Kae'Yoss
First Post
Of course, advice and critics are welcome.
Hero Worship
All over our world, the intelligent races believe in something beside themselves and their nearest and deares. They believe in something larger than themselves. For many, it is the gods, creators and high lords of the world and all within it. Others turn to the paragons and archfiends, powerful entities that take a more active role in things than deities. Some revere concepts instead of entities, be it nature, goodness, law, or war, death or chaos. The honorable peoples in the farest reaches of the East bow to their ancestors, those who came before them, while the northmen worship totems, nature spirits that embody the world in a very specific way. And finally, many have taken up a philosophy instead or in addition to the Planar Powers, like the Disciples of the Book.
All these things have something in common: they’re intangible, at least for all but the most luckiest of individuals (be it good or bad luck) – you only see the effects of these things, not the things themselves. The Book, for example, is tangible enough, but the teachings and parables in it can’t be witnessed – you have to believe what is written. The gods do grant divine magic, but they don’t show themselves. The ancestors once walked this earth, but now they’re gone, at least physically.
But there are objects of worship that are very tangible, very real in the physical and not the meta-physical sense: Heroes! The good men and women who freed the land from foe and famine, the liberators and labourers of peace. And on the other end of this spectrum, the tyrants, villains and butchers that inspire awe and fear in wicked men. And since the access to divine power as much depends on your own dedication to the cause as to the presence of a deific being that grants these powers, you can gain tangible benefits from hero worship.
About Hero Worship
The Laymen:
For a simple person it is very easy to worship a hero: you just do it. Since a normal commoner doesn’t get an immediate and tangible benefit from divine worship, she can just decide to worship the hero who saved the town from destruction.
The question whether they can worship a hero in addition or even instead of another, more conventional object of worship (which we call “icon” from now on), depends on the game world and the icon in question: A monotheistic world may not allow real worship of mortals (but the barrier between admiration and real worship can be blurry), and while the benefical Sunlord might be inclined to let you worship a champion of good, the capricious goddess of the sea might be too jealous to allow any icon beside itself.
The Clergy
Now for those who gain actual power out of worship, it is of greater concern just what they worship. A cleric of a benign deity can’t revere a tyrant, and a druid won’t worship a hero that became famous for forthing a massive blade made of the strongest metal known to the intelligent races. Alignment restrictions apply just as with deities, as do restrictions on specialized divine classes (like druids and their need for a nature deity)
Divine spellcasters have two choices for hero worship
Hero worship in addition to a conventional faith: When their original faith allows it, divine spellcasters can worship a hero and still revere their old icon. This will grant them access to any spells (or at leas the privilege to gain access to these spells, like taking of an initiate feat or something like that) that are particular to that hero and still have access to similar spells of their old faith, and clerics (and any casters with access to domains) can lose one of their old domains and choose one of the hero’s domains (subject to the usual limitations: a lawful cleric still can’t get chaos in this way and so on).
Hero worship instead of a conventional faith: This is something far more tricky: turning your back to your old faith may leave a bad taste in the mouth of your former comrades-in-faith, and it might be a transgression you have to atone for (via the atonement spell). In such a case, the hero herself can atone you with a word and a touch without the need of the spell in question, but the want to atone must be sincere.
But even for those who start their career as clerics in the faith of a hero are far from having a “secure job”: Unlike deities or concepts, heroes face the very real danger of death all the time (if they didn’t, they wouldn’t really be heroes, now wouldn’t they), and they’re mortals, which means they’re much more prone to corruption or change of outlooks than a deity whose very being is defined by his or her portfolio. This might mean that the divine caster has to change with the deity or one day be left without their object of worship. In addition, the power a hero can grant is not as powerful as the power a more conventional icon will grant. (See below).
The Heroes:
Not every adventurer who killed her first goblin becomes a hero to revere all of a sudden. Heroes subject to hero worship must be extraordinary in some way: they either have to be mid-level at least (level 8 or higher), or have already accomplished something grand (the definition of “grand” is left to the DM) and be well known where she is worshipped.
The Mechanics
Heroes grant their worshippers between 1 and 3 domains, depending on the degree of their power and how many people they know (this is subject to the DM). These domains correspond to their accomplishments and nature (see below for a table with suggestions). Heroes who are druids, rangers or similar or have aided the causes of nature in great ways can have druid followers, heroes fighting for justice may have paladins worshipping them, and so on.
The hero always grants all the spells on the list of the domains she grants (of course, the worshipper has to be of sufficient level to cast it), but this does not apply to other spells: A hero can’t grant spells she herself couldn’t cast: determine the highest spell level the hero could cast if she were a cleric on the level equal to her ECL. This is the highest spell level the hero can grant. This only concerns divine casters who worship the hero instead of a conventional icon, not those who worship them in addition.
Example:Jaleena the Righteous is an aasimar pal3/ftr5, giving her a total ECL of 9. A 9th- level cleric could cast spells of up to 5th level, so her clerics could only cast 5th-level spells or lower.
Recommended domains:
Human: no special recommendations
Halfling: luck, travel
Gnome: knowledge, earth
Half-Orc: destruction, strength, war
Dwarf: earth, strength, war
Half-Elf: like elf
Elf: magic, plant
Alignment: corresponding alignment domain
Barbarian: destruction, strength, war
Bard: knowledge, magic, travel
Cleric: as patron deity
Druid: animal, healing, plant
Fighter: strength, war
Monk: law, protection
Paladin: good, law, protection, strength, war
Ranger: animal, plant, travel, trickery
Rogue: trickery
Sorcerer: destruction, magic
Wizard: knowledge, magic
Hero Worship
All over our world, the intelligent races believe in something beside themselves and their nearest and deares. They believe in something larger than themselves. For many, it is the gods, creators and high lords of the world and all within it. Others turn to the paragons and archfiends, powerful entities that take a more active role in things than deities. Some revere concepts instead of entities, be it nature, goodness, law, or war, death or chaos. The honorable peoples in the farest reaches of the East bow to their ancestors, those who came before them, while the northmen worship totems, nature spirits that embody the world in a very specific way. And finally, many have taken up a philosophy instead or in addition to the Planar Powers, like the Disciples of the Book.
All these things have something in common: they’re intangible, at least for all but the most luckiest of individuals (be it good or bad luck) – you only see the effects of these things, not the things themselves. The Book, for example, is tangible enough, but the teachings and parables in it can’t be witnessed – you have to believe what is written. The gods do grant divine magic, but they don’t show themselves. The ancestors once walked this earth, but now they’re gone, at least physically.
But there are objects of worship that are very tangible, very real in the physical and not the meta-physical sense: Heroes! The good men and women who freed the land from foe and famine, the liberators and labourers of peace. And on the other end of this spectrum, the tyrants, villains and butchers that inspire awe and fear in wicked men. And since the access to divine power as much depends on your own dedication to the cause as to the presence of a deific being that grants these powers, you can gain tangible benefits from hero worship.
About Hero Worship
The Laymen:
For a simple person it is very easy to worship a hero: you just do it. Since a normal commoner doesn’t get an immediate and tangible benefit from divine worship, she can just decide to worship the hero who saved the town from destruction.
The question whether they can worship a hero in addition or even instead of another, more conventional object of worship (which we call “icon” from now on), depends on the game world and the icon in question: A monotheistic world may not allow real worship of mortals (but the barrier between admiration and real worship can be blurry), and while the benefical Sunlord might be inclined to let you worship a champion of good, the capricious goddess of the sea might be too jealous to allow any icon beside itself.
The Clergy
Now for those who gain actual power out of worship, it is of greater concern just what they worship. A cleric of a benign deity can’t revere a tyrant, and a druid won’t worship a hero that became famous for forthing a massive blade made of the strongest metal known to the intelligent races. Alignment restrictions apply just as with deities, as do restrictions on specialized divine classes (like druids and their need for a nature deity)
Divine spellcasters have two choices for hero worship
Hero worship in addition to a conventional faith: When their original faith allows it, divine spellcasters can worship a hero and still revere their old icon. This will grant them access to any spells (or at leas the privilege to gain access to these spells, like taking of an initiate feat or something like that) that are particular to that hero and still have access to similar spells of their old faith, and clerics (and any casters with access to domains) can lose one of their old domains and choose one of the hero’s domains (subject to the usual limitations: a lawful cleric still can’t get chaos in this way and so on).
Hero worship instead of a conventional faith: This is something far more tricky: turning your back to your old faith may leave a bad taste in the mouth of your former comrades-in-faith, and it might be a transgression you have to atone for (via the atonement spell). In such a case, the hero herself can atone you with a word and a touch without the need of the spell in question, but the want to atone must be sincere.
But even for those who start their career as clerics in the faith of a hero are far from having a “secure job”: Unlike deities or concepts, heroes face the very real danger of death all the time (if they didn’t, they wouldn’t really be heroes, now wouldn’t they), and they’re mortals, which means they’re much more prone to corruption or change of outlooks than a deity whose very being is defined by his or her portfolio. This might mean that the divine caster has to change with the deity or one day be left without their object of worship. In addition, the power a hero can grant is not as powerful as the power a more conventional icon will grant. (See below).
The Heroes:
Not every adventurer who killed her first goblin becomes a hero to revere all of a sudden. Heroes subject to hero worship must be extraordinary in some way: they either have to be mid-level at least (level 8 or higher), or have already accomplished something grand (the definition of “grand” is left to the DM) and be well known where she is worshipped.
The Mechanics
Heroes grant their worshippers between 1 and 3 domains, depending on the degree of their power and how many people they know (this is subject to the DM). These domains correspond to their accomplishments and nature (see below for a table with suggestions). Heroes who are druids, rangers or similar or have aided the causes of nature in great ways can have druid followers, heroes fighting for justice may have paladins worshipping them, and so on.
The hero always grants all the spells on the list of the domains she grants (of course, the worshipper has to be of sufficient level to cast it), but this does not apply to other spells: A hero can’t grant spells she herself couldn’t cast: determine the highest spell level the hero could cast if she were a cleric on the level equal to her ECL. This is the highest spell level the hero can grant. This only concerns divine casters who worship the hero instead of a conventional icon, not those who worship them in addition.
Example:Jaleena the Righteous is an aasimar pal3/ftr5, giving her a total ECL of 9. A 9th- level cleric could cast spells of up to 5th level, so her clerics could only cast 5th-level spells or lower.
Recommended domains:
Human: no special recommendations
Halfling: luck, travel
Gnome: knowledge, earth
Half-Orc: destruction, strength, war
Dwarf: earth, strength, war
Half-Elf: like elf
Elf: magic, plant
Alignment: corresponding alignment domain
Barbarian: destruction, strength, war
Bard: knowledge, magic, travel
Cleric: as patron deity
Druid: animal, healing, plant
Fighter: strength, war
Monk: law, protection
Paladin: good, law, protection, strength, war
Ranger: animal, plant, travel, trickery
Rogue: trickery
Sorcerer: destruction, magic
Wizard: knowledge, magic
