Goodman Games

Hello! I am new to the forums. I have run a couple games of DCC RPG and I'm looking to start a campaign in the 3E setting Scarred Lands. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarred_Lands

The gods in Scarred Lands take a much more active role in the lives of mortals (think Greek mythology) and its reflected in a rule in the Ghelspad setting book that the gods can grant small bonuses depending on their areas of influence and the worship by the mortal.

All of these bonuses are +1-3. So, I'm thinking about giving the cleric Invoke Patron and depending how well they roll, they get a better bonus. One god, for example, gives a bonus for healing.

So the character would roll, on a 9 or lower, he fails, on a result of 10-18 is a +1, 19-27 is a +2 and a result of 28 or better is a +3. What the bonus applies to depends on which of the gods the character has chosen to serve.

While not as robust as the wizard's version of a patron, it does give the gods of Scarn a bit of a personality, I think.

Anybody see a problem with this? Or am I missing something in the book that allows the cleric to do this already?

Given the specificity of your setting, and if that's all it does, why not just make that a Cleric class feature...? Invoke Deity, or some such... Seems like a fairly minor tweak, not worth creating a whole spell around.

I agree. It will act as a spell, meaning it takes time to do and the cleric will have to be able to speak. And even incur deity disapproval on a 1.

But otherwise, in game at least, it would be more like a prayer.

Cleric's can call upon their deity for divine aid -- but I've always interpreted this as a "last-ditch-oh-my-god-we're-going-to-die-please-help" kinda roll. You could use this mechanic and use a gradient of penalties to Deity Disapproval -- based on the nature of the request. Currently, the penalty is +10 to the disapproval range.

I have toyed with, and even used, some of the Patron rules with clerics and deities. Some deities are also patrons, and these deities grant some wizard-like abilities to their clergy -- like Invoke Patron. I think in a world where spirits, demons and ghosts may be worshiped as deities, and deities are truly a loose term, it shouldn't make a huge difference. The cleric could be rolled into the wizard class with certain patrons granting cleric-like abilities to its followers... but I haven't got that far, yet.