
gamlain |
I am running a game where the players are now 14th level and its a well balance group. I wanted to integrate the God's they worship into the game but did not have any good ideas. Have any of you had God's interact with the characters? If so, how did you go about it? My group is trying to save the world and require assistance...
Well, for $.02..
Remember first that because they can otherwise do anything, your gods will be defined by what they /can't/ do.The first rule of that for your purposes is they can't save world for your pcs. You need to know /why/ they can't - and it's probably a good idea to let your PC's know this too.
Divine magic is very powerful, so you'll have to have good reasons - enemies the gods otherwise have to stay constantly engaged with, metaphysical laws even they can't violate (Or the concequences would be apocalyptic), or perhaps they can't actually physically exist in the mortal world without extreme circumstances - maybe your gods are a will and a dream and the ability to answer clerics properly formulated prayers and nothing else - but have a reason and know what it is.
Second, let the pc's know that they can help - a little. It's not cheating if it's a 'little' (By divine perspective of course. Which can vary a lot. So they have wiggle room).
In typical heroic fantasy though, to get divine help you have to be tested. You have to be worthy and you have to prove it. That typically means a quest, a deed, a sacrifice, or/and an oath. The quest should be difficult, the deed should be suitably epic, the sacrifice should be (For good pcs) something that is a: Theirs and B: not something they can replace. The oath should *meaningfully* limit them.
Ask them to swear not to do something they really like. Or swear *to* do something that will be an increadable chore. Have a wizard or sorcerer give - permanently - one of his favorite spells in exchange for what boon he's going to get, the Rogue to swear off one sort of larceny, the warrior to give up his favorite sword, or maybe take on a vulnerability that mirrors the boon he's getting. The quest should be something serious -Recover an artifact lost decades or centuries ago from some serious monster - a dragon is good. So is a litch, a warlord, or a band of evil, even level NPC adventurers. Restore the lost heir of a fallen kingdom to her throne. That sort of thing.
Let the gods talk - directly - to pcs. Do it through omens, through messengers from their preisthoods, through straight up visitations - in dreams or visions. Play them up - gods are typically gigantic hams, and /very/ focused in their personalities by their 'domain' - but let the pcs know that the gods do in fact have limits that while in some ways 'social' are nevertheless more binding than the limits of pc power.