I am sure this has been suggested many times before but am wondering to what extent, how it was regarded and what resulted of the discussions? The ALIGNMENT issue
is apparent to D and D from its origins and we all know from tabletop or cpu games that CLERICS usually have a GOOD, NEUTRAL or EVIL status with CHAOTIC, etc.
What occurred to me from a conversation in TSC when a player asked if a corpse could be raised in the shadows was that a CLERIC can resemble a Nectromancer or Sorcerer to some degree if it was instated with a CLERIC sort of flavor. Sorcerers really will play with the dead more than a CLERIC will but there can be a much darker side to a Priest and I'm wondering how it can be implemented if it was ever something agreed would add to the game?
If a CLERIC sets their alignment to EVIL then spellcasts could be darker, the effects of RAISE DEAD would manifest slightly different, there will be different possibilities for the inflections of their spells. It could definitely alter the gameplay in a way which would be an option for roleplay which could open up some doors. A dark priest for example would be more comfortable in Sheru and perhaps have +10's for bonuses or something whereas going to a place like Spectral Miners might give them a loss (since the critters are not inherently evil themselves but undead wanting to be freed...).
We can say they already can with worship of select deities but it's not a difference in the routine actions of the character with that. It could definitely enhance the way a God is worshipped. It might make some interesting changes possible for making gems with spells.
HIPPO-GRANDE
KANDOR
Re: Alignment
11/13/2016 12:51 PM CST
The concept of turn/destroy (good) vs. rebuke/command (evil) is a central theme for clerics in D&D. In most AD&D rulesets, a cleric who worships a certain deity undergoes a significant class transformation: he can use a greater or lesser range of weapons and armor, loses the ability to learn certain spells and adds others (or they have different effects). Usually priests of evil deities can't raise the dead at all, because this would conflict with the aims of their faith. Some can't heal, either. It's true that evil clerics in D&D are more or less like necromancers, because they command undead. Here, evil clerics don't command undead but they forego their ability to harm the undead and instead harm the living.
In GS4, sorcery and necromancy are basically conflated, which is pretty weird because sorcerers were originally channelers or "masters of mana" than anything else. Blood burst, eye spy, and limb disruption are more about mutilation than necromancy. Implosion, disintegrate, dark catalyst, etc. are about harnessing and manipulating mana. Sorcerers just had the best gory messaging, and after players took up the idea the profession sort of evolved over time.
Alignment is closely related to religion because both involve a tolerance of certain kinds of conduct. Evil characters are expected not to act good; clerics who follow a god of battle are chastened for retreating from battle, etc. Eventually a pattern of defying expectation might result in loss of cleric powers, or alignment change, and alignment change may result in loss of professional abilities. I suspect alignment in GS4 might be overkill, but there is room to make clerics of different faiths more fundamentally different - not just bane or smite, or what kinds of crit tables or messaging you get on certain spells. Granted, it's come a long way from where it used to be.
There are shrines and temples scattered around, but very few of them have members-only areas. There aren't many things that would induce people to use them, but I think each deity should have certain skills that are boosted for adherents, and praying at the correct shrine is the only way to periodically renew these. Certain alchemy recipes could be restricted to certain faiths or, marginally, some faiths can make better recipes than others. There are probably a number of factors that could play into this. Every once in awhile, someone asks why a priest of Arachne wouldn't just go and hang out in the Spider Temple with his fellows, or a priest of Sheru wouldn't do the same in the Sheruvian Temple. Or, why not have bonuses or penalties against similarly-converted critters. I think it takes conversion/religion a bit further along than it is now, and there are other professions in the game that may need change first, but it's an idea with a lot of potential.
In GS4, sorcery and necromancy are basically conflated, which is pretty weird because sorcerers were originally channelers or "masters of mana" than anything else. Blood burst, eye spy, and limb disruption are more about mutilation than necromancy. Implosion, disintegrate, dark catalyst, etc. are about harnessing and manipulating mana. Sorcerers just had the best gory messaging, and after players took up the idea the profession sort of evolved over time.
Alignment is closely related to religion because both involve a tolerance of certain kinds of conduct. Evil characters are expected not to act good; clerics who follow a god of battle are chastened for retreating from battle, etc. Eventually a pattern of defying expectation might result in loss of cleric powers, or alignment change, and alignment change may result in loss of professional abilities. I suspect alignment in GS4 might be overkill, but there is room to make clerics of different faiths more fundamentally different - not just bane or smite, or what kinds of crit tables or messaging you get on certain spells. Granted, it's come a long way from where it used to be.
There are shrines and temples scattered around, but very few of them have members-only areas. There aren't many things that would induce people to use them, but I think each deity should have certain skills that are boosted for adherents, and praying at the correct shrine is the only way to periodically renew these. Certain alchemy recipes could be restricted to certain faiths or, marginally, some faiths can make better recipes than others. There are probably a number of factors that could play into this. Every once in awhile, someone asks why a priest of Arachne wouldn't just go and hang out in the Spider Temple with his fellows, or a priest of Sheru wouldn't do the same in the Sheruvian Temple. Or, why not have bonuses or penalties against similarly-converted critters. I think it takes conversion/religion a bit further along than it is now, and there are other professions in the game that may need change first, but it's an idea with a lot of potential.
