| Kiba Kurokage |
I'm starting to branch out from module play into homebrew things, and I was looking at trying to make some custom gods that weren't overly powerful, and a way to outline players to have an idea of what guidelines there would be if they wanted to make their own as well. Does anyone have any idea about this? I'm hoping I won't have to sit down and manually crunch the numbers myself...
But I was starting to look at the following:
How many domains and subdomains each god has(pretty easy to put together)
Favored weapons
Ease of completion of a deific obedience compared to the power of the bonuses given
Divine Fighting Techniques
Unique spell rules
Strength and type of magic items tied to them
And the Strength of the three branches of Obedience boons.
Which is a lot to go through, and why I'm hoping there's some guidance that I missed on creating them.
| Dasrak |
But I was starting to look at the following:
How many domains and subdomains each god has(pretty easy to put together)
The standard in Pathfinder is that each deity has 5 domains and 6 subdomains. If they have an alignment, then they must have the corresponding domain. Demigods (such as empyreal lords, demon lords, or archdevils) have 4 domains and 4 subdomains.
Favored weapons
In general, any Martial weapon is fine. I'd avoid Simple or Exotic weapons, but they are justifiable in some circumstances. Just be mindful that some exotic weapons are just better versions of martial weapons (katana is a better longsword)
Ease of completion of a deific obedience compared to the power of the bonuses given
Divine Fighting Techniques
I wouldn't bother with these. It's very rare they actually come up. If you feel it would help your worldbuilding then there's no harm in it, but you're probably better off focusing your creative energies elsewhere.
| Mysterious Stranger |
The things to get down first will be Alignment, Domains, and Favored Weapon. Those will be the things that players need to create a character that follows the deity. Not all deities will have divine obedience’s, fighting style or unique spell rules. After the first three things you need to flesh out what the ideals and teachings of the deity are. Things like code of conducts, and the role the deity has in society. What are the allies and enemies of the deity? What does the deity expect of their followers, and what do they consider a sin?
After you have that is the time to focus on the more exotic aspects of the deity.
| Tim Emrick |
I've been playing PF 1E for roughly a decade. As both a player and a GM, I've yet to have a character with Deific Obedience (though my PFS warpriest will take it in a couple more levels, if she ever sees play again). And I've never bothered picking up whatever book divine fighting styles are in, despite playing a number of devout characters over the years.
Focus on the kinds of details that are given in the CRB and APG (domains, subdomains, alignment, favored weapon). All the rest is optional--and, I'll point out, is the product of many designers working over several years, in a shared world already rich in lore. Nobody expects you to build all of that right out of the gate for a homebrew game! If one of your players wants to explore that stuff with their character, work with them to build it. Otherwise, it's effort better spent on other parts of your world.
Even in my most ambitious homebrew setting, I only went one step beyond the basics I listed above: I worked out religion background traits for most of my gods, but I cribbed around 90% of them from Paizo sources rather than make them all up from scratch.
| Mysterious Stranger |
One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t really need all the details of all the goods right away. Focus on developing the deities the players are more likely to worship or follow first. Get the details the players need to if they are playing a divine powered character and the social aspect, I mention my first post.
For the other deities create an outline of the deity focusing mainly on the social and cultural aspect. Don’t bother defining more than alignment in game terms. Leave the rest of the game mechanics for latter. When you are ready for the deity to come into play you can flesh out those details. This is going to give you more flexibility in creating adventures. Now when you need a religion with specific game mechanics you can simply use the most appropriate deity and give its followers the game mechanics that make sense.
You may need to flush out some of the opposing religions if any of the ones the players are following are in rivals, but those on the sidelines can wait until they are needed.