Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Adlar Hodge 08-15-05, 03:33 PM	While I was looking up information on Hextor I came across the info for him and he's weilding six weapons. Is it possible for Clerics of Hextor to have each of those as a choice for favored weapons? Nothing against the flail, I just don't like it. Thanks.
tarkin 08-15-05, 05:43 PM	No, each god gets a single favored weapon, and they should definitely not be changed based on a picture. Pictures are fluff, often painted by artists that were given a one sentence description and no other back ground. Basing rules on them is not a good idea. Things like "I want an angry, war god of justice". Furthermore, the weapons were intentionally choosen so as not to be excesively powerfull.
tiercel 08-15-05, 07:41 PM	I don't think favored weapons should be changed willy-nilly, though there are things you can consider. One is that I believe Complete Divine has an expanded lists of gods (of various sizes; some are, if I recall, demigods, e.g. gods that work under other gods in a more specific area). This might allow you to keep a character concept, or even base religion ("yes, I worship Hextor, but more specifically, Bahane, His servant in dealing out savage retribution!") while having a slightly different RP mechanic, portfolio, or even favored weapon. Additionally, if you want to declare yourself a member of a different "sect" of the church symbolized by a different weapon, and your DM is OK with it, then maybe you two can work up a story explaining why you use a different weapon. In that case, though, I would say that the weapon cannot be statistically advantageous compared to the one you're giving up (in particular, if you have the War domain and so are getting free proficiency with it). If you'd rather use, I don't know, the morningstar or trident, I wouldn't have a game balance issue allowing those rather than the flail for flavor reasons. I'd be a little more leery of allowing a longsword or battleaxe, just because it looks more like "I want a better crit range since I don't want to use trip very much." In at least some cases the choice of favored weapon is arguably a balance factor -- e.g. Fharlanghn, who allows the excellent Luck/Travel combo, has a favored weapon of Quarterstaff (less than optimal if you aren't planning on a TWF melee build). Sure, you might be better off with a shortspear and a light shield, but are you going to deliberately snub a favored weapon with which you already have proficiency?
Talon Stormwarden 08-15-05, 07:56 PM	Is favored weapon even relevant if the deity doesn't offer the War domain? Only other thing affected by favored weapon that I can think of is the threat range and multiplier for Spiritual Weapon. Clerics don't even necessarily get proficiency with their deity's favored weapon. Although, now that I think of it, it does matter for Favored Soul, since they get proficiency/focus/specialization with favored weapon.
Adlar Hodge 08-15-05, 07:59 PM	Well my point was that the pic of Hextor is shown with 6 different weapons. Most other deities are shown with their favored weapon (if weilding a weapon at all). I guess I like the Cleric as a villain too much...can you blame me? :D