This week I picked up the new 2024 revised version of the D&D 5e Player’s Handbook at my friendly local gaming store, The Source. A lot of changes have been made to the presentation of the player facing rules of the game. In addition to a number of rules clarifications, some new wrinkles to weapons, and redesigned classes, one of the big changes I noticed was that they completely removed any worldbuilding information about the gods of the D&D multiverse.

In the 2014 PHB, the “Gods of the Multiverse” occupied an entire 7 page appendix, touching on the various D&D worlds and their deities. In that appendix were a number of tables that laid out who the gods of the various worlds were along with their alignments, symbols, and suggested domains. In the 2024 version, that is all gone.

I am sad to lose this and other story-based touchstones that helped add texture to the characters players would create. It was entries like these that served as launchpads for my own imagination and the kinds of stories we could tell together.

I expect this kind of information to show up in the new Dungeon Master’s Guide. Now the onus for providing those rich imagination launchpads falls upon the shoulders of the Dungeon Master. It will be their job to present the players with interesting world details and encourage players to create characters that are a part of those worlds. Here are some thoughts about how a Dungeon Master can do that with regards to the religious traditions of their campaign world, whether that world is homebrewed or officially published.

In presenting the religious traditions that a Player Character might be a part of, DM’s can do better than what Wizards of the Coast has thus far offered. In the 2014 PHB (and I suspect in the upcoming 2024 DMG), religious realities are presented with a little bit of flavor text and a big table of gods. It looks something like this:

Deity	Alignment	Suggested Domains	Symbol
Auril, goddess of winter	NE	Nature, Tempest	Six-pointed snowflake
Azuth, god of wizards	LN	Knowledge	Left hand pointing upward, outlined in fire
Bane, god of tyranny	LE	War	Upright black right hand, thumb and fingers together
Lathander, god of birth and renewal	NG	Life, Light	Road traveling into a sunrise

Multiple deities are presented, each with their own slice of reality that they tend to preside over: War, Life, Nature, Storms, etc. Each is also presented with an alignment, that sets up the deity and their followers to be in necessary existential conflict with other opposing deities and their followers. Religious warfare tends to be the end result of the stories that are told. Follow any campaign up to the highest levels, and almost always you’re battling an evil god.

There is a better, richer, more humanizing way of telling ttrpg stories about religious traditions and their worshippers. It starts with scrapping the old top-down table of deities and creating something new, something that can capture a bottom-up picture of the experiential forms of religion which the PCs might actually participate in.

On this new table, instead of each entry starting with the name of a deity, start it with the religious tradition. Instead of Lathander it would be the “Church of Lathander”. Instead of Auril it could be “The Frozen Chosen”. One deity might have a plethora of religious traditions. DMs should take care not to overwhelm the players with too many choices, while at the same time offering enough to provide texture for their imaginations to grab onto.

Religious Tradition	Deity (Key Leader or Prophet)	Core Motivation	Theme	Suggested Domains	Key Practices
Frozen Chosen	Auril (Artus Cimber)	Survive the winter	Suffering in the cold	Nature, Tempest	Sacrifices of food & human life
Magisterium of the High One	Azuth	Growth of arcane knowledge	Study	Knowledge	Lighting a candle during magical study and practice of arcane arts
Banites	Bane	Rule of the strong	Ambition & Control	War	Contests of strength
Church of Lathander	Lathander	Offer people a fresh start	Birth & Renewal	Life, Light	Ceremonies at dawn

Players should be encouraged to add to, modify, or adapt these religious traditions in ways that can fit their character concepts. They may even be inspired to create new traditions whole cloth! This collaborative world building is a blessing to your game.

By shifting religious worldbuilding away from defining the gods to instead defining religious traditions through motivations, themes, and practices, you can create a better, richer world. A world where enemies are not so easily defined through a colonialist mindset as the “religious other”, but instead by the impact of their actions.