A God that wont let his cleric go...

[Uncas]

So I had a concept for a jaded cleric (warrior/tankish type) who basically has come to believe his God is a jerk. He basically wants nothing to do with the God. The character hasnt changed alignment, still acts in accordance with his God just due to his nature. But the God wont let him walk away. Sends people to him for help, which he eventually, begrudgingly will do all the while cussing out his God. Almost like the God's unwillingness to let him leave is a punishment.

So the question is for those who know the pantheon and stories of the gods better than I do, what would be some decent choices for said diety? Anything good or neutral.

Thanks!

[Crake]

We'd need to know what setting/which pantheon you're playing in first

[Asmotherion]

Some Chaotic Neutral thief-god or Chaotic Evil (you can be chaotic neutral and still be within 1 step of the deity's alignment) Assasin-God would fit the trope; Cleric got on the receiving end of the Deity's portofolio and is bitter; Deity loves to toy with his former Cleric (and views him as a perfect follower of his portofolio) and still grants him spells.

BTW this reminds me a lot of the relationship between Xena and Ares (Warior Princess). Or Hercules and Zeus (Legendary Journey). Fun times. :smallbiggrin:

[Uncas]

We'd need to know what setting/which pantheon you're playing in first

It's a homebrew world and the DM is pretty lenient on choices. So which pantheon is not necessarily a huge deal.

[Uncas]

BTW this reminds me a lot of the relationship between Xena and Ares (Warior Princess). Or Hercules and Zeus (Legendary Journey). Fun times. :smallbiggrin:

Oh man that's going back, but yea that's about right haha.

[Sutr]

Pelor the burning hate...? Any deity with the sun domain when you have met good undead works.

[Uncas]

Pelor the burning hate...? Any deity with the sun domain when you have met good undead works.

Haha the burning hate is a good one.

[ViperMagnum357]

This actually happened in D&D novels, in the Ashes trilogy of Dragonlance, albeit with a devout monk. A Monastery devoted to Majere, a God pf Peace; was wiped out except for one monk, Rhys, who split from his god because he was not going to take direct action against the undead responsible. Rhys, through some enraged entreaties and poor choice of words, catches the attention of and winds up backing himself into the service of Zeboim, a Chaotic Evil Goddess of storms-who has a vested interest in destroying the new powerbase of a rival, namely the new type of undead that destroyed the Monastery.

The trilogy follows Rhys as he gets pulled in two different directions, between his original faith in Majere, who has not given up on Rhys even if he does not approve of his current obsession; and Zeboim, who repeatedly appears in person to directly aid Rhys because of her intense interest in his quest, and has a long term interest in making Rhys the first of a new flavor of devout servant.

The trilogy is set just after the return of the Gods to Krynn, where most of them are taking very active roles in the world; the axiom of the series is "you cannot quit a God."

[Saintheart]

Any god with Retribution as one of his domains, the point being that it's the cleric who is suffering retribution from his god. Thus: Baphomet, Bhaal, Hoar, Lendys, Osiris, Tyr. Most of these are Forgotten Realms specific, tough.

[NNescio]

So I had a concept for a jaded cleric (warrior/tankish type) who basically has come to believe his God is a jerk. He basically wants nothing to do with the God. The character hasnt changed alignment, still acts in accordance with his God just due to his nature. But the God wont let him walk away. Sends people to him for help, which he eventually, begrudgingly will do all the while cussing out his God. Almost like the God's unwillingness to let him leave is a punishment.

So the question is for those who know the pantheon and stories of the gods better than I do, what would be some decent choices for said diety? Anything good or neutral.

Thanks!

Ishtar the First Yandere. And by Ishtar I mean the... uh, Untheric (Toril not!Babylonian) Greater Deity of Love and War. Same pantheon that Tiamat and Bahamut used to belong to.

She's Neutral and has the portfolios Love and War. Her 3.5e domains are Magic, Strength, Summer and War. Technically she has left Toril though, with Isis from the Mulhorandi (AKA Toril not!Egyptian) pantheon inheriting her name and aspect. Though this shouldn't be a problem with a permissive DM.

Her associated artifact is the Headdress of Love and War, which among other things allows her to force any male she's interested in to "fall passionately in love with her". She doesn't take kindly to "no".

So, yeah, the backstory writes practically writes itself. You were a faithful servant of your god, then your lover or wife or partner or some significant other meets a grisly end because your goddess took interest in you. (Optional: Repeat a few times, depending on how oblivious your character is.) You became disillusioned, but remain dedicated to your goddess' ideals (helping farmers and the common folk, participate in 'just' wars that further Life, etc.)

(Bonus points if happens to be a same-sex significant other, because, uh, 'references'!)

--

Alternatively Asmodeus masquerading as a benevolent deity also works. In that case, everything your character does it merely "Just as Planned" to him, no matter how Good the acts are and how they seem to foil Asmodeus' goals. He's pretty much the D&D equivalent of Tzeentch.

[daryen]

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[Telonius]

I'm thinking Rincewind and The Lady (don't say her name). Any luck-based deity would do.

[Asmotherion]

{scrub the post, scrub the quote}

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[Psyren]

BTW this reminds me a lot of the relationship between Xena and Ares (Warior Princess). Or Hercules and Zeus (Legendary Journey). Fun times. :smallbiggrin:

Or Conan and Crom.

Problem is though that none of your examples are actually clerics, so of course they have more leeway to be impious/irreverent. This would be best represented mechanically by a Favored Soul, Oracle or a template of some kind (e.g. Chosen of X) - someone who doesn't have to revere the deity to get their favor in other words.

[The Viscount]

Servant of the Fallen names a few gods who are essentially forgotten. A deity who needs their only cleric might find reason to keep them around.

As we see from Andromalius, Olidammara loves a good joke and might keep driving a cleric such as this because it's funny.

[Shinizak]

It's a homebrew world and the DM is pretty lenient on choices. So which pantheon is not necessarily a huge deal.

{scrubbed}

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: Please strive to avoid references to real-world religions, and keep all references fictional.

[StevenC21]

Are we allowed to reference real world religions if they appear in D&D?

There are a few real world religious pantheons that appear in Deities & Demigods (which I will not as of now name). Are we simply not allowed to refer to those in-lore characters?

[Psyren]

Are we allowed to reference real world religions if they appear in D&D?

There are a few real world religious pantheons that appear in Deities & Demigods (which I will not as of now name). Are we simply not allowed to refer to those in-lore characters?

This was answered previously by both Roland and The Giant (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255293-Mythology-VS-Religion&p=13869062&viewfull=1#post13869062) - you have to keep your references clearly within fiction. So you can talk about Thor, the deity in Order of the Stick; you can talk about Thor, the Marvel comics character; you can talk about Thor, the deity in D&D's Deities and Demigods. But you can't talk about any aspects of Thor related to real-world myths, history, or religious practices.

[Peelee]

This was answered previously by both Roland and The Giant (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255293-Mythology-VS-Religion&p=13869062&viewfull=1#post13869062)

Rawhide is sad that you excluded him. That question got all the admins responding together. The hat trick!

Anyway, yes, they broke it down pretty well there.

Imean, I'm guessing that Rawhide is sad. I dunno. Maybe he likes keeping a low profile.

[Uncas]

These are great.

Thanks for all the ideas, I'm going to have to digest this and see what I come up with.

If there are any more ideas, feel free to leave them.

Thanks again!

[Calthropstu]

This was answered previously by both Roland and The Giant (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?255293-Mythology-VS-Religion&p=13869062&viewfull=1#post13869062) - you have to keep your references clearly within fiction. So you can talk about Thor, the deity in Order of the Stick; you can talk about Thor, the Marvel comics character; you can talk about Thor, the deity in D&D's Deities and Demigods. But you can't talk about any aspects of Thor related to real-world myths, history, or religious practices.

Hmmm.

So if I suddenly start worshiping Banjo the Clown as presented in OOTS, does that mean OOTS is no longer allowed to be discussed here?

[Psyren]

Rawhide is sad that you excluded him. That question got all the admins responding together. The hat trick!

Ha! My bad, I forgot to look up slightly :smallbiggrin:


Hmmm.

So if I suddenly start worshiping Banjo the Clown as presented in OOTS, does that mean OOTS is no longer allowed to be discussed here?

Too late, he didn't want to be in the pantheon :smalltongue:

[Katie Boundary]

Minor note: this is a LOT more likely with Favored Souls than with clerics, since FS share a functional material connection to their deity that they can't break by just flipping their middle fingers at the sky.

And that's especially true if the FS is an Aasimar or Tiefling who happens to be a direct descendant of that deity.