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Message: <blockquote data-quote="hawkeyefan" data-source="post: 6779630" data-attributes="member: 6785785">But the setting also shows them as fallible and petty and in many cases mortals who have been elevated to the rank of deity. Accepting the fiction on its own terms would include all of that. The fiction has clearly demonstrated that the gods did not build the machine, they are simply larger cogs in it than mortals.Three things.First, I'll give you my take on your scenario. The faithful character might allow a non-faithful NPC to join their group for certain. Your assumption relies on an absolute; that any and all who worship a deity must absolutely loathe those that do not. It is a fallacy. There are any number of reasons to cooperate with someone who is not faithful. Perhaps the character is a rogue and the party needs to delve into a dangerous dungeoun filled with traps. Seems like a pretty fundamental reason to ask for the character's help or hire the character. And there could be any number of other reasons. Seriously...I could type up a dozen scenarios where I can justify a faithful character cooperating with a non-faithful character. Do all your PCs worship the same deity? You're also operating under the assumption that someone who is non-faithful in the FR has the dastardly goal of tearing down all the gods. But again, that does not have to be the case. The gods are known to exist...so it is not a matter of belief so much as worship. And perhaps a character chooses not to worship any of them. Perhaps he seems them as not worthy of worship. Such a character may look down on those that do worship, or he may not. Someone who chooses not to honor the gods does not necessarily want them destroyed. Again...it's not a binary choice.Second, do you mind addressing the scenario I put forth to you? Wouldn't a truly good cleric of a truly good deity see doing good as its own end? Let's say your cleric comes upon a village that had been attacked. The cleric doesn't know all the details, the attackers have fled, but there are buildings burning and villagers bleeding in the streets. Does your cleric leap in to help? I honestly think that this is the crux of the argument there. What is more important, doing good or obeying existing power structures?Third, regarding the game factor. There is no reason that characters with different world views cannot work together, and no reason that players cannot play them together. Can there be instances where two diametrically opposed characters can not work together? Yes, of course. But that doesn't mean it's always. I can easily envision a party where there is a non-believer....his life has been brutal, his people killed, his family enslaved...he blames the gods. He actively dislikes the gods. In his quest for revenge, he falls in with an adventuring group and a cleric of Sune sees him as a challenge. She wants to remind him that despite his pain and loss, that there is still beauty in the world...there are still things to love and be passionate about. So she uses her power to try and bring him back from this dark place he's in. Both characters can exist side by side, and both now have a little more depth than "I'm the Fighter" and "I'm the Cleric". Such opposing views can be beneficial to the game. How many more such scenarios can we come up with if we actually try? It's really not difficult. There's no need for such a character to be much of a disruption or distraction. There's no reason such characters cannot be present in the game or within the fictional world of the game. I really can't imagine any players with sensibilities so delicate as to be offended by the made up beliefs of made up people. It's all part and parcel of the game.</blockquote>

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