Post/Author/DateTime	Post
snikt-snikt 01-24-05, 10:18 AM	I will soon be starting to DM our group's first eberron game. Last night the players roled up their chracters and one player is going to be a chaotic good cleric of the Blood of Vol. The character is now naive about the true sinister undertones of the religion but will find out eventually. I have a couple of questions: I was wondering if anyone had some good ideas for a backstory for the character. I was also wondering if there were any ideas about how the Blood would use a character like this--manipulation or cast her out of the church?
James Silverleaf 01-24-05, 11:32 AM	The blood of vol is a puplic religion in karrnath.. and there are many clerics that dont know about the churchs true intentions.. and many followers are good people... so the alignment would not be a probl And for the background.. he should be a cleric from karrnath.... educated in the citry of night... (Cant remember the name.) by the priests there...... then he became an adventurer because he discovered that something was wrong... some "Corruption" was going on in the church.. sao he left... and is now trying to find out the truth about the blood of vol....
Nedlum 01-24-05, 01:41 PM	It's your call, but I'd think that all priests of Vol would Rebuke/Command and Inflict Wounds, regardless of alignment.
snikt-snikt 01-24-05, 01:50 PM	nedlum: I was wondering about the rebuke/commnad undead and the spontaneous inflict wounds as well. My question is would a good aligned cleric of one of the dark six only be able to command/rebuke and inflict? Or perhaps she will be the rare cleric of Vol who can destroy undead and spontaneously cast healing spells. hmmmmm......
WilliamPall 01-24-05, 06:55 PM	The church 'proper' might not kick your good-aligned cleric out just because they are good. they might be sinister enough to let him continue helping people in the name of Vol . . . let him be a spokes person to the uneducated. Let him show people that the blood of the vol is not all bad. they might get more in their congregations and therefore more power. Any publicity is good publicity.
Gurv 01-24-05, 07:14 PM	A good aligned cleric of the Blood of Vol is perfectly acceptable. The typical follower of the BoV certainly thinks that they are good (at least thinks of himself as not-evil). This is not a faith where people walk around saying 'I'm an evil cultist'. The followers of the Blood of Vol believe in the mystical powers of blood, and teach that immortality can be achieved through necromancy and ritual. They don't have a PHB to tell them that such things have the evil descriptor. A cleric of the BoV would command undead and spontaneously cast inflict spells. Whether you channel positive or negative energy must be something you learn to do in Eberron; allowing alignment to determine such things draws a line that is far too clear for the feel of Eberron. Aside from that, it makes no sense for a cleric that promotes undeath as a good spiritual path to develop the ability to destroy them.
Edymnion 01-24-05, 07:54 PM	Agreed, the overwhelmingly vast majority of the Blood of Vol have no idea Erandis d'Vol even exists. They don't know what the true purposes of the religion are, they think its just what it appears to be, a way to bring themselves closer to divinity. Only the very most powerful members in the world know of Vol's existance and why she does what she does. Entire temples for the Blood of Vol would be good aligned, and not know a thing about whats really going on. Thats just not going to be a problem. I wouldn't let them have the ability to destroy undead, and they would likely consider doing so blasphemous (aka any cleric of the Blood that destroys undead would lose their powers for it, at least if they were using the Turn Undead ability to do it).
Ch@pel 01-24-05, 08:40 PM	Also, have the player think about the character's feelings about the Emerald Claw. Does he know they are related to the BoV? They could be a key factor in his eventual discovery of the true nature of his faith.
Gurv 01-24-05, 08:52 PM	Only the very most powerful members in the world know of Vol's existance and why she does what she does. Entire temples for the Blood of Vol would be good aligned, and not know a thing about whats really going on. Thats just not going to be a problem. I wouldn't let them have the ability to destroy undead, and they would likely consider doing so blasphemous (aka any cleric of the Blood that destroys undead would lose their powers for it, at least if they were using the Turn Undead ability to do it). Exactly. If you think that undead are holy, then your undead-creating faith isn't going to seem evil to you. Especially since the traditions date back to before humans lived in Khorvaire. In the real world, we have traditions and myths that generally make the living dead out to be a bad idea. Eberron has similar traditions, but they also have traditions that say the opposite. So not everyone is going to think of undead the way you and I do; even those with nothing to do with the BoV are going to have different opinions that we do. I'd say that destroying an undead creature (according to BoV: "an individual who has achieved immortality, the goal of all mortal creatures") would be blasphemous to followers, regardless of how it is done. Since the BoV sees death as oblivion, or at least hellish, then it would be tantamount to destroying/damning a soul in their book. I don't think they would learn how to turn undead at all. Besides, if an undead is attacking you (poor, confused thing doesn't know you're on his side), rebuking undead is a better option anyway. The thing to remember is that the BoV don't think of the evil things they endorse as evil at all (they are, but they have no PHB to tell them that). They think undeath is a holy state, a state in which you gain immortality and thus are not erased from the universe. Denying someone undeath, someone who has earned it, by destroying them...thats the worst sin you could commit.
Sarlax 01-24-05, 09:49 PM	Like others, I agree that this is a fine choice for the player. If you intend to run the published adventures, though, you ought to be prepared to handle the various villians and groups with more care and complexity than you otherwise would have. In my game, the warforged fighter actually counts himself as a member of the Blood of Vol. He sees the undead as more like himself than as monsters. Even though he isn't concerned with normal mortality, the struggle of humanoids to make themselves eternal resonates with him, so he finds the Blood of Vol a natural fit.
Twiggly the Gnome 01-24-05, 10:46 PM	Or perhaps she will be the rare cleric of Vol who can destroy undead and spontaneously cast healing spells. hmmmmm...... This is just a house rule, but IMC clerics of the Blood of Vol rebuke/command undead and spontaneously cast heal spells. Clerics of the Keeper turn/destroy undead (and deathless) and spontaneously cast harm spells.
drasticale 01-25-05, 12:19 AM	Another reason I'd see the ability to Command/Rebuke and spontaneous Heal, is because the Blood of Vol abhors death. They would be consummate healers in my opinion, becuase while Undeath is a preference to death, they'd appreciate keeping people alive until they've gotten the ability to give them immortality i.e. Animate Dead.
Myriddian 01-25-05, 12:48 AM	A thought just occured to me, is manipulating negative energy in Eberron actually evil? Or is it just a matter of perspective? Negative energy does not have to mean evil, I think in Eberron. It is just a tool that one uses, and all the rest is how you veiw said tool. Maybe. Maybe not. Just a thought. :dragon:
Sarlax 01-25-05, 01:19 AM	They would be consummate healers in my opinion, becuase while Undeath is a preference to death, they'd appreciate keeping people alive until they've gotten the ability to give them immortality i.e. Animate Dead. That's a fair point, but they also revere the undead. Perhaps there are two groups of the religion: the Seekers use healing magic to extend the lives of the faithful, while the Preservers use inflicting magic to assist the undead.
Sarlax 01-25-05, 01:26 AM	A thought just occured to me, is manipulating negative energy in Eberron actually evil? Or is it just a matter of perspective? Negative energy does not have to mean evil, I think in Eberron. It is just a tool that one uses, and all the rest is how you veiw said tool. That's my view as well, but the rules don't support it. Animate Dead and its related spells still possess the evil descriptor. And by the rules (since this isn't specified), evil clerics still rebuke undead and inflict, even if they're of the Silver Flame. This should probably be changed since it doesn't make sense for the faith, but it's how the rules work.
snikt-snikt 01-25-05, 09:00 AM	As far as wielding negative energy goes, characters wouldn't see it as evil (matter of perspective) but it may have a "negative" effect on their soul--just because they don't believe it is evil doesn't negate the fact that it may have an ill influence on their soul (or alignment). Also I am planning on running the published adventures (with some modification) does anyone have any ideas about how to handle potential problems with the Order/Garrow and the PC. I was thinking if it came to it that Garrow would work with her and the group until they retrieved the schema but not wanting to share the glory of acomplishing his task, he would betray them and try to have them killed.
darkthought 01-25-05, 03:48 PM	I could see a Cleric of Vol helping destroy undead if the undead was a threat to others. That is, of course, if they were of good alignment. The being that is undead is misusing the gifts that they were granted and it's the clerics duty to right that. Again, they'd follow different rules depending on if the undead is sentient or not. Sentient they'd deal with in the same way that they'd deal with a person. Talk to them first and get them to change their ways. If not, then the holy (or un-holy) smiting begins. As for non-sentient undead, I'm not sure. I think the cleric would put the zombies and skeletons down that cause a threat, simply because they are mindless. Here's my heirarchy of undead for my Vol Necros, in rank of veneration: Mindless: Zombie (Lowest form of the gift) Skeleton Other Forms of non-sentients Sentient: Ghoul Ghast Mummy Vampire/Lich The Mindless have been given the gift of eternal service. The sentients have accepted a gift of control and eternity. As for raising your enemies, I doubt anybody in their right might would raise that ogre who just tried to kill you as sentient, without some means of controlling them. I'd see it as a form of eternal punishment, instead of a gift. Service until the sins/crimes have been repaid. I can see Karrnath doing this to their more violent criminals.