TL;DR: In a campaign where gods are competing and their power may wax and wane based on their influence in the mortal world (worshippers/shrines/etc.) has anyone seen a good way to measure or track the relative power between gods? Or does anyone have any ideas of what some effects might be of one god gaining ground and another losing ground?
Background: One of the plot points of my home brew campaign is Valkur is trying to climb the ranks and infringe on Umberlee’s domain quite a bit (steal the loyalty of sailors praying for safety) with the support of some allies like Selune.
One of the PCs is a cleric of Valkur and will be/is being tasked with converting folks, establishing new shrines, etc. All the other PCs worship Selune. Basically we’re set for a bit of a showdown among gods.
Selune & Valkur and their friends vs. Umberlee, Talos, and their friends
I’m trying to brainstorm how the world and the gods relative power will change as the party (and others) successfully grow or diminish the influence and worship of one god or another. Any help appreciated!
There's a lot of stuff you could do! I feel like subtleties might work best for you here. Think of symbols of these gods, things they have control over, that kind of stuff. When one side is winning/gaining more ground, maybe symbols of them and their domains are more apparent. You might even be able to have this help or hurt the party, depending on what the symbols are (could be something they fight, for example). And since the party is all on one side of this, maybe you can give them occasional inspiration or something, as if their gods are saying "Hey, keep up the good work!"
Well... I have... I just give them a power number based on relevance, shrines, devotees, landmarks, artifacts, heroes... actually anything you can associate with a god.
and then if they win something their scores increases, and the ones opposing them loose a certain amount based on (how I percieved) it would help them.
Let's say God A has a sacred mountain, and God B takes it, it might not seem such a big gain for God B because it isn't sacred for him, but is a huge lost for God A.
As in opposition, a certain holy ground would give all of the gods that are allied to God A more power if they conquer it.
So, based on what they have now and what they gain an loose, I can keep track of who's the strongest comparing gods or relatively to the whole pantheon.
Perhaps as particular dieties gain/lose power the actual geography or other natural features of the world can change to reflect the change in who influences what. For example as Valkur gains power the players will notice the ice over arctic seas break up when it wouldn't normally before. Or if Selūne begins to lose strength the nights can grow shorter or the moon itself could be farther away.
In 1e there used to be a rule (maybe it was optional, my memory is unclear) that only greater gods, as opposed to lesser god or demigods, could grant their followers the highest level spells. You could say if a god’s power falls far enough, it can no longer grant it’s clerics level 9 spells, then it loses level 8 and so on. Since most campaigns don’t actually get to the point where level 9 spells come into play, it likely wouldn’t have an in-game effect on your PCs, but it still sounds pretty ominous and like it would be a big deal and potentially have a major impact on the world at large.
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TL;DR: In a campaign where gods are competing and their power may wax and wane based on their influence in the mortal world (worshippers/shrines/etc.) has anyone seen a good way to measure or track the relative power between gods? Or does anyone have any ideas of what some effects might be of one god gaining ground and another losing ground?
Background:
One of the plot points of my home brew campaign is Valkur is trying to climb the ranks and infringe on Umberlee’s domain quite a bit (steal the loyalty of sailors praying for safety) with the support of some allies like Selune.
One of the PCs is a cleric of Valkur and will be/is being tasked with converting folks, establishing new shrines, etc. All the other PCs worship Selune. Basically we’re set for a bit of a showdown among gods.
Selune & Valkur and their friends vs. Umberlee, Talos, and their friends
I’m trying to brainstorm how the world and the gods relative power will change as the party (and others) successfully grow or diminish the influence and worship of one god or another. Any help appreciated!
There's a lot of stuff you could do! I feel like subtleties might work best for you here. Think of symbols of these gods, things they have control over, that kind of stuff. When one side is winning/gaining more ground, maybe symbols of them and their domains are more apparent. You might even be able to have this help or hurt the party, depending on what the symbols are (could be something they fight, for example). And since the party is all on one side of this, maybe you can give them occasional inspiration or something, as if their gods are saying "Hey, keep up the good work!"
The Yeehaw Master of Yeehaw Town, U.S.A.
Well... I have... I just give them a power number based on relevance, shrines, devotees, landmarks, artifacts, heroes... actually anything you can associate with a god.
and then if they win something their scores increases, and the ones opposing them loose a certain amount based on (how I percieved) it would help them.
Let's say God A has a sacred mountain, and God B takes it, it might not seem such a big gain for God B because it isn't sacred for him, but is a huge lost for God A.
As in opposition, a certain holy ground would give all of the gods that are allied to God A more power if they conquer it.
So, based on what they have now and what they gain an loose, I can keep track of who's the strongest comparing gods or relatively to the whole pantheon.
Perhaps as particular dieties gain/lose power the actual geography or other natural features of the world can change to reflect the change in who influences what. For example as Valkur gains power the players will notice the ice over arctic seas break up when it wouldn't normally before. Or if Selūne begins to lose strength the nights can grow shorter or the moon itself could be farther away.
In 1e there used to be a rule (maybe it was optional, my memory is unclear) that only greater gods, as opposed to lesser god or demigods, could grant their followers the highest level spells. You could say if a god’s power falls far enough, it can no longer grant it’s clerics level 9 spells, then it loses level 8 and so on.
Since most campaigns don’t actually get to the point where level 9 spells come into play, it likely wouldn’t have an in-game effect on your PCs, but it still sounds pretty ominous and like it would be a big deal and potentially have a major impact on the world at large.