Other religions (A question)

[Noctournys]

I enjoy playing characters who are inspired by faith in the divine - particularly a priest or paladin. I feel that such a character can present an interesting puzzle to other characters and perhaps open eyes to viewpoints (in character of course) that dont normally get looked at.

My problem here on Dasaria: i find the Babylonian and Sumerian mythos to be somewhat stale and boring. I prefer my fantasy dieties to be a little more fantastical, as it were.

My question is this:

Would it be acceptable to play a character that worships dieties other than those presented? My line of reasoning here is that on many campaign worlds, different dieties are worshiped by different civilzations - perhaps these other priests simply come from far away, and the gods they follow are not known here.

what im proposing is that anyone who wishes to follow a non-standard diety should write up a detailed history an description of that characer's faith/religion and diety, which should be approved by the GM's before being used in game.

I have several ideas i think would fit with the world of Dasaria well, and if i can get a little background on what the rest of the world is like (particularly: are there other continents out there? What is beyond Varana? How big is the world?) , i know i can craft something that will work nicely without taking away from the established setting.

If the idea is totally against the grain, im willing to just not play a character of deep faith - i dont want to ruin the flow of things - but i'd like the opportunity to try.

Noc

[Peregrinus]

While I think you should look more into the diety mythos if you call it "stale and boring," last I checked there were no requirments that you worship the standard dieties, but you'll find more IC support for the standard dieties.

For those curious to more about the deities, Here's a link to wikipedia! This is a link to an article on Enki/Ea, but there's links in that article to every other diety we're used to dealing with.

[DM Chicken Little]

You can if you want...but players do not have to accept them, consider them real, and DM support may not be there for those characters who are worshiping Deph the Monkey God of Spoons.

We have characters who follow religions that are not in the pantheon, but i will say the same thing to you as to them: Dasaria is a unique world, if you are here, play here. It helps with the IC mythos to play in Dasaria and just pick a religion that your character may follow.

[Stonehammer]

You can worship me!

Stonehammer - god of marmite and spam.

[Noctournys]

You can if you want...but players do not have to accept them, consider them real, and DM support may not be there for those characters who are worshiping Deph the Monkey God of Spoons.

We have characters who follow religions that are not in the pantheon, but i will say the same thing to you as to them: Dasaria is a unique world, if you are here, play here. It helps with the IC mythos to play in Dasaria and just pick a religion that your character may follow.

but you'll find more IC support for the standard dieties.

well, partly, i would expect opposition. that's helf the fun of the character idea.

The idea, in general, is to provide something that is obviously "not from around here" both to provide conflict and get people interested in "what exactly IS this?"

I wont do it without GM approval - I'd want there to be GM interference - mostly i was sounding out the idea of:

If I write up a proposal, will it be considered? If not, no big deal, my feelings wont be hurt, and ill just refrain from playing a character along these lines (no big deal). No worries.

If i write it up, will it get looked at, or should i not bother?

[DM Chicken Little]

Well, you can play what you want.

But i will tell you that the Dm team currently wont be making dieties or events for your chracter which are outside of the pantheon. You are welcome to play it, but it will likely not result in Dm interaction for the faith at all.

Personally, ive felt that ifyou do not choose to be involved in the aspects which make Dasaria unique, you are excluding yourself intentionally and missing out on the certain parts of the server.

[s4rx7]

Gods tend tro be the jelous type and encourage their followers to be the same way. Introducing a new diety could stir a bit trouble around the place. If this is your goal then it's been a while since I've seen an overzealous Paladin of Markduk. You could always join the dark side, our cookies taste sooooo much better

[Redder]

Given the athiest attitude of most players IC and the lack of any real followers of specific faiths other than just a few - why not do as you wish.

In fact, given there are so few Nergalites about these days that would prevent someone from comming back from the dead, perhaps Uroch can come back as the Dreaded Lich of Anshar! (and his Bride - Jena Blackheart) Muahahaha!!

hehe, that made me feel so much better

ReddeR

[Kell]

When there are 15 people playing, and 15 people do not play according the Dasarian Lore. 15 are something playing they made up themselves, they are demolishing and to my idea; disrespecting, the world that has been build. I wouldn't do it. But I'm a nazi.

As DM CL said, you can if you want. Just don't expect others to buy/believe/like/dislike/do anything with it.

[Noctournys]

When there are 15 people playing, and 15 people do not play according the Dasarian Lore. 15 are something playing they made up themselves, they are demolishing and to my idea; disrespecting, the world that has been build. I wouldn't do it. But I'm a nazi.

As DM CL said, you can if you want. Just don't expect others to buy/believe/like/dislike/do anything with it.

Again, the point of my question has been missed: no campaign setting is written by a single person.

I am proposing *adding* to the setting - thus the emphasis on "ill write this up and the GM's can decide if they like it"

I can provide a detailed reason why this PC is in Dasaria. why this faith has an interest here, and a backstory and history of the religion for the DM's to use in any way they wish. I am relatively confident i can come up with a believeable and compelling reason for this character (in the greater extent) and this religion (in the lesser extent) to be around.

Personally, ive felt that ifyou do not choose to be involved in the aspects which make Dasaria unique, you are excluding yourself intentionally and missing out on the certain parts of the server.

That's just it - i dont feel that the pantheon as presented is one of the things that makes Dasaria unique. Many other things do - other than the pantheon, the setting is well thought out and unique and full of color and story. That's *not* a slam on the DM's and creators - i know quite well how hard it is to create a unique pantheon of gods (took me nearly a year to come up with a complete 14 god pantheon for my PnP campaign) and can certainly understand that many DM's would chose not to (faith is *rarely* central to a campaign and it is very rare that in any campaign ive ever been involved in, on or offline, that characters of deep faith are roleplayed.) go through the trouble of trying to come up with a unique pantheon. I can undertand the reasoning of using a ready-to-go pantheon, but I dont think it is one of the things that makes Dasaria unique.

Given the athiest attitude of most players IC and the lack of any real followers of specific faiths other than just a few - why not do as you wish.

Well, one thing i would hope to do is alieviate some of that athiest attitude, for starters. And maybe (hopefully) get people playing characters of faith to oppose me, or at least disagree with me strongly =P

Also, i wouldnt "do what i want anyway" because im new here, this isnt my world, and i dont want to screw with things that arent mine. That's why I broached the subject here and asked permission first.

Gods tend tro be the jelous type and encourage their followers to be the same way. Introducing a new diety could stir a bit trouble around the place. If this is your goal then it's been a while since I've seen an overzealous Paladin of Markduk. You could always join the dark side, our cookies taste sooooo much better

The character in question is in fact evil, but not in a way that many would typically consider evil. Thats part of the fun of the character concept - it challenges those who are "good" to justify persecution of "evil" where no direct wrong has been comitted - it challenges the perceptions of those characters (and sometimes the players) and leads to very interesting roleplaying.

The reason i want GM approval isnt because i want the GM's to help me (and definitely not portray my God!) - it is mostly because i would fully expect priests (even NPC's priests) of the existing gods to have a beef with me - "what exactly is this foriegn interloper/heretic doing here? drive him off!"

Im not saying i want to ignore the pantheon as it exists - in fact, roleplaying opposition to it could be quite a challenge and very fun - i just dont feel the pantheon is compelling enough for me to use this character concept with it.

Noc

[Wyvern]

First of all, I am glad to see a newcomer to dasaria presenting some fresh ideas, even at this late stage in the game. It is possible to present a new deity, and in the past other characters have pushed for alternative gods, which have been received to greater and lesser degrees. What has been presented to the players in the pantheon section is a core - a basis - with which the players can take forward and interpret for themselves. Sometimes this has included alternative names for existing deities for that particular worshipper, or even different deities altogether. Now, while they are not listed in the pantheon section, it does not mean they are any less important. While we encourage the use of the existing deities, you are not denied the right to take your own ideas forward. Players expect to hear the religious types referring to the ones already familiar across the land. But if you wish to pursue a new one, what is to stop you doing that? Nothing. Yes, you may have a harder time gaining acceptance, but is that not a part of the challenge? If you gain support amongst the players, who are we, as DMs to dismiss that? Things are always open to interpretation at the end of the day. And much is still to be decided.

I have been aware in recent days of discussions/arguments going on that new players can no longer make a name for themselves, make a difference, an impact in the world. I dismiss this notion. You may face opposition along the way yes, but so much remains undiscovered, so much potential remains untapped, that anyone can make a difference. Even after over three years playing here, I still believe that. It is why I still play.

So with that in mind, I for one look forward to seeing what you can do.

[Wyvern]

On a side note, I may even decide to create a Paladin to go against this guy of yours, purely because it might be fun.

[Jimmy]

it challenges those who are "good" to justify persecution of "evil" where no direct wrong has been comitted

So he/she will be evil, yet not do anyting wrong? Sounds more like neutral to me...

*confused*

[whiteguyinblues]

So he/she will be evil, yet not do anything wrong? Sounds more like neutral to me...

*confused*

Perhaps you should start playing again my young padawan! Log into Dasaria, there you will find the answers you seek.

[Jimmy]

So he/she will be evil, yet not do anything wrong? Sounds more like neutral to me...

*confused*

Perhaps you should start playing again my young padawan! Log into Dasaria, there you will find the answers you seek.

Nah, still hate NWN.

Sorry for the topic divert...

Um... gods and stuff, yeah... *runs off*