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My friends and I are starting a 5e campaign, and I have a Dragonborn Paladin of Bahamut nearly ready to go. As I was working through, the personality trait "I quote (or misquote) sacred texts and proverbs ion almost every situation" of the Acolyte background. This sounds like it could lead to a lot of fun, so I want to take it. However, I can't seem to find anything to actually quote!

Granted, I don't have every book ever published, but I have a good selection of the 3.5 books. The one titled "Faiths and Pantheons" from the Forgotten Realms doesn't even make reference to Bahamut. "Deities and Demigods" does, but only about a page, and most of that are his stats as an NPC. The 5e player's handbook is absolutely no help, in that it only has a table of deities and alignments at the end, without even the barest description.

I've hit Google and found a few things, such as this, a story of the "Church of Bahamut in Cormyr and the Stonelands", which is third-party, but passable, in the sense that there is at least something to quote.

I can make things up on the fly based on his dogma, but that would hardly be quoting, would it?

I'm also not completely married to the idea of Bahamut; he just seems to be a nice guy and it would make sense that Dragonborn would tend to follow him. So the question boils down to two. Where can I find more sacred texts? Are there other, more popular, gods with more quotable scripture?

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    \$\begingroup\$ One of my players recently made an Invoker of Bahamut. There's some extra lore on Bahamut in Dragon 378, but still not really any scripture to quote. There are however a number of quotes from a particular templar of Bahamut that could be mined as if it were scripture: "We must look deep within our hearts and find our purity." "If we quail before the horrors, evil wins." And so on. \$\endgroup\$
    – DCShannon
    Jun 3, 2015 at 20:33

2 Answers 2

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I can make things up on the fly based on his dogma, but that would hardly be quoting, would it?

Actually, it would be quoting. Your character can't make up scripture and call it a quote, but you can. You, as the player, have agency to add material to the world you are playing in. How much of the world you can edit is dependent upon your game's play-style and the GM's feeling on the matter. Making up proverbs and quotations from scripture is something most GMs are OK with when a character is part of a fictional faith*.

Spout quotes on the fly, and/or prepare a list in advance.

*Characters following real-world religions have real-world reference books to draw from. Also, there can sometimes be questions of respect towards a real religion if you start putting words in its mouth.

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    \$\begingroup\$ That's an angle I hadn't considered before. Thanks! I'm still hoping for some answers with "official" content, but this is a good alternative. \$\endgroup\$
    – Sompom
    May 30, 2015 at 0:29
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    \$\begingroup\$ I would add as a practical point... write these quotes down. Those who cite scripture often do the same handful of citations, and often the same way. \$\endgroup\$
    – Tritium21
    May 30, 2015 at 0:55
  • \$\begingroup\$ Alternative suggestions and ensuing religious discussion deleted. If y'all want to make a suggestion, but it in an answer instead. \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Jun 2, 2015 at 22:26
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I like to use real world proverbs for this myself. I find quotes from the Havamal and other parts of the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Vedas and Upanishads very useful personally, as well as quotes from the apocrypha, esp the Book of Wisdom.

5e provides mechanics and a brief overview of cultures, but for really deep things, players and DMs are expected to fill in the blanks.

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