Campaign World Pantheons

Credit: KEKAI KOTAKI

Hello and welcome to my world building blog!

Today, I will be talking about Campaign World Pantheons in Richard Baker's companion book to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: World Builder's Guidebook, published by TSR Ltd in 1996.

A game setting's pantheon could consist of any and all legendary creatures and beasts.  They could take on the form of anybody or anything.  The majority of the gods and goddesses in Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology are intended to resemble humans so that we may relate to them better.  But there are other creatures that exist in fantasy settings, such as elves, gnomes, halflings, and dwarves.  The gods and goddesses in our fantasy world might take on the appearance of those races in order to connect with them.  Or, they might take on the appearance of anything.  In one of my campaign worlds, I have a goddess, Velia, a goddess of the dead who appears as black smoke.

So, let us look into what the people of Azamar deem their pantheon.  Using our random generator, we see that Azamar's pantheon is one universal pantheon.

According to the World Builder's Guidebook:

"All deities in the campaign belong to a single pantheon, regardless of racial or social divisions.  Several gods may share responsibilities (or squabble over) important portfolios, such as war, leadership, or love.  The FORGOTTEN REALMS pantheon is a universal pantheon."

In Azamar, all deities (be it elf, dwarf, gnome, etc.) belong to a single pantheon.

So, how big is the pantheon?  How many gods and goddesses share this single pantheon?

Azamar has a medium pantheon size, meaning they have:

3 Greater Powers

4 Intermediate Powers

5 Lesser Powers

5 Demi-Powers

The greater powers are like that of the big three in Greek mythology, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon.  And now that I think about it, I really enjoy it when things come in threes.  Above, I mentioned the mythologies of Greek, Roman, and Norse (3).  Each one of these mythologies have three greater powers:  Greeks has Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon; Romans have Jupiter, Mars, and Neptune; and Norse mythology has Odin, Thor, and Loki.  And, so, Azamar also has three greater powers.

Examples of intermediate powers are Athena, Hera, and Venus.  Azamar has four of them.

Lesser powers could be like Vulcan, Chronos, and Heimdall.  Azamar has five of them.

And lastly, Azamar has five demi-powers, much like that of Perseus, Astrild, and Hercules.

We can figure out the portfolios of each of these powers in another post.

The organization of this medium pantheon of Azamar is familial.

"The pantheon is composed of one extended family of powers, each with roles or portfolios generally related to their position in the traditional family hierarchy.  The Greek pantheon has a strong familial organization; Zeus is the father of several other gods and goddesses, and serves as the ruler of the gods; Hera, his wife, is the queen of the gods; and Ares and Heracles, sons of Zeus, are the warriors of the family.  In addition to the family position, the gods may be associated with particular virtues, emotions, or situations -- Apollo was a musician, his sister Artemis the goddess of the moon and the hunt, and so on."

In Azamar, the religion is family-based.  The lesser and demi-powers may have descended from the greater and intermediate powers.  Of all, in an universe where there are many different races, it's possible that some of them underwent strange mutations that gave rise to the elves, dwarves, and other races.

Now that we are aware of it, the small, relatively new kingdom of Azamar has a medium-sized familial pantheon that is the source of many of the racial tales.  But to what extent does this pantheon interact with its adherents and settlers?  And our random generator is telling us that the pantheon of Azamar is meddlesome.

"The powers take interest in even the fairly minor events or situations concerning their followers, and the manipulation of their temples' fortunes is the primary means of discourse (and field of rivalry) of the deities.  Moderately important followers receive advice and guidance, and the highest-ranking followers are in frequent communication with their patron.  Deities create avatars at will [in] order to interact with their followers or meddle with mortal affairs."

This could be a good thing, or a bad thing, for the people of Azamar.

Next week, we'll give Azamar's deities their portfolios, and maybe even give them names.

I hope you enjoyed the read, and until next time, thanks for reading.