This week in our ongoing discussion of Gods & Religions, we take a look at mechanical incentives for roleplaying characters of faith and devotion. Ultimately, a character's relationship with their god is a matter of roleplaying. But GMs are always on the lookout for ways to encourage more roleplaying and reward good examples of it. If you want gods and religions to take an important role in your campaign, and you want to actively encourage your player characters' participation in that system, we've got some ideas for you. Specifically, we have three complementary systems that encourage GMs to hand out mechanical rewards or punishments to characters roleplaying their way through a world of fickle and demanding gods.
First, there are minor ongoing benefits for characters who maintain the day-to-day trappings of their religion, including performing sacrifices, praying, and adhering to dietary restrictions. Then there are greater one-time rewards for characters who perform exemplary services in the name of their deity. And on the other end of the spectrum, there are punishments for those who transgress against the ethos of their deity. Examples and suggestions are provided, but the rules are not hard and fast; a GM should feel free to adopt and adapt them as they see fit for their own campaign.
Faith Rituals
Every god or religion asks something of its worshipers, something that affects their daily lives and marks them as a follower of that god. They might make regular offerings, pray daily, wear certain clothing, or refrain from eating certain foods. In return for maintaining faith rituals in this way, loyal worshipers are granted minor boons.
The particular details of what a worshiper is expected to do and what boon they might gain depends on the god or religion in question and is at the discretion of the GM. Examples are given below. As a general rule, maintaining faith rituals should be a roleplaying choice that does not adversely affect the playability of the game; a GM should not demand followers perform onerous tasks that slow down the game overmuch or impose penalties that affect the efficacy of a character unless this is core to the concept of the deity. Boons for maintaining faith rituals should be minor ongoing effects such as a +1 to a particular skill, and should be no more powerful than the boon granted by a trait.
If a character fails to maintain their faith rituals, they lose the benefits of the granted boon until they have flawlessly upheld the rituals for a week straight.
Example Rituals and Boons
Followers of the Fire Deity must burn a small portion of their food as an offering at every meal, and must not extinguish any flame unless it threatens their well-being.
Granted Boon: Resist Fire 1
Followers of the Valor Deity must fight fairly and can never be the first to retreat from battle. They must tithe 5% of what they earn to the Church whenever possible.
Granted Boon: +2 hit points.
Followers of the Hunter Deity must perform a brief ritual giving thanks to the spirit of the animal they have killed, and must never be wasteful with hunted meats.
Granted Boon: +1 to Survival checks made to search for food.
Followers of the Murder Deity must not show remorse or flinch from killing. They must dedicate each kill to the Murder Deity. Once drawn, their sacred dagger cannot be sheathed until it has been cleansed in the blood of an unarmed victim.
Granted Boon: +2 damage dealt with your coup de grace attacks.
Followers of the Poverty Deity must not make ostentatious displays of wealth. They must dress in plain clothing and must not adorn themselves with riches. Men must shave their beards and women must keep their hair covered. At every opportunity they should attempt to purge themselves of what they do not need by giving to the poor or to the Church.
Granted Boon: +1 to Fortitude saves.
Faith Rewards
When you go above and beyond to embody your faith and the will of your god, the GM may grant you a Faith Reward. This is a one-time bonus, granted at the GM's discretion. Depending on the level of devotion shown or the magnitude of the sacrifice made, the GM may grant a Minor or Major Faith Reward. The nature of the Faith Reward and the act that inspires it are up to the GM. Examples are given below. As a general guideline, a Minor Faith Reward is something a particularly devout character might receive at most once per session, and a Major Faith Reward is something a devout character might receive only a few times per campaign.
Faith Rewards are meant to reward good roleplaying. The reward should not be so great that it equals or surpasses the sacrifice made to earn it. A Minor Faith Reward might duplicate the effect of a low-level spell or grant a small bonus to the next saving throw, skill check, or attack roll or a certain type. A Major Faith Reward might replicate the effect of a more powerful spell or a feat or allow the player to re-roll a failed check at some point in the future. Rewards might also take the form of found treasure or a bounty of food, as appropriate.
Example Minor and Major Faith Rewards
Deity of Healing and Medicine
Example Minor Acts of Faith: giving your last healing potion to an injured villager; staying awake all night to tend to the injured; paying for magic or medicine to cure a diseased family.
Example Minor Faith Rewards: +3 to your next Heal check; immediately regain 1d8+1 hp
Example Major Acts of Faith: paying for another's resurrection; donating a major sum of money to pay for healing and medicine for a whole village
Example Major Faith Rewards: your next healing spell is Maximized; immediately regain 3d8+10 hp
Deity of Battle
Example Minor Acts of Faith: agreeing to fight for a worthy cause without compensation; fighting a risky rear-guard action to give your allies time to retreat; gifting an aspiring warrior with arms and armor.
Example Minor Faith Rewards: +2 on your next attack roll; your next critical hit automatically confirms.
Example Major Acts of Faith: offering your best weapon or suit of armor as tribute to the Deity of Battle in thanks for a great victory; donating a conquered stronghold to the Church.
Example Major Faith Rewards: +2 to your AC for the duration of your next combat; gain spiritual weapon as a one-time-use spell-like ability using your class level as your caster level.
Deity of Smiths
Example Minor Acts of Faith: spend a day repairing broken items for free; donate captured weapons to the local smithy as scrap metal; perform the ritual Hammer Dance during a holy thunderstorm.
Example Minor Faith Rewards: +3 on your next Craft check; your next attack deals an additional 1d6 sonic damage
Example Major Acts of Faith: forge a sword worthy of legend to aid another's worthy cause; donate an adamantine anvil to the Church.
Example Major Faith Rewards: chosen weapon acts as adamantine for one round of combat; restore one broken or rusted item
Deity of the Desert Sun
Example Minor Acts of Faith: sacrifice a pure white bull to the Desert Sun; perform the elaborate purification ritual which involves laying in the desert drinking nothing but salt water; slay any who mock the Desert Sun.
Example Minor Faith Rewards: +3 on your next survival check; +2 on your next Fortitude save.
Example Major Acts of Faith: make the pilgrimage to the City of Salt; destroy a temple of the nonbelievers.
Example Major Faith Rewards: re-roll your next failed Fortitude save; you can go without water for 1d4 full days with no ill effects.
Deity of Universal Oneness
Example Minor Acts of Faith: give the clothing off your back to a naked beggar; fast until you pass out to test the limits of your body; anonymously pay for food and drink for all in the tavern.
Example Minor Faith Rewards: +1 on your next saving throw; you are cured of any diseases affecting you.
Example Major Acts of Faith: give away all your worldly possessions; forgive your greatest enemy and let them go free.
Example Major Faith Rewards: gain Fast Healing 1 for the duration of your next combat; the spell of your choice manifests at +2 caster level the next time you cast it.
Punishments
Failing to live up to your faith and your god's calling is one thing, but actively transgressing against your deity is another. A follower of the deity of poverty hoarding treasure, a follower of the deity of treachery selflessly helping someone, or a follower of the deity of valor abandoning their allies mid-fight are all examples of such transgressions. Characters who have transgressed their faith receive only half of the benefit from healing and buff spells cast by spellcasters of the same faith. In addition, the character may be saddled with a permanent penalty to an appropriate skill check, saving throw, or similar, depending on the severity of the transgression. Such punishments are left up to the GM, and should roughly match the transgression in magnitude. This persists until the character is able to atone for their actions, often by committing a suitable Act of Faith or with the aid of an atonement spell. If the transgressing character in question is a divine spellcaster, they risk losing the spellcasting abilities and class features (see Ex Clerics). Examples are below.
If the GM wishes, depending on the role of religion in the campaign setting, these penalties can also be applied to characters who gravely insult a faith or religion that is not their own (for example, Odysseus' patron deity was Athena, but that didn't mean he didn't suffer after insulting Poseidon).
Example Transgressions and Punishments
A follower of the Deity of Protection willfully allows harm to come to a group of defenseless people. They suffer a -1 penalty to AC until amends are made.
A follower of the Deity of Love accepts payment from the king in exchange for betraying his beloved. They suffer a -2 penalty to Diplomacy checks made against characters who are or could be sexually attracted to them.
A follower of the Deity of the Sea travels by ship without making the proper sacrifices and then mocks the sea and boasts of their own sailing prowess. They suffer bad weather, bad fishing, and sea-monster attacks until amends are made.
A follower of the Deity of the Forest chops down a good tree and sells its lumber. They suffer a -2 penalty to Survival checks until amends are made.
A follower of the Deity of Merrymaking and Hospitality refuses to let a stranger share their campfire because he can offer no more than a story in payment. They suffer a -2 penalty on all Diplomacy checks until amends are made.
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-your apostate d20 despot
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