Faith: An Overview

A Quick Discussion

Faith may be present in all settings, but it is generally only important where it can directly impact the physical world of the game. Faith can be interpreted several ways. It can be a measure of the devotedness of a character. It can be measure of how much attention a God pays to a character, even if they are not a worshipper. It can be called Spirit, or Discipline, or be considered redundant in the place of will. This is for the GM to decide. Herein I describe a few ways faith operates in my fantasy games.

Faith: Character Creation

Faith Attribute

Creating a character with Faith is similar to creating a character with Magic. Faith operates as another attribute that average people generally do not possess. This is because Faith is not primarily a measure of the character's devotion. Any one may be a dedicated worshipper of a God and still have a Faith of zero. Instead, the higher an individual's Faith, the "brighter they shine" in the eyes of their God or Gods. It essentially equates itself to the amount of notice and respect they receive or can command from one or more deities or spiritual inhabitants. This may be deserved (an truly devote follower) or undeserved (someone who doesn't even believe in the God), but it exists none-the-less. Like Magic, Faith is bought from the same Attributes Steps a character may spend on their normal Attributes.

However, unlike Magic, Faith is not generally limited by a character's mental Attributes (unless the GM states that it is). This is for the simple reason that madmen, children, and all manner of others in story and legend have shown gifts for prophecy, miracle working, and such. Therefore, I do not see the need to limit who find favors in the eyes of a God.

Faith and the Character

A person with the Faith Attribute has some influence with their Deity, and therefore can beg and pray for divine intervention and hopefully expect results. Obviously, the higher one's Faith Attribute is, the greater the likelihood your Deity will look upon your request with favor. But it is always up to the whim of the Deity. This is an area where a GM must be very careful in the balancing of divine powers. On the one hand, the God in question does favor the character with Faith. On the other hand, the character should not be praying for lightening bolts to destroy every foe he encounters. This type of action is an abuse of the trust the God has in the character and may weaken the bond of Faith. Also, characters should remember what type of God they worship, and what the God's Domain is. Even in regular play, a GM should examine not only if the Player rolls high enough to succeed, but if the intervention is in-line with the Deity's desires, religion, and expressed interests. If a devotee of a God of the Sea prayers for bolts of fire to rain down on his enemies, his God will most likely laugh if not become offended. That kind of action is simply diametrically opposed to the Deity and their Domain. An inappropriate request for aid should never be successful. Just make sure the character has a well-defined religion before allowing them to play.

Faith is not necessarily a constant value for a character. It is set when they start, but a character's actions in a game can affect it. As mention before, unless the character concept has as it's foundation a devotion to a God (i.e. a priest), actions against their religious law do not necessitate the loss of Faith. This is determined by the GM on a case by case basis. However, more readily objective, is how successful a character is when invoking a God's will. If a character Critically Fails while praying for a divine intervention, they have offended their God. A GM may mitigate this effect if a player narrates a really good prayer but simply rolls poorly. Otherwise, the character losses all their Steps in Faith until they perform a ritual of purification or prayer. Generally, I require about 5 hours of devoted prayer from the character before they regain 1 Step in Faith. For every day after that that they do not offend their god, they regain a further Step. The GM can speed this up for especially repentant characters (i.e. spend a full day in prayer or shave their heads in repentance) or can slow it down for grumbling and non-repentant characters. In the case of a character who isn't a true disciple of a God, it can simply mean that the God's patience was exhausted in them. If the character does not or cannot pray, the Faith may never return or may return by one Step a month or whatever. It is the GM's choice.

Miracles and Blessings

Miracles and Blessings are considered examples of Divine Intervention or Invocation of a God's Will (hereafter referred to as Intervention). Usually, when a GM and a player decide upon or create a religion, they describe the God or Gods in the religion and their hierarchy. They determine the spheres of influence of Domain of the Gods (i.e. the Sea, the Sky, Weather, Birds, Death, etc...). And finally, they use this to determine the likely blessing that the God chooses to favor his Faithful with and determine general Difficulties for requesting them (I use the capitalization to specify those worshippers with Faith). These blessings are similar to spells but usually much more general in scope. Also note that a Faithful of a Deity is not limited to the blessing the GM and Player list. They may ask for Intervention in any form that in some way involves or concerns the Domain of the Deity. This may even take the form of a desperate, last minute, "Save me!." And the character should be allowed to roll and the GM can freely interpret the results. As a final note, the GM is encouraged to encourage the Player to ad lib or write down specific prayers. Although some Gods do not, most appreciate a Faithful who praises them and is humble when asking for Intervention. Therefore I suggest a GM modify Difficulties or even waive them for very "good" (whatever that is) prayers and for very "bad" prayers. Remember, Gods are fickle and they don't always want to hear the same thing. A Faithful who whines at them and says, "Come'on heal me already," is less likely to receive their blessing then one who says, "I beg you, oh Lady Sif, she of the Shining Hair; bring me healing and deliverance from pain so that I may serve you with a strong and healthy body." It's simply a matter of flattery and subtly in my games.