Super Easy Divine Magic Rules

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip

Are you allowed to own more than one lesser wish at a time? If so, this could make for an interesting Theologian villain whom has a stockpile of lesser wishes. Say he has a dozen.

It could go like this: Each of your three hero's attack the Evil High Priest Theologian and each gets their weapon broken. Followed by him doing a sweep with a battleaxe, scoring triple damage on all three of your guys. Net cost: 6 lesser wishes. Likely result 3 dead heroes in one turn.

A counter to someone with that many lesser wishes would be having your own stockpile of lesser wishes.

That is an extreme example. Set up your villain as you need.

Oh, absolutely. One would not trifle with the chosen of the Chaos Gods without a great deal of thought and preparation...and a little divine favor on your own side.

Granted, if you are attacking the guy above with fine weapons, there is no guarantee your weapon breaks (+1 weapons save on a 1-3 and +2 on a 1-5) so all he's bought is a miss (unless he drops 2 wishes on each attacker).

[Tywyll]

I'm glad so many of you like it! :D

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by MikMod

Yup. I'm going to use xp for wishes as part of cults/worship in my campaign after Shoug suggested it. It's so simple it's beautiful. I like the mechanic where it's 'special' xp though, which you earn for following your faith and which is reserved for wish/prayers. This forum is so good! :)

Applying this new rule was barely an inconvenience.

This is a great idea.

Any ideas on the specifics you want to use?

Maybe every 10 silver worth of sacrifices buy you a devotional xp?
Participating in a weekly holy ceremony=+10 xp
Participating in a seasonal holy ceremony=+50 xp?
Participating in a high holy day=+100xp?

[MikMod]

Originally Posted by Axly Suregrip

Each of your three hero's attack the Evil High Priest Theologian and each gets their weapon broken. Followed by him doing a sweep with a battleaxe, scoring triple damage on all three of your guys. Net cost: 6 lesser wishes. Likely result 3 dead heroes in one turn.

Hmm. I'm thinking that it's unlikely I'd allow more than one wish to be used in a turn. Is there really time to form the thoughts behind all those wishes AND strike a sweeping blow in a 5 second turn?

I don't see it working like this at all.

I can see Chanley rushing to a fallen companion, calling out to their god and the fallen one being completely healed. I can see Ferrick whispering a quick prayer before making that 'impossible' leap. I can see Torrence asking his god to guide this arrow*. But 6 wishes and an attack? Not for me.


* I would probably limit this type of effect to double damage

[MikMod]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

This is a great idea.

Any ideas on the specifics you want to use?

Yes. I want to avoid any specific mechanism. It's up to the GM.

Currying favor with a deity isn't something I see as trivial or easy. I certainly don't want players gaming this. Who really knows what a god sees as devout in any case? I want my religious players to follow the tenets of their religion, sure, but that on its own won't mean a steady stream of wishes. As Shoug said, it's in those difficult moments, when your characters have to choose between a very attractive base desire or a nobler, more moral path, even if that makes their lives more difficult, that this comes into play at its strongest. Can your player put something else, someone else, before themselves? Can they give up something? Can they make a sacrifice? A real sacrifice that affects them, not just stabbing a sheep for $10? It's hard. And it should be, I think. Overall most players will not think the 'reward' of a wish is worth this difficult path, IMO.

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by MikMod

Yes. I want to avoid any specific mechanism. It's up to the GM.

Currying favor with a deity isn't something I see as trivial or easy. I certainly don't want players gaming this. Who really knows what a god sees as devout in any case? I want my religious players to follow the tenets of their religion, sure, but that on its own won't mean a steady stream of wishes. As Shoug said, it's in those difficult moments, when your characters have to choose between a very attractive base desire or a nobler, more moral path, even if that makes their lives more difficult, that this comes into play at its strongest. Can your player put something else, someone else, before themselves? Can they give up something? Can they make a sacrifice? A real sacrifice that affects them, not just stabbing a sheep for $10? It's hard. And it should be, I think. Overall most players will not think the 'reward' of a wish is worth this difficult path, IMO.

I think that entirely depends on the kind of gods in your setting (naturally). A god of hedonism or bloodshed probably won't demand hard, moral choices. That's a very monotheistic view of faith. Ancient pagan religions tended to see worship and gods as literally do X to get Y. That's why you paid priests to pray on your behalf, for example, or offered money to the temple as those were supposed to give you tangible rewards (I mean, it was really just a giant pyramid scheme, but in games we can make it matter).

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by MikMod

Hmm. I'm thinking that it's unlikely I'd allow more than one wish to be used in a turn. Is there really time to form the thoughts behind all those wishes AND strike a sweeping blow in a 5 second turn?

I don't see it working like this at all.

I can see Chanley rushing to a fallen companion, calling out to their god and the fallen one being completely healed. I can see Ferrick whispering a quick prayer before making that 'impossible' leap. I can see Torrence asking his god to guide this arrow*. But 6 wishes and an attack? Not for me.


* I would probably limit this type of effect to double damage

I can see your argument from a balance perspective, but equally I can see the alternative. "Protect me from my foes" is a valid prayer...and if you have enough wishes to **** them up, that seems legit. "Let me smite my enemies!" seems again like a legit prayer, and again would be limited to the amount of wishes you had at your disposal.

Considering blowing through 6 wishes is between 1800-3000xp for a single orgy of destruction, and your mate could have bought 3-6 permanent talents for that same expense (assuming you use the new xp system in full), I would rather err on the side of awesome.

[MikMod]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

I think that entirely depends on the kind of gods in your setting (naturally). A god of hedonism or bloodshed probably won't demand hard, moral choices. That's a very monotheistic view of faith. Ancient pagan religions tended to see worship and gods as literally do X to get Y. That's why you paid priests to pray on your behalf, for example, or offered money to the temple as those were supposed to give you tangible rewards (I mean, it was really just a giant pyramid scheme, but in games we can make it matter).

Well, I certainly don't want my players buying wishes for cash under the completely irrelevant guise of 'it's my religion'. I want a faith to matter in terms of guiding the players actions, and the consequences that flow from that. You may want something different.

I also made no specific moral position superior. If your morals/god dictates that bloodshed is a good and desireable goal in life that's fine. But when you need to capture and interrogate that spy rather than cut his head off, your character will be facing a moral decision. Remember, your god is always watching, and they know if you deliberately looked the other way allowing another PC to subdue him. If I was GM and you did this you might well LOSE a whole lot of xp...

[MikMod]

Originally Posted by Tywyll

I can see your argument from a balance perspective, but equally I can see the alternative. "Protect me from my foes" is a valid prayer...and if you have enough wishes to **** them up, that seems legit. "Let me smite my enemies!" seems again like a legit prayer, and again would be limited to the amount of wishes you had at your disposal.

Considering blowing through 6 wishes is between 1800-3000xp for a single orgy of destruction, and your mate could have bought 3-6 permanent talents for that same expense (assuming you use the new xp system in full), I would rather err on the side of awesome.

Obviously it's personal choice and the style of campaign you run. Mine is pretty gritty and magic lite for the most part. I tend to err on the side of grubby realism and limits. I generally find player creativity goes up as the constraints get tighter, and for me, that's the fun of gaming. Winning by cunning, schemes and genius, rather than brute force or spending power.

However, if you called on your god to 'protect me from my foes' surely that is your wish that turn. And it would be logical to have all the strikes simply bounce off you since the 'breaking of all weapons held by people in my front hexes' wasn't actually the wish. Maybe 'shatter their weapons' would be one decent wish though?

[MikMod]

Bayer the Bloodletter.

Spilling blood is good. Blood is the life force. Revel in it. Followers of Bayer wear little armour and no shields in order that their wounds be plentiful and seen. Scars are revered and a source of pride. Followers use their own special poultice on wounds which enhances scarring (heals 1 but precludes physiker). Fighters must use bladed weapons. Worshipers should seek out conflict and war, fight to the death and show no mercy. They will die in battle, not in bed. Meat is the holiest of foods and must NEVER be cooked. Freshly killed meat full of warm blood is the goal. Drinking the blood of your fallen enemies allows you to take their strength, so strong enemies like trolls, giants and dragons are particularly sought after. Followers of Bayer have perfected a way of using blood as a tattoo ink and these are often dense, violent and powerful. Clothing, when worn, will usually be red or black. Followers rarely swear allegiance but prefer to wander as mercenaries, working for those who are willing to fight to change the world, bringing evolution through violence. Strength is right and Bayer's Bloodletters are the swords of the righteous.

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Plenty of moral guidance there. Obviously will appeal to certain characters more than others, but I think we can see some interesting problems and conflict ahead! :)