Not a paladin or cleric? Feel free to follow Banjo the hand puppet! Or any of the numerous now possibly or probably dead and/or deceased deity type personages. Divine power, bah! Who needs it? Patron deity? Thrown out with the bath water baby!
When all seems lost, and hope unseen
Turn your face to the moon, where our lady once gleamed.
Dance in the forest, sing with the breeze;
But also in darkness that no other light sees.
Lend your strength to the needy; battle evil with steel.
Join in the hunt; to no other cause kneel.
Purge the monster within and the monster without;
Their blood washes you clean, of this have no doubt.
Trust your sisters and brothers; lend your voice to their song.
By joining the circle, the weak are made strong!
Chaos Harlequin, laughing and crying in and around the changes
The changes in the Realms afterlife, I feel, also opens up avenues for plots and explanations.
For example, having warlords and their abilities have come about through clerics of various faiths who wished to remain true to their ideals and their abilities. Better yet, have your player's characters be the ones to discover how to do these things through what used to be rituals and practices of their faith(s).
The same holds true for the likes of Mystra's and Azuth's followers when it comes to magic.
I feel this even brings up ways to bring back some old favorites without having to actually bring them back, so to speak. For example, old followers of say, Moander, can now have a bit more bite in the healing department without having to resort to channeling dead deity type powers.
While I don't feel the new afterlife is really realms-like (i.e. Kelemvore tried to change things once and found that didn't work very well; possible end of the long standing patron deity stuff; possible lessoning of the importance of deities in the Realms, etc) I do feel the changes may help cushion the massive decide.
Just some thoughts
I'm just waiting for someone to bust out Karsus's Avatar (the spell, that is), now that Mystra isn't around to stop them.
They might be, but it's probably a year long ritual.
Bel
Although I am thinking of building a Mythallar for some remote town and building some pseudo-magic items.
-Anyway, concerning the changes to the afterlife, I don't really like them, from what I've read of them. I never liked the structure of the Forgotten Realms' afterlife to begin with, but the new format, I feel, is even worse. The Wall hasn't been mentioned, however, so if it is gone, that much I like.
Most people still don't even know that such a spell existed, and are ignorant of the cause of the fall of Netheril, as they were at the time it occurred.
-I think, in one of the books, there is a Knowledge check DC.
-That said, the church of Mystra does tell this story (their version of it) to those who listen to them preaching, as a 'precautionary' tale.
Patron deity? Thrown out with the bath water baby!
I have to admit I never liked the 3E patron deity concept in a setting that was supposed to be polytheistic.
I never liked the structure of the Forgotten Realms' afterlife to begin with...
Neither did I.
"I have to have a god? What if I'm some ambiguous person who just doesn't care?"
I rarely play pious characters.
FR's Cosmology and Magic worked perfectly within itself, but it just didn't fit into the Planescape Universe very well, or even Ravenloft or Spelljammer, for that matter (although with RL's 'Domains', explanations could be made).
They required you to choose a patron deity?
It was held over your head (in the 3E FRCS) that if your PC did not choose a "patron deity", they'd have no one to "pick them up" from the Fugue Plane after death and (most likely) would wind up in the ill-conceived Wall of the Faithless.
They required you to choose a patron deity?
Wasn't one of the better DM's I've encountered.
It was held over your head that if your PC did not choose a "patron deity", they'd have no one to "pick them up" from the Fugue Plane after death and (most likely) would wind up in the ill-conceived Wall of the Faithless.
Uh-huh. Glad I missed that. Or did I just ignore it in 2e?
Uh-huh. Glad I missed that.
No doubt, though you could always change it in your own game (that's what I'd do, anyway).
Having to have a god put me off as a player in some of the few odd Realms games I was involved with in the past.
"I have to have a god? What if I'm some ambiguous person who just doesn't care?"
I rarely play pious characters.
-You don't have to be pious, or worship a deity. But, as has been mentioned, the afterlife is rearranged such that anyone who doesn't have a deity gets screwed. Playing in D&D, of course, this really wouldn't matter too much, since, when you're dead, you're dead. New character.