1. Choose Polytheism or Monotheism. Polytheism refers to a collection of multiple gods (many real world mythologies believe in a system like this), while monotheism refers to a single god (many real world religions today follow this pattern.) There's advantages and disadvantages to both, of course, but they can be more similar rather than different as they appear to be at first blush. Many monotheistic religions still have a host of saints or avatars or other divine servants that practically speaking play the roles of other gods in a polytheistic system.

   Polytheism is the default assumption for most published D&D campaign settings, and there's a reason for this. Polytheism gives characters more choice in whom to worship, and gives the cleric class in particular more flavor and options. Polytheism also introduces potential conflicts between the churches of various gods that may have opposing idealogy. However, polytheism could potentially take more time to flesh out; after all, you need to name a few gods and assign spheres of influence to them. This can be done relatively quickly if you stick to the bare bones, of course.

   If using a polytheistic system, take a moment to think about the heirarchy between the gods, if any. Greek myth, for example, has Zeus as the "King of the Gods" and his brothers Poseidon and Hades together form a sort of Triumvirate of the most important and most powerful gods. Other gods are wives, sons or daughters of many of these original gods, and the relationships between them suggest something about the setting that ancient Greeks believed they lived in. In many D&D pantheons, however, there is no heirarchy or order per se, instead each god or goddess is on their own, or limited to whatever alliances he or she can cobble together.

   After coming up with a handful of gods, it's important to also give them "spheres of influence." This can also be tailored and flavored with the selection of domains the god makes available to his clerics (typically three or four to choose from.) For example, a god might be designated the war god -- he'd probably thus get the war domain. If he also gets the evil and the destruction domain, for example, that says something about how that society views war. If, on the other hand, he gets the strength, good and law domains, that says something else. There's no reason more than one god can't have influence over the same arena -- the Norse mythology has Thor, Odin, Tyr and others who are all "war gods" for instance, but since you don't want to invent scores and scores of gods at this point anyway, you're probably best off limiting yourself to just a few major ones; half a dozen to a dozen tops. Other than their domains, you may also want to give your gods a weapon of choice.

   If you choose monotheistic, your choices are obviously simpler. Monotheistic dieties typically offer access to all the domains. An interesting variant of the monotheistic system is the dualist, in which two cosmic opposites work at constant cross purposes. One is typically good and positive, while the other is often associated with evil, but other opposition schemes could be contrived easily enough. You also need to decide if there are "sub-deities" such as saints, angels or avatars that the PCs could potentially interact with. It wouldn't hurt to give some thought as to their nature as well -- are they lesser divine servants, or are they ascended mortals, ala Catholic saints?

2. Determine the Nature of the Major Gods. Take a moment to describe whether or not your gods are personified, or something else. Most real world mythologies, such as the Greek or Norse mythologies have their gods acting essentially as super-powered humans in many ways, with emotions, goals, foibles and the like. Even the Egyptian pantheon, which doesn't appear very humanistic at first glance, has easily identified strains of this same line of thinking. However, other religions percieve the god(s) as simply unempathic forces that are pretty much beyond mortal comprehension. Taking this to a further extreme, you get "Lovecraftian" deities, awesome entities that are so far beyond human understanding that they aren't even capable of percieving us as more than infinitesmally unimportant motes. These types of gods make for a very grim campaign, as the gods don't care for even having worshippers, and their plans might accidentally annihilate the entire world without even realising we were on it.

   Humanistic deities is a choice most D&D campaigns use, because it provides for easy story ideas. If you go this route, give each deity a quick couple of sentences to describe their personality and motivation, and maybe develop some relationships between them. If you do not have humanistic deities, give some thought on how the deities interact with the world and how that can suggest story ideas. For example (using Ray's own sample campaign) a non-humanistic earth-mother clearly relates to all the organisms that live on it, and certain threats to the wellbeing of the goddess would clearly impact those who live on her.

3. Describe the Faith and Worshippers. For just a few major gods, give some thought on how they are worshipped. Is the pantheon open or closed? Most real world pantheons were closed, i.e. you worshipped all of the gods in the pantheon, depending on what specific help you were looking for. Holy men likewise typically served the entire pantheon at a time. That doesn't mean mystery cults devoted to a specific god didn't exist -- in fact they were quite common, but in general the pantheon was a unit. An open pantheon, on the other hand, is the default for most D&D settings. In this type of pantheon, you typically only worship one of the gods, and that's your religion and your church. There's some mechanical considerations to each, of course, relative to domains available to a given cleric character, favored weapon and the like.

   Also take a moment to think about a few sample religious services and a couple of "dos and don'ts" for each church, religion or sect. These are particularly useful to the cleric or paladin players, but they could also be important to other classes if the characters happen to be religious. In some campaign settings -- Forgotten Realms for example, all characters typically are at least somewhat religious. Giving them something they can actually roleplay related to that makes the setting come alive. Don't get carried away with any of these details; it'd be easy to spend hours detailing gods and ceremonies and lists of commandments; just a few small bullet points should be sufficient.

4. Create Two Myths. Just to give the religion more than simply a dry, mechanical rundown, a few myths explaining some of "the great mysteries" are helpful. Where did we come from? What happens when we die? How was the world created? How did civilization start? What's the relationship between humans and nonhumans? Where does magic fit in? These are the kinds of questions you should look at. Don't write long stories, a paragraph or two should be sufficient, and share it with the players ahead of time.

5. Imagine Other Faiths. In an open polytheistic environment, you've probably already done this, but otherwise, you probably want to take just a moment to give some hints of other religions that believe differently than the main religion of your campaign. Perhaps elves or dwarves have different creation myths or a different set of deities, for example. If you do this, though, be sure and come up with, at least for yourself, how these various religions interact. Is one right and not the others? Are they all wrong? Are they all right? Are competing pantheons related in some way, or is there an actual divine war going on between them mirrored by the conflict between the worshippers?

• Valennon: Neutral -- Knowledge, Magic, Chaos, Protection. Valnenon is the Smith, the Maker, the Laughter of the Gods. He delights in craftsmanship and creativity. He supposedly built the world itself, and carved canyons, blasted the craters and piled up the mountains.
• Gavamario: Lawful Neutral -- Law, War, Sun. Gavamario is known as the Warden of the Gods, the Virtuous Warrior and the Inflexible. He has a very controlling nature, and tired of the fragmented, chaotic manner in which the other gods worked. He once made a bid for control of the gods, but legend says he was rebuffed. Some legends link him with the sun, in which they say that he still makes an attempt to come out and watch what happens on the earth rather than indulge himself in his own projects in the heavens.
• Adever: Chaotic Neutral -- Destruction, Fire, Strength, War. Adever is also known as the Champion, the Warrior and the Strong One. He is unsophisticated and takes simple delight in feats of strength and combat. He dislikes Gavamario greatly for his controlling nature.
• Calossi: Lawful Neutral -- Air, Knowledge, Magic, Water. Calossi is also known as the Curious, the Strange One, the Mysterious and other names. She has always been obsessed with finding the secret of creating life, something none of this generation of gods has ever known. It is said that somewhere on the earth, strange people or creatures that are her creations actually live, although no one knows where or what they may be. It is also said that magic is her province, and many sorcerors and mages form mystery cults around her, although it's never been said that she particularly cares for them.
• Shenesesh: Neutral Evil -- Death, Luck, Travel, Trickery. Shenesesh is often called the Wily, the Trickster, the Dark One, or even the Traitor. Some believe that he is actually one of the Elder Gods rather than a true brother to the other gods. Certainly his agenda seems to be very different from his peers, and after his actions in the past, few trust him or love him. Thus he was often on the move, affecting plans, plots, or simply to create an alibi. Today, legend says he rules the Afterworld. The other gods come to collect those they choose from amongst mortals from him every so often, but he rules all those who fail to qualify to live with anyone else.
• Groisean: True Neutral -- Air, Fire, Earth, Water. Also known as the Green Man, the Hunter, the Wild Man of the Wilderness. Groisean is an aloof god with few worshippers, who loves the wild lands and has little, if any, love for mortals or their society.
• Treann: Chaotic Neutral - Luck, Death, Healing, Trickery. Treann is also known as the Whore, the Drunk, the Luck-goddess, and the Goddess of Love. Although a goddess of few faithful worshippers, she is a popular "weekend" goddess and many people throw a prayer her way before going out on the town. Her mystery cults are said to be spectacularly depraved and decadent.

Since I've now developed my type of pantheon and the nature of the major gods, it's time to have a look at religion and organizations. Essentially, in my main kingdom, all religion is a province of the Ecclesiastus, an organization that wields tremendous power with the government and the lives of the people. They rigorously proscribe the lifestyle and religious habits of the nation, although people in general are only as religious as they have to be. One tenet that the Ecclesiastus preaches is that it is Heresy to conduct magic, with the exception of the Ministry of Sorcery, which is a tightly controlled arm of the government. The Inquisition is a quasi-government, quasi-religious order that seeks to root out any sign of occult amongst the populace. As for a religious ritual, the Ecclesiastus preaches that all faithful worshippers must stop what they are doing and pray at the moment of sundown -- the nights are very long, dark and cold. Most people pay lip service to this tradition, at least if they are in public.

My descriptions of the gods does ennumerate a number of myths, but one at least is crying to be developed: how humanity got their freedom from the Breeder race in ancient times. Supposedly, at that time, the Breeders worshipped strange gods, fell and uncouth that had no love for humanity, or even for their own subjects. The current gods were their children, and they chafed under the rule of the cruel Elder Gods. In a legendary reenactment of the freeing of humanity from their masters, the New Gods rebelled against the Elder Gods and threw them down to take their place. In order to purge the world of the influence of the Elders, they brought about the downfall of the Breeders and adopted humanity as their worhippers.

In other kingdoms, however, although the same gods are worhipped, they are not typically as tightly and rigidly tied to the Ecclesiastus, and different sects with --occasionally-- wildly divergent views on the roles of the gods do exist. In addition, dark sects that still worship the old gods, mistrusting the new gods as inexperienced and lacking in true power, still lurk deep in the wilderness, and hidden in the undersides of the city.

Finally, as Dungeoncraft Rule #2 compels me to create a secret about my religion, I'll jump from the myth I created and say that it is more or less true. Of course, my secret from an installment or two ago was the demons helped humanity overthrow their masters, not the gods. This is because these "gods" that are worshipped aren't gods at all, but truly are demon lords, vying to corrupt humanity as much as possible. True gods, if they exist at all, probably are the Elder Gods, although humanity is undergoing a true Apostasy, and any real knowledge of them is long gone.

Next time, we'll look at naming and organization and start to get ready to draw the first maps.