Revelations: an Immortal-inspired adaptation of Sorcerer

[greyorm]

What do mortals "get" in return for their worship? Anything?

A warm, fuzzy feeling.
And maybe the help of a deity at unknown crossroads.

Keep in mind that we're talking about faith here, not trading with your friends. Consider: what do YOU get out of your personal faith as an actual human being? Bonus rolls? (hehe)

I'm keeping it loose to keep faith as actual faith, rather than noting anything specific and mundane, turning faith into some sort of currency mechanic that would be focused on for all the wrong reasons.

"Ok, Thor, I'll worship you if you give me a bonus roll during my next combat. And Freya, you get some, too, but only if I get some...know what I mean?"  Such a depiction of faith would be insulting to me and misleading; sure, lots of people think about what they WANT from their faith, but it isn't some sort of given or measurable item, nor in some cases, even the most important bit. Either emulation of a being or code or because it is percieved to be right to behave so, is generally the main reason for maintaining one's faith.

Note that the Price for mortals plays nicely into this: if you worship Thor, and you're a peace-nik, you end up penalized. Obviously, Thor is telling you what the right thing to do is...(and, just as in real-life, that can change).

It's that "Taint adds to the Price" seems to me, to mean that the Taint and Price are seperate. The example at the end, Sharakai the Dragon, enforces this -- he has a Price of -1 but a Taint of 0, which implies they're seperate.

Crap, crap, and kerblooey. Sorry about that, there's useless text junk still floating around in there, especially towards the end. In regards to the example of Sharakai, that's completely wrong, and I totally missed it. Thanks!

[xiombarg]

Okay, that all makes sense. You'll want to include that bit on mortals getting nothing from faith in the bit on mortals, just to be clear.

This might be outside the purview of the game, as it sort of overlaps (I suspect) with the original Immortal material, but you might want to have a note about how the Immortals feel about their worshippers and what they think they can do for them. I mean, I may not pray to God hoping for a bonus... but I bet a lot of Vikings prayed to Thor thinking it'd give them an edge in combat. Now, if Thor can't really help most of the time, but he DOES exist, how does he feel about that? What's the "usual" Immortal take on this issue? If this is covered in one of the Immortal supplements, you might wanna point to that...

Since you want to focus on that aspect of Immortal, this could be an important question.

(Just brainstorming, mostly... Again, looking forward to the next draft...)

[Spooky Fanboy]

Having recently read over your stuff. I must say: Immortal has never looked more clear or coherent.  

Looking forward to any expansions or clarifications you'll add to this. I'd *love* to play this, and who knows? Maybe my one group (who is becoming interested in Sorcerer) will be willing.

[greyorm]

Thanks for the comments and kind words, Spooky!
If you do play a session or two, let me know how it goes, I'd love to hear some actual play feedback on it!

A note for everyone: I've updated the page again with expanded examples, finished up the sections on the Shard and the Himsati (minus examples), and clarified the section on Avatars (and split it into its own section). There are a couple optional rules added in blue text. Again, let me know if it all makes sense as written.

I have a few concerns here-and-there, but most of those will have to be examined in actual play (so again, if anyone DOES, let me know! I'll do the same).

but I bet a lot of Vikings prayed to Thor thinking it'd give them an edge in combat. Now, if Thor can't really help most of the time, but he DOES exist, how does he feel about that?

I'm thinking along the following lines, as above: you don't get help from Thor (sure, you can, that's always a possibility), but the effects of belief are such that you may as well. I'm going to list something in the Religarium section about a faithful mortal Summoning an Immortal to them.

I know that sounds confusing, but per my above explanation: how does someone tell the difference between a boon and a punishment at any given time?

From an outsider's viewpoint, we know "what's true" because the mechanics tell us that a follower of Thor who chooses not to follow Thor's dictates makes him less likely to succeed.

From an insider's perspective, you could see it the opposite way: you succceed because of your following of the dictates of Thor. The worshipper can't tell what the status quo actually is.

What's the "usual" Immortal take on this issue? If this is covered in one of the Immortal supplements, you might wanna point to that

Unfortunately, it isn't covered at all. The game actually avoids any serious examination of the roles of Immortals and worshippers, except the pure mechanics of it -- in my opinion, as written, the whole deal might as well not even exist in the actual rules.