Believing in another's pantheon

[Azedenkae]

Generally what do you consider as a reason for why a character may worship another's pantheon? I mean I guess it is obvious that if an Elf and was born and raised in a Dwarven hold, s/he may worship Moradin for example.

But given the state of general I guess... dis-affinity for another's pantheon, if say a non-worshipper decides to worship, is it that unbelievable for s/he to take up worshipping in a deity from elsewhere. Like say an adventuring Wood Elf, who sort of know of the existence of the pantheons, came to a Dwarven community and was inducted into their place, and start worshipping Moradin or something.

Okay that was convoluted. Rephrase: How likely is it to find a human/elf/orc/whatever worshipping a deity from a different pantheon than their usual one?

[Safety Sword]

Generally what do you consider as a reason for why a character may worship another's pantheon? I mean I guess it is obvious that if an Elf and was born and raised in a Dwarven hold, s/he may worship Moradin for example.

But given the state of general I guess... dis-affinity for another's pantheon, if say a non-worshipper decides to worship, is it that unbelievable for s/he to take up worshipping in a deity from elsewhere. Like say an adventuring Wood Elf, who sort of know of the existence of the pantheons, came to a Dwarven community and was inducted into their place, and start worshipping Moradin or something.

Okay that was convoluted. Rephrase: How likely is it to find a human/elf/orc/whatever worshipping a deity from a different pantheon than their usual one?

As likely as the DM decides. That's what it comes down too.

If elves could do magic sent from "their" heaven and humans couldn't, how could I not consider worshipping what works?

[Sigreid]

Love. People convert for the one they love all the time. Rebellion if they feel wronged by their culture. Threats of force (convert to Grumnish or die). Madness.

[Azedenkae]

Haha all true guys. XD

Okay, narrowing it down.

Assume it is Faerun, and you are the DM. The Faerunian gods, being numerous as they may be. How unlikely is it for elves, dwarves, orcs, and those with their own pantheons to believe in them. Say a.) when they are still deeply part of their community, and b.) when they associate with humans more so. Your opinions, personally.

[The Glyphstone]

Belief and worship doesn't necessarily have to track at one-to-one; an elf could believe the dwarven gods exist, particularly in a setting like Faerun where gods are known to physically incarnate from time to time, but still worship the elven pantheon. They are, after all, elf gods, and thus naturally more inclined to be looking out for his/her welfare than dwarf gods would.

For an elf to be outright worshipping the Dwarven pantheon, they'd need some sort of catalyst to believe otherwise, that Moradin or the other dwarf gods would be looking out for them even though they're not a dwarf, and more than their normal racial pantheon. Raised by dwarves is the easiest. Or maybe a Paladin of Moradin saved them from death when it felt like Corellan Latharian had forsaken them, or something.

[Azedenkae]

Belief and worship doesn't necessarily have to track at one-to-one; an elf could believe the dwarven gods exist, particularly in a setting like Faerun where gods are known to physically incarnate from time to time, but still worship the elven pantheon. They are, after all, elf gods, and thus naturally more inclined to be looking out for his/her welfare than dwarf gods would.

For an elf to be outright worshipping the Dwarven pantheon, they'd need some sort of catalyst to believe otherwise, that Moradin or the other dwarf gods would be looking out for them even though they're not a dwarf, and more than their normal racial pantheon. Raised by dwarves is the easiest. Or maybe a Paladin of Moradin saved them from death when it felt like Corellan Latharian had forsaken them, or something.

Thanks! Just the answer I needed. Yeah I should probably change the thread's title lol, it's a bit misleading given that it is probably true that most inhabitants would believe that all the deities exist (or at least most of them). Alright, now to re-plan my character. :P

[Naanomi]

Also the 'human' pantheon is more flexible than the racial ones... While it isn't 'normal' for elves and dwarves to follow the Faerunean pantheon, there are more than a few... Gnomes of Gond, Deuregar following Bane, etc. Kelemvor is also famous for having worshipers of almost every race

[Slipperychicken]

Could be someone who makes prayers and sacrifices to all the gods just to be safe.

Could also be a person who pays respect to the local gods wherever he goes. Corellon might not like dwarves, but a dwarf's goats are just as good as the elves', so he might let this dwarven merchant or smuggler escape his wrath and do business in peace.

[Ninja_Prawn]

Also the 'human' pantheon is more flexible than the racial ones... While it isn't 'normal' for elves and dwarves to follow the Faerunean pantheon, there are more than a few... Gnomes of Gond, Deuregar following Bane, etc. Kelemvor is also famous for having worshipers of almost every race

Given that we're in Faerûn now, I'd second this. The 'Faerûnian pantheon' doesn't belong to any one race and it is likely that everyone offers prayers to at least some of the gods from this group. This means that the narrower, racial pantheons are probably segregated more than they would be in other settings, because an elven blacksmith can easily say prayers to Gond, rather than getting mixed up with Moradin or Flandal Steelskin (gnomish god of smithing). Also, a number of elven gods are actually just aspects, avatars or manifestations of Faerûnian gods; the main differences between the church of Selûne and the church of Sehanine Moonbow are in their rituals and traditions, not in the goddess they serve.

Also, most settlements in Faerûn are mixed-race, so there won't be too many cases of 'raised by wolves' for the common races. An elf is going to be able to find other elves wherever they are on the continent; not many are going to be so cut off that they would have no choice but to adopt other people's cultures. It might be different for dragonborn or tielfings, who are concentrated in a few places and rare elsewhere... but they don't have dedicated racial deities as far as I can see.

The main reasons to worship a god from someone else's pantheon would be a) you know that that god is interested in you specifically, as with a cleric or paladin, or b) you married someone who venerates that god.