Gaming a lot of RuneQuest in a lot of different countries and with a lot of different cross-sections of the population as I do, a lot of people can easily get hung-up with how to approach Gloranthan gods and cults.
Here’s how I usually start and how those conversations often go:
ME: The Gods and Spirits are VERY REAL. Your character is an initiate of that cult, right? Your character has experienced their god’s presence, they’ve interacted with their god in rituals and ceremonies, and most importantly, when you cast Rune magic you are wielding the power of your god – in a sense you are that god for that moment.
NEW PLAYER: But Rune magic is a thing I know, right? I could cast it and not really believe in the god?
ME: The Rune magic is proof of the god’s existence. There’s no belief involved. Your Rune points represent a divine link between your character and the god. Maintain that link, make it stronger, and you can use more and more powerful magic of the god. Don’t maintain the link, and you run the risk of violating your side of the agreement you made with your god when you became an initiate. And it is well within the god’s right then to send out spirits of retribution or other punishments.
NEW PLAYER: Wait, you mean I knowingly entered into some pact with the god when I became an initiate? What if I don’t want that?
ME: Yep. That’s what initiation into a cult is – you are no mere lay member of the cult – you are a devotee, someone who knowingly and willingly entered into a permanent relationship and bond with that god, in exchange for the magical support of that god. If you don’t want that, stay a lay member. But I’m warning you, your magic will suck and your character’s life will be much more difficult.
NEW PLAYER: Oh no, I want that magic and other stuff from the cult. But what about other gods, I worship this god alone, right? Other gods are demons or don’t exist, or at least I want to convince people to worship my god alone, right?
ME: Not really. That is the god you have a personal magical relationship with. Some gods are so powerful or important that if you get a relationship with them, it means you have a lesser relationship with some of their allies. Those are called associated gods. And you worship them too. But also it makes sense to worship as a lay member as many gods as you can, as in general, it is a bad idea to piss off the gods, and it is good to have as many friends as possible. But some gods are rivals or even enemies of your god and it can get you in trouble with your god to worship their rivals and enemies. But they definitely exist. And might be very powerful as well. They might even be worshiped by friends of yours, just not by you.
NEW PLAYER: But what if I didn’t mean to piss off my god? What if I offered sacrifice to some god who my god hates but it was under a different name because it was like what the trolls call him or some weird foreigners?
ME: The gods don’t care what your motivation or ignorance was when you did something that pisses them off. Best be careful if you are an initiate! When in doubt ask a Rune priest or a Rune lord or your cult. The gods really favor them.
NEW PLAYER: How can I become one of them? That sounds like what I want to be.
ME: Well you might say that is kind of the goal of the first part of this campaign!
I’ve noticed in a lot of my games, the players decide to become lay members of Humakt pretty quickly. “I fight a lot and use the sword. Probably want to stay on the good side of the God that Kills People With A Sword.”
I had an amusing variant for this in a game where the characters were mostly members of Lunar cults.
PLAYER: Wait, I just noticed that there are no spirits of retribution for my cult? Is it because they are too weak to do that or does that mean my god doesn’t care whether I break my agreement with them – and does that mean they might break their arrangement with me?
ME: Could it be that they are nicer to humans or don’t want to do stuff that way?
PLAYER: Nah, even Chalana Arroy has spirits of retribution, and you don’t get nicer than her. I think they might just be too weak to do that, because I really don’t like the idea that they might break their pact with me.
ME: Well I don’t know if they are too weak or whatever, but piss off your cult leaders enough and they’ll just kill you.
PLAYER: Oh yeah….. and they like run the Lunar Empire, don’t they?
If I recall, the player initially wanted to be an anti-Lunar Empire activist within the Seven Mothers cult, “There’s nothing in the rules stopping me from being against the Lunar Empire while being a Seven Mothers cultist.” Then realised that the game was set in Glamour and the Red Emperor could just have me killed. So they became a very loudly pro-Emperor character.
This is also gives a context for why there is an impetus for the monomyth and mild God Learnerism going back to the Dawn Age. “My god says Yelmalio is neutral but Yelm is a jerk. Yeah but these Sons of the Sun say that the sun is called Yu-Kargzant and the Lighfore god is Kargzant. We’re fine, free do what we want, right?”
“No way, I’m not running that risk! Remember what happened when those other missionaries pissed off Lord Demon of Death by thinking they could be friendly with Antirius, who turned out to be Zorak Zoran’s old enemy Yelmalio. Figure out which one is Yelm and which one is Yelmalio, and act accordingly!”