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Author Topic: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion  (Read 1894 times)

Timeless Bob

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Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« on: August 27, 2014, 11:31:54 am »

First, deities should be a type of "noble" that speaks through their chosen dwarf (The dwarf/dwarves with the highest "worships" level for that deity).  As such, the deity would require a room of a certain value containing at least one statue or engraving with its name in the description.  Let's call this room a "shrine".

OK, so this "Shrine" causes random bad stuff from that deity's sphere UNLESS there are enough people visiting it and getting good thoughts (via "worship").

The "shrine" acts as an anti-switch that keeps bad stuff in those spheres from happening SO LONG AS the various demands of a deity/noble are met.  Eventually, someone will get upset enough to tantrum and knock over/destroy the statue in the shrine or kill the deity's chosen mouthpiece - we know what happens to dwarves that "profane shrines" in history mode, don't we?  Same thing here.

The thing is, it's the shrines themselves that que up the "bad stuff" with a demand.  If the demand is met, the "bad stuff" is averted, but if the demand remains unmet, the "bad stuff" happens and the fortress deals with the consequences.  Either way, more people will increase the devoutness of their worship of the deity through exposure to their bad stuff or mouthpiece, which is really all the deities desire.
« Last Edit: August 27, 2014, 08:12:16 pm by Timeless Bob »
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Dorf and Dumb

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2014, 11:46:51 am »

Only if we can arrange for the deity to have an accident.
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Bumber

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #2 on: August 29, 2014, 05:16:22 am »

Only if we can arrange for the deity to have an accident.
When gods give you lemons you get a new god.
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Getix Kain

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #3 on: August 29, 2014, 05:54:35 am »

Let's also add some benefical effects, other than a good thought.

Like..

"Suddenly 50 urists of Sunshine materialize!"
"5 steel bars drops from the statue!"
"A Gold Bin full of masterwork clothes appears in a (random) stockpile!"
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Deepblade

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #4 on: August 29, 2014, 08:14:46 am »

Only if we can arrange for the deity to have an accident.
When gods give you lemons you get a new god.

Unless you choose to worship them because they're the god of lemons.
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Blastbeard

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #5 on: August 31, 2014, 02:39:48 pm »

Only if we can arrange for the deity to have an accident.
When gods give you lemons you get a new god.

Unless you choose to worship them because they're the god of lemons.


Even a god can bleed.
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WertyMiniBot

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2014, 02:04:35 pm »

First, deities should be a type of "noble" that speaks through their chosen dwarf (The dwarf/dwarves with the highest "worships" level for that deity).  As such, the deity would require a room of a certain value containing at least one statue or engraving with its name in the description.  Let's call this room a "shrine".

Are you talking about the spiritual gods, or physical versions that come in to your fortress?
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Zarathustra30

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2014, 04:18:27 am »

I would just as soon have a "Priest" noble, which then upgrades to "High Priest" if you are the community with the largest population of worshipers. The Priest would ostensibly be the mouthpiece of the god, but there would be a physical noble in the fort, instead of an incorporeal cosmic being/demon.
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IndigoFenix

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2014, 04:38:36 pm »

How about a 'gods need prayer badly' system?  Each site has a list of gods worshiped by the members of that site, and two values determining how they interact with the site; a happiness level and an influence (power) level.

Normally gods do nothing, but if a god receives regular worship from the members of a particular site, their ability to influence the events of that site increases.  As long as the deity stays happy, you will get occasional rewards related to that deity's sphere, and as their influence level rises, the rewards improve in quality.  But if you stop the service (or do something to anger them, like desecrate an altar) after the deity already has gathered a good amount of influence, they will get upset and give occasional punishments instead until their influence level drops down to zero.

In worldgen, a site will naturally have a higher level of influence if there is a temple there.  You can also create an altar in a fortress which can be consecrated to a deity of your choice.  If your civ worships a pantheon, you can have multiple altars in the same site.

See also the pantheon script.

Tomsod

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Re: Shrines and Deities: A sneaky suggestion
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2014, 09:40:43 am »

The "shrine" acts as an anti-switch that keeps bad stuff in those spheres from happening SO LONG AS the various demands of a deity/noble are met.  Eventually, someone will get upset enough to tantrum and knock over/destroy the statue in the shrine or kill the deity's chosen mouthpiece - we know what happens to dwarves that "profane shrines" in history mode, don't we?  Same thing here.
Huh. When you look from the POW of overseer, turning blasphemers into immortal weremammoths suddenly becomes a much more sensible punishment choice.
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