Best type of religious setting?

And those demons lead humanity to the War on Heaven. It was then that God, in all his wrath, destroyed almost all of humanity. Entire planets cracked apart or were swallowed up in their suns. The great cities on Earth were burned and crushed to oblivion. It is unknown if anybody in those far flung galaxies survived, for the catastrophe wrought upon humanity on Earth knocked them back to the stone age, to slowly rebuild once more. Contact with all life on other star systems has ceased a long time ago.

When at last, God's wrath was tempered, only the huddled and fearing masses of humanity remained, begging for mercy. God spared them, and did more. He came down to Earth to personally show humanity the way of humility and righteousness. He was burnt at a stake for his efforts, but in front of everybody who executed him, he rose from the ashes a living man. The 21 men who saw to his execution would become the first followers of him.

Now, tens of thousands of years after the event, the men that follow God are split into two churches. The first was formed in the nations that tolerated the Followers presence. They consisted of 21 High priests, who considered themselves the heirs to the original 21 executioners. They have several Holy Paladin orders geographically stationed throughout the world, which specialize in different areas of expertise (demon hunting, witch hunting, knight-on-knight combat, etc.) They also have the Phoenix Guard, personal guardians of the temples and priests of the church.

The second church formed in the nations that persecuted the Followers. Cut off from all communication and incapable of forming a hierarchy, their church became one that emphasized humility above all else. They refuse to take any titles that might confer pride, so instead of King they use "steward", for example. They are very loosely organized, being an un-hierarchal and individualist church, but a few groups have formed.

Rolled 3 (1d3)

Okay, first is a 3. Guess I'll do separate posts.
>3) Nature gods

Rolled 3, 3 = 6 (2d4)

>3) Nature gods
>3) Bottom up religion with no official heirarchy (Protestant style religion)

The fuck is with all these 3s?
Oh well, guess I have:
>3) Nature gods
>3) Bottom up religion with no official heirarchy (Protestant style religion)
3) Observance of rituals
3) It's useful, but only as a means to solving your current conflict.
>mfw basically just druids

What type of religion do you have in your setting?
None of thee above, works entirely on a non-deific force allowing for mortal ascension. Essentially creating living saints and demigods. So the closest would be lots of little gods.

>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?
In a way it is the high priests but most churches are run by the demigod that the people worship, or councils of demigod.

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
The demigods all require some form of consumption based on a path to godhood, these range from physically consuming flesh to taking life force through carnal relations. Consumption that doesn't directly interact with the demigod is meaningless.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
By far the most important conflict in the setting is the petty struggles between demigods.

The main church is essentially the Catholic Church and worships the One true god that created everything, while other religions worship entities that are either relics of the original creation of the world, powerful fae creatures, demons, aspects of the creator they misunderstood, or in one case, gods born from a collective human consciousness. It's a clusterfuck.

Don't forget that their sacred number is 3

>They are very loosely organized, being an un-hierarchal and individualist church, but a few groups have formed.
Continuing on from that, the first group is the martyrs, a brotherhood of soldiers who hide chainmail, short swords and bucklers under cloaks. They specialize in guerrilla warfare, and their purpose is to offer what little protection they can to the persecuted church. The second group is the masked men. These men wrap their whole body in bandages and cloth and work in the worst most disease ridden parts of the city. They follow in the footsteps of one of the original 21 Followers who supposedly caught skinrot while working among the poor and had to cover himself just to keep his flesh from falling apart. The third and final group is the Ashen Knights, a Holy order of loosely organized knights who shed all heraldry in favor of plain charcoal armor and clothing. They suffer from fewer organization issues than most of the 2nd church, but they're still more of a confederacy of independent strongholds than a united organization of knights.

Finally, moving on to the current conflict.

When most of humanity was destroyed in the wake of God's wrath, they went to Hell. It was their that they became shallow husks of hatred and vice, for if Hell is the absence of God, then surely you don't get to keep all the good traits that God has blessed humanity with when you go there. All your mercy, empathy, love, and selflessness is wiped away, leaving only a demonic little creature that few would even recognize as human.

But these creatures remember their hatred for God, and that hatred extends to his churches and Followers as well. So if they can't kill God, they can at least drag his people down to Hell with them.

It is thus that they seek the corruption and destruction of humanity, and as they reach their tendrils of influence and corruption into human societies, they prepare for a final invasion, numbering of the hundreds of trillions that were wiped out by God, and involving great and terrible demons and monsters that humanity created before their destruction.

Rolled 1, 3, 1, 2, 3 = 10 (5d4)

Patrician choice:

>The gods are in fact not real deities, but just immensely powerful douchebags who revel in being in control and exploit the believers to fuel their enormous egos.

Dualistic, Catholic, code of conduct, and useful as a means to the end. Almost like real one

>>The gods are in fact not real deities, but just immensely powerful douchebags who revel in being in control and exploit the believers to fuel their enormous egos.
You mean the plebbest of possible choices for teenagers revolting against their parent figures

So, basically, for the player, the goal is more or less to ensure that humanity is both on the side of God when the legions of Hell come, and that they are as strong as possible. They have to try to overcome the conflict between the two churches, get the various peoples all over the Earth to unite as much as possible against the incoming threat, and defeat the cults and monsters that currently infiltrate the nations to weaken them.

Keep in mind though, that this is not a mission where you can fail. Sure, you can die, but you have God on your side, you literally cannot lose the final battle. But for every human that is swayed to the side of the demons, that is another human lost to Hell, separated from God forever. You can save him, but only if you're alive to do so, and only if you can get him to listen to you. You are not a soldier fighting a losing battle, you are a savior rescuing the damned from God's wrath.

So, what does Veeky Forums think of that?

My own setting has a multitude of gods, but not everyone believes in all of them. At least some of the religions consider the gods outside their particular faith to be saints, demonic entities, or whatnot depending on the particular system of belief.

The "main" religion that my players have interacted with is this unintentional inversion of Christianity. Effectively, a serpent/dragon god gifted humanity with mastery of fire and technology, the power to become godlike through industry and cleverness.

So, basically god is Satan and I'm a giant hack who thought he was clever. C'est la vie.

No, I mean the choice for people who can develop critical thinking thanks to having IQ over 70.

Nah I'm with the other guy. That's the choice highschoolers making their first setting pick.

Now this is obvious teenager's rhetoric

Indeed, it's known that it's the grown ups who need guidance, especially from imaginary douchebags.

Now these are obvious IQ69 accusations.

Whatever you say, kid

Is it actually possible to have this little self awareness? I'm starting to think you're either baiting or actually a highschooler.

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
8, Henotheism. Big god was living in the big black void of nonexistence when he realized he had no shackles, and created the world. In a show of strength, he created humanity, and in a moment of loneliness, created lesser gods of virtues, knowledge, and skill.

>What's the type of institution?
2. Ordained priest but no high priest, although they do have a Vatican/Senate building where they keep together.

>What kind of actions does your religion require?
2. God wants their children to grow strong in all respects. Improvement on oneself is a pilgrimage of its own. Should the ecclesiary flatter one with recognition, the finest tradesmen, inventors, warriors, scientists, and so on are be granted the title of Paladin in the name of a patron lesser god for their strives to have their names remembered in history as someone who rose the standard of God's children. On the other hand, layabouts, NEETs, and those who dedicated their lives to non-practical pursuits are seen with a bit of distaste, but not pure holy rage as they've always the chance to improve themselves and redefine what the skill floor of humanity looks like.

>How much importance does religion play in your setting?
1.5. The virtues, ideals, and acceptance of the faith as well as the virtues, ideals, and acceptance of those who defy it are the central story and conflict, but the actual faith and texts aren't too relevant.

Lol

Nice empty rhetoric, godtard

>refusing to separate your real world beliefs from the setting or character
You are the cringiest type of player, you know that?

>>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
>9) Maybe magic, maybe mundane gods
This sounds close. (Not familiar with GoT) with a healthy dash of 2 and 3.

>>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?
>best
Depends on the deity and culture.
It varies throughout the setting.

>>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
Sacrifices, code of conduct, and rituals.
All of varying levels of intensity.
Few human sacrifices remain popular.

>>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
>1) It's the central story and conflict
Or
>2) It's important, but secondary to the current conflict
Depending on player choices.
Religious organizations are important, but it's up to the PCs if their concerns are central to the plot.

>druids
>sacred 3
Triforce?

Polytheism with different groups of people worshipping different pantheons. Some overlapping

Depends on the culture.

Different gods want to be worshipped different ways

It's the reason for a major war that left one continent in a sort of post apocalyptic state. Sometimes the players will interact with gods

Currently I'm working on a 'polytheistic Greek style' gods setting, with some inspiration taken from the Japanese style of gods from neighboring pantheons 'special guest starring' in each other's mythology occasionally. I dunno if it's the best, but I'm having fun with it. I'm also creating a demoplane or two that are attached and are effectively monotheist.

I like religious institutions that are run by secular authorities or angels/gods. In my current setting, the God Of Law literally set up the largest empire, and is also the strongest god. There is a seperate priesthood, but the reasons for that are.... complex.

I like religions that focus on 'duty' but I haven't rigorously defined this shit yet.

Religion is either essential or very important.

>The gods are in fact not real deities, but just immensely powerful douchebags who revel in being in control and exploit the believers to fuel their enormous egos.

So they're deities, but jerks about it? IRL I'd only really be upset about yahweh or allah about this sort of thing. Most of the other gods seem like cool dudes.

Important note: Orthdox-style "priests but no high priest" only works because Jesus is considered the high priest, which is canon
Well I mean you basically made a more martial Christianity
I like the twist with the inner circle of Apostles being his executioners

Well I mean, it's basically how the meme version of Greek myth is. The Gods don't just go around stomping on people for no reason, but if you slag them off, they will fuck you up bad

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
No Gnostic option with fallen divinities?

my setting has a few different religions that are more popular in different regions etc.
>Monotheistic god "The Painter"
>A holy trinity of gods that represent work, family, and friends.
>Monotheistic god "The Whale Lord"

ask away about any in particular

>Well I mean you basically made a more martial Christianity
Yeah, I tried to be original with it but whenever I took something out or added something it just began looking like something else, and it never felt right to me. In the end I settled for Christianity where the fight over souls was a literal physical fight for souls, and with a few twists here and there to give it flavor.

>No Gnostic option with fallen divinities?
I'm don't know much about gnosticism, but isn't it dualistic, with a good god and evil god?

>The Painter
I'm interested, tell me more.
>A holy trinity of gods that represent work, family, and friends
When you say "holy trinity", are these 3 separate gods, or a one god with 3 parts like the Christian trinity?
>The Whale Lord
I'm also curious about this one.

By the way, how do these religions interact with each other? Do all the gods exist, and if so how do they interact with one another?

>2) Polytheistic Greek-style gods
>3) Nature gods
>4) Dualistic gods (Zoroastrianism)
>5) Alignment gods (lawful-chaotic, good-evil)
>6) Monotheistic omnipotent god
>7) Deism
>8) Henotheism/Monolatrism (One big god, lots of smaller gods)
>9) Maybe magic, maybe mundane gods (Game of Thrones style religion)
Yes.

Warhammer 40k

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9.
>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?
It depends on the religion.
>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
1, 2, 3, 4.
>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
2, 3, 4.

There's lots of different religions that contradict each other, none of which are objectively correct. This makes it hard to answer your line of questioning.

Well, It's a just Traditional Christianity mixed more or less with 40k Eldar story, but it's good.
Any who, It would be nice if you would add Divinization (theosis) part from Christianity too.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinization_(Christian)
it would require some altering a bit, but still, it would be nice.

It wouldn't require much alteration at all actually. Humanity tried to become like God initially, but that desire was born from pride and envy, and thus terribly misguided, leading to the ugly result of the demons. The idea of humanity becoming like God without even intending to, through humility and selflessness certainly strikes a chord. I'd have to make sure that it was clear they they weren't literally becoming God, but still, it's an interesting idea.

btw, heres mine...

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
Christian God, with Humans ascended as sort of minor divine entities (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divinization_(Christian)). Humans here actually act as demiurges, who created a lots of plains of existences as their own "heavens" or realms (like Daedra from TES) and God doesnt interfere in it.

>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?
Ordained priest but no high priest (Orthodox style)

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
Change of lifestyle or code of conduct. act as demiurges wish.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
It's the central story and conflict

So basic story is this:
After apocalypse happened, Humans ascended, achieved theosis, created their own personal realms and rule there with their created minions, enjoying eternal life, sometimes play chess or domino with angels, etc. Then some of these ascended humans decided to recreate mortal world and inhabit it with all the fantasy peoples mankind thought during their mortal existence. They did it and created this mortal realm. These became "Genitores" (lat: creators, ancestors). Yes, Ascended humans speak latin, because I like it (I'm not a catholic btw). collective term for Personal realms of Genitores are now known as Caellum. These are the places where those fantasy races go if they will be good boyz.

It wouldn't require much alteration at all actually. Humanity tried to become like God initially, but that desire was born from pride and envy, and thus terribly misguided, leading to the ugly result of the demons. The idea of humanity becoming like God without even intending to, through humility and selflessness certainly strikes a chord. I'd have to make sure that it was clear they they weren't literally becoming God, but still, it's an interesting idea.

I am kind of concerned that I'd be making it too much like Christianity, because at that point I'd be literally taking an idea almost word for word and applying it to the religion. I do want to have some noticeable differences, enough to make it Christian themed without necessarily making it a direct parallel.

Recreation of mortal world caused certain outrage of another. Some were outraged by creating actual mortal world and thought that it was somewhat insult to their Father (although God didn't care, he said "you have free will, do what you want"), some were fa/tg/uys before ascension, some were just heavenly shitposters and want to troll the mortals. anywho, certain group formed that were sort of devils of mortal worlds, known as "Adversarii". collective terms of plains of existance of Adversarii are known as "Oblivion" (I like the name of it).
So mortal world is a place, where every fantasy race exists. There are elves, dwarves, tau, orks, etc... Basically Genitores and Adversarii are fighting for Mortal world and souls of its inhabitants.

Its just a Christian version of Elder Scrolls, mixed with some HFY, where humans are Aedra and Daedra. I just like elder scrolls...

I just gave you an opinion, its your setting so its up to you to decide :3
I like the idea in general, seems interesting. I've always found christian setting to be more interesting, than polytheistic. maybe its acultural thing, maybe omnipotent God also means eternity, so everything has purpose, idk...

btw, if you want unoriginality, look at my setting. :D

Sounds interesting. I like it. It's definitely a unique idea.

>I've always found christian setting to be more interesting, than polytheistic
Yeah, same for me. I think a big part of it is that I really like the idea of a paladin, a sort of holy warrior, but it's much harder to have that sort of person in a setting where there isn't a benevolent god to worship or where there's 10 different benevolent gods but none of them are omnipotent.

and to add some diablo lore elements:
all those fantasy races worshiped Genitores: their religious institutes resembled modern orthodox style churches.
moreover, certain Adversarii began infiltrating mortal realm. After a grand war between two groups, Genitores locked themselves and Adversarii out of mortal realm, for its protection. So Adversarii couldn't manifest there with full straight. (since theosis means, that humans would be nearly as powerfull as God, you know what kind of power we are talking about. Nobody knows actual names of Adversarii, as they go by nicknames that they took, from cultures of earth, when it existed and wasnt roasted by God. there are 4 most powerfull Adversarii coinciding with 4 traditional elements, each having their own features (ill describe their appearances later. yes, humans have alternative forms too. they are spirits so they can take any form they want):

Dagon-Prince of Pain and Diseases. Element: water. Personal realm: Coldharbour
Bal-Prince of Destruction and Despair. Element: earth. Personal realm: Dreadlands
Aeshma-Prince of Wrath and Domination. Element: fire. Personal realm: Daruzax
Hades-Prince of Death and Undeath. Element: Air. Personal Realm: Nether

So these four were first to set foot to mortal realm. And began their own cult, luring mortals to their worship, to claim their souls. They posed as opposites of their personality:

Dega-Spirit of Health and Happiness
Bali-Spirit of Recreation and Hope
Eshmada-Spirit of love and modesty
Haida-Spirit of Life and Bloom

currently, mortal priests are leading secret war against heretics, who wish to spread their lies throughout other mortals....

Yeah. Zoroastrian setting isnt bad either, but two equal powers seem too odd for me.
World needs some moral and creative axis, that can only be omnipotent god

Yeah, dualistic religions like Zoroastrianism can get kind of weird when it comes to the power of the gods and the origin of the universe. It does raise the stake though, because there's the chance that evil might actually win. Whereas with an omnipotent benevolent God, you know you're going to win in the end, it's just a matter of losing as few people to evil as possible.

Setting I'm working on is a mix of 2, 8, and 9, though it also depends on your definition of "God"

Really, I like 9 the most, since it means practitioners have to actually exercise and cultivate faith and existential purpose due to the enigmatic nature of divinity and the universe which is impossible to fully know perfectly. Like in real life

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
A monotheistic setting with a benevolent omnipotent God where evil happens because he allows free will to exist. However when evil spirits bring influence he will bestow power to mortals to stop them, though always spectacular and more or less is usually subtle about it.

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
From how you describe it I'd say more orthodox. It has things like priests and churches that send records between each other but it's more like a Confederacy where well they work together and all believe the same God and try to teach it similar there is no head and each Church is technically independent. For the most part they are usually good but sometimes it goes wrong. Research and Science is socially seen as fine unless you are a Fedora about it and it's not inhumane, with one good saying going "Science is researching how God made this world, it is a fine art. Why would it be wrong to learn and act what God does?"

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
2&3 are sought for. Most people worship God and more religious type wish to be pious. Paladin types like to follow a code of honor.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
Usually not much but depends on party and story itself. Will have more if the party has holy characters in it. God pretty much always helps the players but they usually never notice because as said earlier he likes being subtle, but will get less subtle if the villain is supernaturally unholy.
My settings are pretty Generic, leans more to the lighthearted side well occasionally being serious. Good is good, evil is usually evil but sometimes honorable. Sometimes an ancient evil awakens and occasionally a princess needs to be rescued. I don't do many plot twists so the times I do it means more. And I will never have the players actually fight God because the PCs will never come close to being a threat to him.

I like the way you have it. I don't think morally grey gods and morality are needed, I like the simple good and evil dichotomy with a single God like you have.

But I do think that there needs to be temptation to turn towards evil. So how do you go about that? Obviously it's much harder in a game where the wealth doesn't actually exist and the easy path is usually just fewer dice rolls than the hard path.

Things like money and kings still exist. And all classes of wealth have good and evil in them. Temptation usually exists, but usually I shy away from doing it on players. Big reasons being is I make the group decide before hand if it's a if they will be doing an evil campaign or not and because last time I tried making a moral dilemma it resulted in PvP. Which well not terrible idea for the sake of the group not devolving into drama I prefer if it's an agreement between players beforehand or staged. I didn't even think it was too hard of a moral dilemma. The situation was in backstory the wife of one of the PCs was sick and so I made it so the only cure was in the hands of the villain, who would only give it if said player turncoat to his side. In the end the PC did and he ended up killing another PC. And well there could be fault on the player for doing that option when there was other potential solutions to handling the problem in the end it was my fault on putting his character in that position when it was a pretty easy to see outcome. So for future reference I decided to make it so either the villain steals the cure and they'd have to fight him or make it loot in a dungeon, or make so it's out there just really expensive.

But I don't think I am the person you should be asking this question to. I will admit I do often DM, with my familiarity to rules being barebones. The only times I've DM'd is usually when no one else wants to DM or in one instance where it was the rule of the group every player had to DM atleast once. And all of my campaingns have been pretty short. And it's pretty simple since most of my players are either new or they want to change some small things up so their characters work better for the setting. If not that then I usually base some ideas off some generic fantasy Sega Genesis games like Shining Force or Golden Axe and then leave most of the setting unexplained.

Whoops, meant I admit I don't DM often. Hell even as a player I will admit I can be pretty green sometimes.

Honestly your story with the cure sounds pretty awesome, PvP sometimes sucks because someone will probably die, but it makes for a great story and conflict. Plus, when the death does happen, it's not some total party kill in some random dungeon, it's a very personal and dramatic death. Only problem is getting the crew back together so that you only have to manage one group at a time.

>The Painter
The belief is that 'the painter' created the entire world as his magnum opus and that each person fills the painters need. Destiny has already been created for them, and it is their moral duty to follow it. The culture that has this religion follow it very strictly, whereby the usage of transmutation and illusion magic not for entertainment are outlawed as it is not what The Painter envisioned in its creation. The culture does however use alot of dyes and paints in its clothes and buildings, the dyes being their primary export.

>the holy trinity
similar to the Christian trinity in which they are three aspects of one 'god'. The island country has a high proportion of vineyards and farmland and so the people split their time between their work, spending time with their family and spending time with their peers, and to not proportion ones time between all three is blasphemous. whilst not as religious as other cultures, the core values have still been ingrained in their society in which most citizens will live in a very close knit society whereby you work and have fun with both your friends and family. large parties and banquets are commonplace and deemed a religious responsibility.

>the whale lord
the culture that believes this has its main export as whale meats, skins and oils, and believes that the whales of the seas surrounding their lucrative port cities are gifts sent by the great whale lord for their consumption and use. The belief came from old sailor tales of a giant whale that leads lost souls to land, and provides food in the form of its own avatars (whales)

the religions listed above all co-exist quite peacefully as their is no war aspect of the religion, and that their repective countries are the richest in the known world.

i much prefer the mundane realist approach to the religions in which they may (or may not exist) but there is only one if it does, apart from the whale lord which is just a big whale

Depends on if you want an objective or subjective viewpoint on the setting at large. A fully objective version would look something like.

>8) Henotheism/Monolatrism (One big god, lots of smaller gods)

There is one omnipotent and omniscient god who exists outside of the bounds of the world. Every action it has wanted to take technically has already happened and its thoughts can create forms that used to interact with the world a long time ago. On the other hand within the infinite worlds there is other very powerful beings worshiped that can have almost any origins and is a much more easy to spot hands on divinity.

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
>4) Nothing

The creator doesn't really pay any attention to most living creatures. Although depending one where you live certainly the other beings will want any and everything to nothing. Just depends on who you are worshiping and why.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?

In a human perspective it's rather meaningless. In the most large scale perspective it is the central conflict.

Simply put for the higher powers the central conflict would be trying to halt the metaphysical destruction of everything via any method they think they can make work.

On most of my games players scales though the universe will be in heat death a thousand times over before that's relevant and likely live in a society that has inaccurate beliefs.

bump

...

>Type

2, 3, and 8 to an extent. There are big gods but they aren't really relevant. They're so powerful that any interference would destroy themselves and reality so they sort of just deal with their own problems and occasionally hand out blessings. Also any of them could be killed by the combined forces of the other two so there's a balance of power.

>religious institution

Depends on the deity and region

>Actions

Sacrifices are big. Change of lifestyle are also important, and strict observation of rituals

>How important

Important, but secondary. The gods are everywhere and they do shit but they aren't always involved. A lot of the gods are just spirits and ascended heroes that have a worship of simple/tribal people.

I'd like to pick your guys brains a bit, if I could.

I'm working on a western fantasy setting where the prime conflict is between two different sects of Not!Christianity. The locals are referred to as 'Shakers', with their branch of religion emphasizing the importance of the family unit, the value in living on the edge of society, the virtue in taming the frontier, and focuses somewhat narrowly on the difficulties of frontier life. For example, important, non-food livestock are supposed to be treated almost like family. Particularly hunting hounds and horses. If you can fit them into the house then they get to eat with the rest of the family at mealtime. Shaker churches aren't really part of an over-arching organization, though the various preachers do try and organize meets to debate and clarify scripture.

The second sect, the 'Twisters' (though that's a derogatory term from the Shakers due to how much trouble they cause) aren't local to the region. The ones present are there on business doled out by the Ecclesiarchy. Twisters are organized more akin to the Catholic Church, with a central figurehead and a large body of governance within the faith.

Both faiths worship a mythical figure named Jordan, and claim him to be their savior. Jordan was an old hero in the setting who tamed the wilderness and started the first civilization. The Twisters put more emphasis on the civilization part, focusing on organization, efficiency, centralized welfare (rather than individual charity, like the Shakers) and have a codified canon approved by the central church government.

Cont.

The crux of the conflict is: there are undead that rise up out of the dirt and the sects both have opposing views on how to treat them.

The undead are mostly benign to the living. They shuffle westward in large herds, often singing old hymns or country songs (as in, songs popular in backwoods communities, not Sweet Home Alabama). In each heard there are a handful of more intelligent and willful undead colloquially called Shepards. The Shepards act as guards and herdsmen for the group they're attached to, protecting the walking dead on their journey and steering them around obstacles in their path. They're uncanny combatants and can tell if someone is telling the truth or not as long as they can maintain direct eye contact with that person.

Shakers see the Shepards almost like angels, guarding their loved ones on their journey to the afterlife. I say almost because Shepards are undead themselves, usually people who converted to the Jordanian faith late in their lives, particularly those who took part in great sin before they died. Protecting the herd is, as the Shepards describe it, penance for their transgressions in life. They can't enter heaven until they escort enough souls to the gates.

When Shepards pass through a town, it's not uncommon for Shakers to pull the Shepards aside and ask them for assistance in matters of law. Since the Shepards can tell who is and isn't lying, they will often stop and take a moment to clear up cases where evidence is sketchy, scant, or otherwise in question. It's not uncommon for them to serve as judge, jury, and executioner in a given case assuming the crime is heinous enough according to Shaker scripture. For example, poisoning livestock or crops earns live imprisonment. Killing a horse or hound, or committing murder, results in immediate execution.

So the Shakers value and respect them. A lot.

Cont.

It's good so far, but you should know that there used to be a Christian denomination commonly called Shakers. Don't know if that effects anything, I think the names are fine.

The Twisters take an opposing view. They believe the Shepards are demons, or maybe jailers, stealing away the souls of the faithful. So obviously they want to stop the herds of undead and the Shepards.

They base this judgement on the fact that literally all the Shepards were terrible people in life or guilty of terrible sin, at the least. There's also a rogue Shepard sheltered in their place of government, whom the Shakers name Jebidiah the Traitor Saint. Jebidiah claims to have glimpsed the fabled destination of the Shepards and discovered that it was actually the gates to Hell. He believes that the Shepards are stealing away the souls of the faithful dead and that it's the church's duty to cut them down so that they might return to the earth and rest. He also supplies the Twister's millitary arm with weapons and munitions fit for this purpose, such as buckshot washed in 'blessed water' (really it's mercury, though Jebidiah and the other church officials don't necessarily know that) which burn pits into the Shepards' bones.

And this is the problem. The players are Shepards but I don't want the Twisters to be a bunch of irredeemable bags of dicks even though they're clearly the antagonists. Is there a way I can go about making the Twisters seem... mostly reasonable even though they're clearly opposed to the objective of the players? I'm tired of the dickbag Catholics meme and I'm worried about falling into it myself.

>It's good so far, but you should know that there used to be a Christian denomination commonly called Shakers.

I thought this might be the case, but I honestly wasn't sure if I had made it up or not. After looking it up I figured I might as well keep it, since the denomination in the setting is called Shakers for the same reason the real life ones were, their worship services involve a lot of dancing and stomping.

I like my settings to be a bit more realistic or like real life so most of what I do isn't all too fantastical anyway:

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?

My current setting is a bit based the migration period so there is one civilized empire who are sun and ancestor worshippers while around them there are poly-theistic tribes like the celts and germeanics.

>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?

One of the few organized religions is in the cahtolic style with a high priest at the top and lower ones beneath him.

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?

Basically all of them sacrifice animals while the more uncivilized religions also sometimes sacrifice captured prisoners.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?

Well I had quests involving the gods of some religions, like in one quest the party went into trance by ingesting drugs and there they met one of the gods who they tried to please for a real life blessing.

Also in my setting there is this generic abrahamic religion coming up, I based it a lot on early islam desu.
Basically one random guy got a vision and managed to unite nomadic desert tribes under this new religion which they then tried to spread by conquest.

>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
The main religion of the setting is based on the 2 primary deities, the Sun and the Moon. They are merciful creator gods who are responsible for seeding the setting with all life, the good and (most of) the bad. They have also created various lesser gods with their own distinct roles.

>Religious Institution
I suppose it would mostly follow #3 here. There's no "higher ups" in it, but there are various establishments that provide aid or charity (orphanages, shelters, etc). The priest-equivalents are generally around to teach people the world's history and why its important to understand what the gods have done to make the world as it is. There's no preaching or converting going on because these events are a matter of fact, they're not up for discussion or disbelief.

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
Really nothing. At best its expected that mortals respect the wishes of the gods because the gods have their best interests in mind.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
While the religion around the gods is secondary to it, the conflict itself is directly dealing with the gods themselves.

Oh, and I forgot to mention.

One of the little oddities of the setting is that the different cultures, while still following the two primary gods, worship and interpret them somewhat different. One culture will view the Sun and Moon in equal focus, one will worship the Moon more than the Sun, while another may attribute different personalities or aspects to them than the "main" group does.

But in the end they still follow the big two either way.

>What type of religion?
Well, the canon is 2, polytheistic gods, but most groups only worship a few. In fact, the predominant modern religions either worship the current sun goddess, or deify certain archmages they call djinn.

>Religious Institution
The religion that worships the sun is 1, the other religion is 2. I like having heirarcy in religion.

>Actions required
2 and 3 for the sun religion, but mostly 2.
3 for the other one.

>How important is it?
This is a bit hard to answer. In the setting, as it is laid out for the players, religion can be important, but is in no way crucial to the story. But that's mostly because the gods are in hiding/exile/self-imposed exile/a bunch of tiny pieces/ or dead. The current sun god was originally a goddess of fire who was supposed to protect the creations of the other gods, but had the job forced on her after the original sun goddess and her husband got killed. As such, members the religion that worships her only receive significant blessings for their behavior, rather than their veneration, because she still has her martial code of honor, and is upset that people worship her for something that isn't even hers.

tl;dr: I'm an unoriginal hack.

>there used to be a Christian denomination commonly called Shakers
Not that guy, but do you mean the Quakers? I know they used to be a thing...

Man, all of this is making me realise my settings divinities are kinda lacking... About the only bit I'd really thought of is that the churches are in decline, given how distant the gods have been for the last 700 years. Not even the elves can remember when they still appeared before worshippers and their clerics and paladins worked true miracles, rather than the trickle of power they use now.

The reason for this is that in the days of the ancient kingdoms, a circle of powerful sorcerers, warlocks and sages kind of accidentally killed the god of magic, trying to copy/steal his power. The result was a rain of fire and crystallized magic concentrated on magical centers such as cities and rekt the entire continent, forcing everyone to flee across the eastern mountains, to establish new kingdoms. The disaster fist-fucked the world's magical network so heavily that it almost entirely severed the mortal realm from the divine, elemental and conceptual planes. Arcane and divine magic is still around, but aside from a few ancient relics and locations, it's a shadow of what it was.

>Not that guy, but do you mean the Quakers?
There was a sect of the Quakers called the 'Shaking Quakers' and then 'Shakers' later, because they got kind of nuts during worship.

My guys just dance an stomp in rhythm.

>killing a horse or hound results in execution

So when a horse is lame...? Discipline a horse or dog?

We're talking about rural frontier life, so if the crops die and the cattle die, no horse is getting butchered because it's as important as Bob the blacksmith?

What type of religion do you have in your setting?
THE DEMIURGE DERIVES ENERGY FROM HUMAN SUFFERING
(And a few obscure and minor, but active, pagan nature gods)

>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?
1) Ordained priest with High priest on top (Catholic style)

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
3) Observance of rituals. BLOOD RITUALS

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
2) It's important, but secondary to the current conflict*

*unless you want to kill God. Which you ought to.**

**which you'll fail at.

I meant the unlawful killing of good animals. Putting an animal out to pasture if it can no longer function or if it's become a danger is mostly fine, though it's harshly frowned upon to execute an elderly animal outright.

Old work animals are supposed to be cared for if possible; they're family. If it's not, then you turn it loose or turn it over to someone with the means of caring for it.

Putting down an animal who is permanently lame or terminally ill is considered a mercy.

But if you're pissed at Henry because he gave you the finger one day and decide to poison his dogs he's completely within his rights to blow your head open.

Only a few of the things that are worshipped as gods are actually gods in my setting. One "god" is an angel, technically speaking, and an entire pantheon of gods in another empire is just fragments of one god, coming into and out of existence, allowing for the illusion that he is multiple things.

This sounds like a blast of a game setting. Regarding the Twisters, I think you need to build a case for them that is equally as compelling as that of the Shakers', so as to make the Twisters seem reasonable in some of their concerns about the undead. Perhaps there should be some cases of the Shepards have named someone a lie, proceeded to execute that person, and then it was later revealed that he/she did in fact not lie. Such an insident would sow concern about wether the Shepards are good natured or not.

Is there some reason why they would hold them in such high regard, like following Jordan's example? Some dog in legend that's the equivalent of Juan the hound or well, even more important?

Is there slavery in this world?

Huan the hound*

1) Greek style pantheon of bickering assholes.
2) High priest/Oracle in the most respected temple, individual temples handle ordination
3) Sacrifice, but later replaced with offering burnt bone and off cuts along with pouring out wine.
4) Secondary but important, piss off a god and you'll suffer
Basically we plagiarised the greeks.

Let's see...
>What type of religion do you have in your setting?
Neither really fits. Lots of small gods, often ascended from mortals (the line is pretty blurry), who aren't really responsible for running any aspects of being, but have their own interests and agendas.

>Furthermore, what's the best type of religious institution?
Varies from region to region and god to god, but few pose as some big figure that requires worship.

>And what kind of actions does your religion require?
Anything from 1 to 4.

>Finally, how much importance does religion play in your setting?
4 for the intro campaign I'm running, but will grow higher as we continue.