Topic: "Prayer"

[Prince Finnion]

RM1, pg 28 has a Closed Channeling list called Ceremonies.  As GM I added this list to the Paladin, Cleric, and Cultist base lists. 

Level 1 spell is "Prayer" which says, "Gives caster peace of mind, clarity of purpose, and Communion with Deity.

I require the use of this spell for power point recovery and because of the devotion to religion. 

In the past I've had two players, both as paladins, roll to cast prayer and get open ended rolls.  In most cases I, and I'm sure most GMs, would not care because it doesn't affect the spell effect.  However, I had the idea that the roll is required for the spell to succeed or not, but I have them add the Intuition bonus to influence the actual prayer.

For example, a daily prayer of devotion alone would not grant the player anything other than it's deity's approval or "favor", but if the player is seeking guidance (looking for a sign) or asking for help in some way.

I also use the player level.  A level 1 cleric would not show up on god's radar the way a level 15 cleric will.

I'm thinking of using a sliding scale, which I have to somehow invent, something like The Old Republic MMO did with dark side and light side force points.  Their scale was basically 1-3 points assigned to the decisions you were offered.  This would be much harder in this type of "free will" system that doesn't use Alignment.

Has anyone else tried this?  Any ideas or criticisms welcome.  I'm open to input.

[Ginger McMurray]

You'd have to be super careful not to step on the toes of other classes and higher level spells.

What happens if a cleric is out of PP and cant cast it to regain them?

[Prince Finnion]

You'd have to be super careful not to step on the toes of other classes and higher level spells.

What happens if a cleric is out of PP and cant cast it to regain them?

Which toes or spells?  I tell my players all the time that it is ok for them to double up on skills and spells because of several reasons.  "Two heads are better than one" on skills or in bigger parties having multiple healers, trackers, etc.  I kind of preach that stepping on other's toes isn't a bad thing as long as they can cover an many areas of expertise as possible.

I have a fix in place for running out of PP.  In my experience it's rare that a player uses all of their PP, but in the rare case that a "holy" character does exhaust his PP it would most likely be in the service of their god and therefore the single PP required would be "rewarded" to the player. 

Now if the player was not exactly furthering the will of their god I would require a penance based on their standing in the deity's eyes.  Oddly the higher level the character, the heavier the penance as they "should have known better" where as an apprentice is expected to screw up.

[Ginger McMurray]

You're kinda vague on what benefits you allow. I'm talking about things like a high roll giving precognitive insight which would take a seer a much higher level spell to achieve. Or a god of song reacting to the prayer with high level bard spells. etc.

In the end, though, if it's fun for your group when it's perfect.

[B Hanson]

Ginger: Not sure if you've seen our Invocation rules, but it allows followers to pray for intervention from their Deity. It sounds like part of the solution that you are using or looking for. Of course, its a "home brew" rule which you previously dismissed!