching was even more legendary than his smashing!

[@dgpainting638]

Mythic oddesseys of Theros is good at helping how to run a god/deity based game too

[@theDMLair]

Sitting on my shelf.... One of these days I'll have time to read it. Promise! :D

[@SGAman123_]

I have a wood-elf who follows Lolth

[@jessedavies9286]

I recently started a decent to Avernus campaign. I didn’t like the original hook and decided to try and use the Paladin’s religion to bring the party to Baldr. Which luckily he was worshiping Tyr a god that sees The cult of the dead three as enemies

[@Cybearman]

gtrat channrl. i feel your force Luke.