Re: (TFT) gods, demigods, heroes and their chums

[Thorn <edt@dopey.ne.mediaone.net>]

John Paul Bakshoian wrote:
> 
> What's an avatar?  Is it like an angel?  I didn't get into the AD&D books
> much.

An Avatar is a personal _representation_ of a diety or other powerful
extraplanar being.  A sort of metapsychic/metaphysical projection, it is
completely real, and truly the deity, but it's not _all_ of the deity.

(at this point in an earlier explanation, our local real-life barbarian
chimed in, "So it's like the God's Player Character, if he was playing
himself?")

It is, but the concept of an Avatar predates RPGs.  At least _mortal_
RPGs.  :)

> The archives also has some ideas mentioned about dieties and their base of
> power via followers.  This is a very good alternative to the "pure, holy
> being" that I use.  One could even use both.  Gods who exist independantly
> and amass followers, those Gods that come about because the faith of the
> followers reaches critical mass.

All good ideas, which could coexist.

> In a british RPG mag I read, they suggested that it might not be the
> quantity of the followers, but the quality.  1000 disinterested followers of
> the Frog God may not give the god as much power as 10 fanatic assassin
> followers of the FROG GOD.

I once did some math...

If a follower spends 15 minutes in prayer, he could recover 1 ST used in
casting...
He could have spent that ST, during the prayer, slowly, and not even
notice the 'drain'...
He could feel refreshed if he prayed for 30 or 45 minutes, and sent less
than all of those points, 'up' (or whichever direction)...
So if I, as a GM, called prayer a sort of Aid spell, (likely delivering
a small fraction of the power invested) I could compute the daily
average mana budget for those beings prayed to.

At that point, I stopped, being more of an 'idea man' than an
accountant. :)

But it certainly is ripe for exploration.  Followers of entities would
likely open an account(most cynically), or a relationship(more
faithfully) with a Great Being.  Followers of Forces or Concepts might
leave their points in a sort of 'escrow' or 'community chest'.  Some
meditative types might have their own personal pool going.

I can see how the skill of 'meditation', being for our purposes the the
skill of developing and directing (or keeping) power, could be learned,
and increased with experience.  Which links nicely with real-world
institutions devoted to such pursuits.


> Also, there are times when a god makes an appearance on the earth plane.
> This is not his normal plane.  He has to put effort of some type to be here.
>   It should be possible to kick the god off the earth plane.

You go ahead.  We're right behind you.
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