Bullgrit
Adventurer
The other discussion about "Gods, planes, afterlife, and the common man" got me thinking about this. It seems that most people 'round here have experienced far more direct divine interventions in their D&D games than I have.
In my years of playing D&D -- since 1980 -- as DM, I've had a god directly affect the PCs only twice:
1- About 20 years ago, a god actually struck down a PC (~7th level) in my campaign. It was a convoluted reason, and I regretted it shortly after it happened.
2- Just a couple of years ago, the PCs (~8th level) had a really good guide lead them through a very dangerous jungle to their quest destination. They were a bit suspicious at how fast they travelled the distance, and at how few wilderness encounters they had (only a couple very easy ones) along the way, and at how the guide simply wished them well and went on his way (still in a very dangerous jungle) all by himself afterward.
It wasn't until after the party TPKed in a dumb and unrelated (to their quest) encounter that I let them in on the secret that Fharlanghn, himself, had been their guide. Such was the importance of their quest.
Otherwise, the gods in my games have really never been active in the world. All that I've ever read about the gods of a "generic" D&D world has suggested that they don't get involved unless there is some extraordinary reason. But apparently I'm in the minority with that assumption. It seems that in many games, the gods do take part in temporal matters.
What has been your experience?
As a DM, do you have the gods directly active in your setting(s)? Do they get involved with PCs?
As a Player/PC, have you had direct contact with gods in a game?
Are gods as involved with low-level PCs/NPCs, or does involvement only happen with high-level PCs/NPCs?
In my experience as a Player, the only times gods have taken any kind of direct intervention has been once that I recall where the DM allowed "god calls" (some low random chance of a god "fixing" a bad thing for you -- a DM gimme, really). And once when my cleric met his god after death (and before ressurection).
Bullgrit
In my years of playing D&D -- since 1980 -- as DM, I've had a god directly affect the PCs only twice:
1- About 20 years ago, a god actually struck down a PC (~7th level) in my campaign. It was a convoluted reason, and I regretted it shortly after it happened.
2- Just a couple of years ago, the PCs (~8th level) had a really good guide lead them through a very dangerous jungle to their quest destination. They were a bit suspicious at how fast they travelled the distance, and at how few wilderness encounters they had (only a couple very easy ones) along the way, and at how the guide simply wished them well and went on his way (still in a very dangerous jungle) all by himself afterward.
It wasn't until after the party TPKed in a dumb and unrelated (to their quest) encounter that I let them in on the secret that Fharlanghn, himself, had been their guide. Such was the importance of their quest.
Otherwise, the gods in my games have really never been active in the world. All that I've ever read about the gods of a "generic" D&D world has suggested that they don't get involved unless there is some extraordinary reason. But apparently I'm in the minority with that assumption. It seems that in many games, the gods do take part in temporal matters.
What has been your experience?
As a DM, do you have the gods directly active in your setting(s)? Do they get involved with PCs?
As a Player/PC, have you had direct contact with gods in a game?
Are gods as involved with low-level PCs/NPCs, or does involvement only happen with high-level PCs/NPCs?
In my experience as a Player, the only times gods have taken any kind of direct intervention has been once that I recall where the DM allowed "god calls" (some low random chance of a god "fixing" a bad thing for you -- a DM gimme, really). And once when my cleric met his god after death (and before ressurection).
Bullgrit