Becoming a Chosen of "Insert God" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Becoming a Chosen of "Insert God" [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Shiftless435
10-11-04, 12:15 AM I am looking for a bit of advice for any o fthe more experienced DMs. My party just recently had a run in with the elminster and during the course of the dialoge it was mentioned that he was a "Chosen of Mystra". I really just threw this in there as an interesting fact but it immediately started to cause a stir. Now, a fighter who worships tempus wants to know how to become a "Chosen of Tempus" like Elminster.

So, because PC's never do what you expect (hah) I am stuck doing research. I have two questions I guess...

1) How does a PC become a "Chosen of..."? Is there a set way to do it? If not has anyone out there had any experience with creating their own rules?

2) What benifits does a character get for becoming a "Chosen"? I know it probably changes per god so if you dont know specifics even a general idea would help.

Any information you have would be very helpful. Thanks in advance...
Antigone
10-11-04, 12:50 AM Interesting you should ask this, because I was thinking of a new campaign in which the PCs start out as Chosen of Kelemvor. (There's a lot more to it than that, of course, but it's not relevant here.) Anyway, at first level, I was going to let them pick a domain power (no spells, just the granted ability), so they'd get to pick among the granted powers for Travel, Repose, Fate, and whatever else Kel's got (although I was thinking of limiting the Repose domain to clerical-types -- it's a powerful ability). As they increase in level, their abilities would somehow increase, but I haven't quite worked that bit out yet.

This idea started out as just a way to bribe the players into buying into my "this religion only" campaign idea, but then I decided the whole Chosen thing might be a good way to explain it in game terms.

As for published Chosen templates, there's Mystra (FRCS p. 247) and Bane (F&P p. 213). Those are the only two I know of, although somewhere on this forum someone mentioned another.

BTW, just my opinion, but I think something like becoming a Chosen should be a major campaign theme. I wouldn't give it to a player just because he asked for it.
Bulabase
10-11-04, 01:21 AM Keep it a secret. Don't let the players know exactly what it means. Since most of the game is defined in strict mechanics now, let this one slide. Let the players imagine what it means.

For example, in one campaign in which I am a player, my paladin is the chosen one of Tharizdun. Tharizdun is a god of ultimate evil if you didn't know. I have no idea what exactly that means, but that is half the fun. The character in question completely accepts this seeming dichotomy. It helps feed the idiotic bravery that one expects from paladins. (What can all those clerics do to me? I'm the "chosen one" of Tharizdun!)

As a player, I have no idea if the DM has any mechanical definition of what "chosen one" status signifies. I just go with the flow and have fun.
Bringslite
10-11-04, 02:46 AM I don't think that any one individual can decide to be so blessed or "go after" becoming so. I think that they are well...."CHOOSEN" by the deity. That said, the PC would probably have to be a paragon of all the ideals of the deity and be in great favor of the deity. Also with the blessing/curse would come some pretty hefty responsibilities as well as the emnity of all of the deities enemies. All really good stuff for adventure hooks though.

As to the powers granted by Tempus I would choose from the domains that He uses. Maybe the ability to "see" the best manuevers possible in mass battle situations. The PC would be the ultimate Sun Tzu. And some of the nifty other powers granted like +10 strength instead of Mystra's +10 constitution, ageless, immunity to dirty tricks like poison etc. Oh and a definite "must" for the choosen of Tempus would be near invulnerability in one-on-one combat.
zerotkatama
10-11-04, 08:27 PM Actually, I would say a Chosen of the Red Knight would be the ultimate Sun Tzu, but that's just me (Then again, since the Red Knight was originally thought of as an aspect of Tempus... who knows?)
Lordofthebean
10-11-04, 08:43 PM Obviously, the the God of which the PC is chose would have to be the PC's patron deity. For clerics this is fairly obvious, less so for other classes. Because even gods withing the same alignment behave differently (especially the neutral band of alignments), choosing a patron at 1st (or at least early) level is a necessity. Read their dogma, and the PCs know how they should act.

It's important to note that the powers of a Chosen are extremely potent. +10 con effectively gives you +5 hit points a level and +5 to fortitude.

Finally, a character is Chosen when he (or she) stands out significantly from all of the deity's other followers. Gods have loads of low level followers, so unless the PCs have done something very important to distinguish themselves, they probably will not get the deity's attention until high levels.
DwarvinJedi
10-11-04, 11:35 PM read Elminster: The Making of a Mage, It is a decent book, and it explores El's early days, and somewhat his slow induction to Chosen Status, but still, I would probably look at the Chosen Templete Board over in the FR, I think it was in Magic, and that stuff.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shiftless435 10-11-04, 12:15 AM	I am looking for a bit of advice for any o fthe more experienced DMs. My party just recently had a run in with the elminster and during the course of the dialoge it was mentioned that he was a "Chosen of Mystra". I really just threw this in there as an interesting fact but it immediately started to cause a stir. Now, a fighter who worships tempus wants to know how to become a "Chosen of Tempus" like Elminster. So, because PC's never do what you expect (hah) I am stuck doing research. I have two questions I guess... 1) How does a PC become a "Chosen of..."? Is there a set way to do it? If not has anyone out there had any experience with creating their own rules? 2) What benifits does a character get for becoming a "Chosen"? I know it probably changes per god so if you dont know specifics even a general idea would help. Any information you have would be very helpful. Thanks in advance...
Antigone 10-11-04, 12:50 AM	Interesting you should ask this, because I was thinking of a new campaign in which the PCs start out as Chosen of Kelemvor. (There's a lot more to it than that, of course, but it's not relevant here.) Anyway, at first level, I was going to let them pick a domain power (no spells, just the granted ability), so they'd get to pick among the granted powers for Travel, Repose, Fate, and whatever else Kel's got (although I was thinking of limiting the Repose domain to clerical-types -- it's a powerful ability). As they increase in level, their abilities would somehow increase, but I haven't quite worked that bit out yet. This idea started out as just a way to bribe the players into buying into my "this religion only" campaign idea, but then I decided the whole Chosen thing might be a good way to explain it in game terms. As for published Chosen templates, there's Mystra (FRCS p. 247) and Bane (F&P p. 213). Those are the only two I know of, although somewhere on this forum someone mentioned another. BTW, just my opinion, but I think something like becoming a Chosen should be a major campaign theme. I wouldn't give it to a player just because he asked for it.
Bulabase 10-11-04, 01:21 AM	Keep it a secret. Don't let the players know exactly what it means. Since most of the game is defined in strict mechanics now, let this one slide. Let the players imagine what it means. For example, in one campaign in which I am a player, my paladin is the chosen one of Tharizdun. Tharizdun is a god of ultimate evil if you didn't know. I have no idea what exactly that means, but that is half the fun. The character in question completely accepts this seeming dichotomy. It helps feed the idiotic bravery that one expects from paladins. (What can all those clerics do to me? I'm the "chosen one" of Tharizdun!) As a player, I have no idea if the DM has any mechanical definition of what "chosen one" status signifies. I just go with the flow and have fun.
Bringslite 10-11-04, 02:46 AM	I don't think that any one individual can decide to be so blessed or "go after" becoming so. I think that they are well...."CHOOSEN" by the deity. That said, the PC would probably have to be a paragon of all the ideals of the deity and be in great favor of the deity. Also with the blessing/curse would come some pretty hefty responsibilities as well as the emnity of all of the deities enemies. All really good stuff for adventure hooks though. As to the powers granted by Tempus I would choose from the domains that He uses. Maybe the ability to "see" the best manuevers possible in mass battle situations. The PC would be the ultimate Sun Tzu. And some of the nifty other powers granted like +10 strength instead of Mystra's +10 constitution, ageless, immunity to dirty tricks like poison etc. Oh and a definite "must" for the choosen of Tempus would be near invulnerability in one-on-one combat.
zerotkatama 10-11-04, 08:27 PM	Actually, I would say a Chosen of the Red Knight would be the ultimate Sun Tzu, but that's just me (Then again, since the Red Knight was originally thought of as an aspect of Tempus... who knows?)
Lordofthebean 10-11-04, 08:43 PM	Obviously, the the God of which the PC is chose would have to be the PC's patron deity. For clerics this is fairly obvious, less so for other classes. Because even gods withing the same alignment behave differently (especially the neutral band of alignments), choosing a patron at 1st (or at least early) level is a necessity. Read their dogma, and the PCs know how they should act. It's important to note that the powers of a Chosen are extremely potent. +10 con effectively gives you +5 hit points a level and +5 to fortitude. Finally, a character is Chosen when he (or she) stands out significantly from all of the deity's other followers. Gods have loads of low level followers, so unless the PCs have done something very important to distinguish themselves, they probably will not get the deity's attention until high levels.
DwarvinJedi 10-11-04, 11:35 PM	read Elminster: The Making of a Mage, It is a decent book, and it explores El's early days, and somewhat his slow induction to Chosen Status, but still, I would probably look at the Chosen Templete Board over in the FR, I think it was in Magic, and that stuff.