January 6, 2015

D&D 30 Day Challenge — Day 6

Favorite Deity

I’m going to waffle on the response to this one, because my favorite deities in D&D are the imaginary ones. As a general rule, I don’t like games in which the gods are real, extant, accessible beings with a vested interest in worldly affairs and a bad habit of messing with that world and its people. When I’m gaming, I’m into the idea that real people should be the greatest agents for change in the world, and that deciding to answer the call to heroism should be the ultimate personal choice. But in a world in which the gods are calling the shots and demanding, forcing, or tricking mortals into doing their bidding, the value of heroism and the choice to follow a heroic path becomes muddied for me.

That’s not to say that don’t like or don’t play in campaigns and settings that feature strongly “real” deities, because I do, and I’ve enjoyed many such games and campaigns. I just have a bit of an antipathy towards games and game worlds that put the machinations of the gods above the importance of the player characters as mortal agents of morality and change. (I’m looking at you, Krynn…)

(Archive post from the personal blog.)