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From: robert@gitpyr.UUCP (Robert Viduya)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: PCs vs Gods
Message-ID: <75@gitpyr.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 27-Jan-85 19:45:18 EST
Article-I.D.: gitpyr.75
Posted: Sun Jan 27 19:45:18 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 29-Jan-85 05:55:08 EST
References: <2400083@uokvax.UUCP> <3429@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Organization: Georgia Tech, Atlanta
Lines: 39

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The way I would like to see gods in an rpg like D&D is that their power
and existence is based on the worshippers.  Gods have a built-in immortality,
contigent upon what worshippers he has.  As long as he has one worshipper,
a god lives. Regardless of what kind of trouble he's in, he cannot be killed
unless you kill his worshippers.  No worshippers and he's gone.  It should
also is possible for a god to 'die' from lack of worshippers, and be revived
when people start believing in him again.  His power should be based and
dependent on his worshippers.  For example, take the Roman god, Neptune.
His oceanic powers came from the fact that his worshippers believed him to
be a god of the ocean (not necessarily true, historically).

Of course, there have to be rules to this.

First off, true faith is required.

Second, modification of a god's powers is not done because the people
will it (they normally don't know they can change the god's powers).
Instead, that's left up to the upper rank priests to tell the people that
their god has power X, and, lo and behold, the god *does* have power X.
The upper rank priests would keep this as a secret.

Third, a given gods total power depends on the number of people who believe
in him.  The formula should take into account the number of active worshippers
as well as those who believe, but don't worship (in a pantheon, you get a lot
of these).

This is far from complete, but it's a start.  Any comments?

				robert
-- 
Robert Viduya
    Office of Computing Services
    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta GA 30332
    Phone:  (404) 894-4669

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