Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jürgen Hubert" data-source="post: 3526319" data-attributes="member: 7177">Of course they are allowed to do other things. But still, their portfolio tends to give their activities direction.Clerics of war gods might function well as conquerers - including becoming a ruler capable of starting wars in the first place. Logistics, tactics, strategy, and even keeping one's own side happy are all part of war. If they do it right, they can keep a kingdom running and engaging in war for a very long time - perhaps even indefinitely - and thus please their god and increase their following.The portfolio of slaughter, on the other hand, does not include any of the self-restraint which can be part of the war portfolio. Even when a follower of such a god manages to become a ruler, it is unlikely that his reign will last long - for engaging in large-scale slaughter is detrimental to long-term rule. Yet a ruler has the capability for engaging in large-scale slaughter, at the probable cost of his position.Thus, a ruler who also follows the god of slaughter - unlike a follower of a war god - has to refrain from engaging in slaughter to a significant degree to maintain his rule in the long term. Would a cleric who really follows such a god do that? I doubt it.Thus, it seems to me that followers of such a god would operate more like a hidden cult, acting behind the scenes - for while they might sometimes be able to become rulers in their own right, they are unlikely to do so for long. Thus, converting new recruits through conquest is unlikely under most circumstances.</blockquote>

Verification