Yes, but mostly no.

Dungeons and Dragons does not represent even a part of any real-world religion that we at U20 know of. However, like most great stories, faith and religion are often important to the game.

The pantheon of deities presented with the core rulebooks for D&D could be compared to the Gods of ancient Rome, where a given God rules over a portfolio; think a God of the Sun, a God of Death, or a God of Fortune. These Gods grant some of their followers special powers in the game, and often work through their followers to further their aims and protect their worshippers, much like the stories of mythology. This is a common theme in the D&D campaigns I've been a part of. After all, who makes a better villain or ally than a God?

As some have discovered (and as I hope you've realized), everything in a D&D world can be changed--the rulebooks are there to provide a framework. As such,there's nothing to stop you from playing in a world where there is one God, or where the population believes in no Gods at all, where everything is just like ancient Rome, or any other situation you can imagine. This makes D&D a fun and rewarding game to design adventures for, and also makes it a fantastic teaching tool and creative outlet.

Saying D&D is religious is misleading, but in every game I've played in, faith has been a factor, even if it wasn't central to the plot.

Last updated on July 8, 2008 by RPG Ike