Dungeons and Dragons, "The Five"

Gods of Dungeons and Dragons

            I really liked writing up my unique take on Orcs a while back, that their society has a different take on religion that I think makes them more interesting than the simple brutal monsters they are often portrayed as.

            I also never really went anywhere with my discussion of Religion as an aspect of settings that I wrote about months before that.

            To that end I figured I would write up some of my stranger and off the beaten path religious aspects of my own campaign world and see what people think.

The Five

            The five are a Pantheon of gods that work in concert with one another, they each seen as aspects of a larger concept, the Cycle of Life.  None of them are in conflict and followers of the religion do not acknowledge the existence of other gods/faiths.  The Five are worshiped as a pantheon by most, but there are Exemplars (Acolytes) that specialize in one of the Five and seek to embody that aspect (Exemplars are not always Clerics).

"Is Mother Nature ever a MILF?"
"I guess if you are, like, Zeus or something."

Holy Symbol:

Pentagon (Faith as a Whole)

            Mother Nature: Circle

            Father Time: Hour Glass

            Ladies of Fate: Triangle

            Thousand Faced Hero: Sword

            Grim Reaper: Scyth

Cleric Domains:

When worshiped as a Pantheon, the Life domain is preferred, as it encapsulates the entirety of the religions aspects.  Much like the symbols Exemplars specialize in particular domains.

            Mother Nature: Nature

            Father Time: Knowledge

            Ladies of Fate: Trickery

            Thousand Faced Hero: War

            Grim Reaper: Death

"I have no idea what I set this alarm for.  Why did I make it such a catchy song?  Was that a clue?"

World View & Mythos:

There are five wise and powerful beings that like the facets of a gem, are each a part of the larger whole of Life itself.  These beings help and guide the mortal races, each of these five in turn having domain over an aspect of the mortal realm.

            The first is the life-giving power of Mother Nature, she is the keeper of life, the earth upon which all else rests.

            The second is Father Time, animating the universe, shifting between possibilities, and possessing the great knowledge of the future and wisdom of the ages.  Like the air he is all about us unseen, and like smoke and steam cloud our vision, uncertainty clouds our view of the future and our understanding of the past.

            Third is the Ladies of Fate, or the Three as One, those who weave into their designs a place and calling for all people, they are the water of the tide, to which all inevitably surrender.

            Fourth is the Thousand Faced Hero.  Not one being but all beings who face challenges and thru strength or guile persevere, he is the fire that tempers our souls.

            Last is the Grim Reaper, the final end to all things.  Bringing closure and rest to those who have passed thru the world, the Reaper is the void and aether from which nothing returns.

Beliefs:

The universe is made of many different energies and forces that work in concert.  All of these things play their parts and have place.  Life springs forth, moves thru the ages, facing conflict as it goes, fulfills its destiny, and then passes on.

            While each of these parts deserves its own ruminations and there are innumerable virtues that can be embodied by any one person, it does not change the fact that all of these five parts are necessary for the world to exist.

I have written about this cartoon.  Have I reached a point where I have enough blog entries that I can regularly reference my deeper thoughts on various inspirations?  Maybe?

Practices:

            This faith is most commonly known for its monasteries.  Spotting the map, they serve as way points for pilgrims and travelers form all over the country.  Harvest festivals, historical remembrances, star gazing, tournaments, and funerary services are provided by the faithful, and their monasteries often have large tombs or graveyards.

            As the faith, by their own thinking, has aspects in every facet of life they provide numerous services that tie into community life.

Superstitions and Taboos:

            Being rather disparate, the monasteries have no unifying set of superstitions or taboos.  They are big believers in hospitality, and that everything happens for a reason, so they do not put much stock in luck, but instead in the value of people doing positive things for one another, like feeding the hungry, giving compliments and encouragement, or just giving clear instructions.

I think a better illustration of this concept exists.
I just couldn't find one.

Social Organization:

            There is no single unifying church hierarchy.  While each cloister varies and has its own local flavor, they tend to be broken into two major camps, the contemplative, those that ponder the meaning of life often writing long philosophical treatise, and the communal, those that emphasize working with communities and providing a variety of services in exchange for donations and help around the monastery.

Cults & Heretics:

            While most other religions have a diametric opposite, by simply flipping the dogma from kindness to hate, freedom to tyranny, or life to Death, the Five do not suffer from this.  While they are not the state religion of any kingdom they are also not aggressive with their missionary work, so they are not seen as a threat.  No one persecutes followers of the Five, and they have no equivalent to “Satan worshipers”.

            The closest thing to heresy is that some orders believe that other gods exist and incorporate them into worship in a variety of ways, celebrating their holidays, incorporating the imagery into their burial grounds and structures, or citing their religious texts in their writings.

I liked this image of Death so much from my blog on "Celestial Warlock Patrons" that I am using it again.

Inspiration

            There are three pop culture inspirations for this religion.

The first is the Color Wheel from Magic the Gathering.  I tried to make each of the Five line up to a color, Green (Nature), Blue (Time), White (Fate), Red (Heroism), and Black (Death).  It is perhaps not a perfect line up, and some bleed between the elements because White, Black, and Green tend to not have elements tied to them.  I first started coming up with this idea for a religion when I wrote about Magic the Gathering’s color wheel being a better Alignment system.

Speaking of elements here is the other thing that inspired the Five, “Captain Planet and the Planeteers”.  I think it might be an odd choice for me to replace Heart with Death… I think I need to write something about the Planeteers in the future.  They are easy to mock, but as an adult I have seen new value it what the show was about, and have referenced it before.

Where is my dark and cynical reboot of this?
Where Hoggish Greedly is president and the fucking world is coming to an end?

Lastly, I was inspired by Piers Anthony’s “Incarnations of Immortality” series.  Each of the Five is taken right from that series, except he had War instead of the Hero with 1,000 faces.  While I do feel that conflict makes sense as a key aspect of the Five (his was really 7, as God and Satan are also in there), War just seems to inherently negative a concept.  To me, war is not an inevitable aspect of life, it is an unfortunate event that most people avoid direct contact with.  Heroism, which can be embodied in a number of ways felt like a more universal idea.  (I have mentioned this series before.)

What Do You Think

            Would this religion fit in your game world?  Do you think that the aspects are too generic and require sprucing up?  Would you like to see more detail about each of the Five?

            Feel free to put a link to your own fantasy faiths in the comments for contrast.  I am curious about how other people stretch things in their worlds away from the more common, “chose one from the list” style of pantheons in other games.

            And have fun.

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