merwins
Explorer
I don't have time to fully respond to this right now. But the difference between faith and piety is fascinating.
My gut feeling is that for DnD, the divine relationship ("devotion to your deity") matters (since most game worlds use real gods). So in modern connotation, faith, with its relationship implications, seems to have enough religious association to remain the correct word. But I have to think about it some more.
With regard to how divine magic differs from arcane, and why spells lists are different... one possibility might be that the gods carved out territory in the Weave so that particular patterns belong to them. Classes like Divine Soul instill some aspect of the divine within the character, which gives them the same ability to access those patterns.
As far as power source, for my needs I've postulated that all spellcasting is based on focused force of will. But the ability to access the Weave varies. It's innate to sorcerers (they're magical creatures, more or less), its rigorous study for wizards, it's a deific passkey for clerics and druids. Without such access, you might be able to mentally punch or sneak your way through to some spells or spell-like effects (monk, arcane trickster).
My gut feeling is that for DnD, the divine relationship ("devotion to your deity") matters (since most game worlds use real gods). So in modern connotation, faith, with its relationship implications, seems to have enough religious association to remain the correct word. But I have to think about it some more.
With regard to how divine magic differs from arcane, and why spells lists are different... one possibility might be that the gods carved out territory in the Weave so that particular patterns belong to them. Classes like Divine Soul instill some aspect of the divine within the character, which gives them the same ability to access those patterns.
As far as power source, for my needs I've postulated that all spellcasting is based on focused force of will. But the ability to access the Weave varies. It's innate to sorcerers (they're magical creatures, more or less), its rigorous study for wizards, it's a deific passkey for clerics and druids. Without such access, you might be able to mentally punch or sneak your way through to some spells or spell-like effects (monk, arcane trickster).