Bacchanalian
2014-07-23, 06:38 PM
I'm piecing together a basic homebrew to play with my wife and possibly some friends (or more likely for now just a 2 player with myself and my wife, her playing a character and me handling an NPC, which I know has all sorts of issues on its own), and had an idea I really liked for a cleric, but it requires a custom deity.
Basically, it's a dwarf cleric who, stereotypically, has an affinity for his spirits. But I want to take it to the next level, and want a deity of spirits/ale/wine. I'm thinking CG, god of merriment or some such. Special deity-specific abilities might include a once-daily ability to turn water into x type of alcohol, intoxicate target causing them a x turn temporary 1d4 dexterity penalty subject to a constitution check, and bonuses of some sort to the cleric's abilities while under the influence (for instance, +2 strength and +2 constitution temp modifiers, or a magic item that bestows similar bonuses). There would be shrines in every non-evil tavern with varying degrees of reverence (some token little shrines, others elaborate altars--perhaps the tavernkeeper or some patron of the tavern would buy a drink and leave it on the altar as an offering every night), and a very loose society of advocates which included clerics and believers, but the god would be a secondary god in the sense that it would not necessarily be THE god of CG. The society of followers may moonlight as an underground group bent on overthrowing tyrannical organizations and governments as well, giving the organization a bit more meat and room for campaign plots and the like.
That said, I'm very new to 3.5 (the last game I have experience with was 2e back in the mid 90s), and still pretty uncomfortable with the way a lot of the feat/spell/class ability mechanics work, so I'm feeling a little lost. Has anyone else here created custom deities and have some pointers for me? I've got the PHB I and II, and the DM Guide I and skimmed the religion chapters for specifics on homebrew gods, but if there was anything there I managed to miss it entirely.
Basically, it's a dwarf cleric who, stereotypically, has an affinity for his spirits. But I want to take it to the next level, and want a deity of spirits/ale/wine. I'm thinking CG, god of merriment or some such. Special deity-specific abilities might include a once-daily ability to turn water into x type of alcohol, intoxicate target causing them a x turn temporary 1d4 dexterity penalty subject to a constitution check, and bonuses of some sort to the cleric's abilities while under the influence (for instance, +2 strength and +2 constitution temp modifiers, or a magic item that bestows similar bonuses). There would be shrines in every non-evil tavern with varying degrees of reverence (some token little shrines, others elaborate altars--perhaps the tavernkeeper or some patron of the tavern would buy a drink and leave it on the altar as an offering every night), and a very loose society of advocates which included clerics and believers, but the god would be a secondary god in the sense that it would not necessarily be THE god of CG. The society of followers may moonlight as an underground group bent on overthrowing tyrannical organizations and governments as well, giving the organization a bit more meat and room for campaign plots and the like.
That said, I'm very new to 3.5 (the last game I have experience with was 2e back in the mid 90s), and still pretty uncomfortable with the way a lot of the feat/spell/class ability mechanics work, so I'm feeling a little lost. Has anyone else here created custom deities and have some pointers for me? I've got the PHB I and II, and the DM Guide I and skimmed the religion chapters for specifics on homebrew gods, but if there was anything there I managed to miss it entirely.