Rant: Why must thing always be obvious in D&D?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There's no reason Shar can't nudge a priest in the direction of some helpers, *if* she wants to. She may not.

I think an evil goddess of secrets is unlikely to give hints.

 

[Celebrim]

Right, but most people don't play D&D as if they were doing their thesis is Comparative, Badly-Conceived Religions that Frankly Sound Like Something Plagiarized from Tolkien or Howard While Stoned.

If they can't handle the very basic matters we are discussing, they should get 'The Book of the Righteous', published by Green Ronin, and most of the stuff they need to integrate religion into a D&D campaign deeply and elegantly will have already been done for them.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If the PC doesn't know where a temple to Shar is, I have to wonder if the PC has never met another worshiper of Shar. Seems a bit strange to me, personally. Not impossible, of course, but not what I would consider the default deity worshiping norm.

Being a cultist of a secretive goddess filled with hate for all other beings is pretty inherently out of the norm.

 

[Mallus]

"Sorry, I'm not into facing that dragon today. Can't we just say it flew away? Can I collect the treasure now?"

I think we can mutually agree that your example is silly.

And if I said to my players "Well, we can play out the fight, or we could just say the bad guys fled and you get the loot", they'd opt for the fight every single time. Because that's the fun part of the game.

IMHO, if you want your character to be a member of a secret cult, the DM shouldn't force you to locate the cult, but neither should you expect the benefits of having located the cult without having done so.

Why does being able to shop at a temple to your god represent some enormous boon? Most D&D characters take that completely for granted.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Right, but most people don't play D&D as if they were doing their thesis is Comparative, Badly-Conceived Religions that Frankly Sound Like Something Plagiarized from Tolkien or Howard While Stoned.

If they're going to try and argue that katanas and guns aren't realistically uber enough, they can suffer through a realism discussion that isn't intended to power them up.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Why does being able to shop at a temple to your god represent some enormous boon? Most D&D characters take that completely for granted.

Because the player consciously chose to be part of a sekrit cult that even a passing familiarity with the setting would suggest would create this very problem.

If he wanted to go grab blessings and maybe a healing potion at the local temple like he's swinging by the local 7-11, the FR has nine thousand other choices, most of which won't put the player character in this situation.

 

[Mallus]

If they can't handle the very basic matters we are discussing...

You say 'very basic', I say 'largely undesirable' and 'fairly wrongheaded'. That said...

they should get 'The Book of the Righteous', published by Green Ronin

... this sounds interesting. I like all the GR products I own. Can you tell me a little more about it? I have some pretty strong feelings about how much deep, elegant, and thoughtful material the D&D framework can support (hint, not much), but I admit I'm beginning to want some fresh perspectives on the game.

 

[Mallus]

If he wanted to go grab blessings and maybe a healing potion at the local temple like he's swinging by the local 7-11, the FR has nine thousand other choices, most of which won't put the player character in this situation.

That still doesn't tell me what's so game-breaking about buying a healing potion at the Temple of Shar. And if the religion is so problematic, why isn't declared NPC-only?

 

[Storminator]

... this sounds interesting. I like all the GR products I own. Can you tell me a little more about it? I have some pretty strong feelings about how much deep, elegant, and thoughtful material the D&D framework can support (hint, not much), but I admit I'm beginning to want some fresh perspectives on the game.

Chris Pramas once said that the BotR was not a good representative of his company's work. It's far better.

PS

 

[Storminator]

That still doesn't tell me what's so game-breaking about buying a healing potion at the Temple of Shar. And if the religion is so problematic, why isn't declared NPC-only?

It would destroy my suspension of disbelief. Why hasn't every paladin in the world come calling?

PS