How to Make Divine Magic more Miraculous?

[Minwaabi]

I'm working on creating a campaign world that uses a modified magic system. Most arcane casters will use Spheres of Power and divine casters will use the (normal) vancian system. However, I want divine magic to represent miracles and miracles aren't usually things that you can count on. In other words they should be somewhat miraculous. Whether the gods aren't paying attention, aren't as powerful as their clerics would have you believe, don't care, don't like you today, or it's not their will to grant that request, divine spells shouldn't always work. I know this might screw up balance, but divine casters aren't really meant to be a PC class in this campaign anyway (though that might not stop my players from trying anyway). I'm mostly asking how to make this happen mechanically. Here's what I'm looking for:

- Low level spells should work some of the time, but should never work all of the time (A 20th level cleric should still fail on their 1st level spells every once in a while)
- High level spells should usually fail no matter what.
- Higher level / wiser/ more experienced casters get more in tune with how to get their gods to give them things and become better at performing miracles.
- No amount of optimization should allow a divine caster to break either of the first two rules
- Spells in a character's domain are easier to cast as are spells that are in their god's domain. These bonuses stack
- Simpler rules are better than complicated ones.

My first thought is to "roll d20 + caster stat" versus a DC of "10 + spell level" ; +1 to the roll if it's in your domain; + 1 to the roll if it's in one of your god's domains; - 1 to the roll if it is not in one of your god's domains. But I feel like those DC's are too low to get the feel I want.

[Geddy2112]

I don't know why you need to make divine magic any more miraculous than it already is. I mean, the pinnacle spell of divine magic is Miracle-you directly ask your deity to intercede and do something...miraculous.

Even the humble spell of creating pure water is a pretty big deal- you are making pure drinkable water out of nothing by simply offering a short prayer for a deity. Water is a base requirement for life, even in a fantasy setting. Cure disease, remove blindness, and all of your other spells that remove or alliveate afflictions are a HUGE deal. People suddenly getting their sight back because a faith healer asked their deity to do so? That is the definition of a miracle- an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.

You are not making divine magic more miraculous, you are making it more unreliable and less powerful. You already said you don't want divine casters anyways, so just remove all divine casting classes. If you want to make "divine" casting NPC's and divine magical aid unreliable or rare, then sure. Be it that divine magic is unreliable, or gods are lazy, or whatever setting thing you want. Just fiat it off screen that divine spells have a % fail chance like arcane ones for XYZ reasons players are not aware of(but might come up in the plot of the campaign). Just ban divine casters outright for player classes, don't hamstring them for some kind of realism(and as I argued above, divine magic is already miraculous so I believe you are making it less realistic by hampering it).

[Vogie]

To make it a bit more dynamic, You may want to look into the d20 system used by Cthulhu & Friends podcast for Sanity, except refluff it to Loyalty/Devotion to that deity or deities... It would end up with something a lot like the Vice/Virtue system of White Wolf or the Paragon/Renegade system of Mass Effect.

You would choose certain traits for the god or gods of your pantheon, and then assign the various divine spells to that pantheon. As the divine caster plays, the more they ask from or cater to the desires of the deities, it may build up loyalty to one, but burns devotion to another.

I don't know how you divvy up your pantheon, so lets say you have an 5 sided pantheon like the MTG color wheel. So the Green (Nature/Beast/Earth/Food/Good) god loves the White(healing/mercy/collaboration/lawful) god and the Red(chaotic/fire/passion), but loathes the Blue(water/weather/information/knowledge/neutral) and black(Evil/undead/wounding/self-serving)god... that gives the cleric balance back and forth in his gameplay.

So If they lean in a certain direction, appeasing a handful of the gods and eschewing the others, that divine caster will be able to reliably do only those abilities tied to the gods he or she is devoted to, and will almost never be able to pull any of the spells from the deities they aren't devoted to... and if you do, that impacts the others.

[Extra Anchovies]

- Low level spells should work some of the time, but should never work all of the time (A 20th level cleric should still fail on their 1st level spells every once in a while)
- High level spells should usually fail no matter what.
- Higher level / wiser/ more experienced casters get more in tune with how to get their gods to give them things and become better at performing miracles.
- No amount of optimization should allow a divine caster to break either of the first two rules
- Spells in a character's domain are easier to cast as are spells that are in their god's domain. These bonuses stack
- Simpler rules are better than complicated ones.

The second and third rules are in direct conflict with each other. Higher-level spells should be less likely to succeed, but higher-level casters (i.e. the only ones casting higher-level spells) should be more likely to succeed... including with their higher-level spells?

Should a 20th level fighter still miss attacks at full BAB sometimes? Maybe, but if a 1/20 chance works for fighters then it should work for casters too - and it does, because a natural 20 on a save is always a success (PHB, p. 136).


My first thought is to "roll d20 + caster stat" versus a DC of "10 + spell level" ; +1 to the roll if it's in your domain; + 1 to the roll if it's in one of your god's domains; - 1 to the roll if it is not in one of your god's domains. But I feel like those DC's are too low to get the feel I want.

Keying it to an ability score encourages caster SADness, which is already a problem.

Here's what you do. Take the cleric list. Remove every non-cantrip, non-"cure/inflict wounds" spell. The spells in the two domains a cleric chooses to specialize in are added to that cleric's spell list at their normal spell level. A cleric of Kord with the Zeal and Strength domains can cast Cure/Inflict Wounds, Bless and Enlarge Person as first-level spells. A cleric adds every spell from their god's other domains to their class spell list, at one level higher. A cleric of Kord can cast Cure/Inflict Moderate Wounds, Bless, Rhino's Rush, Enlarge Person, Divine Favor, Entropic Shield, Protection from Evil/Law, Remove Fear, and Shield of Faith as second-level spells. Chopping the first-level spell list down to four spells (two domains, plus cure/inflict) and the subsequent levels list down to around eight-ish spells (depending on how many domains the god has) means what a cleric can do is heavily dependent on their choice of deity and domains.

That handles the power side of things, but it could do better on the "seems miraculous" front. An idea for that is to let the player choose, when their cleric prays for spells, only one prepared spell of each level plus any bonus spells from high Wisdom. The other spell slots of each level are determined randomly from among the two normal-level spells from the cleric's domains and the handful of one-level-higher spells from the god's domains; the contents of the randomly-prepared slots are concealed from the player, and are called "miracle slots".

If a cleric wants to cast a spell from among their class list that they don't have prepared in their normal slots, they have to request a "miracle" from their deity. Requesting a miracle is a standard action, and they have to specify what spell they are trying to request. If the spell they're requesting is prepared in one of their miracle slots, that slot is expended, and the standard action taken to request it counts as part of its casting time, but if the spell they're requesting isn't prepared in a miracle slot, then no slots are expended and they've used up their standard action for the turn. This way, getting the spell you need at a crucial moment really would feel miraculous, and the more times you've successfully requested a spell, the less your chances of succeeding on further requests (until you run out of slots, at which point your god says you've gotten enough for the day).

If a positive-channeling cleric wants to cast a cure wounds, they sacrifice any prepared spell slot as normal, but if they want to cast an inflict wounds, they have to prepare it when they pray for spells; vice-versa for negative-channeling clerics. This bit could be implemented with or without the above miracle rules.

Remove the druid entirely. Make a 4th-level spell called Lesser Animal Shapes, as Animal Shapes (PHB) but affecting only the caster, and stick it in the 4th-level Animal domain spell slot in place of Summon Nature's Ally.

Create two feats, Natural Summoner (requires 4 ranks Knowledge: Nature) and Planar Summoner (requires 4 ranks Knowledge: Planes). Natural Summoner lets you prepare Summon Nature's Ally in your non-miracle slots as long as you have at least twice as many ranks in Knowledge: Nature than the spell's level (e.g. SNA IX requires 18 ranks), and Planar Summoner does the same for Summon Monster but requires Knowledge: Planes ranks and only allows the summoning of creatures which share at least one alignment component with the cleric's deity (e.g. clerics of Kord can summon only chaotic and/or good creatures).

This would all also work to balance clerics' power in normal games, but in that case I think shifting the spells from the god's domains (which the cleric didn't take) up one spell level would be unnecessary.


EDIT: Blah, just saw that it's Pathfinder. Most of the rules still work, but the Natural and Planar Summoner feats should be ticked down to 1 rank in the appropriate Knowledge skill for the initial prerequisite and require ranks equal to (spell level times 2, minus 1) to access each spell level. Lesser Animal Shapes doesn't need to be created because the Animal domain already has Beast Shape III.

Anyways, that's... a fair bit more than I was expecting to write, and mostly ideas new to me. Thanks for posing this topic, it was nice to hash out my thoughts on it.

[Krazzman]

Add glitter to their spells.

[Roog]

However, I want divine magic to represent miracles and miracles aren't usually things that you can count on.

PCs need to be able to count on their major class features - so you will need to ban all PCs from taking classes which have divine spellcasting as a major class feature.

If you want PCs to still have access to divine spellcasting, then it needs to be a secondary feature of those characters. This probably mean granting access through feats or new general rules that apply to all characters. You might want to make them all rituals, incantations (eg http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm), or some other unreliable system.

[Coidzor]

Don't have manifestations for all divine spells, just the spell effect. That will instantly set divine spells apart from the weirdness that happens when an arcane caster casts spells according to the FAQ on the subject.

Have manifestations appropriate to their ethos and alignment and patron when they cast spells.


However, I want divine magic to represent miracles and miracles aren't usually things that you can count on.

They are for the genuine article. Which is what people with PC levels in divine casting classes are.

Also, it's counter to the point of playing a game to make the primary class feature of a class not work properly.

[Jack_Simth]

I'm working on creating a campaign world that uses a modified magic system. Most arcane casters will use Spheres of Power and divine casters will use the (normal) vancian system. However, I want divine magic to represent miracles and miracles aren't usually things that you can count on. In other words they should be somewhat miraculous. Whether the gods aren't paying attention, aren't as powerful as their clerics would have you believe, don't care, don't like you today, or it's not their will to grant that request, divine spells shouldn't always work. I know this might screw up balance, but divine casters aren't really meant to be a PC class in this campaign anyway (though that might not stop my players from trying anyway). I'm mostly asking how to make this happen mechanically. Here's what I'm looking for:

- Low level spells should work some of the time, but should never work all of the time (A 20th level cleric should still fail on their 1st level spells every once in a while)
- High level spells should usually fail no matter what.
- Higher level / wiser/ more experienced casters get more in tune with how to get their gods to give them things and become better at performing miracles.
- No amount of optimization should allow a divine caster to break either of the first two rules
- Spells in a character's domain are easier to cast as are spells that are in their god's domain. These bonuses stack
- Simpler rules are better than complicated ones.

My first thought is to "roll d20 + caster stat" versus a DC of "10 + spell level" ; +1 to the roll if it's in your domain; + 1 to the roll if it's in one of your god's domains; - 1 to the roll if it is not in one of your god's domains. But I feel like those DC's are too low to get the feel I want.

If you don't do anything in the other direction (like, say, making it so that they never 'run out' of spells - today's spells prepared are essentially a listing of warlock invocations, except that they require the check to succeed), this is a soft-ban on divine casters. Of course, you did pretty much say that you don't really want them in the game, so that may be fine... just be warned that you may get 'hard feelings' about the soft ban. Let's do some number crunching....

A 1st level Cleric is liable to have a Wisdom modifier in the +2 (a 15, elite array NPC) to +5 (an 18 and a +2 racial bonus: PC optimizer). The DC is 11 for a 1st level spell
With the DC you listed, then a 1st level Cleric with the Healing domain has a modifier in the range of +4 to +7 for anything on the Healing domain list. Makes it on a roll of 7 (70% chance) at the elite array NPC end to 4 (85% chance) at the PC optimizer end.
With the DC you listed, then a 1st level Cleric casting a spell not specifically in one of their deities domains has a modifier in the range of +1 to +4. Same DC means a 1st level caster casting a 1st level spell has a 50% chance of success to a 65% chance of success.
A 10th level Cleric is liable to have a Wisdom modifier in the +4 (a 15, elite array NPC, +2 Periapt, +2 level up) to +9 (an 18, +2 racial, +2 level up, +6 Periapt) range.
For a domain spell, max level, that's +6 vs. DC 15 for the NPC (needs a 9, so 60% chance) or +11 for the PC (needs a 4, 85% chance). PC is guaranteed (unless you do a nat-1 clause) to cast 1st and 2nd level domain spells (+11 vs. DC 11 or 12).
For a spell not in the deities domains,that's +3 vs. DC15 for the NPC (needs a 12, so 40% chance) or +8 for the PC vs. DC 15 (needs a 7, so 70% chance).
A 20th level Cleric is liable to have a Wisdom mod n the +7 (a 15 elite array NPC, +6 Periapt, +4 level up) to +14 (base 18, +5 Level, +6 Enhancement, +5 Inherent, +2 Racial, +2 Old Age) range.
For a domain spell, that's +9 to +15. For 9ths, that's a 10 (55%) for the NPC, or a 4 (85%) for the PC. The NPC is always getting cantrips (not that any domain has them), while the PC is always getting up to 6th level domain spells.
For a spell not in any of the deity's domains, that's +6 to +12. For 9ths, that's a 13 (40% chance) for the NPC, and a 7 (70% chance) for the PC. The PC always gets up to 3rd level spells, regardless of domain status.

That's the range, given the setup you listed. With the same basic setup, each +1 to the DC reduces the listed chance ranges by 5%. Each -1 to the DC increases the listed chance ranges by 5%. Making a nat-1 an autofail means there's ALWAYS a 5% chance of failure (until rerolls come into play, of course).

[Minwaabi]

I don't know why you need to make divine magic any more miraculous than it already is. I mean, the pinnacle spell of divine magic is Miracle-you directly ask your deity to intercede and do something...miraculous.

You are not making divine magic more miraculous, you are making it more unreliable and less powerful. ... Divine magic is already miraculous so I believe you are making it less realistic by hampering it.

I'm using the following definition of miracle: occurring through divine or supernatural intervention, or manifesting such power <and> highly improbable and extraordinary and <usually> bringing very welcome consequences.


The second and third rules are in direct conflict with each other. Higher-level spells should be less likely to succeed, but higher-level casters (i.e. the only ones casting higher-level spells) should be more likely to succeed... including with their higher-level spells?

Should a 20th level fighter still miss attacks at full BAB sometimes? Maybe, but if a 1/20 chance works for fighters then it should work for casters too - and it does, because a natural 20 on a save is always a success (PHB, p. 136).

Keying it to an ability score encourages caster SADness, which is already a problem.

Here's what you do...

Thanks. That was a very helpful point. It made me think more about what I really want it to look like. Here's an example of how those first three rules could work out: a 20th level cleric could cast a 9th level spell at most 25% of the time, but when they first learned 9th level spells, maybe it was only 5% of the time. By this point they might be able to cast a 1st level spell 80% of the time, but when they were first level they could only pull it off maybe 20% of the time. So, high level spells usually fail no matter what, low level spells always have a chance of failure, and divine spell casters get better at petitioning their gods with experience.

As for the system you came up with, that's brilliant! I love that. Now, I might have to rethink everything!



PCs need to be able to count on their major class features - so you will need to ban all PCs from taking classes which have divine spellcasting as a major class feature.

If you want PCs to still have access to divine spellcasting, then it needs to be a secondary feature of those characters. This probably mean granting access through feats or new general rules that apply to all characters. You might want to make them all rituals, incantations (eg http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/incantations.htm), or some other unreliable system.

This is a good point. However, I don't plan on banning these classes. I will however make it very clear that these classes might be better considered to be NPC classes like commoner or expert. At the very least, they are much much lower tier than you would expect. Having said that, where would folks consider that divide? Obviously Cleric has it as a major class feature and Ranger has it as a secondary feature.


If you don't do anything in the other direction (like, say, making it so that they never 'run out' of spells - today's spells prepared are essentially a listing of warlock invocations, except that they require the check to succeed), this is a soft-ban on divine casters. Of course, you did pretty much say that you don't really want them in the game, so that may be fine... just be warned that you may get 'hard feelings' about the soft ban. Let's do some number crunching....


I think some clarification is in order. Divine casters exist in the campaign setting. In fact, they are central figures in some parts of the plot. I would therefore like a system of rules that they can use to cast their magic. However, most folks in the playground would probably consider these divine casters to be unsuitable for play. On the other hand, some of my players might think that this makes for an interesting challenge or is at least "new".

What I've done in the other direction is a hard ban on the standard arcane casters. We are using Spheres of Power instead. Since we are using Spheres of Power for arcane casters, divine casters already get something that arcane casters don't: "proper" spells that can be cast in a standard action. They also get a greater variety of spells or spell like abilities that can be used in a standard action for less commitment/investment. For example, suppose an arcane caster wants to animate a dead corpse permanently. You can do this through a ritual or a sphere ability. Using a sphere ability will require you to use up 3 of your talents to gain this ability, this will mean that there are other useful spells that you will simply never be able to cast. (Though you could get early access if you planned things out well). Using a ritual will require 30 minutes of uninterrupted casting, an extra 25 gp (plus the usual 25gp per HD), access to a copy of the spell - which may not be easy to find, and some way to read it. Since read magic is not a spell every arcane caster knows, you will need to make a DC 23 Spellcraft check or invest a talent in Divinations (which you should do anyway so you can detect magic). While we are on the topic there is another key thing a divine caster can do: detect magic in less than 10 minutes. Arcane casters can do this too, but it requires another talent and 2 spell points every day.

As for the number crunching, many thanks. That was exactly the type of analysis I was asking for. I would have never guessed the ranges would be so high.

[Thiyr]

Another thought: Miracles are special less because they're inconsistent and more because they're beyond control. Rather than making that be because of random spell failure, make it random spell *selection*. Clerics choose their deity, and the spells they have prepared are randomly selected from all of their god's domain lists (either dropping the domain slot or adjusting gods with fewer than 5 domains up to 5). Each of these spells can only be prepared once. Clerics can still convert spells to cure/inflicts, but other than that, they need to trust their god to provide for them the tools they will need. As they grow more connected to their god while leveling, lower level spells become more consistently accessible (five domains, five spell slots), but the highest powers of their god are still something they need to trust their god for until they're essentially their god's right hand man. For added fun, put Miracle to everyone's choices for 9ths (both to ensure nobody gets true consistency at that point even at 20, but they also get the chance for a true, world-changing miracle).

[Zale]

I'm working on creating a campaign world that uses a modified magic system. Most arcane casters will use Spheres of Power and divine casters will use the (normal) vancian system. However, I want divine magic to represent miracles and miracles aren't usually things that you can count on. In other words they should be somewhat miraculous. Whether the gods aren't paying attention, aren't as powerful as their clerics would have you believe, don't care, don't like you today, or it's not their will to grant that request, divine spells shouldn't always work. I know this might screw up balance, but divine casters aren't really meant to be a PC class in this campaign anyway (though that might not stop my players from trying anyway). I'm mostly asking how to make this happen mechanically. Here's what I'm looking for:

- Low level spells should work some of the time, but should never work all of the time (A 20th level cleric should still fail on their 1st level spells every once in a while)
- High level spells should usually fail no matter what.
- Higher level / wiser/ more experienced casters get more in tune with how to get their gods to give them things and become better at performing miracles.
- No amount of optimization should allow a divine caster to break either of the first two rules
- Spells in a character's domain are easier to cast as are spells that are in their god's domain. These bonuses stack
- Simpler rules are better than complicated ones.

My first thought is to "roll d20 + caster stat" versus a DC of "10 + spell level" ; +1 to the roll if it's in your domain; + 1 to the roll if it's in one of your god's domains; - 1 to the roll if it is not in one of your god's domains. But I feel like those DC's are too low to get the feel I want.

Instead of that, I would take note from Vogie's suggestion.

Might I recommend something like this:

You have a "Devotion" stat that exists independent to your other statistics. It goes up and down depending on your recent behavior and your god's caprice. Each Devotion stat is deity specific, so your Grummish Devotion tracks separately from your Lloth Devotion.

Base Devotion
The base level of your Devotion stat depends on the following:

These bonuses are cumulative unless otherwise stated, which is to say that you gain a bonus or penalty from each criteria that is true.

If you are a follower of the god in question, the god is your racial deity, or you are part of a group the god protects or favors, +1 base Devotion.
If you are a priest of the god in question, +1 base Devotion.
If you are a high priest, or the deity has spoken to your personally, +1 base Devotion.
If you are a particularly ardent follower of your god*, +1 base Devotion.

If you are of a group that the god finds detestable, or a worshiper of an enemy god, - 1 base Devotion.
If you are of a different alignment of the god in question, -1 base Devotion for each step away.

At the beginning of each day, if your current Devotion is above or below your base Devotion, move it one point back towards your base Devotion.

*DM Discretion

Changing Devotion Level
You can temporarily increase, or decrease, your Devotion by doing any of the following, though not more than once per day from each available option:

By praying to the god in question for ten minutes or more, +1 Devotion.
Conducting a elaborate, hour-long ritual in the honor of the god*, +2 Devotion.
Making a notable sacrifice** in the god's honor, +2 Devotion.
Killing an enemy god's priest, thwarting or otherwise ruining an enemy god's plan, +2 Devotion.
Taking an action that greatly resonates with, or supports, the god's ethos, +2 Devotion.
Devoting yourself wholly to the god's worship for at least a week, +3 Devotion.
Going on a long or difficult quest at the god's request, or fulfilling some heroic and difficult deed in the god's name, +3 Devotion.

Praying to an enemy god, -1 Devotion.
Working against the god's domains or ethos, -1 Devotion.
Conducting rituals in another god's name, -2 Devotion.
Killing a priest, thwarting or otherwise ruining the god's plans, -3 Devotion.
Devoting yourself wholly to an enemy god's worship or ethos for a day or more, -4 Devotion.

Temporary changes in Devotion will eventually return to normal, given time.

*Conducting such a ritual may require Knowledge (Religion) checks, or Perform (Sacred Ritual) checks at the DM's discretion.
**One again, up to DM discretion.

Miracles
You may request that a god intercede on your behalf provided your base Devotion towards that god is greater than 0. To do so, make a DC 15 Devotion check as a full-round action.

On this roll, add your current Devotion to the god in question, then subtract an amount depending on the scope of your request. As a guideline, see the following table:



Miracle Power
Equivalent to..
Penalty


Minor Miracle
1st-3rd level domain spells
-1 to -3


Moderate Miracle
4th-6th level domain spells, 1st-3rd level general divine spells
-4 to -6


Powerful Miracle
7th-9th level domain spells, 4th-6th level general divine spells
-7 to -9



The DM selects the final miraculous event, but the player may state the power level and general intent. However, for all other purposes, do not consider the player to be the originator of the event in question. They are merely the observers of divine intervention; have no real control over the miracle once it has begun.

A successful miracle decreases Devotion by two, three, or four points, based on the power of the miracle.

If the penalty applied by the miracle would reduce your bonus on the roll to -5 or lower, you cannot request the miracle in question. Additionally, asking for a miracle that is grossly out of line with the god's ethos or philosophy will result in an automatic failure; the loss of Devotion as if the miracle had succeeded.

A failed Devotion check does not reduce Devotion, but it does increase the DC for requesting miracles by 1 for the rest of the day. This penalty is cumulative.

As for an example of this works out math-wise:

The ardent (+1), high-priestess (+3) of Chauntea wishes to bless the fields of a farmer. She has a base Devotion of 4; the DM judges her blessing to be equivalent to Plant Growth, which as a 3rd level Plant Domain spell, is a Minor Miracle. The Priestess must make a Devotion roll for which, considering the penalty from the Minor Miracle, she has a 30% chance of success. While Chauntea dictates the exact effect of the blessing, it does take the form of some agrarian blessing. This miracle taxes the Priestess standing somewhat, reducing her current Devotion down to 3. Should she wish to call upon Chauntea's power to bless another field, she would have only a 25% chance of success; each successive field would reduce this to less and less.

Should she bless three fields, it would be three days before Chauntea's favor would return to it's normal level. That is, of course, unless the Priestess were to attempt something else to gain her favor back. Were she to conduct an hour long harvest ritual thanking Chauntea for her mercy for blessing the farmers with a bountiful harvest, that would increase her current Devotion up by 2.

Should the high-priestess wish to call upon some grander miracle, such as calling upon massive plant guardians (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shambler.htm) to defend the sacred fields, she would need to conduct such a ritual before even attempting such a thing; would have a 10% chance of success at any rate.

These numbers, of course, are greater for her than for some average person. An average worshiper of Chauntea could request that she bless their fields, but would have a fairly low (15%) success rate; would barely be able to ask for blessings more than once or twice a day.


After that, just remove "cleric" and all divine magic classes. Have priests be Experts or something. Yes this rips all divine magic out of classes and makes it available to anyone who worships a god, but considering it grants nothing more than the ability to request, "That something roughly this powerful happens, please?", I don't picture it being particularly terrifying.

You might assemble enough bonuses to ask Silvanus for the power to change into animals, hoping for shapechange, only for him to turn you into a raven for a day because that's what genuinely what he felt was useful. "Leaf this place and get in touch with nature, human brat.", he says to you as you change, shaking a great wooden fist.

This effectively makes Divine Magic fairly unappealing for player characters, as it requires a great deal of devoted effort to really shine, but still allows for high-priests and the like to be a powerful influence on society. Sure, they'll occasionally do something that gives them enough credit to cash in for something cool, but it won't be common.

This also has the added benefit of doing this without making people go through the effort of preparing spells or taking levels in a class only to have their basic class features fail to work spectacularly.

If these statistics seem to lenient, then increase the base difficulty to 20 or something. That would mean that the high-priestess in the example above would require ten minutes of prayer, an hour-long ritual, a large personal sacrifice and one of A) Defeating an agent of Talona or B) Taking an action that is hugely resonate of Chauntea just to have a 10% chance of summoning vegetable minions.

It also means that asking for anything requires a huge amount of effort, but that might be your intent.