Editing Gods of Dungeons & Dragons (section)

==Types of Religions==
These are how religions are categorized in D&D.

===Loose & Tight Pantheons===
Loose pantheons are the default for D&D. A bunch of gods with their own portfolio exist, have varying relationships with other deities, their own myths and doctrines, and each deity tries to advance their own portfolio and doctrine in the world.

Tight pantheons differ in that the gods usually have either a ruler among them, or some other body of myths, doctrine, or rituals common with them, with an aberrant deity or two whose worship is frowned upon. Most people in either of them are either polytheistic or henotheistic, acknowledge the other gods but only worship one or some of them.

===Mystery Cults===
Cults of a single deity, or at most a handful of deities, where the personal relationship with the deity is emphasized. Largely based on a ritual of initiation where the person is mystically identified with the deity in question, and are taught their own unique myths. Often associated with gods of nature, and a part of other religious systems. [[Dennari]]'s faith is an example of deity with a mystery cult.

===Monotheism===
You probably know what monotheism means, and if you don't look it up ya dingus! In D&D, monotheistic deities have aspects who the regular people worship. [[Taiia]] is an example of a monotheistic D&D deity.

===Dualism===
Here, you two opposing forces (Law vs. Chaos, Good Vs. Evil, etc.) fighting each other, and the whole world is the stage for their conflict. Most believe that one is good and the other is evil, but some say that the two must remain at balance for the best result. [[Elishar]] and [[Toldoth]] are examples of a dualistic religion and its deities.

===Animism===
Spirits are everywhere here, and I mean literally everywhere, a tree has its spirit, as does everyone of its leaves, and so does the mountain, the sun and moon, the river, your computer, and that pebble over there. Most people here tend give praise and sacrifices to a specific spirit depending on the occasion and situation, whiles a [[cleric]] worships a handful of them as his or her patrons.

An undetermined/unexplored form of Animism is the presumed default religion of the [[Druid]]s, which is literally why that class exists as a separate thing to the Nature God Clerics. In [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]], this desire to give druids a deeper meaning led to the creation of the [[Primal Spirits]] as ''the'' animistic religion of the [[World Axis]] cosmology.

===Forces & Philosophies===
Of course, some gain their powers from their devotion and beliefs of some ideal or philosophy (honor, freedom, wealth, power, etc.) or simply worship forces of either nature or magic, with deities being just personal manifestations of impersonal forces and philosophies. They don't deny the existance of deities, they just think them as too much like the mortals who worship them.