Book of Exalted Deeds: What would you put in it?

[Nightfall]

Okay well if people want a book about GOOD in a hard place, "Heroes of Light" by Arthuas for Ravenloft will becoming out November 11th. I think perhaps THAT might make people think about a "mature setting" as well as a book about "goodness".

 

[Tortoise]

Wow, there have been some great ideas presented here for what could go in a potential BOED. Nice going!

You folks have me wanting the book already.

 

[Infinite Monkey@Work]

I would just like to say that I will Never. Ever. Be buying the BOVD, but I would buy this the instant I saw it.

 

[CrusaderX]

Ditto, Monkey-man! I'd snatch up this book right away if it were published.

 

[ruleslawyer]

How to be good without being a wuss or an . Most people play actively good characters as either:

Phil Donahue, unwilling to kill the Demon Lord that has destroyed half a continent because "He was probably abused as a child, and, besides, haven't we all wanted to kill millions?"

Jerry Falwell: "You have SINNED by the theft of that COPPER COIN, and NOW you shall PAY THE PENALTY!"

Funny, I see neither of these IMC. I will say that I doubt Jerry Falwell cares very much about his own theft of a copper coin...

I'd like to see good more in the Charlton Heston or Han Solo vein -- the grim avenger who does to the bad guys what they've done to the innocent, only twice as hard, or the rogue with a heart of gold. These archetypes, oddly, are underrepresented in gaming.

I see a great deal of the latter, and tend to discourage the former, as it all too easily bleeds over into what I consider neutral behavior.

 

[Celebrim]

Some of this has already been said, but...

Rules for offering sacrifices to good deities and what you gain from doing so (reduced xp cost of manufacturing items or casting ritual spells, temporary higher caster level or free metamagicing, etc).

Oaths and vows. Effects of taking vows of chastity, monogomy (ei marriage), friendship, silence, and poverty, and the ritual act of making covenants.

New hinderances and feats with built in balancing effects (Merciful, Compassionate, Truthful, Honorable, Perservering, etc.)

Oath Feats - You gain power until you break the oath that is a prequisite for the feat and must atone (paying xp) to recover it.

Feats with names like:
'Come back with your shield or on it!'
and
'You can't do that to my friend!'
and
'Begone foul dwimmerlaik!'

Penitance and atonement. Pillgramage and advice for creating holy sites as well as the not so holy commerce (well I guess that depends on your point of view) that tends to grow up around them.

PrC's for Questing Knights and similar heroic themes.

Discussion of Paladin codes of honor based on the codes of honor of different cultures (Dark Age Europe, Feudal Japan, Chivalry, Rome, Confusius, etc.)

Epic and ritual spell casting with broad pervasive but subtle (well, not always) good effects... (The Land and the King are One!, etc.)

Examples of Arch-Celestials, proxies, heralds, and seneschals of deities.

Acquiring sainthood and divine rank.

 

[William Ronald]

So far, so good.

Here are a few additions.

Heroic sacrifice: What happens when a hero lays down his life for his friends or his cause? I have had two characters sacrifice their lives to great ends and there has been a lot of in game impact. (One great evil for ever gone, one hero returned to stop a great evil.)

The nature of good: A presentation of different view points, looking at history, myth, culture and, with the permission of authors, fiction. For example, good characters can take different approaches to a situation.

Service: Different deities may have different demands on their worshippers. (Celibacy was really not a common thing in the mythologies of the ancient world.) Possibly ways that characters can seek to be active servants of good, or to try to promote a cause. For example, one character may serve a god of justice while another has taken a vow to eliminate slavery.

Rewards: A good reputation should be worth something after all. Perhaps a way to track someone's reputation, and the benefit that person may gain from it. (Of course, what can be gained can be lost.)

Feats: A few feats could be based on the character's good standing.

Prestige Classes: A few prestige classes designed for certain good ends, such as a mediator PrC (good for characters with good diplomacy skills) or someone dedicated to defeating fiends or undead.

Celestials: Take celestial archetypes from legend, myth, and elsewhere. Add some innovative ideas, present to the public. Also, guidelines on how to run celestial NPCs.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

(Celibacy was really not a common thing in the mythologies of the ancient world.)

I beg to differ. Celibacy was quite common in the ancient world IIRC. It was Chastity that was hard to find. It's not as if the semitic temple prostitutes, the Ephesian priestesses of Artemis or the priestesses of Aphrodite were usually married. . . .

 

[Monte At Home]

Sorry for the plug, but you guys are doing a pretty good job of describing the Book of Hallowed Might that I'm working on right now. Just too much of a coincidence for me not to mention it.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

In a more constructive vein, here are a few things I would include.

Dreams, Visions, and Prophecies.
How do good deities interact with their followers? How do they communicate with them? Some techniques for convincingly simulating a divine connection without being obscure or having the communication lose all meaning.

Good Villains:
How to use good guys as villains without making them evil.
This would explore the ways that honest, good characters might come into conflict without resorting to the old "he's doing evil so that good can result from it" canard. What about genuine good guys doing good things coming into conflict?

Building heroes:
How can DMs encourage characters to behave heroically? It's very easy to start out a campaign wanting the PCs to be heroes but to construct a world which subtly discourages heroism by incentivizing unheroic behavior and punishing heroic behavior.

Oaths, Vows, and Boasts:
Not just monastic vows, etc. Also vows like "By Zeus and Apollo, I shall not rest until these villains have been brought to justice." Or "If by my life or death I can protect you, I shall." What are the in game effects of vows? Might the gods really bear witness to the vows and punish those who abandon their oaths?

Dealing with prisoners:
a brief treatment of how good characters might deal with prisoners. This should include some brief treatment of the historical divisions made between different kinds of prisoners--knights (ransom), soldiers, bandits (summary execution), etc.