Divine Favor as a Superpower

[Wavefunction]

I'm looking for ideas on superpowers that provide a similar feel to Divine Favor. As in, I'd like it to feel to the player like they're calling on the power of a higher being, but I want this to be a superpower, rather than actual divine empowerment.

Ideally this shouldn't be something like a psionic gestalt, that the power user taps into. I'm not really looking for a power that actually has an external source, just one that feels like it does, that evokes the idea of praying to a god for miracles.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

[johndallman]

How about this: the PC actually is a deity, or rather ex-deity. He was once personally a deity, with a substantial following, but failed to keep up with the times. Now people still worship a god of the same name, but whose aspects are significantly different, and who doesn't show up in person. The PC is still a fairly capable individual, but has to petition "himself" when he needs to use supernatural abilities.

[Anaraxes]

I'm not really looking for a power that actually has an external source, just one that feels like it does

This part confuses me. Divine Favor, appealing to a Patron, having to please some other intelligent and self-willed entity according to its rules -- these all seem to strongly imply an external source. If the true source is actually internal, as we then just talking about a super that has a Delusion, or at least a quirk of insisting that their power is external? And if the source is really internal, so there are no consequences for it being external, then is this anything more than just fluff?

What's the difference here between "feel" external, and actuality and mechanics?

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

What's the difference here between "feel" external, and actuality and mechanics?

Right, I think the problem here is that I used the term Divine Favor in the title, which has a very specific meaning in GURPS. I'm not talking about using the Divine Favor system, rather I'm looking for powers that could seem to the character like they originate from a divine being.

[Donny Brook]

Divine-feeling in what way? In the nature/effect of the power (E.g. Turning undead), or the sense that they are not really his own (Fickle, Uncontrollable,Unreliable), or directly granted (a Limited Intervention Patron who Afflicts buffs), or they arise from his own moral quality (Pact, Prep Required)?

[Mailanka]

Divine Favor is just Patron (True God) with Divine, Highly Accessible, Special Abilities and Minimal Intervention. The cost levels have to do with how accessible it is.

A Patron is a character, and thus may behave like a character, with motivations or, if you wish, a certain inscrutability. If you can say "X wouldn't like that" or "I can call upon X and if it listens to me, Y will happen", and it's sufficiently powerful that it can do (nearly) anything then you can have Divine Favor.

This could be a greater "force," like the Speed Force, the Pheonix Force, the Power Cosmic or "Oneness with the Universe." These are all rather inscrutable forces that sometimes do really big effects, and at other times don't. The follow a set of rules sometimes, but they can't really be commanded by the user so much as petitioned. You can try to use it, but you don't really control it. If it steps into your life, it uses you as a conduit more than you really command it.

[Mailanka]

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

Right, I think the problem here is that I used the term Divine Favor in the title, which has a very specific meaning in GURPS. I'm not talking about using the Divine Favor system, rather I'm looking for powers that could seem to the character like they originate from a divine being.

Ah, yes, that is indeed confusing.

Giving your powers a specific signature or an origin is a feature. As in, if I use some kind of Supers Detecting power that reads you as a God (as opposed to a Mutant or a Fairy or whatever), then that's just a feature. You might consider a few levels of Social Regard, or powers with appropriate themes (like Awe, Terror, heavenly blasts, healing powers, basically the sorts of abilities you find in Divine Favor), but that's not strictly necessary. If you want godly eyeblasts or godly claws and godly regeneration and godly super-strength, then it's just a feature.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Wavefunction

Right, I think the problem here is that I used the term Divine Favor in the title, which has a very specific meaning in GURPS. I'm not talking about using the Divine Favor system, rather I'm looking for powers that could seem to the character like they originate from a divine being.

Yup, fooled me completely.

Ok, can I ask you to expand on "originate from a divine being"? This can cover several things: the divine being has granted you power, and it's yours; you have been granted power, but you must behave in specific ways to retain it (the Pact limitation on the abilities); or the divine being does things for you on request (which is how GURPS Divine Favour works).

You also need to distinguish between what the character believes and the actuality of the abilities.

[Wavefunction]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Divine-feeling in what way? In the nature/effect of the power (E.g. Turning undead), or the sense that they are not really his own (Fickle, Uncontrollable,Unreliable), or directly granted (a Limited Intervention Patron who Afflicts buffs), or they arise from his own moral quality (Pact, Prep Required)?

Really I'm just looking for ideas for innate powers, that make the character feel like they are connected to some higher power. I don't care how whether it feels like a blessing, whether each use feels like petitioning the higher power, or whether it feels like the character is stealing power from a God. I'm just looking for ideas for powers that might feel divinely granted.

This is very much a fluff question, not a game mechanic question.

An example, fairly simple, powerset, as in a power that feels divine because of it's scope or effect, would be Faith. Your powers relate directly to the concept of faith, you can make them believe in you, following you to the grave, and you can draw power from faith, both your own, and that of others nearby, to make yourself stronger, faster, etc.

[Donny Brook]

I'm amused by how much your reply deepened my lack of understanding of your original question. I think I'll observe this thread quietly to see if I get a light-bulb moment.