Feature Request: Deity List Altered by Campaign Setting Restrictions - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Feature Request: Deity List Altered by Campaign Setting Restrictions

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
misterfido_dup
Aug 08, 2009 10:55:24 The title says it all. This is one feature I've been awaiting for months, but no attention has been shown to.

If you go to the Manage->Campaign Setting tab and disable some gods--maybe you disable all of the non-Forgotten Realms ones, maybe you disable the evil ones, or maybe a god is dead in your setting and you disable him from being selected--you will find that the list in Manage->Details... remains exactly the same. Each deity in the list is still available for selection.

Oh, to be sure, there is some MINOR support, in that if you select Kord (for instance) when it's set up with Eberron-deities-only Campaign Setting Restrictions, it'll tell you that your character has been house ruled.

But I would really, really like it if it simply would omit those deities from the list. Kord not available? You can't select Kord, he's not even there. What's the point in handing my players a .dndcamp file that doesn't actually inform them of which options they can't take unless they SELECT it first? Especially with all the Forgotten Realms deities, that's just too much effort to expect from any PCs, especially if they're new to the setting.

Oh, to be certain, I could just tell them which deities to select, or write it down for them--and I do, as a kludge--but in the spirit of making D&DI and the Character Builder and especially the .dndcamp files as good as they can possibly be... this is important.

I want to start an Eberron campaign soon, and hand the file to my players who might not be familiar with Eberron, and let them read the deities on their computers at their leasure. But no. They have to sift through Forgotten Realms and Core first. And I can't tell you how many times I've started a new campaign, only to discover a session or two in that one of my PCs worships Kord, and has boned up on all his lore and history and flavor, instead of Dol Dorn.

I don't see any practical reason for this--if the DM specifically went through the effort to hand you a .dndcamp file with the deities removed, why would the builder still have them available? It doesn't show feats, backgrounds, classes... or, in fact, anything else that is restricted by the campaign file.
#2
misterfido_dup
Aug 11, 2009 15:31:50 ... does anyone agree? Disagree? I think the CB really needs this, but since it has gotten little attention, it hasnt' been implemented.
#3
thunderforge8
Aug 12, 2009 1:02:48 I see two ways that Wizards might implement this:
1. Hide all the non-setting deities, but make them appear with "Show illegal elements," like everything else
2. Have different sections for the deities, like with the backgrounds.

Right now, CB has a lite version of option 1, so I suppose that that would be the way to go. I imagine that they don't use it though because there isn't a rules mechanics reason as to why it's not happening and it might confuse players who don't care that Kord isn't in Eberron.
#4
ritorix
Aug 12, 2009 2:39:58 I think they just forgot to add it there, it omits them from the class tab if you are a divine class, and labels it as houseruled if it is selected on the other tab.

Ideally they should be excluded, but the houserule tells the player something is wrong. It is annoying, I had a player select Kord for a FR campaign (no Kord).
#5
atras
Aug 12, 2009 9:02:11 There is actually a lot of work that needs to be done with regard to the deities in the character builder.

Off the top of my head we have:
Limiting options to the appropriate campaign
Ordering of the list when specifying your choice
Matching domains for non-Core deities
Not house-ruling god equivalencies for Channel Divinities feats
Matching alignment to deity for Divine classes

I think these are all really added features, not bugs, but I hope they are taken care of soon - it would really improve making characters with a meaning connection to a deity.
#6
Kaviyd3
Dec 16, 2009 12:45:20
There is actually a lot of work that needs to be done with regard to the deities in the character builder. Off the top of my head we have:
Limiting options to the appropriate campaign
Ordering of the list when specifying your choice
Matching domains for non-Core deities
Not house-ruling god equivalencies for Channel Divinities feats
Matching alignment to deity for Divine classes
I think these are all really added features, not bugs, but I hope they are taken care of soon - it would really improve making characters with a meaning connection to a deity.

The December update begins to address these items. It is now possible to add and delete deity names that show up for deity selection and have only those that show up in the selection list (regardless of origin) not labeled as houseruled. Unfortunately, there is no way to link added deities to domains or to abilities with "must worship X" requirements -- but it is now actually possible to list any deity desired on a "non-houseruled" character sheet.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 misterfido_dup Aug 08, 2009 10:55:24	The title says it all. This is one feature I've been awaiting for months, but no attention has been shown to. If you go to the Manage->Campaign Setting tab and disable some gods--maybe you disable all of the non-Forgotten Realms ones, maybe you disable the evil ones, or maybe a god is dead in your setting and you disable him from being selected--you will find that the list in Manage->Details... remains exactly the same. Each deity in the list is still available for selection. Oh, to be sure, there is some MINOR support, in that if you select Kord (for instance) when it's set up with Eberron-deities-only Campaign Setting Restrictions, it'll tell you that your character has been house ruled. But I would really, really like it if it simply would omit those deities from the list. Kord not available? You can't select Kord, he's not even there. What's the point in handing my players a .dndcamp file that doesn't actually inform them of which options they can't take unless they SELECT it first? Especially with all the Forgotten Realms deities, that's just too much effort to expect from any PCs, especially if they're new to the setting. Oh, to be certain, I could just tell them which deities to select, or write it down for them--and I do, as a kludge--but in the spirit of making D&DI and the Character Builder and especially the .dndcamp files as good as they can possibly be... this is important. I want to start an Eberron campaign soon, and hand the file to my players who might not be familiar with Eberron, and let them read the deities on their computers at their leasure. But no. They have to sift through Forgotten Realms and Core first. And I can't tell you how many times I've started a new campaign, only to discover a session or two in that one of my PCs worships Kord, and has boned up on all his lore and history and flavor, instead of Dol Dorn. I don't see any practical reason for this--if the DM specifically went through the effort to hand you a .dndcamp file with the deities removed, why would the builder still have them available? It doesn't show feats, backgrounds, classes... or, in fact, anything else that is restricted by the campaign file.
#2 misterfido_dup Aug 11, 2009 15:31:50	... does anyone agree? Disagree? I think the CB really needs this, but since it has gotten little attention, it hasnt' been implemented.
#3 thunderforge8 Aug 12, 2009 1:02:48	I see two ways that Wizards might implement this: 1. Hide all the non-setting deities, but make them appear with "Show illegal elements," like everything else 2. Have different sections for the deities, like with the backgrounds. Right now, CB has a lite version of option 1, so I suppose that that would be the way to go. I imagine that they don't use it though because there isn't a rules mechanics reason as to why it's not happening and it might confuse players who don't care that Kord isn't in Eberron.
#4 ritorix Aug 12, 2009 2:39:58	I think they just forgot to add it there, it omits them from the class tab if you are a divine class, and labels it as houseruled if it is selected on the other tab. Ideally they should be excluded, but the houserule tells the player something is wrong. It is annoying, I had a player select Kord for a FR campaign (no Kord).
#5 atras Aug 12, 2009 9:02:11	There is actually a lot of work that needs to be done with regard to the deities in the character builder. Off the top of my head we have: Limiting options to the appropriate campaign Ordering of the list when specifying your choice Matching domains for non-Core deities Not house-ruling god equivalencies for Channel Divinities feats Matching alignment to deity for Divine classes I think these are all really added features, not bugs, but I hope they are taken care of soon - it would really improve making characters with a meaning connection to a deity.
#6 Kaviyd3 Dec 16, 2009 12:45:20	There is actually a lot of work that needs to be done with regard to the deities in the character builder. Off the top of my head we have: Limiting options to the appropriate campaign Ordering of the list when specifying your choice Matching domains for non-Core deities Not house-ruling god equivalencies for Channel Divinities feats Matching alignment to deity for Divine classes I think these are all really added features, not bugs, but I hope they are taken care of soon - it would really improve making characters with a meaning connection to a deity. The December update begins to address these items. It is now possible to add and delete deity names that show up for deity selection and have only those that show up in the selection list (regardless of origin) not labeled as houseruled. Unfortunately, there is no way to link added deities to domains or to abilities with "must worship X" requirements -- but it is now actually possible to list any deity desired on a "non-houseruled" character sheet.