Faith – in all of its many forms – has been one of the biggest factors in forming community and law throughout our history. People grouping together with a common belief to worship a something greater than themselves and spreading their way of life to praise that entity. Thus, arguably one of the most important elements of a fantasy world too! Though the difference between fantasy and the real world is that God(s) can be as involved with the world as you like. In the real world, regardless of your religious stance, it can be difficult to prove if a God does or does not exists. However in a fantasy world, a God can literally appear and proclaim their laws in front of the city; they empower their clerics and paladins to do their will and grant them holy magic; in game there are whole planes dedicated to them to exist on.

Building a pantheon is perhaps my favourite part of worldbuilding, but where it fits into the process is always tricky to gauge. Previously I began everything with my pantheon tied into the creation story and continued from there, however this time I want to take a different approach due to the nature of my new world. This time around the God or Gods will already have existed on their plane as timeless and ethereal beings, then once the world formed out the fragments of primordial energy, they saw the Material Plane as a place where they could manifest their power. But who is God?

Today, let’s look at the different kinds of Gods we might choose. There’s three main categories I’m going to look at, which are: monotheism, dualism, and the pantheon.

Monotheism

Monotheism is where followers worship a single entity, or God; they are the all powerful being and have no equal. In a game-world setting, this is perhaps the most uncommon choice, but I think it has potential to be one of the most interesting as this means that this entity is responsible for all domains of clerics – and furthermore all moralities. If your world only has one God you have to question if they are responsible for all things evil as well as all things good. A God who is truly neutral sounds like a terrifying prospect – an absolute judge on all morality.

Or perhaps this God would manifest itself in many forms, appearing differently to its worshippers; a God of trickery and deception. This leads me on to think that a monotheistic God could be an evil deity, turning the mortal races against each other for its own amusement. The God thrives in both opposing side’s praise and enjoys the exploits of its worshippers.

On the flip side, a monotheistic God of good nature could be equally interesting – however it would suggest that they are not all powerful if evil should exist within the world. Perhaps it is the evil within a mortal’s own heart which corrupts an otherwise perfect world and this is why evil is not smote from the Material Plane – out of love for the God’s followers.

Monotheism is an interesting concept to explore in your religion creation, but the focus should be on how this sole entity is the final word on everything; all powerful.

Dualism

Next, let’s discuss dualism. Dualism is the belief that there are two opposed supreme powers or Gods, and that both are necessary for the world to exist. Perhaps the most popular analogy would be to use Star Wars and the light and dark sides of the force. The balance of the force is constantly fluid yet one never truly overpowers the other, for if it did that would mean the end of the world as we know it – one way or another. The important thing to remember when creating a dualistic religion is that both sides are equally essential and will have an equally devout following.

The immediately obvious decision is to choose a force for good and a force for evil. Now, I’m a sucker for a good trope but I think that when it comes to Gods and faith this should be done with caution. With dualism there is a huge risk of your religions becoming very black and white, leaving little room for the morally grey – which so many of the best roleplaying situations stem from. However perhaps this is the case and hard line morality is going to be prevalent in your world, which could lead to equally interesting situations.

A slightly less cliched alternative would be to choose law against chaos. Not entirely original, but immediately far more scope for the worshippers of either – perhaps causing a divide within the followers of each half. A follower of law returns a lost purse they find in the street, but another follower of law is a property merchant bleeding his tenant’s purses dry with tax. Both of these people are technically law abiding citizens however one could be considered a selfish act and the other selfless – creating tension.

Furthermore, it is interesting to explore dualism outside of the boundaries of Gods and view in more of a Star Wars ilk – as a force. Everything living has its own energy connected to this force, which means that every living thing will have either a good or bad spirit (or whatever two contrasting forces you choose). I have never used this in game but I find the concept fascinating and, if implemented properly, could be incredibly immerse. This concept is very similar to the Japanese Shinto religion, which also believe that certain spirits are greater than others – usually dependant on their value or size. Imitating this in a fantasy setting would add a whole new layer to the world; that everything exists in a hierarchy with each other. The flowers bow to the mountains, who in turn bow to the sea and the sky.

The Pantheon

Finally let’s discuss the most common form of religion in fantasy; the pantheon. A pantheon is a collection of Gods who usually each have power over a specific domain (or several), like that of the Romans and the Greeks. There is no shortage of these within fantasy – just ask Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, and Bethesda – but I would argue that it avoids becoming a trope due to how diverse this template is.

The first thing I’d suggest you think about is how many tiers your pantheon is going to have. Is their a chief deity who manages over the others? In history we have the likes of Zeus and Odin. They are strong enough to rule the others and keep them in check, however it doesn’t necessarily make them all powerful, which is why the Gods beneath them possess their own domains and particular sets of skills. The smaller these domains, perhaps the less power the God controls – leading to things such as jealousy and trickery. A pantheon could function on as a level playing field, however I find the possibility of God politics too tempting to ignore.

The next question is to what extent your Gods are bound to their domains? By domains I mean what the God is worshipped for and what they control. There are a few ways to go about this and a number of interesting storytelling points to each.

Firstly, your Gods can literally be their domain. This is one of the most simple and primal ways to think of Gods; as forces of nature. Though this concept is not limited to nature, a God could manifest within an abstract noun such as celebration, love, or death, just as easily. This concept is interesting as it allows for the possibility of some God’s power to wax and wain. If a plague spreads across the land, the God of Death shall thrive while perhaps the God of Celebration is diminished. By this measure, could you kill a God by killing an idea? A very interesting campaign setup!

Secondly, your Gods can represent their domain and have very specific caretaker-like roles. At the risk of using too many Tolkien analogies on this blog – here’s another! Tolkien’s pantheon in The Silmarillion is a perfect example of this, as each of the Valar (essentially the Gods of Middle-Earth) have a domain but are their own being and can come and go as they please. They have relationships with each other and are conscious of the world. They are powerful in their own right, but at the end of the day they are the keepers of their own domain and bound to it.

Thirdly and finally, Gods could control a domain from afar. They have no personal connection to it and just happen to be an almighty being that is in control which mortals should pay homage to. This train of thought is interesting as it means the ‘ownership’ of different domains is fluid. The sea could one day be calm under the control of a gentle God, and the next a furious storm as a God of chaos takes over. This lends itself well to the alignment system of D&D, and I think it is important to have all nine moralities represented in some shape or form if you choose to have a pantheon.

I hope this has given an insight into a variety of the different ways you can go about creating a faith within your world. Next time I will start to focus on my own world and creating a mythos behind the Gods and how to involve them in your stories and campaigns.