Any 2nd Gurus that can help?

[JesterOC]

I am playing a 4E game, and one new player has asked if he can use the God Call or God Power rule from 2nd Edition. I did not play 2nd much, so can anyone tell me what this rule is and how it was balanced, because it does not feel "right" to me. But I want to let him have fun, so I at least want to check it out and see what I can do.

Thanks for your time,

JesterOC
p.s. It seems to involve a percent roll. ?!? I'll ask him to bring the books next time so I can look at it, but I might not see him for a month.

 

[Jack99]

He wants to play a wizard?


No seriously, while I do not consider myself a 2 Guru, I still played it for 14 years, and I seriously can't recall any such rule.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The name is not ringing any bells here either. It doesn't sound like something from any of the core expansions or Players' Option books, but it could be from one of the campaign settings.

Any idea as to its source? Any details as to what it does?

 

[Whimsical]

Well, this wasn't in the D&D rules. But if it was like the house rule we used to use, it involved calling out a desperate prayer while in desperate situations. You would then roll percentiles and you rolled at or under your character level, the god you called out to would help out in some way.

Sorry; 4th edition doesn't use percentile dice.

Here's my 4th edition house rule that's something like this:

Action Point
Instead of taking an extra action when you can spend an action point, you can...edit the story. If you spend your highest Daily attack power without using it along with an action point, you can work with the DM to alter your situation significantly.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That rings kind of a 1Ed bell...

As I recall, there was either a HR or rule about a 1% chance of gaining the attention of a deity upon whom you called directly. It rings a bell because the 1Ed Deities & Demigods version of Hastur the Unspeakable said he had a greater than usual chance- 25%, to be precise- of listening to such pleas...

And someone was kind enough to quote it online!

According to the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Deities & Demigods Cyclopedia, "Any time the name Hastur is spoken, there is a 25% chance that Hastur will hear and send 1-4 Byakhee [giant bat-like creatures] to slay the speaker. If the Byakhee are defeated, there is a 25% chance that Hastur himself will appear to destroy the blasphemer."

Speak of the devil: dangerous names | Verbatim | Find Articles at BNET

Hence his "Unspeakable" epithet.

 

[jdrakeh]

It's an AD&D 1e rule. It is discussed on pages 111 and 112 of the AD&D 1e DMG. Here are the basics:

If a character beseeching help has been exemplary in faithfulness, then he has a straight 10% chance that some creature will be sent to his or her aid if this is the first time the character has asked for help.

If 00 is rolled, roll again. On this second roll, there is a percentage chance equal to the character’s level of experience that the deity itself will come. This chance is modified by how well a character has played to alignment and other factors.

Each previous intervention on behalf of the character levies a -5% penalty, half-assedly acting according to alignment levies penalties from -5% to -10%, and intervention requiring direct confrontation with another deity levies a penalty of -10%.

If the character is working against forces of diametrically opposed alignment a +1% bonus is granted, and if a character is serving a deity directly (through direct instructions from the deity itself), they gain + 25%

So, yes, there were rules for this. That said, your percentage chance of getting a god to assist you was effectively 1% (you have to make that 00 roll first) and getting a creature sent to your aid was 10% (and only if it's the first time you asked for such aid).

I think the idea is that the gods of AD&D help those who help themselves.

 

[rounser]

Hence his "Unspeakable" epithet.

Must lead to some infernal misunderstandings.

"Rary has tur..."
(Byakhee turn up.)
"...ned against us."
(Byakhee disappear.)

"This tavern has tur..."
(Byakhee turn up.)
"...tle soup if you want some."
(Byakhee disappear.)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

LOL! Thats a bit of new fun!

"That fighter running across my cow pasture has tur..."
(Byakhee turn up.)
"...ds all over his boots."
(Byakhee disappear.)


"Can anyone around her tell me who has tur..."
(Byakhee turn up.)
"...pentine?"
(Byakhee disappear.)

And of course, by being quite helpful, jdrakeh has tur...
(Byakhee turn up.)
...ned this thread from a mystery and into a bit of good and useful information.
(Byakhee disappear...I hope!)

 

[Huw]

Must lead to some infernal misunderstandings.

"Rary has tur..."
(Byakhee turn up.)
"...ned against us."
(Byakhee disappear.)

"This tavern has tur..."
(Byakhee turn up.)
"...tle soup if you want some."
(Byakhee disappear.)

I believe this was the basis of one of the weirder traps in Grimtooth's Traps. Players would find a temple dedicated to an obscure demon or evil god, who would have greater than normal chance of responding to his name in said temple. The trap? The god would have a name like "Th'dorr" or "Eysurtch" (so don't say "I search the door").

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

On that tangent, during the course of adventuring in RttToEE, my PC and one other player's were both affected by the power of Tharizdun. Whenever either his or my PC spoke that name, we'd lose control over our PCs for a time...

So I started referring to him as "The God between Wednesdun and Fridun"- a practice the rest of the party picked up.