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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grogg of the North" data-source="post: 6075158" data-attributes="member: 6682960">The deities get their strength from the amount of faith and belief their followers have.  So the only way to kill a deity in my games is to first kill their followers.  However, the deities tend to notice when large groups of worshipers start disappearing so it can be a tricky task. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />  As for the role the gods play, it depends entirely on the campaign/party.  In the last game I ran, as the cleric gained strength and power, he slowly became the most powerful priest in the city and surrounding area.  As such, whenever he prayed for guidance he actually got face time with his god.I've also had deities show up based on roleplaying.  A bard in a temple of Evening Glory caused her to show up and take interest in him because he told a love story during one of her masses.  The Trickster, a chaotic nature deity in my games, took an ... unhealthy interest in the fighter because he did everything short of peeing on the alter.  The good churches tolerate each other but definitely won't let an opportunity to snipe at another church slide past.  "Oh, I would expect as much from a priest of Kord...."  So while there may be some jockeying in the background, I usually have whomever is in charge (local lord, watch, whomever) not tolerate anything overt.  I used to tell clerics and paladins that they needed to tithe in my previous games. I forgot to bring it up in my last game beceause no one was playing a divinely oriented character at first.  So when a new player joined as a cleric I didn't raise the issue.  In the past though my players tend to do it without any prompting.  I also make it a point to track how much my players donate of their own free will especially if their non-divine.  When the fighter routinely gifts to the church of sunshine, happiness and healing, he may find that he can receive free aid later on.  The gods can get angry at their clerics.  The clerics can lose spell access if they stray too far from their deity.  However, with proper repentance and demonstration of faith (Quest!) they will be able to regain their abilities.  Though they will never have as much influence within their church again.  Also, just because you pray for a spell doesn't mean that your god will be willing to grant it.  Why would a god let you raise Bob when it is implied by prophecy that Bob will bring about the great doom if he lives to fight his brother?  And if your divine caster is abusing "Game Breaking Mega Spell" they may find that they can no longer prepare that spell or any spell at all.  Treating your god's boons like a bazooka, to be fired and tossed aside, can end badly.  That isn't to say your cleric can't heal and flame strike as they go on a dungeon crawl.  But if your solution to everything is "I gate in a bunch of Solars" you're going to wind up on the naughty list quickly.  (I hope I was able to articulate my point clear enough <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f641.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":(" title="Frown    :("  data-smilie="3"data-shortname=":(" /> )Something I require is that a cleric/druid/paladin have a deity.  You're getting that divine power from somewhere and whomever is granting it is going to influence your actions, even subconsciously.   I allow druids to revere nature/spirits of the land and still receive spells and what not.  I've toyed with the idea of using ancestor worship as an organized religion in D&D but I really wasn't sure how to make it work. (If that doesn't make sense, I can ramble on it some more)Any good prophecy should be interpreted three different ways before lunch. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

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