dave2008
Legend
From Deities and their faithful (dragon #97):Yeah, I don't remember the specifics, but I do recall that a god got mana both from actual worshipers and from creatures of its alignment. It was a sort of two-channel affair. Although maybe that second channel was only open to higher status deities. It's been a while.
"Various and sundry statistics are given for deities, but let us make a basic assumption. Their power comes from those who believe in them; without followers, any deity is consigned to operations on some other plane of existence, without the means to touch upon the Prime Material. Such deities have no immediate interest to us, since they do not fall within the current scope of the game. Thus, we are interested only in deities with followers dwelling on the Prime Material Plane of the campaign. These faithful give the various deities power. Of course, this idea is not new. It has been put forth often by others, whether seriously or as a device of literature. It serves as an excellent game device as well.
So. . . each deity draws strength and power from those mortals who believe. The power gained is determined thus:
1,000 believers = 1 hit point
1,000 of same alignment = 1 power point
Hit points apply only on the plane on which the believers dwell. All faithful on all planes then combine to determine the strength of the deity on the “home” plane inhabited. For example, a neutral good deity will be weak on planes where evil rules, for there will be few, if any, followers of that deity in such a place.
Power points are the stuff from which all deities of the same alignment draw to use their spell-like powers, issue and enforce commands, and perform other abilities they may have. "
It goes on fore several more paragraphs (and to another page), but this seemed to be the relevant bit for this discussion.