|
I just wanted to throw on the table an idea I've been toying with for awhile now. It's a little complicated to explain, but I'll keep it as simple as possible for clarity's sake. A campaign setting where two rival pantheons of gods do battle for dominance.
The reason for the gods war is simple, in order to hold influence over the world you must have worshipers. So having a rival within the same sphere of influence (Death, agriculture, war) lowers your direct power on the mortal world. In-fact it goes one step further, if someone even worships a unrelated god from the opposing side your power and influence still drops. The gods have a motivation for not liking the other side, but what about their worshipers.
So here's my conundrum how would two good characters (lets say a PC to a NPC) who worship rival deities react to each other?
I keep coming back to the same idea, they wouldn't like each other at all. In essence they would argue about each others god killing the others god or at very least accuse said god of stealing a portion of his gods power. It could even cause the two characters to come to blows. Now, could this cause the traditional view of good verses evil to go all topsy turvy? Good vs. Good and evil vs. evil, or am I over-thinking it? Maybe the two characters in question would just agree to disagree, but it feels like there's to much at stake to do so.
So finally here's my final questions to my fellow Paizonites. Should I go for it? Should I purposely flip tradition the middle finger and make a world where the party's paladin must fight good people with just as much vigor as he would evil doers? Or am I forcing the players to take sides unfairly, I mean what if they just want everyone to get along? Could and should I make the situation even worse by heavily suggesting (evil grin), that if the other pantheon wins then your chance for a happy afterlife is lost, and you become a lost soul wandering in the void, or perhaps a undead monster, or your soul is simply destroyed upon your death? Should I force the PC's to take a side, actually writing down the pantheon they side with on their character sheets right next to their alignment? What say you yea or nay?
Nothing says a Paladin can't fight good people in the regular game. Alignments aren't monolithic groups where everybody who shares a descriptor gets along and pursues the exact same goals. By the same token, just because you don't share an alignment doesn't mean you can't get along.
Same goes with gods.
This is a much ado about nothing.
|
|
Nothing says a Paladin can't fight good people in the regular game. Alignments aren't monolithic groups where everybody who shares a descriptor gets along and pursues the exact same goals. By the same token, just because you don't share an alignment doesn't mean you can't get along.
Same goes with gods.
This is a much ado about nothing.
Interesting but I don't agree. The nature of good is to preserve life first and foremost, unless the life is completely corrupt. You wouldn't kill another good person even if you don't get along with them in real life. What about laws? Would it be legal to kill someone of a rival faith? Are the PC's in your games just killing everyone they run into willy nilly, with no morale repercussions. No I doubt they are. There is a lot more to this then you're giving it credit for.
There is a lot more to this then you're giving it credit for.
Or your posing your subjective opinion as fact. That tends to happen with alignment.
As far as the original question goes, it doesn't really break traditions for me personally if good can fight good and good can work with evil. I just wouldn't make it the center of the game and make all decisions surround it in a group with both factions in it, that might make things a little unreasonable.
|
|
There is a lot more to this then you're giving it credit for.Or your posing your subjective opinion as fact. That tends to happen with alignment.
Wasn't my intention (so put the guns away), perhaps I assumed to much by taking the disregarding nature of Zhayne's post personal.
But, I don't think its a long shot to assume that most games (mind you not all) good vs evil is a common theme. Good vs good that could develop into whole scale wars (and evil vs evil by proxy, even if that is more common anyway) as a central and prevalent theme, seems to rarer. I can't help but feel a lot more is at stake here, but perhaps it's too heavy handed. Two post so far seem to regard it as either a pointless idea or to aggressive.