Faith allies and enemies

Jaenoic · Post by **Jaenoic** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:02 am

I was just thinking about the way faiths are structured in FK. I think this is by far my favorite aspect of the game; the heirarchy, the system of teaching and learning, faith allies and enemies... I just find it all so fun.

But I was thinking about our system of faith allies and enemies. It's based on 2nd or 3rd ed. rules... Can't remember which. It states in a sourcebook that Jim, God of potatoes and Sally, Goddess of wet willies are dire enemies, and our game reflects it.

But one of the great aspects about our game is that it's dynamic, ever changing and growing. In my time here, I have seen faiths work closely together and others grow apart. So my thoughts are this... How do others feel about faiths creating their own allies and enemies in our IC world? It would go beyond the source material, since IC things happen in our world that do not in the sourcebooks.

Take for example, Lathander and Kelemvor's faith. The sourcematerial says,

A tradtional foe of the god of death has been Lathander but he has not declared himself an enemy of Kelemvor. He waits to see if Kelemvor will live up to his promises.

Well... ICly years and years pass on FK. Maybe Kelemvor HAS lived up to his promises, and the church of Lathander wishes to seek his faith out as an ally? Do you think that the FMs and senior members of Lathander's church could ICly seek out the FMs/senior members of Kelemvor's faith and propose such an alliance? Should the permission of said faith's god(dess) be sought first? Should it be treated as a purely mortal activity(the allying of FAITHS rather than GODS), and be allowed to go ahead without divine approval? Should only gods and goddesses be allowed to ally, not faiths?

Just curious what people think. Personally, I'd love to see a new dynamic of faith alliances and wars being forged, worn, strengthened, and roleplayed out. Let me know what you think.

Scylere · Post by **Scylere** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:19 am

I think the reason why faiths are allies or enemies is that the gods have had a falling out or a close bond. It wouldn't make sense to the few of a faith to make such a dramatic change as creating allies or enemies. I think it could only change if the gods had some destructive or constructive rp.

Jedan · Post by **Jedan** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:42 am

Scylere wrote:I think the reason why faiths are allies or enemies is that the gods have had a falling out or a close bond. It wouldn't make sense to the few of a faith to make such a dramatic change as creating allies or enemies. I think it could only change if the gods had some destructive or constructive rp.

Agreed. Faith Allies are usually the result of closely aligned portfolio's and outlooks, so are generally well established, though the Lathander/Kelemvor thing is a possibility.

Faith Enemies on the other hand, usually are the result of some major dispute/fight or portfolio's that are diametrically opposed. There are plenty of Gods who don't get along with eachother for various reasons, but an actual 'faith enemy' is usually the result of some major conflict, so would probably require some kind of fairly significant event, beyond simple conflict between worshippers.

Tavik · Post by **Tavik** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:45 am

I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, it would be very fun to have those dynamic faiths as it gives us a sense of inclusion. On the other hand though, I think it might cause problems with new players and those questing to follow a particular deity.

While it may be a minor problem, you may get new players seeking the game because it is Forgotten Realms based. However, once they get in, they see differences in the deity relationships and start wondering what else we've changed. I've always loved FK because it holds so close to FR and granted it would be fun to see relationships change....But that's because I got to see it and knew what went on. If I were a new player, I think I would probably leave to search for something that held to FR closer. But like I said, that would be a minor problem.

The more major problem is that aside from in game published materials and talking to other players, there would be no way to research the history of those relationships. I love to look over the source books for history and info on things and such changes would not be reflected in those books. For example, one of my character's faith quests was specifically to research that deity and their relationship with other deities. I did ask around in game, but I also looked over the books to fill in the blanks. I wouldn't have been able to do that if our game had progressed beyond what the books reflected.

All that said, I STILL like the idea of the dynamic relationships for all the reasons listed above. I honestly don't know which way to lean at this point, but I figured I'd post the cons to see what insight or rebutles other players had to offer.

Maybel · Post by **Maybel** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:57 am

I think it would be nice if a God came to his/her high priest/ess and asked them to seek out an ally of said God/dess... that would be some good RPing

Selveem · Post by **Selveem** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:34 am

Actually, something like this has happened at least once that I've seen. There was a HUGE thing where Tempus sided with Mystra (I think it was Mystra) and directed his soldiers all against Cyric due to some kind of God RP. It was glorious to see all of the Tempus people who I'd even grown close to OOC to all band together. It made for some amazing RP in which Selveem met Lathlain - whom he considers his equal and has great respect for.

Now, no Gods will want rampant PVP. If they do, chances are that evil Sune charmed them into it (she's the Devil, ya know.

).

Honestly I don't even know if Tempus finally did declare Cyric's church defeated or if I should be still challenging them IC, but it's really great for RP. The conflict is amazing. The fully smote'd out fights are much more fun than code-run fights because code isn't always fair to those who RP all the time or are new characters OOC.

I highly suggest any person who has not done so before to try a fully smote'd out duel some time.

Daediana · Post by **Daediana** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:03 pm

I think more faith RP's should be done... like massive RP build ups like I have seen starting the planning of lately... to have faith wars or something... could be fun... but as for enemies... I dont think we should change them at all, because lets face it... people coming into this game get their information on the gods from different sources... and our IG help files on the Gods and the ones here on the site dont help hardly at all... and finding someone of a faith that is... well not so well developed with lots of players in it... say like Shar or something... well then the new players dont have much to go on... or even us experienced players... I think we should stick to the books... and add in gods or goddesses like Waukeen as the Imms see fit.

Kirkus · Post by **Kirkus** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:55 pm

I have been pushing for larger scale faith based rp for some time, it just dosn't help that I am gone a lot due to school. It has always been my dream for the entire player base to be involved in rp. But you are right, we don't need to be changing our system of allies and enemies. Allies and enemies are going to shift with the ebb and flow of the game any way.