Religion

**Religions** or **mystery cults** are schools of thought, designated behaviors and practices, morals, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, and organizations. These relate humanity to the supernatural, transcendental, or spiritual elements of the Otherworld. Practice is distinctly cultural and reserved to initiates who must undergo ritual assimilation to join the cult.

## Creating a religion

Part of a character's background is their religion. This is innately cultural and geographic; it is very rare for people to convert if they already practice one. Use this guide to help you create a regional mystery cult for your character to adhere to.

### Type of religion

* Is your religion an esoteric cult (focused on secular truth), divinely inspired (focused on a god or pantheon), or a heroic mystery (focused on a particular person)?

### Beliefs

#### Themes

* What is the purpose of intelligent life in your religion?
* What symbols are important in your religion?
* What is good and what is evil in your religion?
* What one of the following aspects or core motifs does your religion espouse?
	+ Reincarnation (learning from your past lives)
	+ Ancestor worship (one's heritage is sacred)
	+ Self-mastery (self-improvement is the path of enlightenment)
	+ Natural harmony (living at peace with nature)
	+ Divine inspiration (producing art or good work)
	+ Absolute understanding (truth is above all else)

#### Metaphysics

* Who is the god, or who are the gods, of your religion?
* Why is your god important?
* Does your god love your people or are they indifferent?
* Why does the Otherworld exist?
* Why is the world the way it is, with its mountains, oceans, people, and forests?
* What makes the region your character originates from special in your religion?

#### Practices

* What are your religion's holy days?
* Is worship a daily commitment, or does it only require reverence during certain events?
* Does your religion demand sacrifices?
* What is considered sacrilege in your religion?
* Are you forbidden from doing certain activities, like eating certain foods?
* Are you compelled to certain activities, like wearing certain clothes?
* Are there positions or a religious class that is important for your religion?
* Is there a compulsion to convert others to your religion? To the exclusion of their own?
* Do you have written texts, monuments, or even a special language?

### Mechanics of religion

There are four aspects of religion that give tangible benefits to your character.

* ***Esoteric Study***. Magical schools like alchemy and dream-walking are associated only with specific religions. You may choose one type of magical school that you may participate in; discuss with the DM what school is appropriate.
* ***Appeal to Religion***. When you are speaking to someone and they share a common faith with you, you roll advantage on all Charisma checks made against them.
	+ You must declare that you will make an Appeal to Religion before or after a roll, but not after the DM makes a ruling.
	+ If you use an Appeal to Religion and your target is not of the same faith, your roll will automatically fail.
* ***Enlightened, Reverent, Disciple***. Determine what type of religion you have (see the subheading, "Type of religion), then receive one of the following three benefits:
	+ ***Esoteric cult***. You gain the benefits of an "Appeal to Religion" with all esoteric cultists, not just those that belong to the same cult as you do.
	+ ***Divinely inspired***. You can use Inspiration to gain an additional use of your cult's "Adherent to Mysteries" ability (see below).
	+ ***Heroic mystery***. Certain magic items require one to worship a divine hero to use an artifact in good faith, with nonbelievers risking curses or worse by the item's mere presence. You, however, can attune and use magic items that once belonged to the hero of your cult.
* ***Adherent of*** ***Mysteries***. Depending on which core motif you choose, you may gain a trait for your character that is present so long as you have no levels of exhaustion, and you actively fulfill the requirements of your religion. This trait allows you to gain certain magic-like benefits in such a way that it is considered nonmagical.
	+ It is best to create an ability that does not give direct benefits to combat, or has limited combat applications. Remember, this is heavily tied to your religion - unless your religion is centered around murder or the spirit of battle, it is unlikely your cult will give such benefits.
	+ The use of your abilities is renewed after every short rest.
	+ The following examples can be used as inspiration for your own religion:
		- ***Reincarnation***. You can peer into your past lives as an action to gain the benefits of *guidance* for one minute.
		- ***Ancestor Worship***. Devoted to protect your family name, you can steel yourself and gain advantage on your next saving throw.
		- ***Self-mastery***. Able to quickly learn from your own mistakes, if you are suffering from a condition and fail the initial saving throw, you roll advantage on first subsequent saving throw.
		- ***Natural harmony***. Your understanding of the natural world is uncanny, and any Intelligence (Nature) ability checks made to determine which way is north, what the weather will be like for the next two days, or how many days it is until a celestial event (such as an eclipse), you automatically succeed.
		- ***Divine inspiration***. Your greatest successes in art and authorship are not simply works of the mortal world, meaning that if you are rolling for an instrument or artisan's tools, any success is treated as a critical success.
		- ***Absolute understanding***. The key to understanding is often right in front of you, so Wisdom (Insight) checks made to determine a creature's ideals, personality traits, or flaws are made at advantage.