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Dragon9 wrote:

Well, there was this:

So no, no worshiping dead Gods, especially if you are a Paladin or Cleric. If the God isn't listed in the lists of Gods in the FR books, then you cannot choose it as your patron deity.

Shawn also said the following:

Re: Worshipping Dead Gods

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"Greetings...


Quote:
"Originally Posted by -Bander
There are legitimate role-play & canon reasons for characters to worship dead gods in the Forgotton Realms."

You are entirely correct -- there are legitimate role-play and canon reasons for characters to worship dead gods in the Realms. But those characters cannot get divine power from dead gods in the Realms because dead gods cannot grant divine power.

I tried to choose the wording of my post as carefully as possible to make it clear that you can claim to worship whomever you want but the actual exercise of divine power requires a legitimate source (i.e. non-evil entity listed on the table in the FRCG).

There is nothing stopping you from claiming to worship Mystra. For that matter, there is nothing stopping any character who is really one thing from claiming to be something else. I might create a fighter who pretends to be a paladin (using Heal checks to pretend like he was using Lay on Hands, and so forth). But I can only carry that charade on as long as I do not actually have to do something that requires the use of divine power. No matter what I might claim from a roleplaying standpoint, my fighter's powers are still martial, not divine.

If your character wants to claim that he is a paladin of Mystra then he is welcome to claim that he is a paladin of Mystra. Nobody from the campaign staff is going to come to your house and take your character away. The DM will decide how seriously various NPCs do or do not take this claim -- that's all part of the fun of roleplaying. However, the cold hard fact of the world your character lives in is that he is not getting his divine power from Mystra. This is not a matter that is even open to debate (out of character -- in character, you can debate it all you want) because that is simply not how the world of Faerun works. Mystra is not granting any divine power to anybody, no matter how devout, because Mystra is dead. There is no divine power there to be granted.

Hope that helps make it a bit more clear. We're not trying to harsh anybody's mellow here, but at the same time, the campaign world works the way the campaign world works.
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Talk to you later --

Sean
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M. Sean Molley
LFR Global Administrator, Western Hemisphere (South)

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Moreover, dead gods in Faerun may not grant powers now, but that hasn't always been the case that dead gods don't provide power:

FR Faiths & Pantheons 3.5E page 05: "Dead Deities The constant clash of deities also ensures a steady supply of dead deities whose temples now lie in ruin about Toril. Moreover, death doesn't neccessarily end the career of a deity of Toril. The possibility of resurrection always exists, as evidenced by the recent return of Bane. Small cults dedicated to the resurrection of one lost deity or another appear everywhere in Faerun. Sometimes the deity is beyond the reach of such cultists or never existed except in myth, and its adherants receive no divine backing in their endeavors. Other times, a dead deity retains enough power to provide divine backing to a handful of worshippers. Occasionally, another deity masquerades in the guise of a dead deity, in hopes of expanding its portfolio. Some dead human deities who retain a handful of adherents include Amaunator (a Netherese sun god), Bhaal (the former deity of murder), Ibrandul (a deity of caverns slain by Shar during the Time of Troubles), Moander (a deity of corruption slain by Finder Wyvernspur), and Myrkul (former god of death whose remaining essence infuses an artifact called the Crown of Horns)."

Moreover, 3.XE had the feat Servant of the Fallen gave access to the above gods and more.

Point being... there *is* precedence for getting power from dead gods in Faerun.

In character: worship any non-evil deity you like.
Out of character: Follow the LFR character guide.
Note that if you choose a channel divinity feat of a particular god (e.g. Berronar's Salve) you (the player) are accepting that your character's power is being granted by another god.

-Bander

Unmaker wrote:

As for the RPGA rules: I can't worship a dead god.

That is the intent, yes.

Of course, you're free to roleplay almost anything you want. (not quite anything, but almost :P)

-Bander wrote:

Note that if you choose a channel divinity feat of a particular god (e.g. Berronar's Salve) you (the player) are accepting that your character's power is being granted by another god.

Absolutely. If you're going to roleplay as being a worshiper of Mystra, you should do it properly! But roleplayers already tend to make some sacrifices in order to develop their PC concept.

JohnLynch wrote:

Really? Are you going to refuse non-divine characters at your table if they have a dead god on that line?

No, they just go to a very bad place when they die. Aside from the fact that the rules tell you to choose a god listed in the FRPG and FRCS and I don't see Mystra, Helm, Tyr, and many others listed there.

This is D&D. Every character is basically saying "Wee! Look at me!" Otherwise we'd be playing farmers who never do anything exciting. Its not against the rules.

It's against the campaign rules. As already pointed out by campaign staff and the CCG.

It isn't people trying to be attention seekers. Its someone playing a legitimate character.

Yes they're seeking attention. No it isn't a legitimate choice. If it was was, then campaign staff wouldn't have said that you couldn't, and the CCG would tell you to pick a deity listed in the campaign sourcebooks. They'd tell you to pick any god you wanted.