[WIP] Mythical Expressions of Domains

[Primal Fury]

I'm working on a sort of "false prophet" class that steals worshippers of other religions using plagues and miracles that affect the mind of the witness (among other things), but one of the other abilities has been stumping me: I'd like each domain the character has access to to provide a special ability that screams "bow down and worship me/my deity," but I'm having some serious trouble coming up with anything at all.

Does anyone else have ideas as to what an awe-enspiring expression of a domain would be?

[Grinner]

See, this is the reason the Giant won't let us talk religion. This is why we can't have nice things.

[Primal Fury]

Whoa whoa whoa. Is this actually off limits?

I thought stuff related to the game, not real world religion, was just fine and dandy.

[Grinner]

If you phrased it differently, I don't think anybody would take issue. As is, it seems as though you're insulting a central figure of Judaism. (Speaking of kosher.)

[Primal Fury]

Well that certainly was not my intention, and my apologies if I've offended anyone.

If it matters, I've made some changes.

[Rephath]

Yeah. My first thought was you're parodying a God I worship. While I'm not overly offended, it happens a lot, I'd be annoyed playing in a game that contained that god.

What you have appears to be poor setup. The God of the Bible claimed to be the one true god, and according to the Bible showed it by showing up anything else that claimed to be on that level. In most English-speaking countries where you homebrew would be played, monotheism and atheism are your two main contenders. And I think I'm starting to step over the line with relgion so I'll cut it short there.

By comparison in D&D, you have many gods, and for one to claim to be the only god or the clearly supreme god is provably false. So you're taking (what appears to me to be) a grotesque parody of a god from this world and transporting it into a world where it would make even less sense. This does not sound workable.

Some alternatives:
-The god you are thinking of pretends to be other gods, mimicking their speech patterns and miracles and providing benefits to their clerics, siphoning off worshipers by mimicry.

-The god you are thinking of dislikes other gods and tries to prove himself superior. Clerics are encouraged to challenge other clerics to prove their superiority. This might lead to use any spell you have to do what another cleric just did, with a +1 bonus.

-The god gets worshipers by any means, and using trickery, mind control, mind alteration, and so on are acceptable. Quantity over quality of worshipers.

[Primal Fury]

-The god you are thinking of dislikes other gods and tries to prove himself superior. Clerics are encouraged to challenge other clerics to prove their superiority. This might lead to use any spell you have to do what another cleric just did, with a +1 bonus.

-The god gets worshipers by any means, and using trickery, mind control, mind alteration, and so on are acceptable. Quantity over quality of worshipers.

These two were my original intent; when I said "false prophet" I meant a priest that actively attempts to steal the worshippers of other gods for his deity, or himself.

I really need to learn to express myself better. There must be a better name than that... Demagogue maybe? Sort of a... religious rabble rouser.

[Rephath]

Let's see. Thinking of this god's traits. It's going to be a god of pride, power, publicity, and the public. Ironically, it will have low self-esteem and be attention-seeking. Think Courtney Stodden. Doctrine and morality will be flexible. So long as you worship the god and give it attention, it won't care what else you do.

Clerics will be encouraged to oppose other clerics and show the superiority of this deity. I still like the idea of doing whatever miracle the other guy just did only slightly better. Spells natural to this deity will be mental in nature, and/or have big flashy effects over personal ones. I see a lot of big spells that poorly distinguish friend from foe, or use most of their energy in things that are tangential to the spell's effect.

An example of a healing spell is the clouds parting and a blinding ray of light shines down on the target as the air fills with angelic chorus and the wound is healed. Or possibly a healing spell that only works in combat but heals everyone, including enemies. Big but not necessarily more useful. For inspiration, watch several videos of Final Fantasy summons and try to combine them into one effect, for each basic spell.

Attacking spells might hurt enemies worse than the faithful, but still hit the faithful as a plague or major area effect hits everyone. And when you write up spells, include flashy description that shows the sheer awesomeness involved, with flashiness inversely proportional to utility. Spell names might also be overly long and needlessly complicated.

Let's take the healing spell above. Call it Ixathor's Majestic Ray of Glorious Healing Light. Description: The stormclouds above cease their thundering and part as the power of Ixathor shines through as a glowing ray of light so pure that it nearly blinds the eyes of the unworthy. The chorus of ten thousand heavenly beings resounds in triumph over death and decay as miraculous healing energies multiply over the accursed source of ruin that opposes the nature of Ixathor. Glorious motes of healing energy surround the target, flashing in a cascading display of awe and wonder. Effect: Heals 1d6 damage.

[Primal Fury]

That sounds pretty good, and I'll likely use some of those ideas, but I'm going more for a PrC for clerics, and divine casters in general, centered around stealing worshippers... with big huge effects like the one you mentioned.

I've got everything except the "Look upon my works and weep! Your god is NOTHING compared to mine/me!!" abilities.