Continuing on with the development of the next step in my campaign I've decided to go with the Kraken as the creature being worshipped by two tribes of monsterous humanoids who have lived near one another for years with only mild skirmishes.
My need for advice is such:
Is is plausable/believable that these two tribes have only recently discovered that they both revere the same creature/god and as such have both decided to turn thier faith elsewhere hoping to find a diety who doesn't play both sides.
If so is it also reasonable then to hope that the PCs can re-establish the worship of this creature with both tribes if not create a peace between them?
Thoughts
How believable it is entirely depends on how seriously the kraken was worshiped by the tribes.
If it was really just a totem, or figurehead, or cultural window dressing, sure. Finding out it isn't unique might let you lose focus.
If it's actually a sincerely held religious belief in a similar vein to what we consider sincerely held religious beliefs in the real world, it's not believable. They're much more likely to reinterpret their religion to incorporate other worshipers, deny the other tribe worships the kraken, or try to kill the other tribe as heretics.
Recall that those religions which gave a date for doomsday prophecies kept chugging along after the date came and went. Consider how much of religions are taken figuratively by people whose modern culture conflicts with a traditional interpretation.
If you're going to do religion and have it believable, it's not that easy to shake.
On the other hand, in a multi-god environment like the standard setting, unless the gods do something when you switch, it's possible god-shopping can be purely transactional rather than faith-based. If you want to play it that way, you should probably put some scenes into establishing that, so your players bring the right mental concepts to bear.
All good points Ximen Bao.
Basically I am just trying to establish a credible reason for these two tribes to have engaged in such a heated conflict that they no longer offer sacrafice and tribute to this god like creature.
They could have just percieved it as a figure head of thier god or such, but what I am hoping to do is allow the PCs the opportunity to negotiate enough peace between the two that they resume paying tribute to the kraken.
The "god shopping" would go over far better if you had an outside force as a "salesman." Have the god's traditional enemy tell them the truth about the two tribes, but have them not believe it. Once they realize it WAS the truth, and let the enemy capitalize on the sense of betrayal.
Whether this message was told for altruistic reason....wait, we are talking about cults. Have it be a demon that calls for human sacrifices of enemies. Have it use them as side dishes. Have it turn them into decorative art. If Raiders of the Lost Ark has taught me anything: we like seeing the the 'bad guys' fall face horrible consequences because they blindly followed a certain belief. Let the players enjoy the cult having the monsters' faces melted off.
The "god shopping" would go over far better if you had an outside force as a "salesman." Have the god's traditional enemy tell them the truth about the two tribes, but have them not believe it. Once they realize it WAS the truth, and let the enemy capitalize on the sense of betrayal.
Whether this message was told for altruistic reason....wait, we are talking about cults. Have it be a demon that calls for human sacrifices of enemies. Have it use them as side dishes. Have it turn them into decorative art. If Raiders of the Lost Ark has taught me anything: we like seeing the the 'bad guys' fall face horrible consequences because they blindly followed a certain belief. Let the players enjoy the cult having their faces melted off.
I thought about having an aboleth enter the area to sway worship away, but am really trying to create a scenario where the PCs have to do more diplomatic heroics that combat based...
but perhaps there is a way to do that still.....open to thoughts.
This is kind of a weird plotline.
Do the two tribes really hate each other? They would normally have to in order to break faith with their god just because their god is worshipped by the other group.
If a cleric was calling on this god to do something terrible to the other tribe, and the god wouldn't, then he might look elsewhere. Or other gods might have been working on subverting these tribes from their kraken-worship.
But here's the real question: is this god a Kraken-god, a sort of god of the sea, or is it just a kraken that this bunch of savages are worshipping because it is real scary?
The PCs motivation seems a little shaky here. Do the PCs worship the Kraken god? If not why do they care that the tribes no longer worship it? If I was playing a cleric I would see this as a prime opportunity to convert them to the religion of MY god.
Here's one potential angle: an evil, possibly minor, trickster/war god (or possibly a demon or devil) is trying to disrupt the kraken-worship because he wants the tribes to fight. For his own amusement, or whatever. He has approached the two different tribes in different guises, pretending to be two different gods, one for tribe A and one for tribe B. He promises the priests power and glory if they will convert and make war on the other tribe. Part of what the PCs have to eventually do is reveal the two "new" gods worshipped by the tribes are actually the same being, revealing its treacherous nature to everyone.
Peet
All good points Ximen Bao.
Basically I am just trying to establish a credible reason for these two tribes to have engaged in such a heated conflict that they no longer offer sacrafice and tribute to this god like creature.
They could have just percieved it as a figure head of thier god or such, but what I am hoping to do is allow the PCs the opportunity to negotiate enough peace between the two that they resume paying tribute to the kraken.
I understand this is slightly different than your request, but if it was me, I'd have the tribes interpret the slightly different worship practices as blasphemy/heresy, and start a holy war in the name of the kraken to honor him.
The irony being the kraken wants them both to settle down because the resources spent on the war are cutting into the tributes, and risks one or both tribes being destroyed and losing those tributes entirely.
The party then has a few options to solve it, ranging from conquering both tribes themselves to taking the leaders of the tribe on a danger-filled quest to see the kraken for personal-revelations and religious standardizations, to convincing the tribe leaders that war is bad for the tribe and paying off/coercing/replacing the priests so they don't stand in the way of pragmatism.
This is kind of a weird plotline.
Do the two tribes really hate each other? They would normally have to in order to break faith with their god just because their god is worshipped by the other group.
If a cleric was calling on this god to do something terrible to the other tribe, and the god wouldn't, then he might look elsewhere. Or other gods might have been working on subverting these tribes from their kraken-worship.
But here's the real question: is this god a Kraken-god, a sort of god of the sea, or is it just a kraken that this bunch of savages are worshipping because it is real scary?
The PCs motivation seems a little shaky here. Do the PCs worship the Kraken god? If not why do they care that the tribes no longer worship it? If I was playing a cleric I would see this as a prime opportunity to convert them to the religion of MY god.
Here's one potential angle: an evil, possibly minor, trickster/war god (or possibly a demon or devil) is trying to disrupt the kraken-worship because he wants the tribes to fight. For his own amusement, or whatever. He has approached the two different tribes in different guises, pretending to be two different gods, one for tribe A and one for tribe B. He promises the priests power and glory if they will convert and make war on the other tribe. Part of what the PCs have to eventually do is reveal the two "new" gods worshipped by the tribes are actually the same being, revealing its treacherous nature to everyone.
Peet
Peet the PCs encounter the Kraken who is really just a scary kraken while searching for an item. The Kraken who is currently beyond the PCs power to destroy offers said item in exchange for the service of getting said tribes back to paying thier tribute to him.
The PCs have to run with it from there, but I want to establish enough backstory for them to have a reasonable chance of getting the tribes settled....which will ultimately have some long lasting effects they may come back to haunt the PCs depending on how they do things.
So after much feedback spread over several threads here is what I've decided to do for those that might care/have provided input.
The PCs will track the item they need to a coastal cave where they will (failing will saves) encounter an aquatic elven prince (aboleth if they pass will saves) who offers them the item in exchange for negotiating peace between to tribes.
The aboleth has only recently been recieving tribute from a weak tribe of orcs, but now a group of bugbears is raiding them taking the tribute intended for the aboleth.
He (prince/aboleth) wants to the PCs to negotiate peace between the tribes and then get the leaders to follow them back to his cave where he will pay the PCs and send them on thier way while dominating the tribal leaders to further build his future empire.
Thoughts?