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D&D Ideas — Temples

Welcome once again to the weekly newsletter. This week’s topic is temples, which we discussed in our weekly live chat. We hangout every Monday evening at 8 p.m. EST on Nerdarchy Live to talk about D&D, RPGs, gaming, life and whatever nerdy stuff comes up. Speaking of temples our Shadow of Your Former Self encounter can be placed anywhere you imagine it, like an art gallery, wizard’s inner sanctum or (of course) a temple. You can get Nerdarchy the Newsletter delivered to your inbox each week, along with updates and info on how to game with Nerdarchy plus snag a FREE GIFT by signing up here.

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Delving Dave’s Dungeon

Temples in D&D have been central in the game for as long as I can remember. Usually temples are presented as adventure locations and more specifically as dungeons. Granted temples work fantastically well for this but they can be so much more. Whether you’re using a temple as a dungeon or a location of interests they are the perfect place to engage all three pillars of 5E D&D.

Temples as dungeons offer plenty of chances for combat but a temple dedicated to a god of war or some other aspect of violence might also offer chances for the characters to get into a fight. Plenty of opportunities for social encounters and exploration exist too — especially outside of the dungeon setting. Temples offer an interactive way to explore and learn about the history of a religion and its significance in the world and campaign setting.

Obviously active temples include people there with whom to interact. The type of god a temple is dedicated to will flavor these interactions. Dungeon Masters would be well served to think about who would be found at a particular temple and what the deity means to them. Temple personnel need not be limited to only priests and guards. Commoners come to offer prayers while merchants, aristocrats and bureaucrats could be vying for the temple’s support.

What political power do the temples in your world wield? Do they control theocracies? What about a monarchy ruled by several religions arranged into a council of the gods? How was it decided which religions would hold power? Is this something that can change? What — and who — determines the change?

D&D Reward Ideas

What about using temples to reward characters during a D&D session?

Visiting a temple might be part of receiving a blessing after completing a task for a god. There is a list of them in the Dungeon Master’s Guide in Chapter 7: Other Rewards. These tend to be permanent buffs to a character. The same section includes charms, which make perfect temporary buffs for characters as gifts from a god or one of their servants. The priest could have each party member place an object important to them and transmogrify it into a charm. Our Mage Forge collection also includes a whole bunch of consumable charm magic items excellent as gifts from a god. You can still preorder your own collection of 250 magic items within our Mage Forge here.

D&D Quest Ideas

• Going to the temple is a perfect place to meet a quest giver. Perhaps the party needs a curse removed so they head down to their favorite temple to talk to a priest. The temple ministers aren’t interested in the party’s gold and riches but they do have a matter they need looked into.
• The party are all agents of a temple. They don’t need to be clerics but they all worship the same god. When the church needs problems solved these are the people who solve it for them.
• Nerdarchist Ted is currently running a game call Untraditionally Arcane featuring an all wizard party with a problem affecting arcane magic to solve. The same premise could be used for an all cleric party. Someone or something has figured out how to destroy all of the gods and if the characters can’t fix this before it’s too late they won’t have anything to worship anymore.

From Ted’s Head

Temples are a huge part of typical 5E D&D adventures and campaigns especially if you bring religion into the game. Temples can be a source of information and allies. Temples can offer healing of injuries, poisons and diseases if the party does not have the ability to fix the issue themselves. In my early days of gaming healing took much longer to restore your health. Frequently we visited temples to just pay for healing.

If this is not enough, temples can be where you take fallen companions seeking to bring them back to life. One of my favorite characters I have played died at an early level. You have probably heard the story of 2nd level elf versus giants foot. Yeah, I lost. The next session they brought my body to a temple and thankfully I was brought back.

If you have designs on a religious campaign a temple is a great place to either start your adventure or as the stable location where the characters often return. The temple worshippers can be used to offer guidance be it from a religious or spiritual nature, or from something personal or even related to the current quest the party seeks to achieve. The temple can also be a place for the DM to share the lore of the setting through interaction with recurring NPCs. History, Religion and even Arcana are popular skills but if the party either does not have the proficiency or keeps rolling like crap then the temple can provide the necessary answers to move the quest forward.

When it comes to temples and finding allies the connection can be a perfect match. Since there are typically gods (and thus temples) for any and every concept, regardless of the quest there is always someone from a religious standpoint who would align with the goals. The trick is to find the right place.

The world is a dangerous place with all kinds of monsters. This can leave the party injured or suffering with some kind of ailment. Poisons, diseases, curses or even simple basic healing can be found at temples. It can either be done after the fact or even preventative. Temples can offer their spellcasting abilities or the opportunity to sell potions and scrolls. If these are not enough, reviving a fallen friend or foe can be incredibly helpful. You can get any kind of spellcasting performed — even speaking with the dead.

Usually temples are dedicated to a specific deity or even a concept but this need not be the case. A typical D&D setting isn’t typically monotheistic so temples don’t need to be dedicated this way either. In my first campaign I had the Temple of the Light. All the goodly gods could be worshiped in one place. All the altars were present even if they were not all the same size. Having this kind of temple opens up new options for players who are looking to worship more than one god or for DMs who are looking to showcase fun NPCs and the great religions of the world. It is also a great place to have quest givers because a polytheistic temple could also have a large variety of quests in need of being accomplished.

From the Nerditor’s Desk

Nerdarchist Dave and I enjoyed a great chat talking about temples in 5E D&D. We discussed a wide variety of aspects related to temples starting with how terrific they are as a shorthand. Referring to a structure as a temple implies a few things in an evocative way. Players can assume the location relates in some way to worship of powerful entities.

In the other editorials this week Dave and Ted offer a bunch of ideas for incorporating temples into 5E D&D games as interactive environments between adventures as resources for worldbuilding, vehicles to move stories forward and bastions of solace. But what makes temples awesome as adventure locations? Versatility is the answer. A magnificent edifice dedicated to evil gods, fiends or other nasty entities could be the site for an epic campaign finale while a group of starting adventurers stumbling upon a profane shrine might be the group’s very first quest.

One of the most recent illustrations we got back for our Mage Forge collection instantly gave me ideas for temples big and small.

When I saw our Cloak of the Fire Rat illustration I instantly thought this looks perfect for a Cult of the Fire Rat leader.

Temple of the Fire Rat

Cult of the Fire Rat temples exist in the nooks and crannies surrounding places of intense heat. These cultists are energetic and brave, erecting their hidden temples in secret spaces accessible only by twisting and scurrying through small spaces under the notice of the civilized world. Sharp tongued cultists survive through strict adherence to their beliefs, remaining supportive and friendly among themselves but often abrasive to others.

Our own Lost Lore Vol. 2 includes a section on Elemental Kin Templates and I’d slap that bad boy on every rodent from Rime of the Frostmaiden’s Chimeric Rat to Volo’s Guide to Monsters’ Swarm of Cranium Rats along with the Basic Rules’ Cultists and of course a Cult Fanatic to lead them — sporting a Cloak of the Fire Rat naturally. (I’d swap out inflict wounds and shield of faith for burning hands and faerie fire along with changing their spiritual weapon damage type to fire.)

Fire Rat Cultists and their vermin allies can get up to whatever trouble a DM desires and hooks the players to investigate further. I like to connect my fantasy ideas with things from our own real world so for my taste the Cult of the Fire Rat’s primary objective is locating and stealing phoenix eggs. If they gather enough they can enact a ritual to manifest the Fire Rat itself.

Taking this idea further I’d borrow from one of my favorite official 5E D&D campaigns and adapt Vanifer and the Temple of Eternal Flame from Princes of the Apocalypse. Adventurers who scurry and squeeze their way through Fire Rat tunnels discover a vast network of connected temples lousy with fire rats and cultists. If you’re gonna put a spotlight on temples in D&D you can’t go wrong with the most famous of them all — the Temple of Elemental Evil!

*Featured image — Dark magic contained in a gem conjures evil versions of the adventurers to attack them along with 54 other dynamic encounters ready to drop right into your games including gorgeous illustrations and maps. Check out Out of the Box: Encounters for Fifth Edition right here!

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