Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Monotheism in Epic Fantasy (Just like DF but with culture)

Celti · 07-25-2016, 07:31 PM

I've got a setting fairly well described by that thread subject. The primary deity of the setting is the Lord of Light, and as far as most of the civilised and/or adventuring population is concerned, there is no other god. The world is thusly divided up three ways:

There is Light, which is variously Good and Order. Light comes from the Lord of Light, has power over Substance, and is inimical to Darkness.
There is Substance, which can be Good or Evil, Ordered or Chaotic, or often none of the above and simply Natural. Humans are of Substance, as are elves, dwarves, gnomes, the plants and animals of the world, fae, elementals, and so on — things that are part and parcel of the natural world (as long as you consider that the natural world has things like magic, and elemental planes).
There is Darkness, which is variously Evil and Chaos. Current theodicy as the Church of Light has it is that for Substance to exist, there must be Darkness, or else everything would just be pure Light. Demons, undead, and all the standard “unnatural” beasties (as opposed to supernatural beasties) are of Darkness.

The way this works out in play happens to be almost exactly like standard Dungeon Fantasy when using Dungeon Saints/Divine Favour. My, my, imagine that?

07-25-2016, 07:31 PM	#7
Celti Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: USA, Arizona, Mesa	Re: Monotheism in Epic Fantasy (Just like DF but with culture) I've got a setting fairly well described by that thread subject. The primary deity of the setting is the Lord of Light, and as far as most of the civilised and/or adventuring population is concerned, there is no other god. The world is thusly divided up three ways: There is Light, which is variously Good and Order. Light comes from the Lord of Light, has power over Substance, and is inimical to Darkness. There is Substance, which can be Good or Evil, Ordered or Chaotic, or often none of the above and simply Natural. Humans are of Substance, as are elves, dwarves, gnomes, the plants and animals of the world, fae, elementals, and so on — things that are part and parcel of the natural world (as long as you consider that the natural world has things like magic, and elemental planes). There is Darkness, which is variously Evil and Chaos. Current theodicy as the Church of Light has it is that for Substance to exist, there must be Darkness, or else everything would just be pure Light. Demons, undead, and all the standard “unnatural” beasties (as opposed to supernatural beasties) are of Darkness. The way this works out in play happens to be almost exactly like standard Dungeon Fantasy when using Dungeon Saints/Divine Favour. My, my, imagine that?