I am running a campaign where the group is out to save their world! I was planning on capturing their god Ehlonna and wanted to see what would happen to her clerics and worshippers. Also, this would be temporary and wanted to try something I have not in the past. Please send me any all ideas.
Thanks!
How do they plan on capturing the god?
Sorry I did not make myself clear as that occurs from time to time. The bad guys are going to capture the groups God. How would that effect the groups clerics and worshippers?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If she's just imprisoned she still exists... I don't see anything wrong with allowing her clerics to recieve powers. Unless it is some kind of imprisonment that locks said diety up in a void that nothing can breech.
Other problems may arise in that she could lose followers or some other diety may try to exploit the situation.
Or a holy war between the Gods' follwers erupts... You can have all sorts of fun with this. Or a schism in her church and civil war with one faction staying true while the other is manipulated by the evil diety pretending to be her.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ehlonna is the goddess of Forests, Woodlands, Flora, Fauna, and Fertility
You could have all forests, woodlands, flora, and fauna start to die without her, and all creatures become infertile. You could also have something really bad happen the unicorns.
If a god was imprisoned the power from the deity to the clerics and worshipers would have been cut off. However, this cut-off would be temporary. The power vacuum of the gods afterwards would fill in the holes.
The outsiders that serve that god would fill in the role to keep the clerics and followers going, but things would be slightly different. A Draconial would fill in for Sarenrae or Shelyn for a time, but then that would begin to be overridden by another god.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
As far as Pathfinder is concerned, Gods don't have to be "free" (like Rovagug) or even well worshiped (like the Peacock spirit) to grant power.
And seriously, how does one just "capture a god"?
I wouldn't cut off the powers completely. I would have them slowly lose connection over a longer period of time. Maybe an escalating DC every week or month whenever a cleric or inquisitor prepares their spells. Failure means they can't prepare their highest level spells anymore. Reset the DC and continue down to the next highest level until finally, they just can't cast. Maybe something better (or worse) than that?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
You have many, many options. Some of the following could be used;
Nothing changes. This could be because the powers of the god are not completely cut off, or the powers granted by the god do not depend on the god’s corporeal form. Otherwise, alternate power sources could be filling in.
No new spells or powers granted to followers. Simple and effective, the god is cut off and cannot give or recharge spells and abilities.
Only low level powers granted to followers. The god has some degree of power still, either through sheer force of divine willpower, or she isn’t completely sealed off, or has minor deities filling in in her absence doing the best they can, or other powers only sharing a fragment of their own.
Granted spells/powers are unreliable (roll % for failure at activation) The god is sealed off, but the source of her divinity is now unrestricted/unfiltered and hard to handle by mortals. Or she can only sometimes grant the magic when there is a moment of weakness in her bonds.
Grated spells/powers are unpredictable (roll % for alternate effects) The god is sealed off, but the source of her divinity can be accessed by mortals, but is unfiltered and hard to control right. Or is being granted by weird or unfathomable entities that aren’t reliable.
Minor effects plague the world at large. The power of the god helped to shape the world at large, and in her absence, those things she helped create or foster begin to fade or become corrupt.
Major changes sweep the word, strange effects and calamities. As above but more severe.
Massive world shattering changes. The god was integral to the function of reality in some way, and in her absence, the world is falling apart.
A divine call to arms, allied gods grant powers in absent god's stead. Or even grant additional/supplemental powers. The absent god’s allies immediately call to arms all being capable of striking at the group responsible. Other good gods grant powers, give divine inspiration, or even directly communicate and transport any and all willing parties to help free and save the captured god.
Dark gods offer power in return for service/devotion/favors. Opportunistic gods send whispers of power to the followers of the missing god in her absence, in an attempt to twist and corrupt them. They may start with open ended ‘gifts’, and slowly corrupt and entice them with more and more, but at an ever increasing ‘price’.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
And seriously, how does one just "capture a god"?
Ask Zagig, he did it NINE times!!
It is a DM tool so he can have the bad guys do whatever they desire to make the plot move. Not everything is about game mechanics!!
Back in AD&D I recall there being something that made all divine spells up to 3rd level available regardless, but the higher level spells were locked if the cleric could not commune with his deity. I think that would unfairly hamper some characters in a way that you do not intend. So I like some of the ideas that were mentioned.
1. No access to domains during the length of her imprisonment.
2. Standard access to spells and powers but the gap is filled by here powerful servants for a brief period so the cleric is highly motivated to complete the quest quickly.
3. Standard access to spells and powers but the gap is filled by another deity so things could get tricky if not resolved quickly.
Good luck!
Might I suggest rather than a "total" capture of a god, that instead you capture it's main avatar that had a large portion of the god's power channeled into it.
This allows the god to still retain a bit of it's power to provide abilities to their followers, but still locks up much of the deity's power. I would also say that this would have had to of happened outside of the deity's plane.
I'd suggest not revealing precisely how the bad guys capture her. If you do, you're likely to have enterprising players looking to go into the god-capturing business for themselves.
If that happened you'd have all sorts of theologians and philosophers saying that the gods aren't really gods since a mortal bound by conditions at every turn is able to impose conditions on a supposedly transcendent, unconditional force.
Atheism and Taoist-esque philosophies sweep across the land!
I'd suggest not revealing precisely how the bad guys capture her. If you do, you're likely to have enterprising players looking to go into the god-capturing business for themselves.If that happened you'd have all sorts of theologians and philosophers saying that the gods aren't really gods since a mortal bound by conditions at every turn is able to impose conditions on a supposedly transcendent, unconditional force.
Atheism and Taoist-esque philosophies sweep across the land!
Followed by plagues, behemoths, and each god's pet kaiju running loose so the other gods can put an end to talk like that.
That would just make the races want to capture more gods. Maybe push them towards science and awesome weaponry like tactical nukes.
Sorry I did not make myself clear as that occurs from time to time. The bad guys are going to capture the groups God. How would that effect the groups clerics and worshippers?
Just off hand I'd say it takes one to catch one. It happened in Greek myth. Hades captured Persephone and took her to the Underworld. Her mother Demeter let things go south (goddess of agriculture, fertility iirc) and a deal was later struck. Persephone does half the year under, half above. Hence Winter and Summer. This sounds like a high level mythic campaign with long term consequences for the game world (and perhaps other worlds). In a game mythology there's Ksarul... gods did that one too. There are others in mythology too, all via divine perpetrators I believe.
Anyway, the only way, with significant plausibility, to capture and restrain a god is for another to do it. Maybe an artifact with divine power could do it.
In most of the stories there are consequences for the mortal world, depending on the victims portfolio and power. One way to deal with it would be to slow down clerics spell recovery or limit their use of higher level spells. Back in the day, low level spells (1-2 on a 7 level base) were considered to be matters of faith, mid level (level 3-4) ones were from divine intermediaries and high level spells (5-7) came directly from the god. 2E iirc. You could cut them off too, but that might make a rescue problematic.
The Forgotten Realms had something similar to this occur during the Time of Troubles (a time period where all the gods were forced into avatar form and barred from their divine realms).
Waukeen, goddess of wealth, attempted to reclaim her divinity during this time, and struck a deal with the demon lord Graz'zt for passage through his realm. She hoped to travel through his realm and into her own. However, Graz'zt betrayed and imprisoned her. Lliira, the goddess of joy and Waukeen's friend, acted as a temporary granter of spells to Waukeen's faithful while she was imprisoned. It took more than 10 years before Waukeen was finally freed by adventurers, revitalizing her desperate clergy.
And seriously, how does one just "capture a god"?Ask Zagig, he did it NINE times!!
It is a DM tool so he can have the bad guys do whatever they desire to make the plot move. Not everything is about game mechanics!!
Back in AD&D I recall there being something that made all divine spells up to 3rd level available regardless, but the higher level spells were locked if the cleric could not commune with his deity. I think that would unfairly hamper some characters in a way that you do not intend. So I like some of the ideas that were mentioned.
1. No access to domains during the length of her imprisonment.
2. Standard access to spells and powers but the gap is filled by here powerful servants for a brief period so the cleric is highly motivated to complete the quest quickly.
3. Standard access to spells and powers but the gap is filled by another deity so things could get tricky if not resolved quickly.
Good luck!
Zagig did nothing.
1. It was weak demi-gods
2. He was a story piece that predates the rules on gods and so didn't need to adhere to anything (unlike now)"Robilar was not only the first to reach the 13th and bottom level of Gygax's Greyhawk dungeons, but on the way, he was also responsible for freeing nine demi-gods (whom Gygax revived a decade later as some of the first deities of Greyhawk: Iuz, Ralishaz, Trithereon, Erythnul, Olidammara, Heironeous, Celestian, Hextor, and Obad-Hai). Robilar was also the first to enter Gygax's Temple of Elemental Evil, and trashed it from top to bottom, even freeing the demoness Zuggtmoy from her prison at the centre of the Temple. Kuntz later related that Gygax was very dismayed that his masterpiece dungeon had been destroyed by a single adventurer, and as punishment, Gygax had"
Get over it dude! It is a game and it is all a story in the big picture. The original post is about some bad guys needing to capture a god. If that is what they need to do then that is what they need to do and it is done. If the DM needs to explain to you exactly how it happened, then you are an over-reaching player and have your mind wrapped up too much in game mechanics.
Yes, it was a story line as I do not think Gary Gygax actually thought he needed to role the dice to have Zagig succeed. I would not do so either.
As for them being demi-gods, look at that list and you will see that they many were gods and some were demi-gods, but that really does not matter. So, relax, breathe and it will be okay because everyone plays the same game a little bit differently and I was just making a historical game reference and I am well aware that it was 40 years ago and not everything applies as far as the rules are concerned. You will notice that I was making the point that I reiterated here that the DM can and should be able to do what he likes to make the story more interesting and to push the plot along.
Good luck! Good gaming!
Whatever you decide to do, remember that your players are in this to have fun. If they don't know the plot, it would suck to play a cleric and suddenly be without access to divine spells. Even the loss of domain spells, channel, or other granted powers, would be pretty sad.
If you want to capture of a god to have a game-technical impact, make sure that you give your players fair warning.