What if clerics and paladins could use the ascension system to gain the ability to select a secondary and tertiary deity, then switch off between them?
GMs have said before that the mechanical difference between deities is relatively minimal (other than edge cases like a Gosaena cleric living in Icemule or a Phoen paladin who mostly hunts troll warcamps), but this could open up RP of more polytheistic characters who might call upon different patrons depending on the situation.
Examples: Imagine a paladin who calls upon Kai when battling the living, but upon Voln when battling the undead. A cleric who calls upon The Huntress when a feud with enemies is personal, but upon V'tull when it's not. A Jekyll and Hyde type character who calls upon Lorminstra when in a good mood, but upon Marlu when in a bad one.
Could be fun!
LEAFIARA
CLTIDBALL
Re: Multi-deity idea for clerics and paladins
06/01/2021 09:53 PM CDT
Nice!!
I could see Cylnthia having Kuon and Imaera, with a possible dash of Phoen, if this were a thing! :D
~Cylnthia Kythnis Ardenai
~Inquisitor of Kuon
~Rose Guardian, House Sylvanfair
I could see Cylnthia having Kuon and Imaera, with a possible dash of Phoen, if this were a thing! :D
~Cylnthia Kythnis Ardenai
~Inquisitor of Kuon
~Rose Guardian, House Sylvanfair
BURTNETTJ
Re: Multi-deity idea for clerics and paladins
06/02/2021 12:45 AM CDT
>>Could be fun!
I approve this message. :)
I approve this message. :)
KANDOR
Re: Multi-deity idea for clerics and paladins
06/02/2021 12:28 PM CDT
Yes, something like this would be nice -- better yet, even outside of Ascension. I find it pretty remarkable that in most game worlds with a pantheon of gods, religion is still very much monotheistic. You pick one god and devote fully to it, at least as far as game mechanics are concerned, with little consideration for the others. Yet in most polytheistic cultures, each god is addressed for the issues in his or her sphere of influence. The god of the seas is supplicated before (and during) a sea voyage. Failure to do so would be considered unlucky. If this game worked this way, we'd all be making offerings to the gods of the hunt, and maybe the weather (had to say it), each time before we go out.
Granted, priests are different, but though they channel their god's will, they must still acknowledge the influences and overlap between the effects of one god on another (sun and rain gods on the harvest, for example, which impacts the god of the earth or hearth). The priests of the gods or life and death, for example, are not always antagonists and undermining each other's efforts. Yet this is how the game would have us play them. And many of the dark gods just represent a facet of combat instead of a facet of natural life.
Granted, priests are different, but though they channel their god's will, they must still acknowledge the influences and overlap between the effects of one god on another (sun and rain gods on the harvest, for example, which impacts the god of the earth or hearth). The priests of the gods or life and death, for example, are not always antagonists and undermining each other's efforts. Yet this is how the game would have us play them. And many of the dark gods just represent a facet of combat instead of a facet of natural life.
VERIDIOUS2
Re: Multi-deity idea for clerics and paladins
06/28/2021 03:28 PM CDT
So was discussing this on discord today, and really deity switching today I think is a really outdated mechanic in general. I feel like for everyone not a cleric or paladin, deity is primarily RP, and the fact it is so difficult to change and really shouldn't be story wise, is a failure in the system.
Now I completely support a multi-deity system for both clerics and paladins, in fact I think it should probably just be part of the base game and not part of ascension (ascension could improve on it though), put like a daily cooldown or something on switching between them and just let them have fun, but I'd also like to see it much easier to switch deities. Say the only requirement being forsaking your current deity, which would lock you out of it for a time, and then visiting the shrine of the deity you wish to worship and presenting an offering. Could also put like a 6-month overall lockout or something on the switching and make a new simucoin item to expedite it similar to who you can switch societies with a simucoin item.
It's really unfair that many characters are semi-locked into certain deities today due to choices many years ago, that in character we would and DO even choose to worship someone different. Yet we are locked out of any deity-specific items or messaging because the in-game system won't let us fix a mistake. Making this easier would be a very nice QoL change I feel that would only increase Roleplay immersion in the game.
-Player of Vaemyr
Now I completely support a multi-deity system for both clerics and paladins, in fact I think it should probably just be part of the base game and not part of ascension (ascension could improve on it though), put like a daily cooldown or something on switching between them and just let them have fun, but I'd also like to see it much easier to switch deities. Say the only requirement being forsaking your current deity, which would lock you out of it for a time, and then visiting the shrine of the deity you wish to worship and presenting an offering. Could also put like a 6-month overall lockout or something on the switching and make a new simucoin item to expedite it similar to who you can switch societies with a simucoin item.
It's really unfair that many characters are semi-locked into certain deities today due to choices many years ago, that in character we would and DO even choose to worship someone different. Yet we are locked out of any deity-specific items or messaging because the in-game system won't let us fix a mistake. Making this easier would be a very nice QoL change I feel that would only increase Roleplay immersion in the game.
-Player of Vaemyr
