Starting my own religion [Archive] - Wizards Community

Starting my own religion [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
KyloWinter
04-28-08, 05:13 PM I'm playing a NE human cleric (necromancer) in a new campaign. I haven't played dnd in 4 years and so I'm kinda getting back into the swing of things.

This is in the forgotten realms campaign setting and we are only using that and the 3 core books (phb, mm, and dmg.) My character has no deity and is attempting to start his own religion worshipping a fictional deity named "Ba'al" (from the Hebrew word for lord.) You could also think of people as worshipping my character since my ultimate goal is to become a deity.

So basically my question is how do I go about doing this most effectively? What strategies would be best? Right now (we are all still lvl 1) I am planning on going around and doing whatever our party does (adventuring in Cormyr right now) and try to convert the people we help. Also, I'm thinking about doing some preaching in the towns we move through. Should I challenge other temple priests? Build a shrine? Convert nobles?

Are there certain feats or skills I should take? I'm basically taking item creation feats and leadership.

Any help would be appreciated.
Drackthor
04-29-08, 04:10 PM You'll want Diplomacy, because no one converts for a douchebag.

You'll want Bluff, because if you're making up your own mythology, odds are you'll end up making a mistake every so often.

And you'll want a big hammer, because good, bad, you're the guy with the hammer.
KyloWinter
04-29-08, 05:58 PM Already am taking diplomacy and unfortunately bluff is cross class as a cleric so it won't be very high. And a heavy mace is the largest thing I'm carrying.
fishfinger
04-30-08, 11:55 AM take the feat monkey grip then get one that is one size larger and just say its because of your godly abilities
KyloWinter
04-30-08, 03:41 PM Monkey grip? I don't think that's in the player's handbook.
vrmh
04-30-08, 07:29 PM The Forgotten Realms setting doesn't allow for clerics without a patron deity; not if they want to cast spells anyway. You may have to get a fiend to sponsor you.
Jacob_Crowe
05-01-08, 02:22 PM The Forgotten Realms setting doesn't allow for clerics without a patron deity; not if they want to cast spells anyway. You may have to get a fiend to sponsor you.

Or he could just be trying to resurrect Myrkul, like so many before him... But, if you take the trickery domain, bluff is class for you isn't it? {checks PHB} yes, yes it is. and you gotta admit, a cleric with time stop is never a bad thing, is it? :-)
The Ubbergeek
05-04-08, 10:08 PM Bhaal already existed... The Lord of Murder, ironicaly dead now. But his presence is not fully gone...

You would need the servant of the fallen (i think it was the name of it) feat to get spells out of the dead god.
Kuroimaken
05-05-08, 04:17 AM Rule one. Avoid suspicion. People are going to look at your alignment first and your deeds second, so even if you do good, people are going to assume you have ulterior motives. As such, get a means of protecting yourself with undetectable alignment ASAP.

Rule two. If you want to become a deity, you'll have to figure out what kind of deity you'll be.

Rule three. Deceiving is better than annihilating. The former may net you allies, and the latter always nets you enemies.

Rule four. Make sure you don't step on anyone's toes until you're very, very strong. Don't go to Thay if you don't like dragons, for example.

Rule five. Go to the Mature boards if you can, and post the same question in the Ask the Evil Overlord thread... he'll be able to help you.
Gentlemanic
05-05-08, 04:49 AM Since you are level 1 still, I'd advice you to start small. Avoid drawing too much attention. Like the poster above said: a strong patron is never a bad idea.

Make sure you don't skimp on charisma because it helps your abilities. As soon as you hit level 6, take the leadership feat and start attracting followers. Diplomacy is nice. Rebuking and creating undead is pretty good to get your first followers at lower levels.

Also, now let's see.. Since you believe in this God, but want to be one yourself, carefully pick your relationship with said "deity":
- Are you his only prophet?
- His child?
- His incarnation?

If you want people to believe in you, perhaps you heard your God whisper to you in your sleep in nightmares.
KyloWinter
05-06-08, 06:43 PM I had no idea there was a dead deity named Ba'al. Thank you to the above two posters. Good idea about the only prophet thing. I have taken craft wondrous item so I am at some point going to craft some sort of amulet or something of undetectable alignment. What are the Mature boards?
Bihlbo
05-14-08, 01:10 PM You could use L. Ron "The way to make a million dollars is to start a religion." Hubbard as inspiration. Come up with some confusing pseudo-psychological gibberish, mix it with "facts" that cannot be verified, and create a lot of hoops for people to jump through so they feel like they're getting somewhere.

Remember, Hubbard accomplished riches and fame through his religion by nothing more than writing a couple books and recruiting only wealthy people he could bilk. With promises of religious favor if they recruited more, he let them take care of everything else. So I wouldn't say that feats and skills are the primary method of making your religion. Leadership certainly, but I think that if your character does a few specific acts through the course of development, it's going to happen.

For example, he needs to write a book. Even Confucious did that much, and he was just teaching someone. He needs to find wealthy backers. He needs a temple. He absolutely must come up with a neat color scheme and visual language with lots of fun symbols (like communists, muslims, taoists, etc). Create some rules that dictate purpose and goals, along with ways people should live.

Also, I'd change the deity's name to something more specific than a foreign word for "lord," especially since Ba'al (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal) already has such a strong connotation in many people's minds.
Terjon of the Blue Rose
05-15-08, 01:13 AM Besides the existing advice about your choice of names for your god I do have one other point to make out.

Use the massive number of gods in FR to your advantage. Most commoners don't have ranks in knowledge religion and know little more about the subject than they have been told by the local clergy. They do know that there are many gods, some good, some evil worshipped around the world but even many low rank clergy couldn't name them all. Take advantage and make sure you can tell the people about the glories your diety has granted in distant lands that they have heard of but never been too. Your god may have come from the Shining Sea in one village and the ancient empire of Mulhorand in another. Wherever he comes from it is a distant land, well know to be full of wonder and magic... just a land too distant for any local yokel to have been too.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KyloWinter 04-28-08, 05:13 PM	I'm playing a NE human cleric (necromancer) in a new campaign. I haven't played dnd in 4 years and so I'm kinda getting back into the swing of things. This is in the forgotten realms campaign setting and we are only using that and the 3 core books (phb, mm, and dmg.) My character has no deity and is attempting to start his own religion worshipping a fictional deity named "Ba'al" (from the Hebrew word for lord.) You could also think of people as worshipping my character since my ultimate goal is to become a deity. So basically my question is how do I go about doing this most effectively? What strategies would be best? Right now (we are all still lvl 1) I am planning on going around and doing whatever our party does (adventuring in Cormyr right now) and try to convert the people we help. Also, I'm thinking about doing some preaching in the towns we move through. Should I challenge other temple priests? Build a shrine? Convert nobles? Are there certain feats or skills I should take? I'm basically taking item creation feats and leadership. Any help would be appreciated.
Drackthor 04-29-08, 04:10 PM	You'll want Diplomacy, because no one converts for a douchebag. You'll want Bluff, because if you're making up your own mythology, odds are you'll end up making a mistake every so often. And you'll want a big hammer, because good, bad, you're the guy with the hammer.
KyloWinter 04-29-08, 05:58 PM	Already am taking diplomacy and unfortunately bluff is cross class as a cleric so it won't be very high. And a heavy mace is the largest thing I'm carrying.
fishfinger 04-30-08, 11:55 AM	take the feat monkey grip then get one that is one size larger and just say its because of your godly abilities
KyloWinter 04-30-08, 03:41 PM	Monkey grip? I don't think that's in the player's handbook.
vrmh 04-30-08, 07:29 PM	The Forgotten Realms setting doesn't allow for clerics without a patron deity; not if they want to cast spells anyway. You may have to get a fiend to sponsor you.
Jacob_Crowe 05-01-08, 02:22 PM	The Forgotten Realms setting doesn't allow for clerics without a patron deity; not if they want to cast spells anyway. You may have to get a fiend to sponsor you. Or he could just be trying to resurrect Myrkul, like so many before him... But, if you take the trickery domain, bluff is class for you isn't it? {checks PHB} yes, yes it is. and you gotta admit, a cleric with time stop is never a bad thing, is it? :-)
The Ubbergeek 05-04-08, 10:08 PM	Bhaal already existed... The Lord of Murder, ironicaly dead now. But his presence is not fully gone... You would need the servant of the fallen (i think it was the name of it) feat to get spells out of the dead god.
Kuroimaken 05-05-08, 04:17 AM	Rule one. Avoid suspicion. People are going to look at your alignment first and your deeds second, so even if you do good, people are going to assume you have ulterior motives. As such, get a means of protecting yourself with undetectable alignment ASAP. Rule two. If you want to become a deity, you'll have to figure out what kind of deity you'll be. Rule three. Deceiving is better than annihilating. The former may net you allies, and the latter always nets you enemies. Rule four. Make sure you don't step on anyone's toes until you're very, very strong. Don't go to Thay if you don't like dragons, for example. Rule five. Go to the Mature boards if you can, and post the same question in the Ask the Evil Overlord thread... he'll be able to help you.
Gentlemanic 05-05-08, 04:49 AM	Since you are level 1 still, I'd advice you to start small. Avoid drawing too much attention. Like the poster above said: a strong patron is never a bad idea. Make sure you don't skimp on charisma because it helps your abilities. As soon as you hit level 6, take the leadership feat and start attracting followers. Diplomacy is nice. Rebuking and creating undead is pretty good to get your first followers at lower levels. Also, now let's see.. Since you believe in this God, but want to be one yourself, carefully pick your relationship with said "deity": - Are you his only prophet? - His child? - His incarnation? If you want people to believe in you, perhaps you heard your God whisper to you in your sleep in nightmares.
KyloWinter 05-06-08, 06:43 PM	I had no idea there was a dead deity named Ba'al. Thank you to the above two posters. Good idea about the only prophet thing. I have taken craft wondrous item so I am at some point going to craft some sort of amulet or something of undetectable alignment. What are the Mature boards?
Bihlbo 05-14-08, 01:10 PM	You could use L. Ron "The way to make a million dollars is to start a religion." Hubbard as inspiration. Come up with some confusing pseudo-psychological gibberish, mix it with "facts" that cannot be verified, and create a lot of hoops for people to jump through so they feel like they're getting somewhere. Remember, Hubbard accomplished riches and fame through his religion by nothing more than writing a couple books and recruiting only wealthy people he could bilk. With promises of religious favor if they recruited more, he let them take care of everything else. So I wouldn't say that feats and skills are the primary method of making your religion. Leadership certainly, but I think that if your character does a few specific acts through the course of development, it's going to happen. For example, he needs to write a book. Even Confucious did that much, and he was just teaching someone. He needs to find wealthy backers. He needs a temple. He absolutely must come up with a neat color scheme and visual language with lots of fun symbols (like communists, muslims, taoists, etc). Create some rules that dictate purpose and goals, along with ways people should live. Also, I'd change the deity's name to something more specific than a foreign word for "lord," especially since Ba'al (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal) already has such a strong connotation in many people's minds.
Terjon of the Blue Rose 05-15-08, 01:13 AM	Besides the existing advice about your choice of names for your god I do have one other point to make out. Use the massive number of gods in FR to your advantage. Most commoners don't have ranks in knowledge religion and know little more about the subject than they have been told by the local clergy. They do know that there are many gods, some good, some evil worshipped around the world but even many low rank clergy couldn't name them all. Take advantage and make sure you can tell the people about the glories your diety has granted in distant lands that they have heard of but never been too. Your god may have come from the Shining Sea in one village and the ancient empire of Mulhorand in another. Wherever he comes from it is a distant land, well know to be full of wonder and magic... just a land too distant for any local yokel to have been too.