Purity of Faith - Divine Magic in Tel Vinrae
Jul 15, 2014 8:04:54 GMT
Post by Marc on Jul 15, 2014 8:04:54 GMT
We've been naming it various things, ambiguous about what it's about, so I thought perhaps this could be a name for the variant rule.
I've got an idea which could cover all divine classes rather smoothly, whilst giving DMs flexibility in rare situations. It's that divine magic on heathen MAY be punished, rather than things flat not working. It would be able to be immediately implemented without needing to go through 300 spells with a yay/nay or work out exacting rules for which spells work and which don't, and sidestepping awkward results from generalised rules we make. (Is using plane shift to rescue some heathen from limbo really going to work when a Guidance spell doesn't? Are gods that fickle about helping allies?)
It comes down to one general principle.
1. Gods want to be worshipped.
So if a god's magic is being dished out like candy, and ungrateful mercenaries are laughing about how much harder they can kick oneanother in the balls now with a healing battery nearby, even a healing god would reasonably lose his patience.
Similarly, for a god of torture, keeping hour victims alive longer after they attempt to beat themselves to oblivion by headbutting the wall of your worship chamber with a Cure Minor Wounds seems completely appropriate.
I suspect any rule we were to make would lead to headscratching that makes no sense kinds of outcomes. So I'm suggesting something more along the lines of 'the gods are watching their agents closely'.
In short? If you get a healing spell from a god you don't respect, you may very well be cursed. On the other hand, a cleric of healing may have looser restricitons for aiding the poor. A god of battle? Looser restrictions for battleside healing in the thick of a scrum. But if a cleric uses their spells inappropriately, they certainly could be at risk of losing their powers for a while. Let knowledge religion checks find out if a situation is safe, per whichever DM is running a scene - let the skill be for something other than knowing zombies need axes to kill them.
What kinds of curses? If I were running, I would liberally offer out Cause Fear as a minor warning (if you don't try to save against the healing spell, similarly could say you aren't trying to save against the curse component), Bestow Curse (Boils for -6 dex), Bestow Curse Crippling Remorse for all past sins (-4 to all attacks/saves/checks), Agonizing pain forever (50% chance to lose any action each round). And yes, these afflictions could all be cured by actually repenting and getting cured by a cleric. Or returning to your own faith and seeking redemption for betraying your heart's roots to another god.
How does it fit in with other healers? Nature doesn't.... NEED worship! It just IS! And bards... are famous and distract from the worship of gods, who want to be worshipped, so it's right not to distract in that way! But the gods work through
So this would work for any blessings, or buffs, from clerics, favored souls, and paladins. A paladin's noble heart would break at the dilemma of not knowing if someone is worthy of true redemption. And DMs can be a bit more easygoing with paladins maybe, in times of dire need, lay on handsing some dying ally. But a routine topup after a fight isn't the way for things to go. Or perhaps recklessness/lack of prudence by a paladin in healing is blamed on the PALADIN, not whoever they heal. That seems fitting too for the poor noble hearted creatures.
We could make a post to the players group like the following, to the players, and leave it to them to imagine all kinds of horrors befitting those who take the gods favor lightly.
I've got an idea which could cover all divine classes rather smoothly, whilst giving DMs flexibility in rare situations. It's that divine magic on heathen MAY be punished, rather than things flat not working. It would be able to be immediately implemented without needing to go through 300 spells with a yay/nay or work out exacting rules for which spells work and which don't, and sidestepping awkward results from generalised rules we make. (Is using plane shift to rescue some heathen from limbo really going to work when a Guidance spell doesn't? Are gods that fickle about helping allies?)
It comes down to one general principle.
1. Gods want to be worshipped.
So if a god's magic is being dished out like candy, and ungrateful mercenaries are laughing about how much harder they can kick oneanother in the balls now with a healing battery nearby, even a healing god would reasonably lose his patience.
Similarly, for a god of torture, keeping hour victims alive longer after they attempt to beat themselves to oblivion by headbutting the wall of your worship chamber with a Cure Minor Wounds seems completely appropriate.
I suspect any rule we were to make would lead to headscratching that makes no sense kinds of outcomes. So I'm suggesting something more along the lines of 'the gods are watching their agents closely'.
In short? If you get a healing spell from a god you don't respect, you may very well be cursed. On the other hand, a cleric of healing may have looser restricitons for aiding the poor. A god of battle? Looser restrictions for battleside healing in the thick of a scrum. But if a cleric uses their spells inappropriately, they certainly could be at risk of losing their powers for a while. Let knowledge religion checks find out if a situation is safe, per whichever DM is running a scene - let the skill be for something other than knowing zombies need axes to kill them.
What kinds of curses? If I were running, I would liberally offer out Cause Fear as a minor warning (if you don't try to save against the healing spell, similarly could say you aren't trying to save against the curse component), Bestow Curse (Boils for -6 dex), Bestow Curse Crippling Remorse for all past sins (-4 to all attacks/saves/checks), Agonizing pain forever (50% chance to lose any action each round). And yes, these afflictions could all be cured by actually repenting and getting cured by a cleric. Or returning to your own faith and seeking redemption for betraying your heart's roots to another god.
How does it fit in with other healers? Nature doesn't.... NEED worship! It just IS! And bards... are famous and distract from the worship of gods, who want to be worshipped, so it's right not to distract in that way! But the gods work through
So this would work for any blessings, or buffs, from clerics, favored souls, and paladins. A paladin's noble heart would break at the dilemma of not knowing if someone is worthy of true redemption. And DMs can be a bit more easygoing with paladins maybe, in times of dire need, lay on handsing some dying ally. But a routine topup after a fight isn't the way for things to go. Or perhaps recklessness/lack of prudence by a paladin in healing is blamed on the PALADIN, not whoever they heal. That seems fitting too for the poor noble hearted creatures.
We could make a post to the players group like the following, to the players, and leave it to them to imagine all kinds of horrors befitting those who take the gods favor lightly.