Tavern Talks

Adam: Well met, travelers of the realms,
and welcome to the Tavern Talks podcast.

I'm Adam, your guide through the
realms of Dungeons Dragons lore,

and joining me at our virtual
tavern is the ever curious Zac.

Zac: Gather round, fellow lore seekers,
as we embark on a journey through the

celestial heavens and mystical plains.

Today, our focus turns to the
divine pantheons that shape the

very fabric of existence in the
realms of Dungeons and Dragons.

Adam: your Raise your tankards

for today's discussion is a voyage
through the sacred halls of the gods.

Where deities reign supreme and mortals
whisper prayers of reverence and fear.

Zac: Indeed, picture yourselves
within our virtual tavern.

Where every tell is a tribute to the
divine majesty that shapes our world.

From mighty gods to enigmatic
deities, we explore the rich tapestry

of pantheons that grace the D& D

Adam: pull up a chair, fellow seekers of
knowledge, and let's uncover the mysteries

of the divine realms, where gods and
mortals dance in an eternal cosmic ballet.

To

Zac: to the devotees of lore and
the scholars of myth, welcome

to another enlightening chapter
of the Tavern Talks podcast.

Adam: Enlightenment.

The gods themselves bestow upon
you the dungeon master, the

realms, and the stories to be
crafted by the mythology in your

Zac: Too excited.

Adam: You.

yourself, get to be the god.

You, yourself, aS the DM, get to determine
what kind of gods are in your campaign.

What kind of pantheons that they
represent, and what they are going

to do, and how they affect the world.

Who runs the world?

Not girls, but gods.

Zac: Well, I mean, girls
are in the gods, and, okay.

Anyway, point is, that

Adam: No arguing with this.

You can't argue with me at this

Zac: women gods,

Adam: too far gone.

On

Zac: your power trip,
yes, but there are women

Adam: Kill them all.

Zac: It's okay.

All right, well,

Adam: running theme through each

Zac: divine enlightenment, we
divine intervention here, because

Adam: of old to come out to
prophesize the end of the world

Zac: Calm down there, frickin
Satan, with the Orcus and Craziness

Adam: Hades

Zac: and yeah, I mean, so technically
you could pick a pantheon.

They're pantheons of D&D are not
just limited to the realm of Pharaoh.

You can take the inspirations
from Egyptian, Nordic, Greek,

Celtic theology, mythologies,
theologies, whatever you wanna

say

Adam: And there's also Eberron,
Greyhawk, and Faeru Fa Faerunion.

Faerunion.

Zac: Fa

Adam: Faerunion.

Zac: Ok

Adam: I am so southern that I
probably mispronounce that and we

have like a thousand angry comments
that I mispronounce that they'll be

Zac: comments

Adam: alright get over it

Zac: that.

Get over it.

I'm

Adam: pronounce it how I feel
like until I'm corrected properly.

Zac: No most people, I would assume
as a DM and especially me being a

new DM, I'm going to want to play
it more safe, more by the book.

Adam: pick your Forgotten Realms gods new
DM, just to make it easy, because if you

try to choose the other ones, and again,
when we say pantheons, every freaking race

has a pantheon to go about its of life.

If you have a druid, they're more
Celtic in nature, and if you're

in a different universe, you'll
have like Greyhawk pantheons pop

up.

Zac: a head, a head god or deity
of Paladins is Tyr, and he's, even

though he is a Faerunian god, he's
also heavily inspired, if not directly

from the Nordic pantheon of, you know,
strength, justice, balance, whatnot.

You, you really just need to know
what you're picking for your campaign.

And I guess our segment's going to
be picking the right Pantheon or, or

discovering what's going to fit best with
your campaign, your story, your sessions.

Adam: Yeah, so it's essentially,
we're going to understand the

deities in our first segment.

And then the second segment is
how we can incorporate the deities

and pantheons into our campaigns.

Zac: Bingo.

Adam: And that's the main overview.

And again, this will be a 30, 000
foot view because every deity deserves

its own episode and its own history
and its own, forefront of how they're

worshiped in the different campaigns.

So we'll give you the gist of it.

If you're in a new position
like Zack is, I would stick with

the Forgotten Realms deities.

Erathis, Tiamat, Bahamut, Rhaegar,
you know, things of that nature

that,

yeah, that position yourselves into
something that you don't you don't

you know, Corner yourself into gods
that you already know that exist

in the mythos of the real world.

You can have a campaign that's
based on Egyptian mythology, you

can have a campaign based in the
Nordic realms, and you can have one

in the Greek realms and relive your
Percy Jackson days if you want to.

But, So, if you really want a creative
atmosphere, you would understand in your

worlds that there's different categories
and different specifics that revolve

around when you should appropriate
which cultures into the D& D world.

So let's get into the first segment.

So types of deities.

There's going to be greater gods, and
there's lesser gods in every campaign.

And then there's demigods.

So, so you have those three basic.

components.

The first one is the greater gods.

Greater gods are going to be your
bigger bad boys and good, good

boys as, as I would position it.

So you're going to have your Tiamats and
then you're going to have your Bahamuts.

So they're opposing factions but
they are presented in a way that

they are one of the leaders of
the, of the world essentially.

And then you have some
lesser gods that are known.

But they are not worshipped
on a grander scale.

Those, you know, can end up being like,
Ball, or you have Lothos, or you have

Mystra, Selune

You could have the spider Queen.

Shout out to Lolth.

Zac: That's Adam's go to,

Adam: But you can have those,
and those are the lesser gods.

Not saying that they are lesser
in nature of what they can do in

the world, but they are just not
hugely worshipped in a large sense.

Erathis is a big one that
gets worshipped a lot.

Tyr's a big one.

So those are your greater gods that
control the planes of existence.

And then you have your demigods.

Demigods are your same ones like your
Hercules, and your Percy, and your

Zac: Percy S.

Adam: Odysseus, Theseus, all of
those kind of demigods exist.

You can create your own demigods,
and I would highly suggest you

do that and follow in that path.

And

Zac: And, and don't, don't be afraid
to take the inspiration from whatever

Pantheon you're leaning towards.

Like I said, the Faerunian.

Pantheon's a little bit more
accessible when you're a new DM.

But, you know, if you, if you are
feeling more of a Greek leaning or a

Nordic leaning, don't be afraid to take
the inspiration from this is the whole

point of being a DM and learning how
to come up with your own homebrews.

So creating a God that.

You know, might follow the war path
of Thor or Athena, you know, that's

fine, that's okay, you can make
that, this is your world after all.

But if you wanna, you know, if you
want gods that are already established,

that's also fine, nobody's going to

bane your existence for doing so.

Adam: Bane your existence Exactly.

Zac: But you know, and then
relying on gods like Baal or

Tiamat and,

and, you know, or Tyr or

Adam: a Tyr, folks.

He's getting into

Zac: Oh, hey, I try sometimes This is
a big one for me because this is going

to not only define what kind of socio

,

Adam: It also helps to plan for when
they eventually get to level 20.

Or higher levels.

Beyond 14, you could fight a god.

Zac: I

Adam: Unfortunately, that's
just how leveling goes.

Zac: and gods can present challenge
or, or Vic, you know, not even

Adam: The Raven Queen requests
your presence in the Shadowfell.

Zac: Exactly.

I mean, you're going to
have a more audacious quest.

I think if you, if you have
the gods intervene and when you

put stakes on God's names, like
Orcus, big bad, nobody likes them.

I'm almost positive he's gonna pop up in

our

Adam: you ever read a
description of Orcus?

Zac: he's pretty 40k.

Adam: a goat man.

Zac: Yeah, but he's also blood lusted.

I mean, he's big.

He's goat

man.

Adam: he looks like a goat.

He has a, he has a skull.

Skull.

Zac: Yeah, I knew that part.

I know he looked like goat?

Adam: He has hoofs.

He's the prince of the underworld.

Zac: Oh, so he's basically

Adam: Hades

Zac: he's he's the depiction of the devil,

Adam: but his, like, it's
like an actual skull.

Like, you can see skin and stuff out

of

Zac: Okay, that's pretty

Adam: out of him.

Yeah, he gets real ugly.

But yeah, you'll eventually see Orcus.

Zac: It's pretty metal.

Adam: If you survive long enough.

But

Zac: longer.

But,

Adam: gotta remember, when you're
setting up a campaign, I do the 30,

000 foot view of creating the gods and
deities in the campaign that exist.

And what's gonna affect the factions,
because I know that at the end of

it, every campaign that I try to run
at least will get you to level 20.

And if I can get you to level 20, You're
gonna have to be facing some gods and

lesser gods, demons of that nature at
that point because if you throw anything

else at them it's just not enough.

You're gonna, you as the DM are just
gonna sit there and create encounters and

it's just, they're just gonna blow right

Zac: You, you can't say an army
of 50 minotaurs come out of No.

Adam: No, and you don't want to fight an
army of 50 Minotaurs in a session because

that would take 3 sessions to get through.

Zac: correct.

I mean, you gotta think
about how turns combat works.

Adam: You also got to think about
the hierarchy and relationships

between the deities in the pantheon

Zac: because that in itself
can kind of add to your

Adam: They're not all like Zeus in the
pantheon up there where they all meet

on Olympus and they discuss things.

They're in different realms.

They're in different planes of existence
So you got to remember that, ,Pelor or

Erathis is going to meet on a regular.

Zac: Dawnfather?

Adam: Yeah.

You gotta assume like, Paylor's in
Elysium and Arathis is more, you know,

interconnected to to, I forget what realm,
plane, in the outer planes that exists.

But Tiamat's in one as well.

And,

Zac: and she's in a Avernus.

Or not, maybe Avernus, not a she's
in one of the nine hells though.

Adam: Yeah, no, she's,
she's this outer, outer

Zac: Really?

I thoughts

Adam: I don't think she's in it.

I freak, I got to read up
on that, but I don't believe

Zac: I was just going all

Adam: and orcas and and Hades
exists in the nine planes.

And the the Raven Queen
exists in the shadowfell

And Moria exists in the Feywild.

So, you gotta remember that they don't all
just randomly just meet at a town hall or

something and discuss yeah, but they all

know of each other because they've
all faced one another because

their worshipers have all fought
one another back and forth.

So you got to think about the hierarchy.

There's the gods, there's the
clergy, then there's the following.

So think of it that way.

You have the prophets and the clergy
that follow the certain gods and the

gods themselves have followers, you
can determine sometimes if that's how

they get their power or not as well.

It's just up to you as the
DM if their power comes from

how many followers they have.

If their power just comes from
their strength itself in the

different realms that they control.

It's totally up to you as the DM
to decide that, but you just gotta

remember that there are hierarchies.

Yeah,

and

Zac: I mean, and don't think
of higher gods and lesser

gods to inherently different.

They do have their differences, obviously,
you know, like Adam said, unless you're

following or maybe, maybe they aren't as
well known throughout the Faerune or lands

or whatever lands you decide to create.

But lesser gods can also be
major threats or allies in

your, greater scheme of things.

I'm just using him and I know this,
this is not a cop out, but Vecna, I

mean, he technically started out as
a demigod well, just a lich and then

kind of formed himself into a demigod
and then eventually evolved into a god.

You can make your gods or goddesses
something, something of that where they

can evolve into something greater or be,
you know, crumbled into something lesser.

Don't ever feel afraid to limit a god
or goddess to their, you know, what

power you think they should You, you

are essentially as the DM, you
control the entire playing field.

Gods are not.

So, ultimately it's your decision
what you want to do with them, how

you want to interact with them in
the world or your players or NPCs.

If you want to have them
cause mass cataclysm

Adam: KILL THEM

Zac: Yeah, you could do it.

If you want them to Deus ex
Machina somebody they could do it.

I mean, I wouldn't say rely on it, but

Adam: on

Zac: Hey, well, it's my sorry ass.

I see save the fight

Adam: Good old Reyna coming in clutch

Zac: Yeah You know, she had to do
what she had to do and luckily I

had a cop out to get her there but
deities and, and these pantheons are

something important in every D& D match.

And not match, just session in general.

Adam: Fight!

Zac: Yeah, yeah, we're not talking
Mortal Kombat here, so sorry.

Not talking about, like, the
Elder Gods or nothing like that,

Adam: like to see Tyr go up
against like Bahamut or something.

That'd be funny.

That'd

Zac: That'd be something.

I think Tyr would win, honestly.

know.

I don't know, Biomod's pretty
Bahamuts's pretty He's a dragon, right?

Yeah, he's He's rockin out.

He's

Adam: good dragon.

YeahYeah, he'se's the
good dragon of the north

Zac: north

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know, man.

That's a tough one.

Not

Adam: the wicked witch of
the west which is Tiamet

Zac: With five heads.

mean, that's a little bit more than
wicked, but Yeah, I mean, in terms of

deities and pantheons, you've really
got to know what to choose and where you

want to direct your story and campaign.

I

don't know, you have
anything to add off that

Adam: add you know, we we touched base
On, you know, their types of deities

aand their hierarchy, and then we touched
based ontheir, you gotta remember each

deity represents a certain domain.

And I think a lot of people miss
that a lot of, a lot of the time.

So just, just remember that they,
they have a domain, and their

domain is, is, you know, either
nature, war, trickery, healing.

And nature, there's different kinds,
you just look them up, see what their,

their domain is, and just keep in mind,
try to keep it in that domain when

they're discussing with the players
or with your overarching storyline

that you have, because there's gods
that are out to trick you, there's

gods that are out to help you, you
just gotta, you know, determine that.

And then we touch base on the,
you know, how they are worshiped,

clergy following all of that.

So I just think it's the, and
how big the priesthood is.

And if it's a big following, how
big the temples are and my campaign

Raina is the main God that gets
worshiped and no other God exists.

well,

other gods do exist, but

Zac: But they're overlooked,
overshadowed essentially.

And I mean

Adam: if they're found
worshiping other gods, they get

sent

Zac: hell.

It's religious And he's got, you
know, fascism written all over

Adam: no,

Zac: No, no.

They're fascists,

Adam: No, they, they,

Zac: Nobody likes them.

Adam: gets one ox.

And one cow.

Zac: So they're kind of communist,
fascist, whatever, they're not good.

Look, I mean, look, at the end
of the day, we know they're the

Adam: the best.

You really hate my campaign.

I

Zac: I don't hate the campaign,
I hate the damn empire, okay?

That's what it comes down to.

Anyway, anywho just remember, your
deities, these are the backbone.

When Adam and I first started this
podcast, I mean, I think we even

mentioned in the first episode, Adam
starts from a 30, 000 foot view.

I start from the

Adam: gues whats in 30,000 feet

Zac: some of the gods, some are in

Adam: gods and goddesses that
exist beyond our realms, beyond

our touch, beyond our grasp.

Welcome to Tavern Talks Podcast

Zac: sick of you right now.

Adam: right now.

ASMR edition.

Asmr

Zac: Today we're talking about gods and

Adam: We could do a whole ASMR podcast.

Zac: dude, we want people to
listen, not fall asleep, so.

LiListen, if you're driving
right Adam is the god of sleep.

If you're driving right now, about to die.

You've got about 30 seconds to live.

No.

And, and make it interactive.

If anything, I can say with your gods

Adam: I mean, you can make it
interactive in the gods per se,

but I don't like to incorporate
gods with the characters often.

Zac: Well, I'm not saying overuse it
like a, you know, like your, a crutch

Adam: Well, I'm not
even, like, saying that.

It's more of, like,

Zac: you like the mystique

Adam: Yes, mean gods are mysterious.

lord our self almighty
works in mysterious ways.

So therefore D& D lords and lordesses
shall work in mysterious ways.

Zach's over there killing himself.

But no, I try in my campaigns, and
it's totally up to you, but just in my

judgment, the higher the levels, the
more interactions they get with gods.

But in the earlier iterations, if
you have a clergyman or, you know,

a cleric at that point, trying to
interact with the gods, it's like

almost divine intervention that happens.

It just doesn't happen.

Zac: unless it's the clergyman good . No
yeah, I mean, at the end of the day,

there's oonly so much you can sayabout
Gods or what you can do with them.

I mean, when all is saiD&Done, you
are the dungeon masters of your game.

You have this

right

Adam: in the game.

You

Zac: You are the god.

You are the god or

Adam: You are the god.

You are the plant that is growing
on the edge of the pathway

that your characters travel.

You are the fish in the stream
as they walk across the waters.

You are Are the clergyman that
likes to look for other avenues

of payment from other deities?

Zac: anywho aside from all that,

I mean

Adam: many good ideas.

That's

Zac: wonderful.

You're doing great.

Adam: remember this?

Probably not.

Zac: not, probably not, but
your ideas come very well.

Your gods and goddesses are
the backbone of any campaign

Adam: They are, that they are.

Zac: And they

are going to

always remember they're, they're going
to have a greater story behind them that

you don't necessarily have to delve into.

And like Adam said, until

Adam: could just don't
understand what's going on

Zac: going on.

Demons have erupted from the hells.

Adam: Demons have erupted from the hells.

Disclose that,

Zac: you will.

Gonna add gods.

Adam: you're gonna add gods.

Zac: regardless of

Adam: in a world without gods, what hope
does our travelers have that adventure?

What forthright do they have to survive?

What hope will they gather in their
dying breaths as they look up into

the eternal blaze of death themselves?

What hope will they have if no gods are

Zac: don't know if there's
a lot of gold involved.

I can a lot of hope, you
know what I'm saying?

No, but

Really your gods are your, your key

Adam: you tell I'm working on a voice?

I'm almost, I've almost

Zac: almost clicked it.

Adam: If you can guess what character
I'm trying to imitate, just let me

Zac: know

You'll get a personal

Adam: chef.

That's right.

It will be, it will be like six weeks
downthe line when this getss released.

But you just tweet at us what
imitation I'm trying to do.

Cause I already told Zach what I'm trying.

And he says it sounds pretty close to it.

Zac: I would say it is that

Adam: I give it a seven.

Zac: I give it a, I give it a six,

Adam: six,

three.

All right.

Zac: And there's only one.

I think it sounds too old manny.

Adam: old man.

All right.

Zac: I think you just You
got a young it up a littlebit

Adam: Young it up a little bit.

All right.

I'll try.

I'll try to work

Zac: but gods, goddesses, demons, deities.

Here's what you need to

Adam: D D D D D.

Zac: and D&D and D&D and D&D.

Make sure you have fun with it.

At the end of the day, you're the God.

Adam: you are the

omnipotent

Zac: are omnipotent.

You get to.

Say how much they interfere
or don't interfere.

And remember, always take a little bit of
player feedback because if your players

don't like God's interfering every five
seconds, they're going to Kratos your ass.

So

Adam: I've seen that happen.

Zac: it's happened.

Don't have that happen for those
who don't get the game reference.

Get good, learn some lore.

I'm just playing.

Adam: Become a No, no, Joel is not a

Zac: Joel.

Joel is not a God.

We'd like to talk about her.

I'm

Adam: omnipotent one.

He's

Zac: omnipotent one.

Adam: one.

So, going into it, we discussed the
deities and the gods themselves.

So, world building.

Again, we start with a 30,
000 foot view, like we said.

And, that's how I start it, and
I decide what's in my realm, and

what kind of gods are out there.

I just don't say all gods exist.

That's just not how it should work.

should be different factions.

There be one true god!

I didn't mention that in the last session.

I was like, should I
create a Jesus Christ D& D?

Zac: I remember cause I said
Jesus Christ as a character

and you're like, who's that?

I was oh I gotta start
saying something different.

Dagon Crust.

Adam: Krust.

Pretty much.

But you want to create as, you know,
you want to get set how many gods and

pantheons are going to be worshipped in
your realm as well as what the characters

are going to worship themselves.

And it will shape the history, the
politics, and the conflicts that

are set forth in your campaign.

However route you go about it, vying
for power, vying for political power,

having a war because they just don't like
each other based on the history of it.

And then you can oftentimes, out
of it, if you have a paladin in

your group, you can recruit them.

You can ask the paladin to do side
quests for you from the gods themselves.

So that operates closely
intertwined to the mainline quest.

So your paladin can seek out side quests
to Retrieve the God's Holy Avenger.

You can have them get a, the
Orb of Endless Power kind of

thing from the gods as a quest.

So just don't forget that you can.

have divine intervention and you can have
quests shaped around the gods themselves.

Just know what you're getting into
before you decide to do that because

you better have a good foundation of
why the gods are intervening in the

first place and what reason for it
because the characters are going to

go forth because it's a god anyways.

The other last thing before the
episode ends I would like to discuss

is probably just Yeah, I mean, if

you want your character connected
to a god, come forth in the campaign

have to have them directly know it,

Zac: Yeah, I mean, if you want your
character connected to a god, you don't

always have to have them directly know it.

That's it.

And it doesn't even have
to be a god of good.

It could be something
more devious than that.

You know, it, it does add for a
little bit of character building

and characters, characterization.

I can't say that word too well.

But you know, it, it does add a
layer to your story in, in total.

And

mean, that's, that's
pretty much it on the, the

Adam: Yeah, and that was just
a good 30, 000 foot view.

Like, like, we like to stay at
that at, in the beginning of

all of these podcast episodes.

Just so that anybody that's following
along as a new DM doesn't get overwhelmed.

Like we said, we could
discuss in depth each god and

Zac: do, where they're
from, how they work.

But here's the thing.

Adam: What's its purpose?

Zac: We're here to help you.

And you know, you're here to help
us in times because at the end of

the day, we're all DMs and it kinda,
it helps to build off one another.

And that's what we create these
podcasts for is to kind of give you

a guideline, a generic guideline on
the how to start things, especially if

you're fresh or even if you're a veteran
DM and you're just looking for new

Adam: you just listen
to us cause we're funny.

Zac: Few and far between.

I'm just playing.

We're pretty decent.

Adam: Yeah, well, there you have it folks,
and esteemed travelers that are listening

the conclusion of another enlightening
journey here at Tavern Talks Podcast.

We have traversed the celestial
heavens, explored the realms of the

divine, and uncovered the secrets of
the pantheons that shape our world.

Zac: A heartfelt thank you to all
of our listeners who've joined

us on this celestial odyssey.

Your presence in our virtual tavern
enriches our shared experiences.

Adam: as we bid farewell to this episode.

We invite you to share your own
tales of the divine encounters

and celestial adventures.

Reach out to us on Twitter at pod tavern
talks on Instagram at tavern talks

pod, or share your experiences over
on our tick tock at tavern talks pod.

Zac: Whether you've communed with
gods or witnessed their wrath

from afar, your stories matter
and we're eager to hear them.

Adam: So until our Tinkerds meet
again in our virtual tavern, fellow

seekers of truth, may the blessings
of the divine guide your path.

May your tales be legendary,
and may the wisdom of the

gods illuminate your journey.

Zac: Here's to the pantheons that shape
our world, and the gods who walk among us.

Until next time, safe travels, and
may your adventures be ever legendary.

Adam: ever