13 May, 2009

Today’s Tabbloid
PERSONAL NEWS FOR riorio2@rogue-games.net

ROGUE FEED gives me lots more scope to describe a world in which “faith” is religion
bears some resemblance to its real world counterpart. Likewise, by
Dwimmermount and the Gods muddying the waters about the gods, it makes the nature of alignment
MAY 12, 2009 07:30P.M. much clearer: it’s a statement of what and for whom one fights rather
than being a shorthand for one’s personality traits and moral philosophy.
One of the things I decided early on about my Dwimmermount campaign So far this arrangement has served me well and I look forward to seeing
was that the actual existence or non-existence of the gods would be a where it takes the campaign in the future.
matter of debate, even within the setting. The mere existence of clerics
offers no help on this score, since clerics are just magic-users by another
name. The traditional OD&D spell list is likewise of no assistance, since
commune, contact other plane, and even speak with dead are all
sufficiently vague in their effects as to raise almost as many questions as
they answer. Certainly none make it clear that there are gods, only that ROGUE FEED
there are intelligent entities beyond the mortal realm in which the player
characters operate. Upper Gatehouse Placeholder
Indeed, in the world of Dwimmermount, demons, who are exemplars of Up
Chaos, boast that humanity’s hope in the gods — and humanity’s alone, MAY 12, 2009 12:27P.M.
for no other race worships gods — is utterly misplaced, for there are no
gods. Of course, demons have a vested interest in convincing humans to Now that the Lower Gatehouse is done, the placeholder for the Upper
abandon their faith in the gods, so many, if not most, assume them to be Gatehouse is up.
lying. Of course, the demons’ insistence on this point is troubling, since
there really aren’t any other examples of “extra-planar” entities to
contradict them. I have no angels or devils in my campaign world and
elementals care nothing for the affairs of men. Consequently, there’s no This issue contains posts from between
easy way for anyone to confirm or deny the existence of the gods. May 12, 2009 07:10a.m. and May 13, 2009 03:04a.m..
Visit the Rogues on the Web:
That doesn’t prevent there being religions, of course. To date, three http://www.rogue-games.net
religions have played roles in the campaign. The first is that of Tyche, or
Lady Luck (or even The Lady), as she is known. Her faith honors
boldness of action and the acceptance of the reality that one can do all
the “right” things in life and still suffer in spite of — or even because of —
it all. There are no stories of Tyche ever walking the earth or doing great
deeds on behalf of men. It’s quite possible that “she” is nothing more
than a personification of a philosophy about the nature of fate, free will,
and destiny. Turms Termax was once a mortal man, or so the legends
say. There are many stories of his former existence, including relics and
sites associated with them, but since his apotheosis, he has not seen fit to
return to the world in any form. Typhon, the Lawful (Evil) god of
rulership, order, and civilization is much like Tyche: devoid of any
stories of his actions on earth. His priests are among the foremost
defenders of civilization against the depredations of Chaos and it’s
possible “Typhon” is just a focus for the devotion rather than an actually
existent being.

Or not. The point is that I’ve made a concerted effort to ensure there is
some mystery about the nature of the nature and existence of the gods. I
think this lends a stronger swords-and-sorcery feel to the setting and it