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Conversion Idea: "GURPS Powers: Divine Favor" to d100


nerdvana

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GURPS Powers: Divine Favor is a supplement written by Jason "PK" Levine for GURPS and published by Steve Jackson Games in January of 2011. It describes itself this way in its introduction...

a self-contained power framework for such characters, known as paragons, which allows them to pray for aid. Depending on the paragon’s standing in his deity’s eyes, the answer may be anything from a moment of bolstered self-confidence to a plague capable of decimating a city! A worshiper can learn specific prayers, each one a “holy hotline” to a particular type of miracle – or just trust the god to send whatever help he sees fit.

Basically what PK did was take the standard GURPS advantage "Patron" and apply it to God (or a specific god) being the character's patron and the Patron reaction roll becomes the basis for the activation of prayers (divine spells). Other than having to change the roll from 3d6 to d100 I need to figure out how a character can buy in to this power and how to calculate the skill level for this.

I don't believe that any deeper understanding of GURPS Powers: Divine Favor but if you do have access to it and are commenting with that deeper understanding I'd appreciate you state that in your reply. Also, please advise if you feel I'm recreating the wheel, just can't find anything in BRP/RQ/etc that has the same feel as this.

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I'd start with Allegiance to represent the chance of divine intervention. The prayers might be equivalent to spells that require an Allegiance roll, or might be skills in their own right capped by Allegiance.

The one problem I see is that some prayers cost more Character Points than others, representing more profound effects. That probably would translate to a system of "levels". What the "levels" mean is the big question:

  • Each level represents an increase in difficulty; level 1 is a straight Allegiance roll, level 2 is Allegiance x 1/2, level 3 is Allegiance x1/5, and so on.
  • Each higher level prayer requires knowledge of lower level prayers, either specifically or generally. For example, the maximum number of prayers at level N is one less than the number of prayers at level N-1. Thus if you want a Level 3 prayer you'll need 2 level 2s and 3 level 1s.
  • Prayers require a number of Piety Points equal to the prayer level. Priests earn Piety through sacrifices (e.g. animals or wealth), services to their religion, or divine quests.
  • Higher level prayers require higher rank in one's religion, which means greater duties and greater expectations.

Take a look at Theism in RuneQuest 6th edition, which incorporates the latter two mechanisms. Curiously, HarnMaster Religion is remarkably similar.

Frank

"Welcome to the hottest and fastest-growing hobby of, er, 1977." -- The Laundry RPG
 
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This looks like a combination of RQ'2 Divine Magic/Theism and Divine Intervention.

Depending on the paragon’s standing in his deity’s eyes, the answer may be anything from a moment of bolstered self-confidence to a plague capable of decimating a city!

That sounds like Divine Intervention.

A worshiper can learn specific prayers, each one a “holy hotline” to a particular type of miracle – or just trust the god to send whatever help he sees fit.

That sounds like Divine Magic from Basic Magic/RQ.

However, assuming that the PC already has access to Divine Magic and that the PC wants an emergency level of Divine Aid, I'd use Allegiance in BRP as the base chance of gaining anything from the deity. The level of the miracle should reflect either/both of the PC's position in the cult or his perceived Piety/Devotion to the cult (Your campaign might model these as Allegiance).

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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