Faiths & Pantheons? WTF?

[Chun-tzu]

<shrug> What questions do they ask? Could be they want to know whether people want more -- e.g., stats for the other gods -- or want something different. Who's filled it out?

I did. It was mostly typical marketing research questions. How old are you, male or female, how much do you spend on gaming, what other products do you buy, and so on. They ask you to rate the importance of artwork, clarity of content, and value for your dollar, on a scale from 1 to 5. And they also ask you to rate the book on those 3 things.

 

[Kai Lord]

I was really looking foreward to this book. But... All the info on specific deities that is in the FRCS is reprinted word for word.

For the record, each entry for the gods listed in the FRCS is *at least* 2-3 times longer and more detailed in Faiths & Pantheons. I own both books. F&P has much more.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I wish WoTC would stop putting out god stats, making them into nothing but uber-monsters, and start concentrating on developing the faiths to make it easier to understand and RP believers in those faiths. Stats are useless. Dogma, holy days/festivals, prayers, rituals (ala Lords of Darkness), saints, proverbs, vows, "chosen of" or lesser powered divinely granted templates, PrCs, excerpts of religious texts/dogma, these are useful for everyone.

Providing stats for gods just makes players think they can kill them and steal their mojo. Who wouldn't want Thor's Hammer or the Wand of Orcus, after all?

 

[Corinth]

I'm all for it. Gods can go down under mortal assault. Gods can die by mortal hands. That means that PCs can do it, ergo gods must have stats.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

So you'd rather have players killing gods than properly RPing their character's religious convictions?

*cough* Munchkin! *cough*

 

[Shard O'Glase]

So you'd rather have players killing gods than properly RPing their character's religious convictions?

*cough* Munchkin! *cough*

Who says they are killing their god. Killing Selune if a worshiper of shar would seem to be upholding religious convictions. Me I just make god omnipotent. But in FR and other setting where mortals have in history killed gods and then become gods, stats for gods seems very appropriate.

 

[Nightfall]

I wish WoTC would stop putting out god stats, making them into nothing but uber-monsters, and start concentrating on developing the faiths to make it easier to understand and RP believers in those faiths. Stats are useless. Dogma, holy days/festivals, prayers, rituals (ala Lords of Darkness), saints, proverbs, vows, "chosen of" or lesser powered divinely granted templates, PrCs, excerpts of religious texts/dogma, these are useful for everyone.

Providing stats for gods just makes players think they can kill them and steal their mojo. Who wouldn't want Thor's Hammer or the Wand of Orcus, after all?

While I won't go to defend F&P (that's something I leave to the FR faithful), I WILL say again, just because a god HAS stats doesn't mean you use them. Example: I once ran a game that had *shock* NO STATS!!! Yep, I just made them roll and if the darn thing didn't die, well too damn bad. Secondly, I don't think trying to LIMIT gods by NOT Statting does NOT do anyone any service. People like to have gods that they can INTERACT with. They aren't just mindless forces. They are being of immense power AND DON"T always have to use fronts like clerics and religious dogma to guide and direct their faithful.

Btw, religious convictions are a crock! I'd much rather they follow the ethos set by a few small simple rules, than some elaborate set of humdrum ritualistic nonsense.

*think my CG nature is showing through today! *

Anyway gods do die, and not always is a mortal that kills them.

 

[rounser]

Secondly, I don't think trying to LIMIT gods by NOT Statting does NOT do anyone any service.

For those who would have preferred other material in place of the stats in F&P, excluding the stats from the book (and perhaps putting them in a web enhancement) could be considered a service.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I agree, Rounser. I'm not saying that there should be no stats but rather that stats in place of good RPing material is a cop-out for the hard questions, forcing the DM to design the religion when he could be doing something else.

 

[Nightfall]

*shrugs* Again I don't mind it, since no one will ever quite agree what a religion is supposed to do. Does the church of Bane ALWAYS sacrifice victims to appease their dark god? Or do they only do blood sacrifice? Can they honestly say that they are against sucidice or other forms of what might be immoral behavior? Is that the same for a Sharran Priest? Can sharran priests even marry? Can Tyrians? I don't think even THAT was addressed in 2nd and I doubt it will be addressed SINCE they want DMs to have the FREEDOM to deal with these topics on their own.

They don't need mind control for a setting, just some basic simple rules.