Possibly the most pervasive influence on (real-world) history has been the role of the church. It's odd how often this gets shoved right into the background in D&D. I guess because of a desire to avoid causing offense. However, I always feel that the beliefs of the peoples in a world (or, indeed, the lack thereof) is of crucial importance in a setting.
Anyway, the D&D default is a polytheistic setting, generally built with a view to providing all PC races and classes with a god to follow. Monotheism is shunned. Indeed, with the alignment system in play, monotheism doesn't work very well in the game.
However, I'm not going with the standard approach. Of course, the various races will have their own beliefs, but the dominant culture (which is, inevitably, human) will be monotheistic. So, here's religion by race:
Dwarf: The dwarves don't worship any gods. They believe that the spirits of their ancestors look down on them, and worship them will all due reverence. Dwarven creation myth speaks of an arrival of the people from some other place. Where this may be is a matter of debate, but the dwarves agree that they left their gods behind when they came to this world.
Elf: The elves believe that the world itself is alive. Theirs is a very naturalistic religion based on the interaction of magic with living forces. Elves regard sorcerers as the highest of their people, for they have magic, and thus the soul of the world, in their very blood. Elven creation myth names them as the children of the world, and the other races as infections plaguing the planet. Elven druids are far more common than elven clerics.
Halfling: Halflings woship local gods, which they believe reside everywhere. To the halflings, the notion of a single, all-powerful being is laughable. Halfling priests, therefore, make it their duty to identify and contact the gods of wherever they currently are, and derive their influence from that.
Hobgoblins: Hobgoblins share the same beliefs as humans. However, they always adopt the most militaristic interpretations of all scripture and philosophy.
Orcs: The beliefs of the orcs are unknown. However, they certainly revolve around destruction and carnage.
Humans: Human religion will be patterned loosely on Christianity, with a single god ruling the entire world. It will be split into many orders, usually at odds with one another. Each order will have it's own interpretation of the same scriptures and philosophies.
Again, were I writing this up as a full campaign setting, I'd write far more on the subject of the precise belief and traditions of each religion. I'd also spend a lot of time detailing the various human orders, since these are going to provide one of the major conflicts in the setting.
From a rules perspective, there are two possible approaches to monotheism:
Clerics may be of any alignment. They can choose any two domains, and any favoured (Martial) weapon if they choose the War domain. The ability to turn or rebuke undead comes from their alignment.
Alignment is removed. Clerics may choose domains and weapons as above, but may also choose to turn or rebuke at the start of the campaign. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.
I'm going to go with the second approach, as I feel it better fits the setting.
Removing alignment sends shockwaves through the system, in a manner disproportionate to it's handling within the books. So much is dependent on it that it cannot simply be dropped just like that. (Most people, when they say they aren't using alignment really are, they just don't list it on the PC character sheets.)
Consequences of removing alignment:
1) There are no ex-Barbarians, ex-Bards, ex-Druids, etc.
2) Lots of spells become inappropriate or difficult to adjudicate.
3) Lots of magic items change.
Since we've already reduced the impact of magic items on the setting, point 3 isn't something to worry about. Point 1 is a problem only as regards multi-classing and as regards Paladins. Point 2 is also quite significant.
The impact of alignment on classes is fairly limited. If you allow a Monk to be non-Lawful it doesn't make him any more powerful unless and until the character multi-classes. The same is true of the Druid, Bard and Barbarian. Moreover, removing alignment restrictions only allows two additional combinations that we're previously available: Monk/Bard and Monk/Barbarian. And, in both cases, a character could have started out as a Monk, switched to a non-Lawful alignment, and become a Bard or Barbarian. Such a character cannot gain levels as Monk ever again, but otherwise loses nothing. So, there's no great problem here as regards balance.
The Paladin is a trickier concept. The biggest balancing factor of the Paladin class is that if he ever commits a Choatic or Evil act, he loses his Paladin status, possibly forever. Without alignment, this is harder to enforce. Normally, in such a situation, I would encourage DMs to design a confining Paladin code which all Paladins must follow, and indicate which violations can be atoned for and which cannot. However, for the swashbuckler game, I have an alternative suggestion: just remove the Paladin. The moral ambiguity given by allowing Clerics of any alignment to follow any god makes the role of the holy crusader somewhat uncomfortable, and so can be safely withdrawn.
Note that without alignment some of the Paladin's abilities need replaced (Detect Evil for one), and you also have to deal with the Paladin/Bard, Paladin/Barbarian and Paladin/Druid combinations, which currently can't exist (although a Bard could become a Paladin, and lose nothing except the ability to gain levels as a Bard).
In dealing with spells, we need to remove four domains (Chaos, Evil, Good, Law). We need to remove such spells as detect evil, and that's about it. However, it should be noted that some spells (notably protection from evil) have a secondary effect that applies to all outsiders. In such a case, these spells will remain, but only have the secondary effect. The DM may wish to reduce the level by 1, to reflect the loss of the bulk of the power of these spells. I wouldn't.
Had I not already decided to get rid of magic items, I'd now have to deal with things like the holy avenger, or items that reduce your effective level if you're of the wrong alignment. These could either be dropped or, for a more interesting approach, be re-cast as intelligent items with an agenda. Rather than force ego checks, these items would apply the negative level effect to PCs who don't follow their agenda. However, I don't need to deal with this now, since I've removed such items already.
And that's it: religion and alignment for a swashbuckler setting. The final pillar is magic, which includes psionics.
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