Question - Deity for a 'Priest of Experience'

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:00 pm

Now, I know this is just going to lead to a whole bundle of jokes, but I had a question. I'm currently playing a halfling bardic character (ps - to the DMs - great job you guys are doing. This world is without question one of the funnest gaming experiences I've ever had!) whose goal in life is to do *everything* and see *everything* - and he's finding it taking on a religious significance. So he's going to multiclass as a priest, but I'm not sure what deity to take (and, for that matter, whether there are requirements ic to become a priest of any given deity). I've considered that perhaps Ptah (that at least takes care of *see* everything), or Dagath (Life cult - i.e. celebrate life), or perhaps Mikon (everything is part of Mikon?). Originally thought Vorin would be close, but upon further inspection they're more interested in pure knowledge, though I suppose if I wrote books...

Any ideas?

Also, does the 'deity' field in the character creation screen DO anything? I'd put Vorin, but as noted in this message I may need to change it...

j5hale3 · Post by **j5hale3** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 1:36 pm

To answer your question about the diety field:

Certain NPC's will "check" the field and if it is a match, you may get different conversation paths, but you definately will be able to buy diety specific items (mostly robes and such)

Unfortnately, you can't normally edit this field.

Best regards,

J5hale3

Aloro · Post by **Aloro** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 3:13 pm

Forian - God of Doing Whatever That Last Thing You Just Mentioned Was.

- Aloro

p.s. Forian would be perfect, seriously, and he needs clerics, too. Chaotic Neutral sound ok?

Post by **Nighthawk4** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:07 pm

I think you have to choose a Deity if you are a Cleric. For multi-class, I think you would still have to do so. However you cannot edit your character's Deity field - unless the Powers-that-be will use Leto, or let you do so. They are probably too busy for the first (and I think it would have to be Orleron who did so) and they might not trust anyone to edit their character file and send it in to them. Leto is a bit too powerful and tempting for that.

Therefore, I think you have to choose a Deity for your Cleric and just Roleplay it. As a Halfling, I suggest you choose Berryn

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:10 pm

Well, I'm CG, with quite a bit of chaotic in me. *grins* But I suppose I could let my alignment slip - maybe I'll be good for the first half of my adventuring career and evil for the second half.

But I don't know... somehow CG is just better for pure hedonism. I mean, look at the death plane (the plane of Passion and Parties!)

Aloro · Post by **Aloro** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:15 pm

OK, for Chaotic Good there are two excellent choices: Berryn surely does work, as would Dru'El. If you happen to choose Dru'El, look my character Cha'reth up - he's the ranking PC priest of Dru'El and Speaker for the Hands of Dru'El. I'd be happy to talk to you more about the church if you're interested.

And yes, if I were your character, I would remain CG. Arborea is a hell of a lot nicer than Limbo, even the new Limbo I'm currently working on.

- Aloro

p.s. Clerics need to follow their god's alignment... but Forian really really does work for hedonism. Just because you want to have a good time doesn't mean you give a rat's ass about anyone else... you can if you want, don't have to if you don't want... here's a snippet from the description of Forian's beliefs:

We are created into this life not for any purpose. There is nowhere to go, and nothing to do. We are already there. Where are we, one may ask? Here. Now. There is no journey. There is no goal. Everything that matters is right here, right now.

So now what? If enlightenment is a crock, what do we do?

The answer is very simple. We do whatever feels right in the moment. When a bird flies through the morning air chirping, it doesn't worry about whether it SHOULD be chirping, or WHY it is flying. It simply chirps, and flies. If at the end of that chirping flight he nets himself a nice juicy worm, he does not reflect on all that flying and chirping he just did. He eats the worm as if the flying part never happened. Then he takes off again and looks for another worm, never contemplating his recent meal.

People spend too much time worrying about what they have done, or what they will do. They never see where they are, or what they are doing NOW. Even the ones who DO concentrate on the moment often spend a lot of time trying to categorize it or judge it. "Is this the right thing to do?" "How will this effect me down the road?" That's dire bear shit.

Well, food for thought.

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:20 pm

Would either of those deities work as far as 'experiencing things', though? Which would be more appropriate? The problem is that it seems like the mythos here isn't *incredibly* well developed outside of the major alignment gods, some of whom there still isn't that much detail on, though part of that might just be that I've confined myself to Mikona thus far.

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:24 pm

*grins* Nice description of Forian... tempting. I'll have to think about it. Might need to go have a look at the alignment descriptions again - I've found pnp that CN is incredibly hard to play.

Aloro · Post by **Aloro** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 4:44 pm

In terms of "experiencing things", all 3 of the listed deities could work.

Forian - "Change is good!"
Dru'El - "Life is to be savored, especially the good things."
Berryn - "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"

OK, that was a feeble attempt to encapsulate their beliefs in one line each. Forget it, it doesn't really work.

- Aloro

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 5:32 pm

Thanks for the advice - I'll give it some thought (better do so soon - probably will level tonight!)

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:07 pm

Wait - the pantheon information suggests that Berryn's worshippers need to be NG?

Jordicus · Post by **Jordicus** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:19 pm

not necessarily... Berryn herself is NG so overall the Church of Berryn would be NG, but could also be CG or LG.

But Berryn's main focus is Renewal & Beginnings (Morning & Spring) so I'm not sure how that goes along with your characters goals. If anything Vorin (Vorin, N, Any, Knowledge and Information) would seem to fit as well as the other suggestions earlier.

Not to be discouraging or anything, but based on what I read earlier, this is a character that you already have created? Did you leave the diety field blank? If so, there is no real way to have a diety put in after the fact, unless yoiu want to start the character over. The only ones who could actually change the diety field would be either Silk or Orleron and they have lots of things that are way more priority than manually editing diferent character files.

Sindol · Post by **Sindol** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:20 pm

No the pantheon information only suggests that Berryn herself is NG in her teachings. According to the 3rd edition PHB a cleric of a deity can diverge from his gods alignment by one degree.

Also you can find this:

Many halflings diverge from the norm. A secondary trait among the race is that of wanderlust.

So a halfling cleric of Berryn, found outside the home country would be "suffering" from this wanderlust thing and could thus easily be a bit more chaotic in his perception of the world (not wanting to stay in one place, like a good halfling is supposed to... sounds chaotic to me).

If you want to play a halfling cleric of Berryn, I suggest you also contact Jordicus (the player, not the character) and ask him to arrange a meeting with his character Diego, the only existing cleric of Berryn I am aware of (among PCs). Two clerics of the same religion, especially of such a relatively small religion should at least know eachother's points of view, even if they choose not to agree on some subjects.

Post by **Nighthawk4** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:23 pm

Jordicus wrote:not necessarily... Berryn herself is NG so overall the Church of Berryn would be NG, but could also be CG or LG.

But Berryn's main focus is Renewal & Beginnings (Morning & Spring) so I'm not sure how that goes along with your characters goals. If anything Vorin (Vorin, N, Any, Knowledge and Information) would seem to fit as well as the other suggestions earlier.

But if the character is moving on to a new path, i.e. becoming multi-class - isn't this a 'Renewal and Beginning'? - suggesting Berryn.

Jordicus · Post by **Jordicus** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:26 pm

ah.. Diego.. I definitely need to get back to developinng him more. I can't figure out these players who have 3 or 4 characters that they play regularly.... How can they develop each of them adequetly? I can barely spend enough time with my main character and occasionaly my alt...

Of course setting up a new guild and spending lots of time in the toolset doesn't help either.

Here is how I have formulated the basic tenants of Berryn (as approved by Orleron)

Since Berryn is NG, her basic philosophy would be the same as O'ma: serving the Greater Good

As the Daughter of Gorethar, there would be a respect for Gorethar and his followers and philosophies (LG) as well.

Since her main focuses are Morning & Spring, the underlying theme of Berryn would be Renewal & Beginings (this would correspond to the comments from the Cleric stationed at the shrine of Berryn in Le'or as well. now if only I could find that roaming Cleric of Berryn again!!!)

As a creator, Berryn allowed her halflings to choose their own path so there is no restrictions to alignment. A Cleric of Berryn would have to be a Good alignment, but not necessarily a NG. That would be the majority of the clergy of Berryn but there would be a smattering of LG and CG as well, correlating with the variety of the populace of Ferrel. The NG clergy would tend to stay in their respective locations (the halfling comfort zone theory) while the CG would roam and the LG would be the religious lawkeepers/militants

Hopefully that will give you a little more insight into Berryn. It's not doctrine, just my formulation based on knowledge of the Gods and Halfling culture and how the alignments work.

Jordicus · Post by **Jordicus** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:32 pm

Nighthawk4 wrote:But if the character is moving on to a new path, i.e. becoming multi-class - isn't this a 'Renewal and Beginning'? - suggesting Berryn.

yes, i would agree there... but in my opinion the "go out and find new things in the world" is more typical of non-cleric, adventuring types. A cleric has a strong founding in his faith, even if he is just coming into it for the first time. Once he takes the steps to enter the priesthood, his focus changes from what it was to what his god/goddess desires.

Of all the choices that have been mentioned here, frankly Ptah seems the best choice to me. Ptah's focus is travel, so even his clerics would concentrate on travel and being in new places and seeing new things. And as I also said, Vorin would seem a likely candidate as well as the god of General Knowledge and Information.

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 10:47 pm

*grins* This is fun.

Yes, this character is already created, with 'Vorin' in the diety field, though as was previously mentioned, I can just go ahead and ignore that if I want.

The idea isn't that this 'lil halfling is 'just going out and seeing stuff' - otherwise, a pure bard would be a much better fit as a class. He's brought 'experiencing things' to an almost religious significance - with the only real caveat being that he's not in that much of a hurry to experience death. He wishes to go out and proseletyze amongst the populace, to get folks out and seeing the world. And looking death in the face and spitting at it (though admittedly probably running quite quickly at that point).

In fact, Berryn might work *extremely* well, now that I think about it, from the point of view that those sedentary types sometimes need a right kick in the behind. But Jordicus, of course, is likely a good arbiter on how he sees that as fitting...

*grins* Well, if I'm allowed to diverge by one alignment category then I could go back to the CN god as well.

Any further ideas? I must be off but I'm leaving off taking my level (to become 2nd bard/1st cleric) until after I decide this so I can make appropriate sphere choices.

Jordicus · Post by **Jordicus** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 11:03 pm

well, as I have said to many others, every cleric has their own unique approach to life and how they server their diety.

For me, Diego has been called by Berryn to leave Ferrell and come to Elysia and the surrounding areas. He is still not quite sure what Berryn wants him to do, but he came and is trying to figure it out. His goal is to bring renewal to all he comes in contact with, and he is slowly getting the feeling that the carefree, adventuring, rough halflings that he comes into contact with, ARE the reason he was called to leave Ferrell. But that is a place far down the road yet...

If you think that your bard/cleric with his religious zeal for new experiences, will fit well with Berryn's philosphy of Renewal and Rebirth, then go for it! Diego would love to meet you and share some of his thoughts. We also have a priest of Berryn located in the temple district of Le'or.

Still think Vorin or Ptah is a good choice though...

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 1:10 am

Allright, think I've decided to go with Forian now that I've realized I don't need to be CN. Thanks for the advice, though, folks!

Aloro · Post by **Aloro** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:03 am

It's best if a cleric is the same alignment as his or her deity. Some gods are tolerant of priests who differ by a bit, some are less tolerant. Forian is the kind of God who likely won't give a shit.

I'd advise you to submit a request to join the clerics forum as soon as possible. There's some good info there that clerics in Avlis should know about the gods and their churches.

- Aloro

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 2:28 pm

Will do... but ... er... how on earth do I do that? Where does such a request go?

Hortis · Post by **Hortis** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 2:32 pm

(note - I would have just messaged the moderator of that forum, but, well, there is no mod!)

Jordicus · Post by **Jordicus** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 3:01 pm

click up top under the Avlis header where it says "Usergroups" then find the group you wish to belong to and then click "Join Group".

once you have been checked to see if you qualify, you will receive and email telling you that you have been accepted.

Sindol · Post by **Sindol** » Tue Jun 10, 2003 3:03 pm

In case you get no response for a while (shouldn't happen): the moderator is Orleron himself.