Worshipping Ares?

[lotusblossom13]

Long story short, I'm playing 4.0, but my DM has allowed the Greek dieties into the game.

What do you think a worshipper of Ares would be like?

Also, for potential backstory info, what would cause a person to worship Ares in the first place?

[Lord Vampyre]

Ares is a god of war. This means that anyone who would potentially go into battle would pay homage to Ares.

As far as backgrounds go, I would probably go with either a soldier or mercenary.

[Iamyourking]

I'd imagine that they'd have to be especially brutal and bloodthirsty to pay homage to Ares in particular; seeing as how Athena and Nike, maybe Zeus, are open to those who are fighting for more honorable reasons. Most likely, somebody would worship Ares because they came from a place where he was commonly worshipped or because they loved to fight and kill. Alternately one could pray to Ares to spare them before a battle, but I highly doubt that would accomplish anything.

[Ashtagon]

Hey guys, some forum members actually worship Ares and the other Greek gods for real.

(points to forum rules)

[JoshuaZ]

Long story short, I'm playing 4.0, but my DM has allowed the Greek dieties into the game.

What do you think a worshipper of Ares would be like?

Also, for potential backstory info, what would cause a person to worship Ares in the first place?

Well, roughly the same thing as they do for any god of war, but probably a little more emphasis on honor. One thing that might help to keep in mind is the distinction between what Athena and Ares would do in Greek mythology. Ares is responsible for large scale brute force war, and Athena does clever stratagems (this is an exaggeration but the Iliad and other works support this as a rough approximation). So a worshipper of Ares would probably favor direct combat, caring about the honor on the battlefield.

As for backstory it really depends, could be raised that way, or could have picked up on Ares worship as part of their career as a soldier or mercenary, or could have grown up near a temple of Ares. How much it fits in their backstory depends on how much it should be part of their character. Is this a warrior who worships Ares or an actual member of the clergy? Those are going to have different sorts of backstories and their worship will play different amounts of emphasis in their characters.

Another thing to keep in mind is how common the Greek deities are in the setting. If the Greek deities are not commonly worshipped, or are worshipped primarily in some far off land, that's going to impact both backstory and practical issues (say finding a local temple might be tough). Similarly, if there are other deities in the setting who have domains that overlap a bit with Ares that can either help or hinder depending on the exact circumstances. Adding a deity to a setting is not a small bit, but can easily impact a lot of how the campaign setting is set up. That's one reason why some people like settings like FR where there are so many deities that throwing in a few more for a campaign really won't matter much. And all of this changes a bit in if one is in a setting where there's less direct divine intervention.

It might help to ask why do you want to play a worshipper of Ares and build a character around that.

[Katana_Geldar]

I'd say it was a barbarian who worshipped Ares, as he is seen as the wild, violent, bloody and brutal aspect of war. As opposed to Athena who represented justified warfare and even Mars, who took in a lot if Athena's aspects. Of course, the Spartans favoured him.

His two children, fear and terror, pull his chariot and their mother was Aphrodite (even girls back turn wanted bad boys). And his sister, Eris, was the goddess of discord and liked to start fights. Like the Trojan War.

Greek gods like particular animals as burnt offerings. But all I could find were His symbols the dog and boar. You might burn some chariots and spears as offerings to him though.

[Dienekes]

Well historically Spartans were known for praying to Ares. But oddly their prayers were similar to: Hey Ares, let me kick ass, and please don't make me go all crazy and do that stupid bloodthirsty nonsense that never helps. Instead put that on our enemies, or at least make them terrified of us. That cool? Thanks man, here have a sacrifice do you feel like chicken today? There is also some evidence that their version of Ares was a military thinker that is absent in just about every other depiction of the deity until he was tied to Mars.

Now going with the more common depiction of Ares as a moody, violent sociopath who enjoys wading into combat and attacking everyone, without carrying whose side they're on (unless he actually has stake in one side winning of course). Well, that would likely be a barbarian. He kind of is a barbarian.

Now that would just be someone who feels their patron god is Ares. But to just pray to him, well it could be anyone who goes into combat repeatedly and wishes his strength to be granted to him.

[Dr.Epic]

What do you think a worshipper of Ares would be like?

Would you like a historical example or an internet meme?

Because I can give you both?

[Man on Fire]

One quote for you to understand what kind of God of War is Ares:

"Now, as the learned bookworms among you may know, two Gods of War hail from Olympus. We have divergent interests. The chain of command. Rules of engagement. This Geneva Convention thing. Medical evac. Supply lines. The white flag. The Red Cross. Worrying about evacuees and refugees. Taking prisoners. Losing the battle but winning the war. Cursed diplomats. The proper standard of grooming. Sensibe things like having enough bullets before you go into battle. That's the dung my sister cares about. I'm the other God of War."
- Ares, Dark Avengers: Ares.

This is War domain for Ares, this is what kind of god he is and what he cares about. His worship should be appriorate to that.

[Anxe]

Ares was a very important god within the Roman pantheon. He was the father of Romulus. Romulus is deified as Quirinus, one of the most important gods during the time of the Republic. The three best gods are Jupiter (Zeus), Mars (Ares), and Quirinus. War was very important to the Romans. They conquered the Mediterranean and they knew damn well which of their gods helped them do it. So when you think of someone who worships Ares, think of a Roman.

My example doesn't answer how someone becomes a worshiper of Ares. My guess is that the rank and file of Ares' followers would be soldiers or ex-soldiers. Probably not officers as they would be more in tune with the strategic side of war and thus follow Athena. Hard to say who would be a priest of Ares. It's hard to separate his war aspect from that of Athena when you think about a leader of his cult. I can't give a good answer here.

I use the Greek gods in my campaign. Those who worship Ares are mostly barbarian ragers. He's also worshipped by soldiers as I said. The one cleric I designed that worships him is a leader of a guild composed of Blackguards.

[HeadlessMermaid]

Well historically Spartans were known for praying to Ares. But oddly their prayers were similar to: Hey Ares, let me kick ass, and please don't make me go all crazy and do that stupid bloodthirsty nonsense that never helps. Instead put that on our enemies, or at least make them terrified of us. That cool? Thanks man, here have a sacrifice do you feel like chicken today?

Heh, that's pretty accurate.

Interestingly, neither Sparta nor any other city chose Ares as a patron god. Ever. There were temples around, sure, and his name was invoked in times of war, but no one really, well, liked him.

In the Iliad, he's actually comic relief. Homer presents him as a big buffoon, bloodthirsty and conceited, who can't even win at his own game of brute force - not to mention that his side loses the war. At some point, Athena throws a huge boulder at him (so much for elegant strategy), leaving him sprawled on the ground, and promptly laughs her head off, to the amusement of everyone present. Pure slapstick.

That said, in a game which doesn't directly simulate Greek mythology, but uses the pantheon as an addition, it makes perfect sense to use Ares as a generic god of war (focusing on blood and mayhem rather than strategy), and not worry too much about it.

One thing I have to add is that the thirst for glory was a big, big thing for Ares, and is very fitting for his worshipers. Winning glory in battle could be your primary motive, or at least a very important aspect of your character. It fits a lot of character concepts (a barbarian warrior, a professional soldier, a wandering mercenary, even a fighter or rebel with a cause he's actually fervent about). But it probably excludes stealth fighters and the like.

No matter your background, you'd yearn to be remembered after death as a great warrior, to perform heroic feats in the field of battle that will earn you admiration and praise, to make a name for yourself that will be sung by bards all over the known world, etc. And you'd value your pride more than anything: your worst nightmare would be to be called a coward.

Hope that helps. (More info about the setting might produce better advice.)

[Blueiji]

I'd like to point out that Ares was also depicted as a coward in a lot of Greek myths and stories. One example is from the Iliad, in which Homer describes Ares descending onto the battle field, massacring some Trojans, only to run away as soon as he got hurt. Once back on Olympus he requested that his father, Zeus, smite the humans who hurt him.

So Ares isn't really the "blood-thirsty, berzerking, honorable, mega-spartan" a god of war should be. He's a tad bit more into the act of massacre and slaughter that he either exclusively takes part in, or gets to watch from a safe distance.

So a worshiper of Ares has a couple different routes:

- They look past (or don't know about) Are's more cowardly aspects and worship him purely for his status as an embodiment of war, but not for his personal qualities.

- They acknowledge Are's unwillingness to take hits in battle and share the same philosophy. Which could in turn mean:

> They run away after getting hit.

> They become more angry when they get hit, and that rage is channeled into they're fighting, for they certainly don't want to get hit again.

> They enjoy inflicting pain (much like Ares), but not experiencing it (also like Ares). To get more information on these character archetypes look into the Book of Vile Darkness.

- They have heard of Ares' reputation as a coward, but ignore it. Fighting so fiercely that they wish to prove that no warrior could be such a coward, let alone the god of war himself.

- - -

There's probably other ways to interpret this, but I can't think of any at this moment, so I'l just end this post here.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Thread locked. Please keep in mind that the ban on discussing real world religion applies to any real world religions, even if they are only slightly active today.