Post/Author/DateTime	Post
2E Ranger 10-16-05, 03:08 AM	I'm playing a cleric with the fate and luck domains. He is our party's main tank, so he's in the fray quite a bit. I have two questions: 1) What are some good magical (wonderous, preferably) items I could buy or make that add to the Fate / Luck flavor of my character? For example, when faced with a difficult decision, my character flips a coin to make up his mind. I will soon be crafting a Coin of Augury to reflect this trait. I had been thinking about making use of other random items, suchs as cards, dice, roulette wheels, arrows (think Arrow of Direction), etc., but I haven't been able to think of any abilites quite so good as a Coin of Augury. Help? 2) As far as the character goes, I chose the domains because I liked the spells and the granted abilities, but I'm having a little bit of trouble reconciling the two into a cohesive character idea. I believe in fate, but I also believe in luck? That seems contradictory. Any help here would be nice too. Thanks in advance.
Fithero 10-16-05, 11:02 AM	There is a wonderous item called the stone of luck (or luck stone... or some other such name) basically it give you a +1 luck bonus to all saves... seems to fit nicely. A rod of wonder? Just constantly use it for some random results. Or just make up a weapon that has a random misc. effect that occurs whenever you draw it (as a dm i gave the players a sword that had this effect, i chose the effects from the rod of wonder and cursed item list. none of the effects had any effect on the rules, just more of an interesting role playing value. Pink hair with blue skin and leaves growing out of your arms makes for an interesting character.) Anyway, as far as mix of fate and luck go, nobody really knows their fate, so they just hope that luck will deal them a great fate. Im not totally sure, but this guy could believe that the end fate is set in stone, but they way you reach it is varied. Again... im not sure. Anyway, good luck with it, its an interesting concept. Later
2E Ranger 10-16-05, 03:53 PM	What if one aspect of my cleric's personality was that he hated intelligent undead for cheating fate? Also, I'm really hoping someone can come up with a random effect for dice and cards, because then I would be able to actually use dice and cards at the table. Rod of Wonder is a cool idea, but as a player, I want what my characters actions and mine to be the same for those times it takes me to roll and draw.
Fithero 10-16-05, 08:43 PM	Then go on a quest to get a deck of many things... it is a minor artifact but it seems to totally suit your character... can be nasty though. The dice of ollidamara (spelling?) Then there is a deck of illusion. All good choices. Later
cymbolik 10-17-05, 11:19 AM	okay, so from a divine perspective, here's how i would look at your two chosen domains. consider fate, the absolute, the belief that you have a set future to walk and no real free will. consider luck, undefined, pure chance, the belief that sometimes, no matter how bad you do something, blind luck can change your future. so, i see them as opposite sides of the same coin. fate is that which drives you, your destiny, the feeling that almost everyone has that they are intended for something, that they serve a purpose. luck is that part of our lives that appears to be completely random, that turns a potentially bad situation into something that changes your life for ever, be it good or bad. allow your character to be a champion of free choice. let him be a seeker of the fates of men, leading them to that one point where they have to make their own choice, where they have to rely on their own luck and what fate has mapped out for them. remember, fate does not have to be an absolute. destiny will only take you so far, but after that you'd better have something to back it up with. if you make the wrong decision at the wrong time...well, that's bad. but fate has a self correcting nature, and simply closing off one avenue for your own destiny does not mean that fate has not made room for every possible contingency. your faith could be built around the core concept that you live-and-let-live, but that you abhor those who would impose their own wills on others without giving them a choice for their own destinies. you won't be able to target free willed undead who made the decision to become unead like the lich, for instance, or even a ghost, who has made a choice to relive a certain event over and over again. you could confront the local mayor for raising taxes for his personal gain, though. i'm not sure that i would play the luck VERSUS fate aspect of your religion. rather, i see them as two forces working in perfect unison, driving the universe, and everything in it, towards its destiny. sort of like: fate only takes you so far as the moment before you have to make a choice. the choice is completely up to you. as for items, well, since i see fate and luck in a different aspect to your concept, perhaps my recommendations won't do. let me know, though, and i'll think up a few things for you. ;)
2E Ranger 10-17-05, 02:51 PM	I was perusing the 1001 quirks thread and it gave me some ideas. This is what I've settled on as far as character background/motivations/quirks go... Romo – The Fated Cleric Romo was the sole survivor of a fire as a child. He was found after the house had mostly burned down, hiding in a small earthen hole he had dug under the floorboards of his family’s cellar. He bears some scars on his face and arms and prefers to wear long sleeves and either a helmet, mask, or cowl whenever possible. Romo believes that gods are a sham created by clerics to make money and gain power over the masses. He believes his own independence from gods is proof of this. He personally believes that everything is fated, and that all actions are predestined. He sees everything as chains of cause and effect beginning and ending nowhere. Luck, miracles, and magic, he believes, are simply the words people apply to the causes of effects they cannot understand the causes of. For example, Romo would see a magical longsword as the result of a series of chains leading back into time untold. His ability to detect magical auras, also, is simply a result in a chain. His discovering the longsword is magical is the cause of the deaths of things that get killed with it….etc. Romo sees the only meaning in life as coming from having a maximum effect on it. Therefore, he has an aversion to dying, unless it is of particular importance. Sacrifice is not impossible, just improbable. He loosely believes that goodness is the best way to have the most impact, though evil is definitely the more visible path. He does not, however, believe that good actions are inherently good. He collects odd bits of equipment, considering the finding of strange items to be highly unlikely and, therefore, potentially significant. He never sits with his back to a door if he can avoid it and has a slight phobia of crossroads, considering them to all be vital choices. For this reason he carries a coin that he flips to help him make difficult decisions about the uncertain future. He is lecherous, but also shy due to his disfigurement. He has an especially soft spot for elven / fey women, having been raised in an orphanage where he grew up and fell in love with an elven girl a number of years older than he. To a degree, he wants to get people to wake up and realize that fate is real, and that the only meaning in life is found through pursuit of influence and effect. END As far as items go, I'm still at a loss. I did, however, think of two spells that might serve well. Omen of Peril and Visage of the Deity...but I'm not sure what items they should be applied to. I'm dying for a homemade deck item! Of low-ish level!
Uberwoot 10-17-05, 11:06 PM	so, i see them as opposite sides of the same coin. fate is that which drives you, your destiny, the feeling that almost everyone has that they are intended for something, that they serve a purpose. luck is that part of our lives that appears to be completely random, that turns a potentially bad situation into something that changes your life for ever, be it good or bad. You're my new hero.