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Archives of Nethys

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Infinite Worlds / Religion

Medium Religion

Source Galaxy Exploration Manual pg. 118
On many worlds, religion plays a significant part in daily life yet typically doesn’t maintain an overriding influence on life, politics, economy, and relations. This distinction doesn’t mean that the adherents to these faiths are any less devout compared to those of high-religion worlds. The faithful of medium‑religion worlds might allocate great structures or complexes for religions to come together, share their philosophies, and learn. However, either their gods don’t require extreme and constant devotion, or the society has developed an equilibrium where its needs accommodate, yet don’t kowtow, to its patrons’ dictums. Alternatively, a world might host numerous religions that all compete for the minds and souls of the faithful. These religious struggles could take place intellectually, ritualistically, or through physical violence. However, the daily lives of the majority of the people are less likely to be influenced by religion compared to everyday economic and political concerns.
For example, a space station or planet designated for the inhabitants of multiple worlds to intermingle and cooperate can be a place where religion, though heavily influencing the lives of many residents, has an overall muted impact due to overriding intragalactic political, military, and economic concerns. Another world might have relatively aloof or distant gods. They might grant miracles and power to their priests, and perhaps occasionally listen to the prayers of their devotees, but otherwise intervene little in mortal lives. Perhaps another world regards its heroes and leaders as living gods, thus bestowing upon them great prestige and power, while their society still recognizes them as mortal and fallible, ensuring that their influence never exceeds that commanded by a true deity. Even technology could become the focus of worship if its capabilities surpass the population’s understanding of how some devices function.

Medium-Religion Adventure Hooks

D20 Adventure Hook
1 The legitimacy of a museum’s collection of religious artifacts is called into question; the curator asks for help in proving otherwise.
2 Several assassinations occur at a conference of spiritual leaders from various religious institutions.
3 A distraught family hopes to rescue a loved one from a strange cult.
4 The key to a serial killer’s crimes hides in an obscure religious text.
5 A wealthy eccentric attempts to purchase an entire minor religion.
6 Pilgrims seek transport to observe an interstellar religious event.
7 A state-sponsored religion suddenly enacts a suffocating bureaucracy.
8 Adherents of a peaceful religion begin to purchase weapons of war.
9 Religious extremists take over a facility and make extensive demands.
10 A manufacturer of mass-produced religious curios needs help ensuring its goods reach the market before its competitors.
11 Facets of a religious holiday begin appearing in unrelated pieces of pop culture throughout the galaxy.
12 A whistle-blower who uncovered a religious leader’s corruption needs protection from that faith’s followers.
13 A group of pious adherents need to raise credits to save an orphanage, though an opposing deity’s interference makes their task more difficult.
14 Personalized pantheons of gods are a high-status purchase, and the devout followers of a single deity look to carve out a place of their own.
15 A corporation releases an app called “God 2.0”; local religious groups find the software blasphemous and demand its deletion.
16 A religion looks to grow its congregation by appealing to a wider audience but requires help navigating the current social landscape.
17 A previously unknown world appears, which many religions take it as a sign (with contradictory meanings).
18 A religious organization enacts a smear campaign against a rival group using information it acquired illicitly.
19 A religious group suddenly places bounties on seemingly unconnected individuals.
20 An outsider seeks to reform their ways, but they need asylum from religious groups who want to slay them.