Advice for a Children of the Gods style game

[Aleolus]

I am prepping a campaign to run in the city I've made, in which the PCs are all the offspring of a mortal and a god, but none of them realize it. I am intending on this game having an overall 'coming of age' type feel to it, with the main drive of 'Divinity must be earned', so the characters will have to show themselves deserving of being among the gods. They'll start off having come to/being from this city (the ones who came to it all felt in some way shape or form like they were 'meant' to come here), and each of them, one by one, will be approached by an NPC I have been making. This person will interact with them for a little bit, maybe ask them for some help with something, then make a somewhat vague allusion to having a proposal they would be interested in hearing, and to come to their home that evening. Assuming the party all shows up, the npc will basically offer to be something like a sponsor or a patron (neither are the right word, but I don't know what would be right). Basically, this person will be the quest-giver for the party, finding what they call 'tasks', which they then present to the group to go and do, keeping the full rewards for completing them. What they won't know is that this NPC is actually an agent of the gods, whose purpose is to find their half-mortal offspring, and put them on the road to earning their divinity. The first handful of tasks they will be given will be intended to be little more than tests of character, to let me see what they are like beyond what their alignment and everything says. Then, once I have a good idea of what kind of people the characters are, I will give a task that will reveal their divine heritage, as well as the identity of their mentor up to that point.

Now, my problem is, there are about six million ways that this course can get screwed up, and I don't want my group to feel like I am trying to railroad them, so what kinds of things can I offer and suggest to try and guide them to do the things I want them to do, without making them feel like they are being pushed to go a certain way? Or should I completely drop the whole 'mentor' aspect, and instead just let them travel around and do various things until I know them well enough to introduce the reveal quest? Or should I do something else entirely with this idea? I get majorly focused on one particular route, and tend to get blinded to things that would, objectively, be better ideas or ways, so I am looking for whatever advice people are willing to give.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Aleolus
Or should I completely drop the whole 'mentor' aspect, and instead just let them travel around and do various things until I know them well enough to introduce the reveal quest?

I wouldn't use a single mentor, but perhaps a series of divine agents, some of whom may not even realize they're acting in that capacity. Some of them may not even be human; perhaps a crow drops a key into the hand of a PC, or a dog chases a PC into a shop that was hidden in a maze of alleys.

I also wouldn't be in any hurry to reveal any of these agents too soon, if ever. Let the PCs gradually come to realize they're being nudged, encouraged, sometimes shepherded. For added interest and complexity, you can design different styles for different divine agents. Maybe some are more subtle than others; some may even be working at cross-purposes, even if they have the same overall goal.

Are the PCs all the offspring of the same god, or all different divinities? If so, which divinity or divinities will be active? Will it be their parent-gods, or one or more others which have their own reasons for prodding the PCs along?

[Aleolus]

It will be a random dice roll as to which god will be which parent, with players rerolling if they get the same one. One thing I had in mind was that 'Divine Law' (which is completely inviolate for even the most chaotic of gods) forbade them from showing any favoritism or preference for their half-mortal offspring than they do for any other mortal, though I am now debating whether that would be more trouble than it's worth (especially since that would be telling my players 'Oh, I want you all to aspire to become gods, which will then force you to live by certain codes and precepts no matter how chaotic you may wish to be)

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Aleolus
It will be a random dice roll as to which god will be which parent, with players rerolling if they get the same one.

Hm.

Rolling randomly seems like it could have the potential for some serious disconnects. I would expect the divine parent’s nature to have a strong influence on the character’s personality and even abilities, but a random roll could cause some issues with that.

As an alternative, you might follow the approach that each character is subconsciously drawn to their parent deity, as determined by their devotion to same. This allows each player’s choice of deity to be more than just a name on a line of the character sheet—much more, although the players won’t know that up front.

Is there some sort of half-god template you’ll be applying at some point? Will they be developing divine abilities in addition to class abilities?


Originally Posted by Aleolus
One thing I had in mind was that 'Divine Law' (which is completely inviolate for even the most chaotic of gods) forbade them from showing any favoritism or preference for their half-mortal offspring than they do for any other mortal….

That may end up being difficult to work with. In mythology, divinities often interfere on behalf of their offspring, and it seems like the entire premise of the game is that one or more divinities will be involved with their children’s journey of self-discovery. Might be easier and more natural for the various divinities to be interested in helping, but constrained for other reasons, such as concern for provoking too strong a counter-reaction from opposing forces if they support their offspring too openly.

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[the_david]

I don't think I've seen many PCs with parents in RPGs. The exception would be Fantasy High, and that one time I kinda punished a player for writing orphan in her background. (But she both loved and hated it, so it's okay.)

This all changes when you reveal that all the PCs are bastard children of the gods. In most cases this would mean that their daddy ain't their daddy, and in normal life that raises questions. This is a RPG, so this will most likely be ignored anyway. Just know there's a slight chance the players will take this off the rails.

In Greyhawk, Kord is said to have hundreds of kids with mortal women. They have ridiculous stats (2d6+6 instead of 4d6 drop lowest) and only the strongest can become demigods after Kord sends them on a quest on their 17th birthday. They only get 2 divine powers to show for it though. I'd love to play a son of Kord though. You can find more information about this in Dragon Magazine #87.

[Crake]

without making them feel like they are being pushed to go a certain way?

If you trust your players to have enough of a sense of agency, it may be an interesting plot point to have the players been "guided" toward an end point as decreed by the gods, and having the players be forced with the choice of "Do I accept the divine, and take my place as fate decides? Or do I carve my own path, forgoing what the divine wish of me". For something like that to work, it would do well to have a pre-determined idea of what each of the gods wants for their progeny, and perhaps the god of war has a child who just wants to be a bard, and bring happiness to those around him, creating an interesting dynamic between what is desired from his parents, and what he himself desires.

[Aleolus]

Hm.

Rolling randomly seems like it could have the potential for some serious disconnects. I would expect the divine parent’s nature to have a strong influence on the character’s personality and even abilities, but a random roll could cause some issues with that.

As an alternative, you might follow the approach that each character is subconsciously drawn to their parent deity, as determined by their devotion to same. This allows each player’s choice of deity to be more than just a name on a line of the character sheet—much more, although the players won’t know that up front.

Is there some sort of half-god template you’ll be applying at some point? Will they be developing divine abilities in addition to class abilities?



That may end up being difficult to work with. In mythology, divinities often interfere on behalf of their offspring, and it seems like the entire premise of the game is that one or more divinities will be involved with their children’s journey of self-discovery. Might be easier and more natural for the various divinities to be interested in helping, but constrained for other reasons, such as concern for provoking too strong a counter-reaction from opposing forces if they support their offspring too openly.

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I am going to come up with a 'Divine' bloodline (along the lines of the ones talked about in UA, but without the 'bloodline levels' rule), rather than a template. So each character will gain different abilities based on which god is their parent as they gain power. And as for the random rolls, there are cases in mythology where a god had a child who ended up being radically different from them. What my intent is, basically, is that I will try to learn what the characters inner natures are, and use that to determine what kind of gods they themselves would be. The god (or goddess) had no real input in their upbringing, so the children's development would have been completely independent of the nature of the divinity within them, and they are growing into the god that they are meant to be

[Clistenes]

Have you spoken with your players about how their characters are supposed to be exemplars of some principles?

Because, if say the Druid is the child of the God of Nature and they are supposed to prove that they are worthy of becoming the next God of the Woodlands, but the player has a very different concept in mind, like for example, a maverick who falls in love with city life and becomes an Urban Druid... well, there is no way you are going to railroad that...

Same if the Paladin is supposed to become the next God of Chivalry, but the player is interested in playing Samuel Vimes...

I suggest that you tell them that the campaign is about avoiding some kind of Extinction Event, and hint that their PCs have been selected by somebody to stop it due to their character and personality... that way they will feel more inclined to be exemplary... You can use the fake Extinction Event to put all kind of tests in their way...

EDIT: Wait... do the players know what the campaign is about, or do they ignore their divine bloodline...?

[Aleolus]

I think some of you may not be understanding what I have in my head (a very easy thing to do, I have a very difficult time properly conveying what I am thinking to other people), so let me try and clarify. The players aren't 'destined' to become specific gods, nor will their divine parent have any impact on their character development beyond gaining special abilities from it along the same lines as UA's Bloodline Levels (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/bloodlines.htm). The early part of the game, before their heritage is going to be revealed to them, will involve me trying to figure out the character of the characters, by seeing how they behave in various scenarios, the kinds of choices they make when faced with a difficult decision and so on (And yes, class has a role in this, since someone playing a Fighter is unlikely to become a god of magic). From all of that information, I will determine what kind of god that character would be (most likely portfolio, domains, etc), as well as what they would need to do to earn that divinity. For instance, someone playing a Paladin who shows themselves to be extremely self-sacrificing and protective, constantly putting their own life in danger to protect the weak and helpless, would most likely need to literally put themselves in a position where they do exactly that, but against odds so overwhelming that they know beyond any doubt they will die from it. All to save something or someone who most people might not think deserves it.

So, in a nutshell, this isn't about the characters rising to fulfill some predetermined role for them or anything like that, it is about them finding the god within them and embracing it wholeheartedly

EDIT And yes, the players will know the overall gist of the game

[malloc]

I think the most important thing is to have divine interference early and often. Don't be afraid to throw around some random holy power in cinematic moments; have divine guidance; or have players channel some divine energy, even without specifying where it comes from.

This lets the players know "hey something godly is going on here," without you having to peg down precisely which deity is doing what until later. And with mystery about which deity is doing it, why, and what they might want down the road, players will have incentive to figure out who their patron is, for their own benefit.