What does the God of Knowledge of your setting do in the Campaign?

[alderskald]

Pretty much that. When the PC's are going around changing the world, the gods of knowledge should be the first to notice. What kind of reactions beyond passive contemplation in order to learn do the have?

Thanks

[Darth Ultron]

Mostly none.

The typical God of Knowledge is True Neutral. So they don't care all that much about the world. They record and preserve and teach. They don't take much action though...other then to maybe save a library or such from some murderhobos.

[Anonymouswizard]

Honestly? Note them as somebody possibly worth checking back on and continue looking for interesting things. If they continue doing pretty interesting things they might trade information about them to the god of justice or honour or wealth redistribution, depending on the party's outlook and methods, but they likely wouldn't interact with the party themselves.

[Thrudd]

Why would a god of knowledge need to do anything? They know everything, right? That's what they do? So whatever the characters have done, they know about it. Maybe they'll go tell the other gods, if the characters do something that is important to the gods that the other gods can't see for some reason?

Why won't any and all gods know when the PC's change something? What is it they are changing that the gods would be concerned about? If a PC kills the high priest of some god, surely that god will know. If the PCs do something to usurp a god's power, surely that god will know.

It's not necessary that the gods care at all what the PCs are doing, and if they do, there's no reason that a god of knowledge would need to be an intermediary or middle-man for information to the other gods and the doings of mortals - unless that's how your cosmology works.

I don't have a god of knowledge, or even a pantheon, in my old D&D setting.

Or are you asking for ideas about how your cosmology could be designed? You could have a god of knowledge be the librarian of all things that have ever happened and all information in the universe - like the keeper of the Akashic records. Or they could actually be the recorder of information, as well. If something happened to the god of knowledge, history would no longer be written - which would have very strange results for the cosmos. Or, the records go on being written, but there is no longer any way to access them, so all divination magic stops working.

If you want the gods to be more removed from the material plane, then maybe the god of knowledge is the only way they actually get to know what is happening there. Stuff that happens and information formed in the world of mortals is delivered to the knowledge plane by spirit messengers, and compiled into big databases that are managed by the god of knowledge, who keeps this whole place working. Other gods come to the knowledge plane to look into what's going on with the things that are important to them, and then give orders to their servants that can access the mortal world. So the gods don't get real-time information about what's going on. Their servants closer to the mortal realm who can take actions are actually proxies for the real gods, who need to await for orders from above. If somebody were to cut-off access to the knowledge plane or to incapacitate the god of knowledge, the gods would never know what was happening (and probably divine magic, maybe even all magic, would stop working, too).

[BWR]

There is no THE god of Knowledge in Mystara. There is no THE god of anything, except where an Immortal chooses to take an interest in something that others don't.
Immortals have listed abilities which are basically 'scry on my plots' and 'listen to all the prayers to you', which covers quite a bit though isn't a universal perception/knowledge of events (which explains very well why spells like Commune sometimes have "I don't know". Being very busy with their own plots and intrigues and whatnot, most have better things to do than be stuck in front of the virtual idiot box watching the Days of Mortal Lives, so there are likely a number of things that pass unnoticed, at least for a while. It also makes worshippers important since Immortals either need to manifest on any given world to scry anywhere or rely on informants and mortal agents working their plots.

[BeerMug Paladin]

I'd say that depends on the particular god of knowledge and what sorts of actions the PCs do. Although I agree that in general, they'd probably not care much what the PC-party does.

PC parties don't teach pupils, they don't tend to spread misinformation and while they may indeed search out a long-lost hidden library or find long-forgotten tomes containing rare ancient lore, the PCs aren't likely to destroy those things. Just sell them for cash to the highest bidder.

If the PC party is especially notable in setting for dungeon diving then the followers of a knowledge god might contract them to find such a hidden tome for them, but in terms of an agenda beyond that, probably not much.

[Misereor]

Pretty much that. When the PC's are going around changing the world, the gods of knowledge should be the first to notice. What kind of reactions beyond passive contemplation in order to learn do the have?
Thanks

Depends on your pantheon and what rules they play by.
In a pantheon that interferes directly, I suppose a god(ess) of knowledge would grant hidden or lost knowledge to worthies, and have amnesia related curses for those who offend it. Pantheons that work through intermediaries, would probably grant portfolio related abilities to their champions.

Hmm... I just thought of a campaign plot.
Premise: Knowledge is going out of the world. The god of knowledge is mostly non-present, and only sporadically manifests itself.
Plot: The campaign setting über BBEG has a secret, fatal vulnerability and murdered the god of knowledge to hide it. Whenever a new god of knowledge arises, the BBEG has to kill it too in order to preserve the secret. New gods of knowledge arising and then shortly after being murdered, is the reason why people think the original god of knowledge is occasionally manifesting itself in the form of signs and granting of spells and favors to worshippers.

[Avanya]

It all depends on what your God of Knowledge is like and what sort of plans he has. Maybe using knowledge wisely is something that's a big deal for him, maybe he's all about spreading knowledge or maybe he's protective of knowledge - it's something you need to earn and prove you can handle. Also some idea of what his goals are with the world. Maybe he's just the one who records everything, but he might also have his own vision for mortals.

How the characters go about their business will likely matter to how he sees them. Did they solve some ancient riddles or are the more the types to kick down the door? Are they strategical or go in without a plan? If they've acquired some sort of ancient or hidden knowledge what did they do with it? Does these things align with his values? How he views the characters will certainly affect how he would interact with them (if at all). If they're working towards his goals he might provide them with knowledge to help them. If they're working against his goals he might put obstacles in their way or try to manipulate the knowledge they have to nudge them in the direction he wants them. Or he's still determining if they're worthy and so will preset them with challenges to see if they can be useful to him.

I typically flesh out the gods a bit with some personality traits and goals, even if they aren't the types to interfere directly a lot. In the setting I'm currently working in the God of Knowledge is also the God of Magic and keeper of the balance. If the scales start to tip too much in the favor of good or evil (or any of the other gods), he'll side with the weaker side to keep the balance. He has an interest in some knowledge staying secret as well (especially in regards to magic). If my players encountered something that falls in the category of knowledge he wants hidden he'd likely send a priest of his to make them understand why - letting them know why it's dangerous and why protecting it is important. Unless they're the types who act without knowledge and would rather smash their way through things than solve a puzzle, in which case he'd likely send followers to get rid of them or at least neutralize the knowledge they had gained.

I'm not sure if that helps at all. :P I have more examples if that's helpful, but I think this post is long enough atm. If you haven't already I'd definitely suggest fleshing out your God of Knowledge a bit. When you have an idea of what he's like and what he cares about it's easier to come up with things he might do. :)

[PhoenixPhyre]

I have multiple gods of knowledge (for different facets) and they're not of the same political stance on the whole "what to do with mortals" issue. And neither is omniscient (not in the slightest)

The god of magic wants to make sure harmful magical knowledge doesn't get into the wrong hands (by which he means "any hands that will actually threaten to blow up the world...again). He's got a soft spot for adventurers, since he was one. Otherwise, he's a bit of a conservative/non-interventionist.

The god of technological knowledge (and crafting, etc) wants knowledge to spread. He doesn't believe in intellectual property. He's an activist/interventionist, so he wants to meddle and "guide" people in the "right" direction.

Other discoveries generally arouse interest and may prompt a dedicated archival team to follow the party as they uncover lost/buried/new stuff. There's lots even the gods don't know.

[LibraryOgre]

A lot depends on your definition of knowledge and the god in question.

I mean, Oghma (in FR) is a god of knowledge who actively tries to encourage people to know things. He sends his priests out as teachers and learners. He builds libraries to storehouse and share knowledge. He's a god of knowledge who wants there to be a lot of knowledge.

Vecna is a god of secrets, which are a kind of knowledge. While his priests try to ferret out secrets, it's to hoard the knowledge, and prevent others from sharing in it.

Two gods of knowledge... one for the sharing, one for the hoarding. You might even include Gond, from FR, who advocates for the USE of knowledge... he doesn't care about things that aren't actually practical knowledge that can be turned into something.

You can construct deities in a lot of different ways and still have them be advocates of their portfolios. Mystra loves magic, maintains its power throughout the Realms, and advocates for its use (primarily in good ways, being good herself, though the gods kept her from putting an alignment test on magic like she wanted). The Riftmaster, from Kalamar? Magic is a dangerous force that needs to be carefully managed. On some days, his priests are forbidden from casting any spells without stealing the spell points from someone else. On other days, they are required to spend ALL their spell points, because, dammit, the magic is backing up and needs to be released into the world.

[solidork]

In our 5e campaign, my character is a Celestial Warlock that serves a Couatl created by Deneir who searches out dangerous magical artifacts to safely store them out of mortal hands.

[Nifft]

The Goddess of Knowledge performs vital functions including:

- Know stuff. Lots of stuff.
- Answer mortal Divinations about stuff.
- Ensure the moon and tides stay on schedule, kick the sun when He forgets to rise.
- Provide spells to mortals who worship Her, or who pay homage to one of Her ideals, or who otherwise serve Her interests.
- Watch over libraries and librarians, ships and sailors, the royal court and inquisitors, graveyards and executioners, courts and judges, witches and wizards.

[LibraryOgre]

In our 5e campaign, my character is a Celestial Warlock that serves a Couatl created by Deneir who searches out dangerous magical artifacts to safely store them out of mortal hands.

Really like the idea of a Warlock who is essentially a priest of a deity's servant.

[kieza]

The gods in my setting are distant, so they can't be said to do much locally. Their worshippers, though...

There's the Esoteric Order of the Eternal Archive, who are engaged in an ongoing effort to create and distribute copies of all the knowledge possessed by mortals, as a safeguard against the collapse of civilization.

There's the Custodians of the Doomsday Vault, who collect world-ending artifacts and knowledge, to either destroy them for good, or keep in reserve to counteract other apocalypses. (They have Orxhimetos' Lever, capable of altering the orbit of the planet, in case someone blows the Horn of Fimbulwinter and they need to put the planet closer to the sun...)

There's the Temple to Mortality Unchained, engaged in a long-term collaboration with followers of the god of engineering, who are working on a way to put an end to death. As a side effect, they've eradicated some of the world's most deadly diseases.

[Aneurin]

I personally don't really use active deities, but looking at this the thought occurs that a deity of knowledge (or at least their minions) could make an interesting adversary, or complication to an ongoing scheme.

Say the villain of the piece the PCs are supposed to defeat has a nefarious plan to... I dunno... turn everyone into fish, or whatever. Doesn't matter, really. But to do it, their plan involves mass producing the instructions of a certain ritual and distributing them to everyone. The PCs, obviously want to stop this - but, in the process, they're going to have to destroy all the copies of the ritual, and prevent the spread of knowledge (and actively destroy it to boot) which is anathema to the God(ess) of Knowledge, and so the PCs find their efforts hindered by ardent bibliophiles and some of the greatest devotees of the fighting arts the world has to offer (knowledge of fighting techniques is still knowledge!).

Alternatively, the PCs want to - and, perhaps, need to - destroy some horrible demonic tome that, if read, will result in a demonic invasion of the world. Destroying knowledge, again, ticks off the deity of knowledge and they find themselves hindered by the deity's servants. The deity of knowledge doesn't care if demons invade the world; so long as the demons aren't destroying knowledge, why would they care?

[alderskald]

I have more examples if that's helpful, but I think this post is long enough atm. If you haven't already I'd definitely suggest fleshing out your God of Knowledge a bit. When you have an idea of what he's like and what he cares about it's easier to come up with things he might do. :)

I'd love to hear about more ideas. I was searching for inspiration and examples. Many understood it was necesary to point out the premises of the original question. So thank you very much for more input.

[alderskald]

Thank you all for your ideas. I'd love to hear more about your distinct god of knowledge and actions.

In my case, they are world-walking Gods, and particularly the Goddess of Knowledge, Magic, Secrets and Enlightment is eager to help the players to unravel Magic secrets belonging to the Dragons who are older than the Gods themselves. The players are even devoted to her (Cleric, Monk, and Wizard, among others). Therefore her actions, however never direct, should be very influential.

[Xuc Xac]

Why would a god of knowledge need to do anything? They know everything, right? That's what they do?

They also drink.

[Thrudd]

They also drink.

Right. What do you do when you already know absolutely everything there is to know in the cosmos? Drink. A lot.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Nothing unless they threaten a library or university of some sort or someone else does and someone in the party is one of the faithful. That or if someone is actively trying to prevent the spread of knowledge.

In either case, a light touch is used to push things in the direction he wants, same as most gods; a sign, -maybe- a herald if it's something important.

[Pex]

I have two. One is Lawful Good the other is Lawful Neutral.

The Good one is about invention and innovation. While he has no problem with magic, he wants people to solve problems with little magic as possible. People can use magic as a crutch and thus not think for themselves because a spell will handle it.

The Neutral one is about conspirators looking for a cause. They are Problem Solvers or Think Tanks, some for hire. Many congregations are Secret Societies who manipulate events to keep civilization functioning. Some prefer people don't know they exist, but it's not a requirement of the faith. Others defend the world against Outsiders. They close Portals. Fight Demons and Devils. A Summon spell is fine. Anyone who brings Outsiders into the world permanently or for a long time are the ones to be stopped. They don't like Angels and Celestials interfering either, but they usually don't stay so are tolerated. However, when Angels go on a Righteous Crusade against evil mortals, they will be stopped. An undead hunt works too.

[oxybe]

Depends.

The god of knowledge in my world is one that is also actively researching stuff, both good and bad. They're the god of not just curating knowledge but the advancement thereof.

His priests are often one part librarian, one part chronicler, one part archeologist, one part scientist (mad or benign), one part information broker. As such, they are usually very active in world events, sometimes just taking notes, other times actively participating by giving their research or doing research for one party (or actively giving incorrect results to see what happens) and sometimes feeding information to the government or it's dissidents. Depends on the priest in question's nature or orders.

This is largely because while the God of Knowledge largely knows all we currently know, it doesn't know stuff we don't. It doesn't know how to create a rocketship to the moon because that hasn't been invented yet in-setting.

So it's very much possible for someone, somewhere to have a piece of information or research the GoK doesn't have archived somewhere. And that could very much aggravate it to no end. knowledge begets more knowledge and the GoK can be a greedy bugger when it comes to claiming a juicy bit of information.

So the church largely tries to gather as many eccentrics, creatives, engineers, alchemists, and whomever they can of all persuasions and walks of life, evaluates their projects and decides to throw gold and resources at it or not.

Which can be good and bad for the world at large as on one hand, we have mages actively working on creating better and more sustainable farming processes but another branch of the church might also be trying to create the magical version of Captain America or Bane, but without any form of ethics or morals overseeing the project just to see what happens when you bathe a Goliath in a vat of potion of bull's strength, have his body fuse with a belt of giant's strength and bombard the whole with chaos magic.

[Ignimortis]

It's dead. What few real worshippers it had weren't enough to sustain it, because magic has been on the decline for the last eight hundred years, and gods of knowledge had always been tied to magical secrets and magical powers - get rid of magic, and you lose most of the people who would fervently follow a god of knowledge. Some of his aspects might've been picked up by the less scrupulous - like the trickster god of luck, the patron of thieves, who can surely bear the mantle of the "keeper of secrets".

Most gods are scraping by, stuck in a vicious circle of losing power and losing followers — who would really believe in a god of healing whose priests sometimes say "there's nothing I can do to help"? And those people lose faith, and the god loses more power, and now it can't respond to as many prayers.

The only gods still going strong are those representing basic concepts and immutable facts - there will be a sun god as long as the sun rises in the morning, and there will be a god of blood as long as those who would spill it gladly exist. Gods of life and death will be around forever. Knowledge? Not necessarily. Even if the magic comes back or a surge of sorcerous power drives the land into magical overdrive, the new god of magic and secrets and knowledge will be different from the old one, shaped by the new believers.

And that's why most Divination spells are severely limited in their effectiveness or accessibility.

[Grim Portent]

I have two, I guess, a seeress and a seeker of lost lore.

She lives in a remote valley and serves as an oracle, as do her mortal descendants. If you find her she will answer one question of any nature. She doesn't know everything, just stuff she's seen in visions or experienced firsthand. Her location isn't particularly secret, though it is a long trip for most who would seek her out and few people can afford to make the trip. Lots also waste their question on trivial things or ask about things they can never attain.

One of her many half-siblings is the seeker. He looks for knowledge on how to bring their father, the king of the gods, back from the dead and so travels the world in various disguises handing out wisdom to those who help him and seeking the scattered gods and powerful wizards of the world to try and learn enough arcane and mythic lore to complete his quest.

[Avanya]

Thank you all for your ideas. I'd love to hear more about your distinct god of knowledge and actions.

In my case, they are world-walking Gods, and particularly the Goddess of Knowledge, Magic, Secrets and Enlightment is eager to help the players to unravel Magic secrets belonging to the Dragons who are older than the Gods themselves. The players are even devoted to her (Cleric, Monk, and Wizard, among others). Therefore her actions, however never direct, should be very influential.

Dreams/visions to the cleric hinting at locations where they can find knowledge like that would be an easy place to start. The trick there is a good balance of mystery and obvious clues. The more important it is for them to find their way to the location, the more obvious clues you drop. If it's a sort of side quest that could give them a power boost or useful (but not necessary) information, but they can still complete the campaign without, then I wouldn't drop a ton of clues and just see if they go for the bonus stuff the goddess is offering. Like say there's some old dragon temple or something you could have a dream where the cleric is flying fast and high above the world looking down at tiny people - maybe even describe some cities/towns/landscape they know. Have them notice the shadow of a dragon and wake up there the first time. Then later you add more - like the sense of air rushing against their face and the feeling of beating their wings as they race across the landscape. Maybe some feelings/thoughts of urgency or importance or whatever makes sense for what the place holds. Then have them see some distrinct landscape that they can find by asking around or buying maps. Could be a river in a special shape or a mountain with a unique top. Later have the dream come back with more detail of the place like the entrance, perhaps a word or a phrase inscribed above, perhaps some symbol of the goddess and let them get a glipse of the "treasure" - that can be vague as well like a book full of light when opened or a weapon covered in writing (which is actually just knowledge that will give them some benefits later).

There's also the good old disguised god. :P Have the goddess show up disguised (shouldn't be something they easily see through) as just another NPC with a hook or some helpful knowledgeable character giving them the information they're after for something else. I'd prob make her some older scholar type they'll encounter in search of some information and have her drop little bits of golden info. Like they're trying to determine the location of Novian's Tomb and she can help with that, then drops a little "Did you know he had a snake for a pet? Never understood that, nah I'd take a loyal dog over a snake any day" then have there be a giant snake to fight in the tomb. Mostly just info they don't need to complete whatever they're doing, but something that isn't obvious and might even be helpful to know. After a few of those let her give out something more important/direct like a location of something magical/ancient knowledge she's convinced is correct, but others just think she's a crazy old woman. When they return after having found what she talked about (maybe even better than she made it out to be) have her be gone and no one ever heard of her - like she never existed. Maybe even have someone else in her place, who right away notices the cleric and asks for his/her blessing since she's a devout follower of the goddess.

She could also be a distant benefactor sending them things. They wake up in the morning and the innkeeper has a letter for them that a messenger left during the night. The letter could have all sorts of information. Could be part of an old text revealing the location of some forgotten magical secret. Could be the name and location of a person who can help them against their enemy (if they have one). Anything that could be explained in a letter. I'd include some stuff that gives away that this "person" knows a lot about what they're up to, stuff that you wouldn't easily know. If they track down the one who delivered the letter(s) let that person be almost mesmerized (not magical stuff, just super in awe of this person) and describe some archetypical way the goddess is portraied. Maybe she even told them something really important that made them happy as well.

They might not pick up it's the goddess helping them, but that's fine. If you'd like them to know you can keep droping hints. Or they'll pick it up straight away (I once had a player look at a bunch of holes in a wall and ask "do they line up with any constellations I know", which ofc they did - no need for all the hints to help figure that out :P). If they start to rely on the goddess' help too much you can always pull her back and be silent for a bit - I'm sure she's got other things to do as well than guide a handful of mortals, even if they are her favorites. The important part is the players always have a choice and that the whole campaign don't break down if they don't follow her guidance. Some players love supernatural hints and help, but others might not enjoy it. If they get too caught up in trying to figure out who their benefactor is, I'd straight up have her reveal herself to either them all or just the cleric. I'd also expect them to be super suspicious when she first starts to help, which is why I'd have it be very optional/just bonus. Ideally they should discover her helpfulness and be intrigued and not feel like she's trying to control them like pawns (unless you want them to rebel against her ofc :P).

[5a Violista]

Pretty much that. When the PC's are going around changing the world, the gods of knowledge should be the first to notice. What kind of reactions beyond passive contemplation in order to learn do the have?

Thanks

Obviously, like so many others have already said, it depends.
In this case, it depends on the god of knowledge's personality, goals, and also what particular sort of knowledge they prize. So, rather than just giving one answer, I'll list out various different possible gods of knowledge and their potential response to the PCs.

• An omniscient god of knowledge who knows everything as it will happen - probably nothing. They already knew the PCs were going to do that, so big deal.
• An omniscient god of knowledge who knows all the possibilities of what could happen - probably curious. They knew what the PCs could have done, and since the PCs are making world-changing decisions they're probably interested in finding out what choices the PCs will make.
• A bored god of knowledge who can know all the possibilities - probably curious, too. Since they know all the possibilities and are bored, they likely want the PCs to make interesting or unlikely decisions, hopefully without their intervention (but possibly with it, depending on whether intervention is more or less interesting)
• A god of knowledge who values hiding away the knowledge - Since the PCs are changing the world, the god should decide whether they value hiding away the old knowledge from the world before it was changed, or hiding away the new knowledge about the changed world. In the former case, they probably help the PCs along. In the latter, they might try to stop or distract the PCs in some way.
• A god of knowledge who values discovering new knowledge - Since the PCs are creating new opportunities for new knowledge by changing the world, they could send somebody along with them or in their aftermath to learn about the new things that are happening and that result from this new world.
• A god of knowledge who values sharing knowledge - They probably do the complete opposite compared to if they were a god who wanted to hide away knowledge.
• A god of knowledge who also values something other than knowledge - It depends on what the "something other" is and how/if the PCs are interacting with it.

[Kitten Champion]

The god itself is less significant than every area you could use such a religion to fulfill useful plot functions such as exposition of more obscure elements such that an academic would be needed, or as motivation for exploring the unknown.

As noted by one of my players in the setting with the knowledge-based religion, they were basically Star Fleet from the TNG-era - emphasis on self-improvement and personal enlightenment, belief in objective Truths that they're obligated to find and maintain, and something of a dogmatic contempt for the acquisition of wealth and irrational beliefs - except they would pay for Adventurers when they needed the manpower for a particular venture rather than having their own Worfs to kick around.

The god, I suppose, was Jean-Luc Picard.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Nothing - like all the gods in my setting, it was made up by the sapient species for the setting in order to fulfil a need in their understanding of the multiverse.

The few "gods" that have any sort of presence in my setting are the elemental, angelic, demonic / infernal, and other outsider rulers.

[Douche]

Why would a god of knowledge need to do anything? They know everything, right? That's what they do? So whatever the characters have done, they know about it. Maybe they'll go tell the other gods, if the characters do something that is important to the gods that the other gods can't see for some reason?

Why won't any and all gods know when the PC's change something? What is it they are changing that the gods would be concerned about? If a PC kills the high priest of some god, surely that god will know. If the PCs do something to usurp a god's power, surely that god will know.

It's not necessary that the gods care at all what the PCs are doing, and if they do, there's no reason that a god of knowledge would need to be an intermediary or middle-man for information to the other gods and the doings of mortals - unless that's how your cosmology works.

If there's already multiple gods in the universe, then they're no longer omnipotent and therefore don't know everything. So of those things you listed, sure the god might know if the PC's slaughtered everyone in one of his temples. That's not knowledge that needs to be dug up.

God of Knowledge would know stuff that even the gods themselves wouldn't be trusted with... maybe the location of a secret megaweapon that was designed to slay the gods, and the other gods entrusted the god of secrets to conceal it so none of them could use it against each other - except the god of knowledge inherently wants to find out where it is so he figured it out anyway.

Generally speaking, I think the only narrative purpose that a God of Knowledge would be to either uncover some esoteric knowledge, or send the PCs on a quest to find some esoteric knowledge. PCs get a quest - go to the temple of Knowledgius and find out where the hidden whatever is. Then they get there and he says he'll only tell them if they find the hidden other-thing-i-haven't-found-yet

[Max_Killjoy]

Neither of the "fantasy" settings I'm working on has a significant and singular "god of knowledge".