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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Morrow" data-source="post: 2294436" data-attributes="member: 27012">Very.  The PCs consist of a Cleric, a Paladin-turned-Liberator of the same faith, a Druid (a different faith), and a sort of agnostic Ranger.  The Paladin went through a whole cycle of falling from grace (involving a romance and conflicts of interest) and finding his calling as a Liberator that included visions from the Saint (it's a monotheistic religion) he followed and an investigation of his fall from Paladinhood by his Church hierarchy where he got to see how the various internal factions (each following a different Saint as a guide) see the world a little differenty. The Druid, on the other hand, had his own falling from grace problem (he decided to mouth off to a demon lord which resulted in his woods getting burned to a crisp by some hell hounds in retribution and the Spirit of the World was not amused by his lack of consideration of the consequences of what he was doing).  He's also had visions of Spirit of the World as part of his atonement that consisted of the Spirit of the World in her four forms (old woman = winter, mother = fall, lover = summer, and child = spring).  The old woman showed him the fate of the world if an impending interplanar invasion succeeds.  The mother lectured him like a child for being foolish.  The lover reminded him of what she has to offer.  The little girl told him that she needed his protection.Give the religions and sects objectives.  The Druid in my game has been told by mother nature not to confuse his priorities with the priorities of the other religion in the party.  He's been told, for example, that he shouldn't be party to the gratuitous destruction of evil humanoids because, from the Neutral perspective of his faith, they provide a natural barrier to unlimited human expansion into the wilderness and the destruction that it causes.  The Cleric follows the saint of knowledge and, as such, he's more concerned with finding and recording what's going on than the little evils around him.  In fact, during the Paladin's inquest, he was stunned when a cleric of the same order scheduled time to talk to him and rather than asking questions about his fall for grace, what she really wanted were the gritty details of their adventures.  During the same inquest, a cleric of the saint of love, on the other hand, really just wanted to know if he really loved the woman that had caused his problems.  Basically, each sect looks at the world through a different filter.But visions and minor interventions can really help, even if there isn't a mechanic or spell involved in doing it.  If the characters are serving the interest of their religion, then as payment I give them hints from beyond.  In the case of the Paladin, the saints mainly just helped illustrate his central dilemma for him so he could make a decision.  In the case of the Druid, he's sometimes been told what to do.  Think of it like reporting to superiors that sometimes give you hints.  They don't have to be common but every now and then will help make their connection to their divine power more real.But I'd say that the real key to making religion important in your game lies with role-playing and not rule tweaks.  Yes, special rules to encourage a religious focus will make religion a bigger part of your game but it won't necessarily make it more important to the characters in an actual religious sense.  Religion should influence behavior all the time, not just when there are plusses involved.Of course it's also possible that your players won't want to deal with it.  I think some people with (or without) strong religious beliefs in the real world find fantasy clerics palatable only so long as they don't have to think about the fantasy religion too much.  In that case, a mechanical solution (or simply letting things go on the way they are) might be a better option.</blockquote>

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