Forgotten Kingdoms Forums

I think it's best I bow out of this conversation. I apologize for any I've offended. I do, however, greatly believe that 'house rules' like the aforementioned 'if you're Tempurian, you shouldn't hang out with assassins' be mentioned in the help file. I just don't agree with every non-Evil God being sissied up.

My question lies in the realm of punishments. When I choose a God for a character, I have a RP planned out and managed - sometimes, it's not the norm of a faith. My best example would be with Angarato. He is a wild elf druid of Chauntea. That would leave most informed RPers scratching their heads.. why would a wild elf follow a goddess of cultivation, and whatnot? Then more informed RPers would say, "Maybe he worships the (nearly dead) aspect of the Earthmother" or something along those lines. And while I have a pretty decent faith relationship with his FM, here is where my question comes in. IF my FM didn't like my abnormal RP, and chastised me for it (when it wasn't a blatant violation of faith rules), then what do I do? I mean, I'm sure there are cases out there where people just don't like other people's RP, and they use their character's sway to do something about it.

What I'm asking is - who corrects the people in power, if and when they are wrong? Even out of context of the aforementioned example, there are times surely when the Higher Ups make mistakes concerning people and RP - it's a large field with lots of variables - do they receive chastisement?

*covers his ears and screams*

Why is Lathander always yelling on the forums?!?

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Edit: Don't the Watcher's watchers watch the watchers? Thus, the Watcher watches the Watcher's watchers. But then who watches the Watcher?

Who watches the watchers? Is that what you mean Hrosskell?

Where posible, the relevant deity overviews the actions and decisions of their FM. When IC conflict arises between faithful and Faith Manager the deity has a responsibility to resolve the conflict. Whether this means...

- supporting the FM directly (lightning bolts etc)
- offering advice on how to resolve the conflict
- correcting an FMs view of the faith

...will vary depending upon the situation and on the deities own thoughts and feelings on how the faith should be represented.

If a player felt that the FM or the deity were overly harsh or were not taking into account roleplay to support their actions then I would always encourage them to discuss it OOCly or e-mail applications or e-mail complaints.

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As we have seen, interpretation of canon sources and roleplay can vary considerably and spark rather intense debate. Not unlike real life religion, which may be both a bad and a good thing for a game.

The problem becomes most pronounced when a faithful feels their interpretation or justification is not only better (more right) than the FMs but also trumps the deity's opinion on the matter.

The lucky deity will have an FM who is well-versed in both canon lore and the everday roleplaying of a priest of their religion and a set of followers who accept the guidance the FM provides.
Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Players differ in their level of knowledge, their ability to roleplay and their ability to offer/accept opinion on the faith.

Players want most an FM who is online regularly, so they can be faithed and so they can roleplay with them. Equally, they will invariably prefer an FM who rewards their roleplay and agrees with their interpretation of the faith. Occasionally there will come a player who does not really want to be told they are doing it wrong or that they are a poor example of the faith.

When all is said and done, if the weight of IC opinion says that your IC behaviour is inappropriate then there will eb IC consequences.

I recall a certain member of my church who was treated very firmly by the then FM for some quite big lapses in faith. Though he might have disagreed with the FM OOCly, he accepted his IC penance and took on board the IC and OOC advice given.

...I think I recently added him as a Faith manager.