>>52266243
For fun

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Lust for power
Hating the good gods for some reason or another
Personally, the sexual allure of being in the thrall of something very evil/powerful
Pic semi related.

>>52266243
The lovin's good.

>>52266243
matching 401k and full dental

>>52266243
They are giving you something that nobody else was giving you, and that something is something you need in order to feel fulfilled as a person.

It could be a wide variety of things - lust, wealth, power, even something as simple as approval from a person in authority, but at the end of the day they give you what nobody else will.

>>52266243
So they don't destroy your society.

>>52266243
I'd say something, but everyone else in this thread has already covered everything.

>>52266243
If you worship the generic good aligned Judeo-Christian creator god, you're vying for his attention along with billions of others. No matter when you pray, there's a million other people praying. He gives no fucks about you.

If you worship some obscure evil central-asian goddess of the moon and snakes, you probably have all of her attention at any particular moment you might want to talk to her. And evil or not, she's going to care. If she loses you, she's lost like 20% of her total followers.

>>52266243
You get a really rad afterlife, if you serve the god well.

>>52266243
Because they give you the power to do what you always wanted to do, but never could because of society/your own fears/the law.

An evil god is really just an enabler, they are that voice in your head that says "I should take what I want", except they make it so you actually can.

>>52266243
cookies

>>52266243
So they won't fuck you or your people up while you're dealing with their area of influence. Like appeasing an evil god of the sea and/or storms in hopes they'll decide not to capsize too many ships.

>>52266243
If you got a good deal out of it. Course, the deal probably won't turn out the way you think.

>"Your mother Eve gave up her throne in Eden for a crown in the Night World."

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Because the good gods abandoned the world centuries ago and he's the only god still doing stuff.

>>52266243
Because if you don't, said god will inflict his "blessings" upon you and your village, town, country, planet...

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A community might worship an evil god to keep it's wrath away from them, or towards someone who deserves it more.

An individual cultist might think that they've been cheated or exploited by "good" society, and the evil cult is the only entity on their side.

And maybe there's the belief that the universe itself is evil, good is a sham, and everyone either eats their neighbor or gets eaten.

>>52266243
It depends on the god. But I generally think its a "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints." kinda idea or they truly believe in that deity's world view.

>>52266463
That's a decent point. Scouring ancient dark gods to test worship now.

>>52266243
The fundamental mistake you're making is you're mixing up evil with Evil. Evil and Good aren't abstractions but real forces, each equally important to the world. Worshipping Evil is a dirty job, but someone has to do it, right? Else why is there Evil in the first place?

>>52266243
Because they are active in the world and offer tangible, worldly benefits in a very short amount of time.

Those they want to exterminate also happen to be those you would love to see exterminated or at least you don't mind their extermination. Their tenets also happen to line up with yours, so the decision is pretty easy

They're only labeled 'evil' by those assholes from 'Hated Country' that everyone here knows only want their foreign gods worshiped.

From my point of view, *your* gods are evil.

>>52266463
This sound like a sitcom waiting to happen.

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>>52266620
>Evil and Good aren't abstractions but real forces
You mean specifically in D&D right?

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>>52266243
Because there aren't any good gods.

>>52266243
If you believe that said god is going to inevitably come out on top you could align yourself with them in hopes of mercy. It may or may not by in vain.

>>52266647
In D&D it's codified, but if there's a God of Evil running around then it has to be true to some extent.

>>52266531

Praise Kek.

May he smash the system so that we can be free of tyranny.

Memes be upon him.

...

On that note, I suppose a CE god could be useful temporarily to give you some advantage to fight a ruling LE god. You just have to be mindful that this CE god can't have total victory. I praise Kek and celebrate his power when it benefits the cause of freedom... but I sure as hell don't want to live in a world ruled by Kek.

>>52266243
Tradition, my father worship the dark god and his father and his father's father and son on and so forth.

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>>52266243
>Good God
Follow all these rules, do all these good deeds, do as I say, and I may give you a miracle once in a while if I feel like it. I may also make you go through hell to test your faith.

>Evil God
Do whatever the fuck you want and so long as you sacrifice a baby or two once in a while I will make sure nobody other than me can fuck with you.

>>52266243
They've successfully deceived you into believing they're a good god/goddess. Kinda like Christianity's view of pagan religions during some periods.

In order to draw their attention away, or to appease them.
One of my favorite bits of mesopotamian lore is the whole deal with Pazuzu (Yes, the guy with a snake dick from The Exorcist) and his wife Lamashtu (Who can't have children and is super salty about it, so she goes around causing miscarriages). If you had a pregnancy you wanted to protect, you'd give the offerings to your fertility deity of choice, of course, but you'd also send along the equivalent of wine and chocolates to Pazuzu (Who normally just causes other diseases) so he'll have a night in with his wife and she'll be too busy with snakedick to mess with your kid.

So yeah. Oldschool deity bribery is a perfectly fine reason to worship evil gods.

Reminds me of the cult of Pazuzu, a demon responsible for locust and famines. Although evil, he scares away other even more evil spirits like his wife.

>>52266243
God in the old testament is kind of a dick. Ask a Jew I guess.

>>52266243
Depends on what they're a god of.

If they're a god of storms, the sea, and other things; then sailors will worship him. If for no other reason than to stop him wrecking their boats.

>>52266243
Imagine a setting where the only god trying to protect anyone from the teeming hordes of monsters and demons is unquestionably evil. This god provides succor to the weak, but only in exchange for their devotion. The closest thing this setting has to a Big Good and it's selfishly evil and wants to conquer all.
Imagine having to be a paladin serving this god.

>>52267831

I want to say this was...4e PHB 1?

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>>52268084
Nah, the Dragon Magazine article on Bane.

Here's the issue with it.

>>52268148

Bless you.

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>>52266243
If I live by/on the coast, of course I'm going worship the goddess of the sea regardless of her alignment. That in itself doesn't mean I'm going to be a backstabbing dick head like you'd expect, just that I don't want a giant wave to fuck up my house and I want the fishing to be good.

I've been kicking around an idea for a Father / Mother God pairing for a while now.

The Father is seen as a "Good" God by the masses. He is stern and uncaring for his children. He inflicts many sufferings and gives little help to the mortals who worship him, for if he did, they would never learn how to be strong.

The Mother however, is seen as an "Evil" figure by most. She is kind and loving, but to the point of almost coddling. Few worship her due to the state discouraging it, but those who do often find themselves surrounded by great luck and luxuries.

In the end their duality is about freedom, for the Father encourages his children to be strong enough to forge their own path, yet the Mother douses her children in so much affection, they become dependent on her good graces in order to continue to survive.

>Inb4 Freud pictures

>>52268157
No problem, it's a really nice article.

>>52266243
To make your country great again.

Legitimate as in "someone would totally do this"?

Same reason why radicals in real life do things like throw acid in women's faces for not dressing as they would prefer, stone people for infidelity, or persecute people who don't fit into the fabric of their community as well as they would like. Very few of these people think of their own actions as evil, and do not see their theological interpretations as such. Someone like this could easily follow the doctrine of a deity that told them that all of these things are not only okay but morally laudable.

The priests of these fictional gods are akin to our swindling televangelists, violent zealots, and psychotic cult leaders except that their twisted theologies are rewarded with tangible power from unholy masters even as they exploit the darkest aspects of the human psyche to wield power over their flocks.

Orcish priests of gruumsh are akin to ISIS imams who call for purging those who aren't part of their cult. Drow clerics of lolth are like Borgias who shake down noble houses for indulgences before assassinating one another over Papal politics. The D&D alignment system allows these groups to be neatly sorted out of the fold from the brighter side of religious influence and institutions and confronted as a separate entity. In the real world it is not so clean, but that is the appeal of escapism.

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>>52268302
Holy shit... Drumpf btfo...

>>52266243
not being a fucking queer

>>52268302

Kek was already discussed
>>52266531
>>52266768

>>52266243
Because they will do something terrible if you don't appease them.
This is the best way without worshipers being a super secret cabal.

D&D doesn't have many examples but >>52268198 comes to mind.

>>52266243
Better to be in the hand of the devil than in his path.

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>>52266243
Aside from the previously discussed "so that they don't fuck up my shit," I bet there are lots of people who get into dark gods out of boredom.

>>52266463
>>52266636
I'd watch it

>>52266243
From CthulhuPunk Part1
>This is the cultist who really worships the Great Old Ones, in a literal, religious
sense. He prays to them for power and protection, and he conducts rituals
and makes sacrifice to draw their favorable attention. Why do such people believe as they do? Do they believe that Shub- Niggurath or Cthulhu will reward them, or even spare them, because of theirdevotion? Some do, perhaps, absurd as such a belief may be. Other true helievers are more pragmatic, thinking that if they can prove useful enough slaves of
the Great Old Ones, they may learn to prolong their lives centuries beyond the normal span. They may perhaps be kept around even after the rest of humanity is destroyed - or at least they may be devoured last. There is some evidence that the Great Old Ones do sometimes empower their most evil and devout
worshipers with a greatly - perhaps infinitely -extended lifespan.
For others, the very thought of power may be enough. Such worshipers aren't like the opportunists (see below) who may desire power in order to accomplish some overriding goal. They just want the power for its own intoxicating sake.

>>52269968
Part 2

There me even a few true believers who serve simply because they
have found the Great Old Ones to be real. Such a cultist finds nothing behind
the faith and ritual of organized religion, but when he calls out to the Great Old
Ones, something answers. He cares nothing for his own empowerment - he
simply feels that it is his proper place as a mortal to live or die at the whim of
the gods, no matter how horrible they may be.
True believers are generally the most malevolent of the cultists, hut paradoxically
they also tend to he among the most mentally stable. It would seem
that the mental imbalance that results from exposure to the Mythos is, at least
in part, caused by the strain of trying to retain one's own free will in opposition
to the will of the Old Ones. Those who yield themselves freely and willingly to
alien command seem to he less afflicted by the process of surrender.

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>>52266522

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>>52270028
DARKSEID IS THE JOY AND THE EXTINCTION! HE WILL GRANT US ALL ETERNAL DEATH!

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>>52266243
You're legitimately a bad person and you would prefer someone who approves of your negative tendencies than people who try to "heal" you?
They offer power and the freedom to wield that power in pleasurable ways?
General misanthropy?
The "good" guys might not actually be good? (e.g. god of light is dogmatic brainwashing cult where individuality is forbidden, the good side has made promises they failed to keep etc.)
There are no good guys?
Good and evil are a duality by necessity and you're facilitating that? (e.g. you support the death side of the god of life and death, because the god needs both halves to function or something)
They're very charismatic?
Their might-makes-right ascension plan means if you get strong enough you have the potential to just kill them and become the new god of evil?

Because, in the standard D&D cosmology, there isn't a fight between good and evil. There's a fight between Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil. Good lost a long, long time ago, but the consequences of that loss have been postponed due to the ongoing fight between the victors. But eventually - inevitably - the Blood War will end, and the victorious force will conquer or devour all that is good.

Siding with good might guarantee you a blissful afterlife for a few decades, even a few millennia. But eventually it will come to a horrific end. Only by serving evil can you even hope to escape this fate.

>>52266243
Most monotheistic deities could be considered some measure of "evil" by modern standards, you're just supposed to submit anyway because they're the one true god.

It gets trickier with polytheism, where gods aren't worshiped alone but as a pantheon, and exist on a spectrum between "this god is benevolent and can be prayed to for protection and favors" and "this god has dominion over a bad aspect of the universe/is personally cruel, and must be appeased".

>>52266243
Because you profoundly enjoy the suffering of others and delight in causing as much of it as possible?

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>>52266243
>What are legitimate reasons to worship an evil god/goddess?

Because they're the only one that will listen.

Because they're the last one left.

Because they chose to stay behind, to watch, to wait.

Because despite everything you've been told or read; they did in fact create you.

Because to do so is to embrace the true nature of primeval man.

>>52266304
Quick rundown?

>>52266243
Simple the god isn't going to smite your village.

Desperation. The dark gods aren't as picky about their followers as the good gods. When you are at your weakest and the benevolent deities have abandoned you, Bhaal, Satan, and their ilk are always there for you.

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>>52266243

>I'd already lost so much. My farm, my family, my livelihood, my hope. On my knees, staring at the flaming stead and watching the humanoid shape as it disappeared into the darkness I had lost everything. To pray for replacements would be hollow and token. Everything was gone in an instant and there was nothing I could do, I'd never felt so powerless in my life.

>Then something stepped out of the flames and placed its hand on my shoulders. Its grip burnt fiercely, though I had no care at that moment. With a voice crackling like a hearth it offered me power I never had to achieve something I never could. Vengeance.

>It's been months now. I've torn through villages, wrecked towns and put forests to the torch searching for the one who wronged me. It feels fruitless, but the images of all I've lost are still burnt into my skull. To give up now would not only be to accept everything I've lost but contemplate the destruction I've caused in my pursuit. So I continue walking my bloody path.


Vengeance. Your goody two shoes god won't usually give you the power to do something like that. After all, two wrongs don't make a right.

>>52266243
Fear. My character is a Stormborn Sorcerer who worships Auril because he is afraid she will "take back what is rightfully hers".

>>52266463
>Judeo-Christian God
>Good aligned

>>52266463
>>52266636
>>52268922
Remember that shitty "Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?" anime? That's basically what it's about

So that you aren't included on the list of things to be fucked up when they get stronger. You leave food out for the wolves so that they go after that and not your sheep. Its the dumb thing since if they know food is there they'll keep coming back meaning you have to keep doing it but you never were the smartest cookie.

>>52266243
Depends what you mean by evil and what you think the consequences would be. What are said god's motivations and domain, can it effect reality?

There's a whole bunch of variables here to take into account.

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>>52266243

Love.

You know?

And, not, like, some kind of imaginary, distant, passive "unconditional, but it has a few conditions" kind of love, but: deeply personal, committed, passionate, emotionally invested, and surprisingly human love.

The kind where she takes you away from everything else, where she's your entire world and nothing else matters, the kind of love where you can't imagine or refuse to think of a world without her, the kind of blind love that has made you biased against all of her faults because no one has ever made you feel so whole, so complete, so unquestionably stricken by emotion and feeling.

The sort of love where she holds you and confides into you everything just as you've revealed everything about yourself to her: every horrible thing, every putrid act, every degenerate fetish... and it doesn't change everything, if anything the trust and love for one another has matured and as if it's all new to both of you.

Finally, she tells you she wants, no, -demands- you, she says no one else will do, she NEEDS you, she tells you no one else can satisfy her as you do... And the feeling is entirely mutual; no woman compares to her, she is your literal and figurative goddess.

Eventually this love bears fruit and there's children, so many, and all beautiful- just gorgeous, healthy, children.... Children that love you, look up to you, depend upon you for guidance, protection, as someone to nurture and love them.
All the while she's loyally stayed by your side.


But then you've got some cunt coming around, thinking he knows everything, saying shit like: your children are ugly, your wife's a lurid bitch, and you're a dumb fuck.
So, yeah, you know?
Love is a great motivator.

>>52266243
None

Men cannot worship what they deem evil wicked or defective.

>>52266463
>If you worship the generic good aligned Judeo-Christian creator god
>Judeo-Christian creator god
>good

What is the problem of evil?

If God is real, he is so evil he'll make the most chaotic evil character you've ever played weep in fear.

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A mashup of BuenaKai and the Ebola-Chan cult. People believing or at least hoping that the monsters had understandable goals, being sent as divine punishment rather than just randomly, and that they could be directed against the enemies of the cult/warded away via rituals. None of this actually works, but it makes the cultists feel better thinking that if they have sufficient faith it'll be their enemies suffering rather than them.

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>>52266463
>If you worship some obscure evil central-asian goddess of the moon and snakes, you probably have all of her attention at any particular moment you might want to talk to her. And evil or not, she's going to care. If she loses you, she's lost like 20% of her total followers.
>>52266610
>>>52266463
>That's a decent point. Scouring ancient dark gods to test worship now.
>>52266636
>This sound like a sitcom waiting to happen.

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>>52266243
They're hot, can crush you like an insect with a look, and give you cool shit if you wreck house in their name.

>>52270861
Also the gnostic view of the creator.

>>52266243
I need the money to pay off my college debts. Couple more weeks and I can safely hand in my two week notice.

>>52266243
Because good is dumb.

>>52272446
I see your shwartz is as big as mine.

You appease an evil nature god to not crack the shits and wreck everything.

>>52270224
I think half the point of the series is that it's highly debatable which of the two parties has the moral high ground in the light/dark conflict. The gods oppress the humans and are authoritarian and theocratic, but have order and peace in their lands. The age of dark would liberate mankind, but at the cost of killing the gods, destroying the order they built and possibly warping humans beyond humanity, into unrecognizable beings of pure emotion.
Neither is really fully good or evil, both sides are primarily focused on helping their own party, just in different ways.

>>52266243
Fear, any kind of profit or gratitude.
Just because a god is evil doesn't mean that s/he doesn't reward his/her followers.

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>>52266243
He provides an invaluable service.

>>52266243
Misguided faith, "he isn't evil, he just requires a human sacrifice so he can make our harvest bountiful."

>>52270574
10/10

Would damn the world again

>>52266243
Not giving a shit about anyone but yourself.

>>52266243
Evil reasons of course.
Revenge, Greed and Vanity.

>>52266568
Statistics show conservatives give more (proportionally and in absolute quantities) to charities and community aid than liberals, though.

>>52272327
Also, chicks dig Antipaladins.

>>52273957
Isn't a lot of that money to Mega-churches that swindle people out of their money; and "charities" that are based around hatred and prejudice?

>>52274419
Teleevangelists should be fucking gassed.

>>52266243
Evil doesn't need to have legitimate purpose, that's why it's evil

>>52266243
The best reason is to appease them so they don't fuck up your life, which is an actual, real reason many evil gods are still venerated in Shinto, Buddhism, Voudoun, and other animist religions.

>>52266463
This is the basis of a book series.

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>>52270346
>>52270574
Saving both of these this is good shit

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>>52266243
In Black&White, I played a god who treat his believers as VIPs. Miracles everywhere, great food, housing. My starting village on the 2nd island extended so much that it occupied half of the island. Thousands of villagers. In B&W 1 it is really a big number.
Creature was nice and helping the villagers too.
My temple was dark as fuck because the childcare centre was just along the sacrifice altar and half of my villagers were Reproducteurs by holy duty.
Kinda faustian pact where you have prosperity and good health in exchange of sacrificing everyone's first borns.
It was fucking fun.

>>52266243
You don't know or think your god is evil. Just look at the Judeo-Christian god. His followers tend to see him as a benevolent god who loves everyone yet he ordered the Israelites to carry out genocide against the Caananites, repeatedly destroys cities, the world, and smites people for little or no reason, and sends people who don't worship him to hell.

>>52266243
You're already on a wicked path and you're looking for someone who'll call you one of his boys- the good Gods want nothing to do with you, so you go looking for the guy who condones wrecking havoc.

>>52270235
Not that guy, but those are the Bogdanoff twins. It's a /pol/ meme about how they control everything.

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>>52266243
She's the only shemale in the entire fucking universe, and I'm the only Tranny chaser.

I will skullfuck every fucking being in reality untill I can deepthroat that at the end of my quest, fuck the rules, there's feminine penis at stake here.

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>>52266243
Because they are the only gods worth worshiping.

>>52274496
what series?

Because Papa Nurgle blessed me with his gift!

>>52268198
I don't think I've ever seen it said anywhere, but I feel like every whorehouse in a port town in Faerun would be run by a priestess of Umberlee.
Great way to make sure the sailors never mess with your girls.

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>>52266243
Because he made you, and you were already his servant before you ever knew.

>>52266524
I assume this is a quote from something; google sends me right back here. What is it?

>>52276589
>Not one yet. But it should be. "That would make for a great book series, get writing" might be more accurate.

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>>52266304
>>52276314
This is what they did look like before plastic surgery gone wrong.

>>52266243
fear?

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>>52266463
>>52274496
>>52276589
>>52277245
There's a children's book that features such a situation as a plot point. A crazy barbarian is kept alive no matter what stupid shit he pulls because he is the only worshiper left so the gods want to keep him alive.

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It's good to be on the winning side.

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>>52266243

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>>52266243
Not out of Love, because love is ultimately fickle.
Not because of what powers/objects/riches/subjects you may gain from it, because greed will sooner or later lead to downfall.

You worship them because there is a deep need for a Ruler, a tyrant - someone to be in charge and hold your reins - within all of us. Some settle for pettiness of Mayors or town-leaders. Others strive to serve Kings and Queens, thinking in their limited imaginations that they would be the highest force. Some seek the refuge of other gods, whose promises of a good afterlife, or a rich life is enough to drag in the cattle.

But to worship "evil"? It is to do so because it is the order of things, because they deserve it. You are blessed enough to give them what they need, to be their servants and obey the needs, whims and orders of your True Lord. He will never try to buy you with false gifts, never tell you a lie for his own gain, never reward you for mere service and belief. If they grant you rewards, you must strive harder to serve them, and never fail, for truly then are you in service of your God.

It is the order of things.
It is the way of life.

>>52266243
Fear

Or for Cthulhu; to be closest when wakes and therefor die first and relatively clean.

>>52277633
Cthulhu isn't evil though, no more than a hurricane is evil. If you want an evil lovecraft monster, look at Nyarlathotep.

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>>52277915
>>52277915
>an evil lovecraft monster, look at Nyarlathotep.

>Talking shit about mai waifu

Fuck you

>>52278090
She's an eldritch abomination, not you're waifu!

I have to commend you for spelling "mai waifu" correctly, though.

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The setting I've been playing in is a bit bleak, but not in the traditional grimdark sense. The gods aren't benevolent beings, although a few of the more powerful ones can bestow magic upon their followers. This magic is surprisingly weak, and slowly drains the life essence of its users. Eventually we discovered that the gods are just a few of untold thousands of entities that exist in an abstract plane of existence and only give a fuck about the world because it produces souls for them to absorb into their power. The second largest of these beings is viewed by the inhabitants of the world as the benevolent, monotheistic "catholic" god, and is basically so powerful it doesn't even register when people receive its magic. All it thinks of is the fact that it's getting a little bit more food. My Lawful Good paladin who follows them is starting to have a crisis of faith, seeing as his wife has run off with their infant daughter to god knows where, and the powers bestowed upon him by that massive unfeeling thing aren't going to be able to get her back. Lately, he's been contemplating attempting to cut a deal with one of these smaller beings, seeing as they've shown to be willing to do a lot more (I.E instant teleportation in a relatively low magic setting, alter people's memories, and straight up assassination) for far less, although you do need to sacrifice a creature with a soul to them or sell your own soul to them in order to get results.

Otherwise. The setting that I've been working on to run a comfy, cozy watchtower campaign in features a pantheon of gods which represent positive and negative aspects of the same coin. Basically there was a perfect being that created the world which splintered itself into multiple fragments to better manage his creation. The individual "classic" gods managed to do their job for a pretty long while, before they started infighting based on their portfolios. (cont.)

>>52266243
Maybe they had no other choice. If we're talking about an individual, maybe they sunk so low in life that the alternative was much worse. Someone somewhere needed a solution and the Devil conveniently provided one.
Things become much easier when we're talking about a group of people. They will continue practicing their religion just for the sake of preserving their culture and identity. For them, eating the heart of a still warm enemy might be as normal as going to the market. Whatever passes for an elite in that society may even be aware how other cultures see them, or that their ancestors made a faustian bargain for purely practical reasons at the time.

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I really want something like immortality or great magical power
This god has the means to give me what I want
All I have to do is kill in his name and occasionally sacrifice an orphan
Guess I have to make a stop at the orphanage

>>52278735
>although you do need to sacrifice a creature with a soul to them
Does the entity care about the "quality" of the soul? You can just round up criminals and political opponents you would have eliminated anyway. Sounds like a good deal to me.

>>52278735

The infighting was starting to tear the world asunder, and before long a few of the more powerful gods had to call a meeting of the deities in order to preserve balance blah blah blah. That fell through too, and soon erupted into a full on brawl with each god fighting their counterpart. Just as the world was on the brink of destruction, one god triumphed over the other and began to absorb their opponent. However with the added power came the downside that the victor absorbed the other god's portfolio into their own.

So now each god's portfolio contains two conflicting ideals which manifests with them either being incredibly inconsistent and bi-polar all the time such as
>The god of truth and lies, who has been presented as a literal two faced liar and will occasionally shaft his worshipers with false information presented as fact.
>The goddess of plenty and thirst basically decides on whether or bless a community with a good harvest or to strike them down with a horrible blight or drought at random, she can be granted offerings to increase the intensity, but not guarantee a positive result. Prayers to this deity have become weighted games of risk, with each village attempting to figure out a suitable offering that will bring in a good year with a positive result, but not spell destruction if the result is negative.

Or being able to strike a sort of balance between the two conflicting elements in their portfolio
>The god of nature and civilization tries to keep a sort of balance between the two forces to ensure one never grows large enough to threaten the other.
>The god of fate and freedom will constrain somebody to a certain, predetermined fate but the manner in which they reach it is ultimately up to them and not at all predictable

Basically the tl;dr is that with some of the gods in my setting, you can't worship the good without getting a fair bit of the blatantly bad.

>>52270028
>3 billion people
when was this written?

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>>52278965
Nope. That's probably going to be the plan to be perfectly honest. It's mostly just the entire "I don't want to fucking slaughter people for my own personal benefit" thing that he needs to get over. Considering his daughter is basically his only reason for living following his divorce, I'm only making it a matter of time. Although the entities themselves do tend to be kind of tricky douchebags, so he's going to his his intensive training as a lawyer to broker something that wont fuck him over.

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>>52278090

Because I want power, and I want it in an easy way. Maybe I plan to do good with it, maybe not, doesn't change that most people regardless of views on right/wrong want power.

>>52266243
If the God/Goddess treats their worshippers great but wants to utterly destroy everyone else.

Hollywood's Hitler.

>>52266463
This literally happened back in old-/pol/, before they all converted to Esoteric Kekism.

An anon somehow ended up becoming the sole believer in a pre-Aryan moon goddess from the Caucasus. She only spoke a dead language, and he would periodically show up in the pagan threads trying to figure out what to do. I haven't seen him post since the end of that sequence of lunar eclipses back in 2015, so it's safe to assume that he suffered a bad/best end.

>>52266243
Same reasons to worship any god/goddess.
1. Fear
2. Raised in the faith
3. Choosing ignorance over reason

>>52279328
>3 billions humans
The 1960s, I'd assume.

Overpopulation is more than a meme.

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>>52280928
>4chan's "christian" board

>>52281461
>3. Choosing ignorance over reason

Dat.
Edge.

>>52266243
It depends on your setting. In the generic D&D setting? Because your goals align with theirs, and that's all it really takes. If you look at real-world religions, it's mostly for the sake of concrete benefits, like not getting your town destroyed by a typhoon.

You can also go the Lovecraftian route, or do the Warlock thing too.

>>52266243
The world/setting is an objectively awful place and deserves no better.

>>52276997
Why would you assume that? Especially when you've already discovered evidence to the contrary?

>>52266531
>cringy ree
>shadilay in a "futhark-like" font but not in actual futhark
8/10 art is good but the lettering is too great a blemish for this to be usable as much of anything.

Once upon a time, I would have said that many of the things that have been said in this thread. But with the rise of Esoteric Kekism and the populist politicians that they invoke their meme magic to support, I believe there is but one truest answer.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

>>52267446
Like praising Kek to oppose Moloch.

>>52266463
>Judeo-Christian creator god
>he gives no fucks about you

Why did you change to talking about a completely different deity mid-sentence?

>>52266243
They are protective and generous, but very demanding and strict when it comes to you and yours(family, clan, people, country, whatever) while being giant, evil dicks to those that aren't. You and yours have no problem with this state of affairs and even consider those that aren't your people to be deserving of the treatment.

Really not that hard.

>>52279328
Mid-2000s. In the story, he only controls half the world's population, so 3 billion is correct

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>>52282363
>2017
>not being a Gnostic

>>52266243
They're a cunt, but their service is legit.

>>52270574
Love is the greatest of evils, the most cruel of violences, the most twisted of schemes

>>52266463
I once have read a book about a goblin caught by an adventuring party and forced to work as a guide through the dungeon. At some point he decided to worship some deity, but all the popular gods are probably busy with their followers already, so he asks the party cleric to find him some forgotten god which may be weak, but would depend on his single servant as well. Sort of worked for him in the end, although the god was rather dickish.
"O God, what should I do now?"
"Stab him in the back".
"Alright, done, he is still alive and seems angry. What now?"
"Dunno. I thought you would die".
Probably why he was forgotten in the first place.

>>52270224
>>52272705
What is it?

>>52270455
You oughtn't just say something like that without saying any more.

>>52266243
Because they're willing to give you power when others won't.

Same reason many non-evil Warlocks have Evil patrons, if they weren't lucky enough to gain the attention of a fae court and didn't stumble upon ancient eldritch stargod knowledge.

Evil is always willing to listen, it's just a question of what it will cost you.

>>Village burned to the ground and sacked by raiders
>>Kingdom is preoccupied fighting a war on two fronts and unable to send forces to deal with the culprits, avenging a tiny backwater isn't deemed important enough to justify the manpower
>>Local church preaches forgiveness and acceptance, urges you to rebuild and move on with your life rather than be consumed with revenge, your lowly level 1 commoner ass can't do anything but get himself killed doing something stupI'd
>>suddenly, you hear a voice in your head. You can have the power to avenge your home, and all you need to do is a little praying (cleric)/make a deal (warlock)

Evil is tempting, it should be the faster, easier, more obvious and efficient answer. So many games try to "balance" Good and Evil by giving them equivalent rewards which is stupid, since if everything ends up even then you just look like a sociopathic mouthbreather if you pick Evil.

Evil should get more gold, more XP, better loot, more power. Being good's reward shoulf be that *you get to be good*

If players start seeing a mechanical advantage to NOT being a paragon of kindness and virtue, suddenly they may begin to question their morals.

An Evil character can always choose the best way of going about a task regardless of morals or laws. Sometimes this might mean he does the exact same thing that a Good character does, other times he'll do something completely different.

Being Evil with a capital E is about having the freedom to do whatever you want. That freedom is incredibly alluring and should be portrayed as such

>>52274419
Don't forget super-pac political "charities" that put all the money towards removing regulation and legal culpability for big businesses when they cause damage or death and lowering taxes on the richest people while removing assistance for the poor and disabled.

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>>52266243
If there is no god good enough to worship, you should worship goodness itself.

>>52277305
Wrong?

>>52279782
Nyarlethotep is definitely not a shoggoth. I think that image was probably made for Saya no Uta.

>>52282390
>2017
>preferring greek memes over jew memes
shit taste

>>52283341
>Because they're willing to give you power when others won't.
If the good gods won't give you power, maybe you ought to reflect on why you're a little shit.

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>>52266243
Because the alternative is even worse.

>>52282240
>>cringy ree

The entire concept of Kek is cringe, anon. You have to swallow that in order to enjoy it.

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>>52283131
My knowledge of it is tangential, I stopped watching the show after 2 episodes.
The setting is promising. There appears a massive "dungeon", a living, divine, constantly evolving structure of potentially infinite strata. Gods, having lost their power during its appearance and wanting the power within that conveniently collects in crystal form (especially when ripped from the corpses of its monstrous inhabitants) begin to sponsor adventurers. Their superhuman capabilities are developed over time, with the explanation that they are all the result of their patron gods' imbuing them with divine power and staging their growth with a method that is cheesily similar to a character sheet. Some gods, like Loki, are looking to gain quite a bit from the situation, as (s)he has a network of dozens of heroes ranging from capable to soon-to-be-legendary.

Then there's the anime, which is harem trash. Our main character is an asshole with big romantic ambitions and a hidden main-character tier EXPONENTIAL GROWTH ability that is yet to unlock at the start. He's down on his luck, and the only patron of the now-pathetic goddess Hestia, you might remember when her outfit was a meme for jap artists to draw characters in. She's hot AF and clearly wants the MC's dick, but instead he's got it hard for a disinterested paladin-type that Loki sponsors who has celebrity status among adventurers. Instead of settling in with the shortstack goddess of hearth and home and carving a respectable living off of the safer dungeon tiers, he unlocks harem-attracting powers and Hestia gets cucked hard

>>52284624
you say that as if it isn't the case for literally every hero ever. Like hercules. Oh wait.

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>>52266768
FOOL, CHAOS CANNOT BE DENIED!

Because all I ever wanted was the Truth.

>>52271812
Now THAT'S a rare Pepe!

>>52267250
Man, old religions kick ass.

>>52284959
Yeah but he posted it online, it's value is dropping every second now

I have a small locked box full of them, I drew them myself in a pitch black room, with a blindfold on, they all went into the box which locked as I shut it. I then removed the blindfold and have it cemented into the foundation of my house.

Those are truly valuable, and since nobody, not even myself, knows what they look like they can never lose value

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>>52285597
How will Kek (glory be upon him) know of your devotion if you do not share your rare Pepe's with the world?

>>52285660
You don't understand, this is the ultimate plan to show my devotion.

These will be the most valuable Pepes ever discovered, in my dying years I will finally open the box and witness their glory. Such a great event will surely stop an old man's feeble heart, at which point I will ascend to the heavens and rain my art down upon the earth.

Nothing can prepare the earth for this

>>52266243
so no one can worship her

and it worked too, she is too narcissistic to provide her powers to anyone else.

i miss my fallen paladin

>>52281461
in settings where Gods and magic totally exist...
>Choosing ignorance over reason
would be the athiest option. Context, son.

>>52266243
Elaborate ruse.
The most dominant God/Godess is more evil.
Dark hero who has ran out of patience.

>>52266243
Immortality
Power
Wealth
Sex

>>52266243
Exalted handled this in an interesting way, where most religions were really just protection rackets that the entity was running.

They casually threaten your community or whatever, but as long as you can make your payments, they keep others from muscling in on their territory who may ask for more, and keep the violence off the streets.

Depending on how the deal works out, they might also follow through on their nature in ways that are beneficial to the community/individual. Good crops, clean water, personal power... sometimes political power too. Snuff out the local king who has been oppressing the village, who just happens to worship Bjorn Hamjer'Skyl or whatever, trading a very real threat that might wipe the village for a sort of distant one that is happy with some goat sacrifices and culling the elderly every so often.

>>52275803
B&W almost made up for the disappointment of Fable. Almost.