| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 03:59:34
|
Reading the entry on Baphomet in this months Dragon (#341) got me to thinking. When it was mentioning his cults, it mentioned his aspects (kinda like lesser avatars for anyone that doesn't have the Miniatures Handbook) leading many of them, and it got me to wondering.
I have always treated arch fiends as DR 0 in their home realms, and able to grant divine spells only if the follower can directly sacrifice to them between each time that they receive their spells, or if they have somehow managed to directly enter the presense of the fiend in question.
This tends to make fiendish cults a bit more desperate, or at least less reliant on their divine casters, since EVERY time they need new spells they have to find a suitable offering. While Joe Tyrant the cleric of Bane may only offer a sacrifice once in a while to please his lord, as long as he hasn't commited any trangressions againt Bane, he gets his spells back the next midnight, but not Jim Feral, cleric of Baphomet, who either has to find a really good person or a gnoll to sacrifice to get his spells back.
What I was wondering is if an aspect is personally present in a cult, do you think it would allow the cultists to recieve spells in a more regular manner. This could actually be an interesting hook for an adventure, because killing the aspect supporting the cult would criple their ability to function.
Also, if you don't handle clerics of arch fiends this way, how do you handle them? I know the divine patron granting spells for them works as well, but I have always seen the gods, even evil ones, being at least a little at odds with demons and devils.
|
|
|
Kentinal
Great Reader
4690 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 04:26:15
|
If you believe your deity will grant you the power.
Not sure I would give DR 0 to fiends, some might be higher, others not divine. I would look at those that believe in them as being good enough to grant spells as the same as any other Cleric recieves spells. The background device, might be the Deity of all fiends grants the spells for any fiend that has not the ability to do so. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
 |
|
|
ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2070 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 04:31:54
|
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
This tends to make fiendish cults a bit more desperate, or at least less reliant on their divine casters, since EVERY time they need new spells they have to find a suitable offering. While Joe Tyrant the cleric of Bane may only offer a sacrifice once in a while to please his lord, as long as he hasn't commited any trangressions againt Bane, he gets his spells back the next midnight, but not Jim Feral, cleric of Baphomet, who either has to find a really good person or a gnoll to sacrifice to get his spells back.
I like this idea a lot.
quote:
What I was wondering is if an aspect is personally present in a cult, do you think it would allow the cultists to recieve spells in a more regular manner. This could actually be an interesting hook for an adventure, because killing the aspect supporting the cult would criple their ability to function.
Personally, I play it as "burn a feat / worship a potted plant". By that I mean, at the cost of a feat, you can worship anything you damn well want and get spells reliably. To date, we have two classes of examples, Servant of Demon Lord / Archdevil and Servant of a Dead God. I've created two more examples in upcoming products.
--Eric |
--
http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/ |
|
|
|
Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 05:38:49
|
Any chance one of those will let us worship a potted plant?
Actually, from what Ed said a while back, that'd not be as dumb as it sounds... |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
Gray Richardson
Master of Realmslore
USA
1291 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 07:53:12
|
I know of seven feats so far that should let one get spells and domains from pseudo-divine entities:
Servant of the Fallen - Dead God
Thrall to Demon - Demon Lord
Disciple of Darkness - Archdevil
Scion of Sorrow - Yugoloth Lord
Knight of Stars - Eladrin Paragon
Servant of the Heavens - Archon Paragon
Favored of the Companions - Guardinal Paragon
I am stoked to learn that you have created two more, Eric, and am looking forward to discovering what they are. 
I agree very much that if you burn a feat you should be able worship almost whatever you like and get spells.
That might include slaad lords, beast lords, sentient spheres of anihilation, an ancient tree, an insane lich, or even insane mortals who have gathered cults of worshipers.
As for an explanation, well, I think the power is obviously not coming so much from the worshipped entity as the entity is acting as a channel for the power from some other source.
In the case of Dead Gods, I think the power is from residual "mana" locked away in their bodies that float in the Astral or in shrines dedicated to them or relics or other holy places and things that persist long after the god himself is dead.
As for Demons, the source may derive from siphoning energy directly from the plane of the Abyss or perhaps from the principle of evil itself. Likewise with the other archfiends or celestial paragons, the power may be channeled directly from their homeplane or from the concepts of good and evil. |
|
|
|
Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 08:56:46
|
quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase
Any chance one of those will let us worship a potted plant?
Its called the Emerald Enclave
*Pack of damn tree huggers*
|
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
|
|
|
sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11868 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2006 : 16:00:07
|
>>I agree very much that if you burn a feat you should be able worship almost whatever you >>like and get spells. That might include slaad lords, beast lords, sentient spheres of >>anihilation, an ancient tree, an insane lich, or even insane mortals who have gathered >>cults of worshipers.
Aye, that was one thing I liked from the shaman accessory in 2nd edition. If enough belief could be summoned, then things could be made real. It needed some work, but it was interesting.
Ok, so if we take a feat to worship myrkul (a dead god) and another to worship a magic item (crown of horns) do we get double the number of spells <g>. J/K
>>As for Demons, the source may derive from siphoning energy directly from the plane of >>the Abyss or perhaps from the principle of evil itself. Likewise with the other >>archfiends or celestial paragons, the power may be channeled directly from their >>homeplane or from the concepts of good and evil.
another option might be that these demon lords steal the souls of those on the way to the gods and use this energy to power their "divine-ness". Larvae sacrificed might also yield similar results.
>>Its called the Emerald Enclave *Pack of damn tree huggers*
Aye, Laddy-me friend, that one deserves a free drink. Those buggerers are always trying to tell us Thayans we're "hurting the environment" by messing with the weather. If we be hurting the environment, how come we grow the biggest melons ta be seen in the Eastern inner sea?
|
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Fiends granting divine spells: your explanations
