Holy Symbols

[Gwiber]

Divine Focus (DF)

A divine focus component is an item of spiritual significance. The divine focus for a cleric or a paladin is a holy symbol appropriate to the character's faith. The divine focus for a druid or a ranger is a sprig of holly, or some other sacred plant.

In the case I am discussing, the group is all too evil, and there is a Cleric.

The party follows Szuriel, is there a functional mechnical reason he cant use his blackened greatsword, and his (very pale skin) hand to present the weapon as a divine focus while casting? (Or even just wear a white glove on both hands?)

Szuriel's holy symbol: Pale hand and black sword

[Goth Guru]

A blackened iron pendant with an ivory hand inset.
This facilitates hiding it in his shirt.

[Rub-Eta]

A Divine Focus is an item that you can hold, a neckless or sometimes a tatto. Can't use your hand and a sword as one. Though maybe you could get the hilt to count as one.

[Kjeldor]

You could get the birthmark trait to have a holy symbol that appears to be a pale hand holding a black sword on your pale hand that is holding a black sword...

Divine Focus-ception.

[lemeres]

Could you fake your holy symbol, giving it traits of a different one?

I mean...gorum's holy symbol is a sword in a mountain. What if you have a black sword in a mountain with a pale hand on it? Or if the mountain/rock looks like a stylized hand?

Are there actual rules for deceptive holy symbols?

[Gwiber]

This Szuriel Cleric is about to head into Rahadoum (sp?) where they absolutely HATE Clerics and divine casters.

And they WILL search him for symbology, I was just wondering if he can get away with using his greatsword and unnatural skin tone as his holy
symbol so he doesn't have anything obvious about him.

Last thing he needs is someone trying to kill him for being a Cleric. Being an agent of the Horseman of War is bad enough if they find that out.

[Qaianna]

I'm inclined a bit towards 'no' but that's more from a game mechanics point of view: an unholy symbol has a cost and other stuff attached to it separate from other things.

There should be spells or other useful smuggling things to do to sneak something like that in. It could be a very interesting approach to see how you hide it.

I think that's why I'd nix the idea of just using 'normal' things to replicate a symbol. Plus you'd have to define rules on whether you have your symbol after visiting the tanning salon. Just sneak it in like all the other priests do. (Maybe bully a few of them for suggestions? Or present yourself as pro-god and trick them into helping?)

[Rathendar]

Reliquary weapon it?