Rewards For Worship

[Steve]

What's so "amusing" about that? It's no more implausible than saying you can get spells by studying some books for a few hours.

 

If a character is defined as being devoutly religious, a reward he can get for performing the proper prayers and rituals is extra experience points for good role-playing.

It's amusing because it defied the normal understanding of how clerics worked in D&D, getting their magic from a deity of some kind. You could even worship a minor demon or devil that couldn't ordinarily provide any clerical magic and still get something this way.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Rewards for Backing Orzghoism!

 

I know what you're saying! "Oh, sure, Orzghoism has a cool pantheon, a great cosmogeny, a handsome, leather bound book of holy scriptures, and several tasteful architectural styles to choose from in building temples, monasteries and shrines. But aren't there exciting additional rewards for higher level backers?" And there are! Here's a look at the reward tiers available for higher level experience points backers!

 

High Holy Day Orzghoist (0--1800 experience points): six-sided dice for hit points; permission from the gods (yes, E. Gary Gygax is a god in our pantheon. The god of Game Balance!) to wear heavy armour; the ability to apply band-aids once per day and turn very inoffensive undead.

Cafeteria Orzghoist (1800--3000 experience points); Another six-sided dice. The ability to inspire others a little bit, twice a day. Are you sure you don't want to take a dip in a prestige class?

Sunday Orzghoist (3000-5000 experience points: A second level spell! Yes, we know it's confusing.

Church Elder Orzghoist (5000-10,000 experience points): Another second level spell! Look, we know you just joined at this level to drum up business for your company, and we're not judging. That's for a vengeful Orzgho!

Youth Pastor Orzghoist (10,000-20,000 experience points): A third level spell, including the ability to cause deafness in the people that you're sharing the wonderful news of Orzghoism with. Also, you start repelling loose-living, fun-loving people. No, it's a perk. Why?

Intensely Serious Orzghoist (20,000--40,000 experience points.) Like Youth Pastor level, but with another third level spell. . . And a complimentary set of Orzgho Pogs!

Pastor Tends to Make Excuses and Leave When He Sees You Coming Orzghoist (40,000--80,000 experience points): Ability to summon a Servitor of Orzgho, and politely ask Him or Her to stand on street corners handing out badly xeroxed pamphlets. Unfortunately, not the ability to make the sucker do it.

Thinking About Getting Your Own Cable Show Orzghoist (80,000--160,000 experience points): We created this Kickstarter, and even we think that it's time you took a prestige class instead.

Earnest TV Family Drama Dad Orzghoist (160,000--250,000) Now that you're getting more religious without getting more obnoxious, we're giving you Flame Strike.

Decent Pastor Orzghoist (250,000 for every additional experience level): More spells, and a personally autographed copy of Holy Writ. With deluxe bindings and colour printing!

Exterminating Extremely Rare Megafauna and Looting Major Artefacts Just To Make Further Progress Orzghoist: We call you "sir." Sir. 

[knasser2]

This is unlikely to be of help as it's not mechanical, but in my game the gods are actual NPCs. The players may not meet them but they know the gods are not just buckets of special effects. Players are wary of offending them, and also occasionally ask for a sign which they may or may not get depending on the god, the player's behaviour and how much it is in the chosen god's area of interest. I think Judeo-Christian religions under which many in the West are brought up, have led everyone to assume gods are omnipotent and all-knowing by default. For a fantasy setting, I find it so much more rewarding to choose a Celtic, Norse or Greek model. Sure, the gods are powerful, but mortals can occasionally steal fire from them, a god can occasionally make a tit of himself by falling in love with an exceptionally beautiful mortal and if you delve deeply enough into the underworld, you might just meet the god of it.

 

So I have no rules for it and yet it makes a noticeable impact on my game. For example, the players became edgy when after making an agreement with a goblin the goblin unexpectedly demanded they swear it by their gods. They knew that if they went back on their word now, there might be consequences. Or in the words of one of my players: "Damn this setting where gods are real and intervene in the world!" :D

 

I honestly find it more satisfying than something like a "Deity Approval" rating or something. Its vagueness is freeing like taking off your underwear on a hot day. What will the gods think of the player's actions and will they notice? The players don't know and that is fun.

[Steve]

I think in my next Fantasy Hero game, cleric types will take a deity as a Contact, and that roll will be used as the required skill roll for their spells. Perhaps it will also be used on the REC for an END Reserve that powers spells, showing that they are channeling mystic energy from a deity rather than tapping into magic directly like a wizard would. I'm still thinking it through.

[Lucius]

I think in my next Fantasy Hero game, cleric types will take a deity as a Contact, and that roll will be used as the required skill roll for their spells. Perhaps it will also be used on the REC for an END Reserve that powers spells, showing that they are channeling mystic energy from a deity rather than tapping into magic directly like a wizard would. I'm still thinking it through.

I've been advocating that for years.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

In Contact with a palindromedary

[knasser2]

I think in my next Fantasy Hero game, cleric types will take a deity as a Contact, and that roll will be used as the required skill roll for their spells. Perhaps it will also be used on the REC for an END Reserve that powers spells, showing that they are channeling mystic energy from a deity rather than tapping into magic directly like a wizard would. I'm still thinking it through.

One thing I've found works really well with this is if the gods themselves are bastards. There's nothing more terrifying to a player than a deity with a sense of humour. For example Kord (a thunder diety) tends to refer to petitioners as "little people" and find their problems and trials hillarious. Vecna is petty and demands offerings before he will hear PCs.

[assault]

There's always the chance a local deity is your great-great-whatever-ancestor, and thus inclined to be supportive of (or hostile to!) their descendants. They might even be a closer relative of a hero with a destiny.

 

Such a deity doesn't have to be anything special - she might just be a local nymph/kami/spirit. (But a water nymph is likely be the child of the Sea deity, a wood nymph is likely to be the child of an Earth deity, and so on.)

 

More generally, it would make sense to seek the protection of your community's major deity, whether it be Marduk, Baal, Athene or Mars. An honourable and law-abiding citizen (ie, not a slave or foreigner) should be eligible for a degree of protection from rival supernatural sources, although that might be stronger on the deity's home ground.

 

This would suggest a situation where the religious world mirrors the temporal one (probably technically vice versa!), with deities tending to own little fiefdoms in rivalry with each other. The interesting question here is how many Sun gods are there, and who is driving that chariot/barge/flaming-ball-of-dung-pushed-by-a-beetle up in the sky?

 

This doesn't really address PC "clerics" though. Exiles and dispossessed holy men/women are possible, of course. But a more general answer might be to create groups of wandering holy men/women. Few of these are likely to be warriors, but they are possible, particularly if supernatural Evil is abroad in the world.

[drunkonduty]

Tiny nit pick (sorry, can't help myself.)

 

Kord isn't a storm god. He's athleticism and strength and competition. But not storms. ALthough he does bare a very strong resemblance to the Norse Thor I grant you. Even up to and including going on whacky adventures with the pantheon's trickster god (Ollidamarra in this case.)

[Lucius]

 The interesting question here is how many Sun gods are there, and who is driving that chariot/barge/flaming-ball-of-dung-pushed-by-a-beetle up in the sky?

 

 

In the universe I live in, light is a wave. It is possible to design and carry out an experiment proving this scientifically.

 

In the universe I live in, light is a particle. It is possible to design and carry out an experiment proving this scientifically.

 

If the world I live in as a player can be so paradoxical and self contradictory, I don't see why a game world can't  be. There might be more than one equally true answer to your question, depending on how you go about trying to answer it. The Sun could be one thing if you approach Her by riding on the back of a dragon and another thing if you approach Him aboard an enchanted flying ship.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And something else again if you're riding a palindromedary

[drunkonduty]

There's also a bit  in Terry Pratchett's Pyramids that has the various sun gods of the (pseudo) Egyptian pantheon fighting over the sun like its a football.

[L. Marcus]

And a priest spontaneously commenting the game into a bullrush.

 

"Yes! It's noon! It's noon! IT'S NOON!"

[knasser2]

Tiny nit pick (sorry, can't help myself.)

 

Kord isn't a storm god. He's athleticism and strength and competition. But not storms. ALthough he does bare a very strong resemblance to the Norse Thor I grant you. Even up to and including going on whacky adventures with the pantheon's trickster god (Ollidamarra in this case.)

 

In my game, he's a god of mountains and thunder. No worries - I've created them however I like in my campaign so possibly different to whatever the original version was.

[assault]

In the universe I live in, light is a wave. It is possible to design and carry out an experiment proving this scientifically.

 

In the universe I live in, light is a particle. It is possible to design and carry out an experiment proving this scientifically.

 

If the world I live in as a player can be so paradoxical and self contradictory, I don't see why a game world can't  be. There might be more than one equally true answer to your question, depending on how you go about trying to answer it. The Sun could be one thing if you approach Her by riding on the back of a dragon and another thing if you approach Him aboard an enchanted flying ship.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And something else again if you're riding a palindromedary

 

Obvious heresy.

 

You need to issue a public recantation and surrender your writings for burning.

[knasser2]

There's also a bit  in Terry Pratchett's Pyramids that has the various sun gods of the (pseudo) Egyptian pantheon fighting over the sun like its a football.

 

I think the three things I like most of all in that novel are

1. That the main character's girlfriend is named "Ptracy", iirc.
2. The school of assassins where there's a rumour amongst students that if you successfully kill your teacher it gets you an automatic pass.
3. That the villain gets a happy ending of his own in a way, in that he gets to carry on living his terrible life that he wants so much forever by being cast back in time over and over again.

[Lucius]

Obvious heresy.

 

You need to issue a public recantation and surrender your writings for burning.

Can't

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary already ate them