Clerics and their faith

[the Jester]

I allow clerics of specific philosophies, that give specific pairs of domains. These are the only philosophies with enough 'faith energy' to power spells imc. So you can't just randomly choose Death and Beauty as your domains- though you can be a cleric without a god, you can't just choose any set of powers that you want.

 

[DragonLancer]

2) No god calls. Not really a problem now days, but once upon a time everyone expected at least a chance to summon their god in times of need.

Oddly enough I used to have this with a couple old players. They expected a direct hotline to their god when they prayed for advice. For some reason they were always dissapointed when it never happened. :\

I'm currently working on a new homebrew setting, where the gods exist but do not interfere in the lives of mortals. Instead of having a definate knowledge that their gods exist, religion is based on faith (perhaps even their spells are faith derived). Its one of the reasons I started the thread to get ideas.

 

[DragonLancer]

2) No god calls. Not really a problem now days, but once upon a time everyone expected at least a chance to summon their god in times of need.

Oddly enough I used to have this with a couple old players. They expected a direct hotline to their god when they prayed for advice. For some reason they were always dissapointed when it never happened. :\

I'm currently working on a new homebrew setting, where the gods exist but do not interfere in the lives of mortals. Instead of having a definate knowledge that their gods exist, religion is based on faith (perhaps even their spells are faith derived). Its one of the reasons I started the thread to get ideas.

 

[Voadam]

In my world its a big secret, most clerics and paladins worship gods and follow religions with all sorts of restrictions, but most don't know they don't need to. The religions give training on tapping divine power, but they aren't needed. In and out of the game the PCs believe that godless divine casters are merely an option, but they don't know that in my game the divine simply is, regardless of individual gods or characters that pledge themselves to a god. Specific churches and following a god is merely organizational, although the majority of divine casters believe their power comes directly from their "patron" god and subject to his divine will and whim.

Funny how the gods and churches don't correct that misperception.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Depends.

In a "gods stick their fingers in everything" campaign like Forgotten Realms or Dragonhorn, then no. You gotsta gotsta gotsta draw your power from a deity.

In an "aloof gods" campaign setting like Eberron..sure. Why not?

 

[Timeboxer]

Yes, I do allow clerics to follow non-deific philosophies and faiths. The way I usually do it in the Eberron game I run is that your access to spells depends on faith, not the gods, because faith is in itself a powerful force that influences magical energies. Thus, another level of divine spellcasting is an indication of the growth of your faith, which exhibits itself in the physical world. There is something about the white fire of belief, and I like the idea of adding an element of conviction, faith, belief to a game.

But what I wouldn't allow is a cleric who has no faith in anything whatsoever. It still bugs me that one of my friends insisted that my requiring a cleric to have faith was unfairly railroading the player from playing the character he really wants to play.

 

[Nightfall]

Uhm *points to Sig*

Clerics = gods

Other divine spellcasters = generally druids or shamans. Unless they are paladins. Then it's ALWAYS Corean followed by which ever god/goddess is closest to them (generally Madriel or Hedrada. Some times the rare Goranite. But never any thing else...well maybe a paladin of Nemorga... But we'll see.)