Editing LetsBuild5e:Religion (section)

==Words and Pictures==

The humans and orcs of the Old Imperial culture and its successors in the magocracies mostly depict the gods as heroic orcs and humans, except that the Trickster is usually shown as a dark elf or other non-orc, non-human. The trickster-god is a noted shapeshifter, but is usually depicted as female. The steppe tribes avoid direct depictions of the gods, and instead depict their regalia or other inanimate attributes. Traditional dwarvish culture holds that a god may be depicted in any form, but it is the written or carved name of the deity that makes it a meaningful depiction. Traditional gnomish culture favours ostenatious and complex depictions of the gods, often using heroic statues completely covered with names, praise-names and hymns to the relevant deity. The halflings use a system, developed by the steppe halflings, where each god is represented almost exclusively by a simple pictogram derived from the steppe tribes' symbolism for the gods. The predominant elven culture is iconophobic: direct depictions of the gods are forbidden - even their names are only written in specific contexts - but songs and recitations are used widely to refer to and praise the gods.

It is unknown to non-dragonborn whether the dragonborn even worship the same gods as the warm-blooded species. The insect-people have a lifestyle that is mysterious to outsiders: it appears highly ritualised, but no conventional religious observance has ever been noted. (Decisions: [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?761590-D-amp-D-5e-Let-s-build-a-setting!&p=19367909#post19367909])

In most temples, the priests either ritually represent the gods in magically-enhanced sacred drama, or lead and encourage the congregation to encounter the divine personally. In doing so, they are seen as bridging the gap between the mortal world and the divine world. A number of temples also feature rituals involving sacred objects, and others encourage the congregants to enter into debate about the meaning of the sacred texts.

In general, there's a fairly closely observed distinction between clergy and laity; it's rare for the priest to be styled as a mere representative of the people. A few temples of the Trickster have an occasional (roughly annual) ceremony in which they choose a layperson at random to be 'priest for a day' in the place of the actual priest. (Decision: [http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?761590-D-amp-D-5e-Let-s-build-a-setting!&p=19428404#post19428404])

One player, Mr the Geoff, has done some work developing [[LetsBuild5e:Orc Lore|Orc lore]].

[[LetsBuild5e:Main Page|Back to main]]

[[Category:D&D 5e]]
[[Category:Campaign Setting]]