Spes Magna Games

In the first part of this thought experiment, I focused on how the setting’s true God would function within a monotheistic campaign setting. In this second part, I will focus on what to do about the other gods and goddesses mistakenly worshiped by ignorant PCs and NPCs.

Step #3: The Other Gods and Goddesses

What about the lesser beings mistakenly worshiped as gods and goddesses in your monotheistic campaign setting? In keeping with real-world history, the existence of a true God in your campaign setting doesn’t mean that other religions in the setting suddenly cease to exist. As is the case with other D&D settings, you can still have your monotheistic campaign setting be set in an otherwise predominantly classical pagan world.

Since clerics of other faiths would need to get their divine spells from somewhere (this is a rule that has been present in all the published editions of D&D), it makes sense that these “lesser gods and goddesses” would still exist in the campaign setting. That perhaps could be one of the religious mysteries centered around the true God of your monotheistic campaign: “Why does the true God permit the existence and worship of other gods and goddesses by the ignorant?”

The classical Jewish and Christian understanding of the pagan gods was that, if they actually did exist and simply weren’t made up, they were perhaps higher angelic spirits who rebelled against God and left their assigned posts in the celestial hierarchy. So, perhaps in your monotheistic campaign, the other gods and goddesses were originally high-ranking Celestials assigned to protect individual groups of mortals, but something happened in the mythic past that caused these high-ranking Celestials to be worshiped mistakenly as deities and demigods. Whether it was intentionally done by the Celestials themselves or done first by the mortals can be left up to the GM’s prerogative.

In AD&D’s first and second published editions, a deity’s divine rank (greater, lesser, et cetera) set a limit on the adherent cleric’s granted spells (which before 3rd Edition was limited to the 7th spell level). In an old school style game, perhaps the GM can use this mechanic to differentiate the setting’s true God from the other gods and goddesses. Thus, the true God would be the only available deity who is at the divine rank of “greater deity”. According to the 1st Edition Deities and Demigods handbook, the following information is how cleric spells and patron deities normally operate:

1. All 1st and 2nd level cleric spells are gained through the cleric’s knowledge and faith. 3rd and higher level cleric spells are gained through the act of prayer.

2. 3rd through 5th level cleric spells are granted by the supernatural servants or minions of the cleric’s patron deity. For example, a cleric of a lawful good deity would, after praying, receive his 3rd through 5th level cleric spells through a Celestial creature appointed as the deity’s intermediary to the cleric. These appointed supernatural servants and minions range from creatures to demigods.

3. A cleric whose patron deity is of the demigod rank (and not the lesser god or greater god rank) receives his 3rd through 5th level spells directly from their patron deity. In 1st Edition, a demigod could not grant cleric spells above 5th level.

4. 6th and 7th level spells are granted to clerics directly from their patron deities (in this case being lesser gods and greater gods). In 1st Edition, a lesser god could not grant cleric spells above 6th level; only a greater god could grant 7th level cleric spells.

In terms of keeping the setting’s true God as the only deity at the divine rank of greater god, the GM could simply downgrade the other gods and goddesses by one divine rank so that none of them rank higher than lesser god. Not only will this make potential clerics of the true God notably stand out when they inevitably appear in the campaign, but the ability to receive 6th level cleric spells from the other gods and goddesses can serve as an in-game incentive for many PCs and NPCs to persist in their ignorance of the setting’s true God being the only deity worthy of worship.

I now come to the end of my article for this gaming blog. I hope it proves useful to anyone reading it that pondered how to do a monotheistic campaign setting at their gaming table.

Tags: monotheism, world-building

(Today’s post is not me, Mark L. Chance, getting back into writing for this site. Rather, it’s Christopher “Giant Boy” Chance stepping in as a guest poster. Huzzah.)

How One Could Do A Monotheistic Campaign (Part I)

Greetings, readers of Spes Magna Games. This is Christopher Chance (aka Giant Boy) writing this feature blog post. I have been giving thought to how one could do a monotheistic campaign setting for a D&D campaign, mainly because I wish to encourage fellow Christians to not be afraid of participating in table-top, pencil-and-paper roleplaying games. Here is how I think it could work if you come across players who are either uncomfortable with or don’t want to play in a polytheistic campaign setting.

Step #1: The GM Gets to Have the Final Say

This one should be a no-brainer. Yes, healthy gaming groups have a GM who is willing to listen to advice and feedback from his or her players when the situation warrants it, but the players should know and be willing to accept that the GM ultimately has the final say. If the GM does not wish to do a monotheistic campaign, then the players should be willing to accept this. But, if the GM is willing to try their hand at something that seems rare at D&D tables, we should proceed to the next steps.

Step #2: The One True God

In a monotheistic campaign setting, the true God (or “High God” if you want to take a henotheistic variant on this idea) needs to clearly stand out from the lesser beings that the ignorant PCs and NPCs in your campaign setting mistakenly worship as gods or goddesses. The true God in a monotheistic campaign not only needs to be a purely spiritual being but also the “Uncreated Creator” of the campaign setting in general. According to classical positions among philosophers, the following would be traits you would need to give your setting’s true God:

1. Aseity: The setting’s true God does not depend on any cause other than himself for his existence, realization, and end, and has within himself his own reason of existence.

2. Immutability: The setting’s true God is unchanging in his character, will, and covenant promises.

3. Impassibility: The setting’s true God does not experience pain or pleasure from the actions of another being.

4. Ineffability: The setting’s true God surpasses the ability of language to fully express his nature, attributes, motives, et cetera.

5. Omnibenevolence: The setting’s true God possesses maximum goodness and permits the existence of evil in order to bring a greater good out of it.

6. Omnipotence: The setting’s true God possesses maximum power and can do all things that are logically possible that do not contradict his other attributes.

7. Omniscience: The setting’s true God possesses maximum knowledge of all things that are logically possible.

8. Simplicity: The setting’s true God is a single, unified entity with no distinction between his attributes. He has no parts.

9. Transcendence: The setting’s true God is completely independent of the material world (e.g., all of Creation itself) and is beyond all physical laws.

The GM should decide if and when the true God decides to make himself known to the residents of the campaign setting for the purpose of starting an organized religion around him. To make the campaign setting “nice and messy” about which religion is true (as most inhabitants would be ignorant that the true God is the only being worthy of receiving divine worship), the lesser gods and goddesses should have organized religions and cults built up around them as well.

This brings us to the end of the first part of this thought experiment. In the second part, I will give thoughts on how to handle the lesser gods and goddesses in a monotheistic campaign setting.

Tags: monotheism, world-building