Who is Bane?

[Desiani]

I am playing a cleric of Bane and my DM is really weary about the motivations of him. From the basic info I was given of the gods available in her campaign Bane is the Lawful Evil deity of War, Tyranny and Conquest, but that's all she gave us.

My Tempest cleric is Lawful Neutral views himself as a 'drums of war.' His lawful outlook extends to only how a person of a career in war should follow superior officers and 'him' as he is the 'embodiment of war itself.' He doesn't necessarily bring about tyranny or conquest unless he is hired by something to do so.

So my question is... Is this playing under bane somewhat correctly or am I bumbling it up?

I'm at work so I can't look at anything for the next while, but will appreciate any answers! ^^

[Ralanr]

Clearly he's the man who broke the bat's back. Such a powerful act gifted him with ascension to god hood. :smalltongue:

[JAL_1138]

Well, if you're under Bane, your motivation should be injuring/killing Batman, no?

...it had to be said.

EDIT: Ninja'd.

[Desiani]

>.> look you blue texting people... You know what I mean... Not bane from batman D:

[Ralanr]

From what I can tell, Bane is a schemer through military might.

[Aurthur]

From the basic info I was given of the gods available in her campaign Bane is the Lawful Evil deity of War, Tyranny and Conquest

You forgot Hatred and Fear. From the Wiki:


Bane (/ˈbeɪn/ BAYN),[1] also known as the Black Hand and the Black Lord, is the god of hatred, fear, and tyranny and one of the main evil gods in the fictional Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, Forgotten Realms.

Bane is a Lawful Evil Greater Power whose symbol is green rays squeezed forth from a black fist, and whose divine realm is the Black Bastion in the Barrens of Doom and Despair. His Third Edition D&D domains are Evil, Destruction, Hatred, Law, and Tyranny.

Honestly, unless you're playing a really mean hateful group, I'd question your motivations, too. :) Maybe Tempos might be a better choice? Chaotic Neutral. Or, if you're a dwarf, Clanggedin Silverbeard is a dwarven deity of battle, war, valor, bravery, honor in battle.

[Naanomi]

You can search him up on the Wiki, but basically Bane wants to rule over everything and will use force or schemes as appropriate to do so. Unlike many evil deities, his churches are very established and public; and both he and his church often make alliances with other organizations and gods to further their own agenda.

Also, depending on where you are in the 'history' of the Forgotten Realms, he may have died and come back once and still be rebuilding from that; or if later (4e) he is at the height of his power since his chief rivals died off/disappeared in the spell-plague.

[Demonic Spoon]

Obligatory FR Wiki link (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Bane)

Note that some specifics may differ if your DM is using the FR pantheon but you aren't playing in the FR as a setting. That said, I think the best way to understand Bane is this bit:


Serve no one but Bane. Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy Bane and die - or in death find loyalty to him, for he shall compel it. Submit to the word of Bane as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him. Spread the dark fear of Bane. It is the doom of those who do not follow him to let power slip through their hands. Those who cross the Black Hand meet their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who worship other deities.

He's first and foremost about tyranny. I would expect a low level cleric of Bane to be working in the service of some authority figure, either a "legitimate" one scheming to expand his domain of influence, or someone higher- up in the church scheming to assume control over someone else's domain.

[DireSickFish]

Tempus sounds like it will fit your character concept better. Bane is not 'the embodiment of war itself' so it wouldn't make much sense to idealize it as so. However if you want to tweak your character a little bit it could follow that he likes how Bane seeks to structure the world via conquest where Temps only wants war for wars sake. Seeing Bane as having an end goal in rulership as giving him a better claim to wage wars in the first place.

Recomendations for other gods are going to be Tempus or The Red Knight. Tempus sounds like what you are looking for he is all about war and honor on the battlefield. The Red Knight is the goddess of strategy and tactics and she beleives in fighting wars the proper way to win. The Red Knight is very Sun Tzu.

[zinycor]

One of my players is actually a paladin of Batman xD, so I was sure that you meant Bane as the man who broke the bat xDDD

[SoC175]

Note that there are two different divine entities with the name Bane.

The first one is Bane from the Forgotten Realms setting, he's the deity of tyranny.

The second one is the Bane from the 4e Points of Light setting, who is a deity of war and conquest.

The originally only used the name Bane as a placeholder when designing the 4e setting, but in the end just decided to keep it, as they liked it's sound.

[DireSickFish]

Note that there are two different divine entities with the name Bane.

The first one is Bane from the Forgotten Realms setting, he's the deity of tyranny.

The second one is the Bane from the 4e Points of Light setting, who is a deity of war and conquest.

The originally only used the name Bane as a placeholder when designing the 4e setting, but in the end just decided to keep it, as they liked it's sound.

I had no idea this was a thing. What's the Bane from Points of Light like?

[hamishspence]

Mostly a war deity - his domains in Divine Power are Skill and War. According to The Plane Above, he led the deities in the war against the primordials, after killing the previous god of war, Tuern.

I would guess that Dragon Magazine goes into much more detail - but I never got the online magazine.

[Desiani]

Thanks for your input guys :)

I have a better idea of how to RP his preaching snow! :D

[Starchild7309]

I just finished a campaign that prominently featured a Faerun Bane Cleric/Paladin. To describe him best he was domineering. His opinion was always the most important. He used fear and open threats to get his way. He backed down from no one unless he wan't positive he could defeat them or cow them to his will. When he captured prisoners he would maim them in Bane's name so that they would fear Bane more. He accepted no excuses and gave little in the way of mercy ever. He was zealously devout to Bane and any chance he had to covert followers he did. Any chance he had to destroy opposition to his faith, he did. He played a Cleric of Bane as I have always felt they should be played. If it had not been an evil campaign where others were willing to convert to Bane, I doubt it would have worked. It did and it was a good time, especially out of combat r/p. He was the face of the party, but very unapologetic and stern.

[ScrivenerofDoom]

Who is Bane? Well, that depends on which Bane:

1. Bane is the FR deity of, inter alia, tyranny. The links to the FR Wikia cover a lot of this; a reading of his entry in 2E's Faiths & Avatars provides a lot more information. He's definitely not the deity of war or conquest.

2. Bane is the 4E deity of conquest etc... but with little relationship to the FR deity other than name and alignment. There is a DDi article on him that is probably the best source of information.

[unwise]

A non-evil person following Bane is probably doing so for political reasons more than religious ones. Bane could well be the prime deity of the Roman Empire, sure it goes around conquering everybody else and has a significant military bent, calling crusades all the time. It also brings national pride, stable government, peace, law and prosperity.

I doubt that Bane recruitment posters have the word Tyranny on them.

"Do you believe in a strong empire? A Nentir Vale for Valians? Protect your kin, protect your birthright, join us to push out the foreign invaders!"
"Bane, swords and guts made this country great, lets fight to keep all three!"
"Tired of namby pamby liberal clerics cowtowing to the elven minorities? Fight for the truth, be all you can be..."
These messages brought to you by The Dire Fox Bard Network

Bane might be the evil emperor on the throne plotting war, that does not make his subjects bad, or even make his politics anything less than effective government.

[Envyus]

A non-evil person following Bane is probably doing so for political reasons more than religious ones. Bane could well be the prime deity of the Roman Empire, sure it goes around conquering everybody else and has a significant military bent, calling crusades all the time. It also brings national pride, stable government, peace, law and prosperity.

I doubt that Bane recruitment posters have the word Tyranny on them.

"Do you believe in a strong empire? A Nentir Vale for Valians? Protect your kin, protect your birthright, join us to push out the foreign invaders!"
"Bane, swords and guts made this country great, lets fight to keep all three!"
"Tired of namby pamby liberal clerics cowtowing to the elven minorities? Fight for the truth, be all you can be..."
These messages brought to you by The Dire Fox Bard Network

Bane might be the evil emperor on the throne plotting war, that does not make his subjects bad, or even make his politics anything less than effective government.

This is his official dogma


Serve no one but Bane. Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy Bane and die - or in death find loyalty to him, for he shall compel it. Submit to the word of Bane as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him. Spread the dark fear of Bane. It is the doom of those who do not follow him to let power slip through their hands. Those who cross the Black Hand meet their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who worship other deities.

[Ralanr]

Serve no one but Bane. Fear him always and make others fear him even more than you do. The Black Hand always strikes down those who stand against it in the end. Defy Bane and die - or in death find loyalty to him, for he shall compel it. Submit to the word of Bane as uttered by his ranking clergy, since true power can only be gained through service to him. Spread the dark fear of Bane. It is the doom of those who do not follow him to let power slip through their hands. Those who cross the Black Hand meet their dooms earlier and more harshly than those who worship other deities.

Bane must be fun at parties.

[Brendanicus]

Bane's a big guy. For you.

[Joe the Rat]

It's entirely possible to focus on one aspect of the deity (war, war, war!) while holding to the tenets of the faith. This does also set up the potential for intra-character conflict down the road, if your group is into drama. Being neutral puts the character's personal focus on the tenets or values, rather than their own personal gain. But be wary of the thin line between "following my faith" and "was only following orders."

Your Baneite makes for a very good "advanced guard" proselytizer: Spread the word of Bane's Law, show His power through organized martial strife (working with Bane is a step away from working for Bane, which everyone will do eventually), make it clear that submitting now will save them a lot... well, some pain down the road.

Here's a 3-part approach to morally or ethically ambiguous cerlicy: Personal focus of faith, Reason for being a cleric (choice of worship or "selection" by the deity), and the Purpose behind that worship.

A comparison point from the other side of the alignment pool.

I have a Chaotic Neutral cleric of Umberlee. His personal focus is on the freedom of the sea, and the fury of the storm (also a Tempest Cleric). He follows his goddess out of perceived obligation: He was the sole survivor of a shipwreck, and thought it Her doing. His Purpose of worship is one of appeasement: Worship and give tribute to Umberlee in the hopes that She doesn't want to sink whatever boat you are on.

[Malifice]

This is his official dogma

Heh. His dogma is no different from a few passages of a modern RL religious text!

Serve or be smitten. Fear and obey only me or be punished for all eternity. Worship no one else over me. Etc.

I can see a neutral cleric of Bane no worries.

I played a Paladin of Bane (formerly a cleric of bane in 3e) for years. He was LE though.

[Ardantis]

The Dire Fox Bard Network. Nice.

[Zevox]

Well, his dogma has already been posted a couple of times. Some other excerpts from his entry in Faiths & Pantheons that may help in understanding him, though:


Though Bane transcended mortality centuries ago, his primary goal remains notably human - he seeks nothing short of the total domination of Faerûn. When his servants sit upon the throne of every land, when commoners serve their masters in fear for their very lives, and when altruism and hope have been erased from the world, then will Bane rest. Until that dark day, however, the Black Hand has eternity to hatch demented plots and vile intrigues. Eventually, he will rule all Faerûn, but there's no hurry. Getting there will be half the fun.
[...]
He has no tolerance for failure and seldom thinks twice about submitting even a loyal servant to rigorous tortures to ensure complete obedience to his remanding, regimented doctrine. Though possessed of an unforgiving wrath when aroused, Bane is slow to anger, existing in a perpetual state of controlled burn.

Bane's tyranny is known throughout the continent, and his is the image most seen as the face of evil. When news of Bane's destruction during the Time of Troubles* made its way throughout Faerûn, no fewer than twenty-seven nations declared national festivals of celebration and thanksgiving. The commoner sees Bane's clerics as petty would-be dictators unafraid to use immoral tactics and unthinkable violence to spread their influence and agenda. The adventurer sees the clergy as constant interlopers and enemies, agents of a rigid, evil philosophy who side with monsters, devils, and savage humanoids to further their wicked ends. Canny nobles glimpse the truest threat, that some of their peers pay homage to the Black Lord to gain through guile and subterfuge what soldiers cannot conquer by force.
*Note: he got better.

[Raimun]

"It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan. No one cared who I was, until I put on the mask."

But seriously, I guess LN followers of Bane would try justify their worship of Bane with stressing the Lawful part more, like you seem to do and/or do it all out of opportunism, that can still be considered orderly, "civilized" and technically Lawful conduct.

However, as I've understood it, Bane was never the god of war, he was merely a god of war. Mainly as such when war is embodied as bloodthirsty conquest and iron fisted tyranny, carried out by disciplined and orderly legions. Basically, followers of Bane don't really see war as the ultimate trial by fire (and steel!) but as a way to line their pockets and get land to rule over.

[Malifice]

I have no issue with LN clerics of Bane anymore than I do with LN clerics of a LG deity (Moradin, Helm, Heronious etc).

I view them as less fanatical, and more moderate voices of the religion. They almost certainly find some of the moral answers provided by the faith questionable, however see a greater 'good' in pursuing the agenda of the church as a whole.

A LN cleric of Bane would stress the overall benefits to society of an 'ordered monotheistic' society (read: theocratic dictatorship), be a staunch advocate of nationalism and conformity to create a civilized and ordered nation in a monster dominated world, that is but one of an infinite number of planes many teeming with creatures that would destroy all order. He would certainly find some of the practices of the faith morally distasteful (human sacrifice etc) but sees the need for such measures to ensure a peaceful and obedient society in the face of greater evil (hordes of monsters on the outskirts of civilization etc).

Look at the Hellknights in Golarion for a similar example of LN servants of a LE Regime (and deity).

[djreynolds]

>.> look you blue texting people... You know what I mean... Not bane from batman D:

These guys are wise guys. But they are very funny. You should've seen the comments when I tried to explain how a pole-arm master positioned his hands on the shaft. It was a good laugh.