The Divine Intervention Roll
I'm not the kind of guy who cares very much for house rules.
I'm of the opinion that, even if the Core Rules have some problem or omission, there's usually a sourcebook out there somewhere that handles it, and we can just use that in our game. It's far easier - and, I think, more fair to everyone - to have an objective source to consult rather than hand-wave a new rule that some guy just made up and everyone else is constantly forgetting about. So yeah, no house rules in my game.
The one exception I make, however, is for the divine intervention roll.
This idea comes from the old 2E supplement Monster Mythology, which idly talks about divine intervention, and mentions (on page 7), "Perhaps as few as 1% of all such beseechings will be heard, and virtually no mortals will ever receive significant help from a god twice in a lifetime." That offhand notation sounded pretty cool to me - a slight, but still possible, chance for divine aid when all else is lost. That's perfect for a beleaguered group of heroes who need a hand. So, I tweaked it a bit, and added that to my campaign as a house rule. The way it works in my game now is like so:
Over the years, we've tinkered with modifying this rule some, such as divine characters (e.g. clerics, paladins, etc.) having an increased chance for aid, or relative planar proximity to your god making it more or less likely they hear you, but ultimately it's remained what it was always meant to be - a last-ditch effort for characters who have no other chance at salvation.
I'm of the opinion that, even if the Core Rules have some problem or omission, there's usually a sourcebook out there somewhere that handles it, and we can just use that in our game. It's far easier - and, I think, more fair to everyone - to have an objective source to consult rather than hand-wave a new rule that some guy just made up and everyone else is constantly forgetting about. So yeah, no house rules in my game.
The one exception I make, however, is for the divine intervention roll.
This idea comes from the old 2E supplement Monster Mythology, which idly talks about divine intervention, and mentions (on page 7), "Perhaps as few as 1% of all such beseechings will be heard, and virtually no mortals will ever receive significant help from a god twice in a lifetime." That offhand notation sounded pretty cool to me - a slight, but still possible, chance for divine aid when all else is lost. That's perfect for a beleaguered group of heroes who need a hand. So, I tweaked it a bit, and added that to my campaign as a house rule. The way it works in my game now is like so:
Quote:
The Divine Intervention Roll
A character may pray for divine intervention as a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Such prayers have a 1% chance of being answered, and always have defensive results for the character and his allies (e.g. being healed or greater teleported away from danger, since disintegrating creatures who likely have a god of their own tends to start holy wars).
A character who receives divine intervention once in this manner will never receive it again from a divine intervention roll, as the god will not respect the pleas of a character who continually gets themselves into such trouble. Even a character who changes deities won't find themselves with a renewed chance for divine aid; why should the new god help a character who was willing to abandon their old faith even after receiving direct aid, after all?
Characters must have a patron god to make a divine intervention roll. If their god is currently imprisoned or otherwise unable to act, then aid may not be granted on a successful roll (though any existing divine servitors may fulfill the request instead).
A character may pray for divine intervention as a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Such prayers have a 1% chance of being answered, and always have defensive results for the character and his allies (e.g. being healed or greater teleported away from danger, since disintegrating creatures who likely have a god of their own tends to start holy wars).
A character who receives divine intervention once in this manner will never receive it again from a divine intervention roll, as the god will not respect the pleas of a character who continually gets themselves into such trouble. Even a character who changes deities won't find themselves with a renewed chance for divine aid; why should the new god help a character who was willing to abandon their old faith even after receiving direct aid, after all?
Characters must have a patron god to make a divine intervention roll. If their god is currently imprisoned or otherwise unable to act, then aid may not be granted on a successful roll (though any existing divine servitors may fulfill the request instead).
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