So the Mythic Odysseys of Theros book gave us a Piety system to allow for devotees of the gods, who may not themselves be divine characters, get access to some interesting abilities depending on their devotion to the precepts of their chosen deity.
I want to play around with this system in my Forgotten Realms game, but I'm having a little bit of trouble skinning this system over certain gods. As an example, one of the first gods that I would like to use this system with is the Raven Queen.
Piety System
Piety
Being a god’s champion carries no benefits in and of itself. Each god’s description in this chapter paints a picture of the god’s typical champion, including ideas for how a player character might end up in that position and provides ideals that represent the god’s interests.
The gods do reward the devotion of their champions, though. The strength of your devotion to your god is measured by your piety score. As you increase that score, you gain blessings from your god.
Piety has nothing to do with faith or belief, except insofar as a person’s thoughts and ideals drive them to action in a god’s service. Your piety score reflects the actions you have taken in your god’s service—actions that the god richly rewards.
When you choose a god to worship as a beginning character, your piety score related to that god is 1. Your piety score increases by 1 when you do something to advance the god’s interests or behave in accordance with the god’s ideals. The gods expect great deeds from their champions, so your piety score typically increases only when you accomplish a significant goal (such as the completion of an adventure), make a significant sacrifice of your own self-interest, or otherwise when the DM sees fit. Each god’s description in this chapter includes a discussion of the god’s goals and ideals, which your DM uses to judge whether you earn an increase in your piety score. As a general rule, you can expect to increase your piety by 1 during most sessions of play, assuming that you are following your god’s tenets. The DM decides the amount of any increase or decrease, but a single deed typically changes your piety score by only 1 point in either direction unless your action is very significant.
Benefits of Piety
The gods bestow favors on those who prove their devotion. When your piety score crosses certain thresholds—3, 10, 25, and 50—you gain a benefit detailed in the sections describing the gods’ champions throughout this chapter. If your piety score exceeds and then falls below one of those thresholds, you lose the benefit you gained at the higher tier.
With that in mind, most of the Theros Gods have two sets of precepts; three that would gain a character piety and three that would lose a character piety. Also they have four tiers of devotion that grant abilities; three tiers that hand out spell-like abilities and a fourth tier that grants a +2 ability buff. My plan for the most part is to use the Therosian God Athreos, the Ferryman of the Dead as a base for what I want the Raven Queen to look like in this system mechanically. However, his precepts do not all align with what I assume hers might be.
With that in mind, what precepts would be good for the followers of the Raven Queen to follow? As an example, here is what Athreo's has going for him:
Earning and Losing Piety
You increase your piety score to Athreos when you honor him or the cycle of life and death through acts such as these:
Providing coins and overseeing burial rites for those slain during a tragedy
Ensuring that the deeds and knowledge of someone who has died are preserved
Slaying a Returned and its associated eidolon
Your piety score to Athreos decreases if you diminish the River Guide’s influence in the world, impede his work, or disrespect the dead through acts such as these:
Denying a dying person their final rites
Removing wealth from a corpse or defiling a tomb
Aiding those who seek to escape from the Underworld, or who already have
I know from past understanding of the Raven Queen that she is very against undead and that she may have a thing for lost secrets? Other than that, she's a pretty mysterious figure by design and even most Wiki's don't have much to say about her.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
the raven queen is an odd figure most of the given powers would be minor diving or small attack abilities that insta kill if they drop to 0hp they would probally boost wisdom in the 4th tier
There is a supplement on the DMs Guild for this very thing called Gods of Faerun. I'm not sure which gods are featured, but it's likely worth a look and could at least provide you a stepping off point for your idea.
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Lightning Strike - A rebranded Fire Bolt for Wizards & Sorcerers.
Spirit Bomb - A holy fireball for Clerics, Paladins, & Divine Soul Sorcerers!
Sword Dancer - A Cleric subclass specifically for the Drow goddess Eilistraee.
I'm less interested in the powers that the theological precepts. The powers are easy to figure out and apply.
the thing about the raven queen is that rather oddly her only goal is to not die she keeps secrets because if she does not she would waste away and prefers things to stay dead so she can keep their souls so that she does not waste away so they dont really have precepts
There is a supplement on the DMs Guild for this very thing called Gods of Faerun. I'm not sure which gods are featured, but it's likely worth a look and could at least provide you a stepping off point for your idea.
Thanks for this. I'll look that up and se what it has to offer.
Still taking other suggestions here though.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
The Piety Chart for the Raven Queen listed in the PDF above was less helpful than I would have liked, sadly.
Earning and Losing Piety
You increase your piety score to The Raven Queen when you expand the god’s influence in the world in a concrete way through acts such as these:
• Dealing in omens, memories and riddles
• Destroying creatures outside the touch of fate, such as some kinds of powerful undead or strange aberrations
Your piety score to The Raven Queen decreases if you diminish The Raven Queen’s influence in the world or contradict her ideals through acts such as these:
• Hiding knowledge from another creature for any reason
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Well, the best example of the Raven Queen's tenets as a deity in 5e is from the Wildemount book.
Commandments of the Raven Queen
Death is the natural end of life. There is no pity for those who have fallen.
The path of Fate is sacrosanct. Those who pridefully attempt to cast off their destiny must be punished.
Undeath is an atrocity. Those who would pervert the transition of the soul must be brought down.
So how you could handle it might be....
Earning and Losing Piety
You increase your piety score to The Raven Queen when you honor her or the cycle of life and death, as well as adhering to the weave of fate through acts such as these:
Ensuring that the deceased receive their final rites.
Ensuring that those who desire to disrupt the weave of fate are brought to justice.
Slaying any undead that you find, and those who conjure them.
Your piety score to The Raven Queen decreases if you diminish The Raven Queen's influence in the world, impede her work, or desecrating the dead through acts such as these:
Denying a dying person their final rites
Aiding in an attempt to disrupt fate's trajectory or in the resurrection of the dead that has not been sanctioned by fate.
Allowing the undead or their creators to roam free.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Asmittedly it doesn’t fit every aspect of the Raven Queen as her power and purpose is kinda ambiguous depending on what source you use, especially since in Forgotten Realms 5e, it’s debatable whether she is actually a deity or not. She was the main deity of death in 4e, but obvious the Forgotten Realms has several of its own death deities like Myrkul and Kelemvor.
Her connection to memories and forbidden knowledge was also because of 4e, where she was the one in charge of where souls go after death and she would cleanse the souls for their afterlife by removing their memories and storing them in her fortress. This was changed in 5e to her needing to collect the power memories emanate and the knowledge contained within to keep herself intact and because she was obsessed with knowledge. Wildemount keeps the Raven Queen closer to her 4e lore.
So really it just depends on which interpretation you prefer.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Well my knowledgebase for her is more 4th Ed centric. So if Wildmount's version is closer to that definition, then that would be the version I prefer to work from. Though reading through MToF, there are some interesting aspects of her that they play up that I sort of like. I am a fan of the idea that she uses memories and secrets as a shell for her divine power.
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"The mongoose blew out its candle and was asleep in bed before the room went dark." —Llanowar fable
Try Looking at the Grave or Knowledge Domain Clerics. Then try creating Tenants around their beliefs. Instead of trying to get precepts for ONE god, work backwards and get precepts for whole Domains, and mix and match them as you see fit.
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So the Mythic Odysseys of Theros book gave us a Piety system to allow for devotees of the gods, who may not themselves be divine characters, get access to some interesting abilities depending on their devotion to the precepts of their chosen deity.
I want to play around with this system in my Forgotten Realms game, but I'm having a little bit of trouble skinning this system over certain gods. As an example, one of the first gods that I would like to use this system with is the Raven Queen.
Piety System
Piety
Being a god’s champion carries no benefits in and of itself. Each god’s description in this chapter paints a picture of the god’s typical champion, including ideas for how a player character might end up in that position and provides ideals that represent the god’s interests.
The gods do reward the devotion of their champions, though. The strength of your devotion to your god is measured by your piety score. As you increase that score, you gain blessings from your god.
Piety has nothing to do with faith or belief, except insofar as a person’s thoughts and ideals drive them to action in a god’s service. Your piety score reflects the actions you have taken in your god’s service—actions that the god richly rewards.
When you choose a god to worship as a beginning character, your piety score related to that god is 1. Your piety score increases by 1 when you do something to advance the god’s interests or behave in accordance with the god’s ideals. The gods expect great deeds from their champions, so your piety score typically increases only when you accomplish a significant goal (such as the completion of an adventure), make a significant sacrifice of your own self-interest, or otherwise when the DM sees fit. Each god’s description in this chapter includes a discussion of the god’s goals and ideals, which your DM uses to judge whether you earn an increase in your piety score. As a general rule, you can expect to increase your piety by 1 during most sessions of play, assuming that you are following your god’s tenets. The DM decides the amount of any increase or decrease, but a single deed typically changes your piety score by only 1 point in either direction unless your action is very significant.
Benefits of Piety
The gods bestow favors on those who prove their devotion. When your piety score crosses certain thresholds—3, 10, 25, and 50—you gain a benefit detailed in the sections describing the gods’ champions throughout this chapter. If your piety score exceeds and then falls below one of those thresholds, you lose the benefit you gained at the higher tier.
With that in mind, most of the Theros Gods have two sets of precepts; three that would gain a character piety and three that would lose a character piety. Also they have four tiers of devotion that grant abilities; three tiers that hand out spell-like abilities and a fourth tier that grants a +2 ability buff. My plan for the most part is to use the Therosian God Athreos, the Ferryman of the Dead as a base for what I want the Raven Queen to look like in this system mechanically. However, his precepts do not all align with what I assume hers might be.
With that in mind, what precepts would be good for the followers of the Raven Queen to follow? As an example, here is what Athreo's has going for him:
Earning and Losing Piety
You increase your piety score to Athreos when you honor him or the cycle of life and death through acts such as these:
Your piety score to Athreos decreases if you diminish the River Guide’s influence in the world, impede his work, or disrespect the dead through acts such as these:
I know from past understanding of the Raven Queen that she is very against undead and that she may have a thing for lost secrets? Other than that, she's a pretty mysterious figure by design and even most Wiki's don't have much to say about her.
the raven queen is an odd figure most of the given powers would be minor diving or small attack abilities that insta kill if they drop to 0hp they would probally boost wisdom in the 4th tier
Check out my homebrew subclasses spells magic items feats monsters races
i am a sauce priest
help create a world here
I'm less interested in the powers than the theological precepts. The powers are easy to figure out and apply.
There is a supplement on the DMs Guild for this very thing called Gods of Faerun. I'm not sure which gods are featured, but it's likely worth a look and could at least provide you a stepping off point for your idea.
Lightning Strike - A rebranded Fire Bolt for Wizards & Sorcerers.
Spirit Bomb - A holy fireball for Clerics, Paladins, & Divine Soul Sorcerers!
Sword Dancer - A Cleric subclass specifically for the Drow goddess Eilistraee.
Quicksilver & The Scarlet Witch - A pair of magical firearms for your Gunslinger or Artificer.
the thing about the raven queen is that rather oddly her only goal is to not die she keeps secrets because if she does not she would waste away and prefers things to stay dead so she can keep their souls so that she does not waste away so they dont really have precepts
Check out my homebrew subclasses spells magic items feats monsters races
i am a sauce priest
help create a world here
Thanks for this. I'll look that up and se what it has to offer.
Still taking other suggestions here though.
The Piety Chart for the Raven Queen listed in the PDF above was less helpful than I would have liked, sadly.
Earning and Losing Piety
You increase your piety score to The Raven Queen when you expand the god’s influence in the world in a concrete way through acts such as these:
• Dealing in omens, memories and riddles
• Destroying creatures outside the touch of fate, such as some kinds of powerful undead or strange aberrations
Your piety score to The Raven Queen decreases if you diminish The Raven Queen’s influence in the world or contradict her ideals through acts such as these:
• Hiding knowledge from another creature for any reason
Well, the best example of the Raven Queen's tenets as a deity in 5e is from the Wildemount book.
Commandments of the Raven Queen
So how you could handle it might be....
Earning and Losing Piety
You increase your piety score to The Raven Queen when you honor her or the cycle of life and death, as well as adhering to the weave of fate through acts such as these:
Your piety score to The Raven Queen decreases if you diminish The Raven Queen's influence in the world, impede her work, or desecrating the dead through acts such as these:
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
My Greater Will Google Doc
Proud member of the DragonClub! cult.
Oh, now that I sort of like.
Thanks!
Asmittedly it doesn’t fit every aspect of the Raven Queen as her power and purpose is kinda ambiguous depending on what source you use, especially since in Forgotten Realms 5e, it’s debatable whether she is actually a deity or not. She was the main deity of death in 4e, but obvious the Forgotten Realms has several of its own death deities like Myrkul and Kelemvor.
Her connection to memories and forbidden knowledge was also because of 4e, where she was the one in charge of where souls go after death and she would cleanse the souls for their afterlife by removing their memories and storing them in her fortress. This was changed in 5e to her needing to collect the power memories emanate and the knowledge contained within to keep herself intact and because she was obsessed with knowledge. Wildemount keeps the Raven Queen closer to her 4e lore.
So really it just depends on which interpretation you prefer.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
My Greater Will Google Doc
Proud member of the DragonClub! cult.
Well my knowledgebase for her is more 4th Ed centric. So if Wildmount's version is closer to that definition, then that would be the version I prefer to work from. Though reading through MToF, there are some interesting aspects of her that they play up that I sort of like. I am a fan of the idea that she uses memories and secrets as a shell for her divine power.
Hey so theoretically what about a possible Lliira one? How would you do that?
Try Looking at the Grave or Knowledge Domain Clerics. Then try creating Tenants around their beliefs. Instead of trying to get precepts for ONE god, work backwards and get precepts for whole Domains, and mix and match them as you see fit.