[OLD] Invoking Divinities in OSR Games

    I'm not the first to say it, but oftentimes the idea of just "This Guy is the Holy Guy" in RPGs is kinda boring? Often times it falls into the trap of either just being a rehashing of christian miracles or a poor understanding of polytheisms. So here's how to fix that (by scrapping the cleric class).

Invoking Powers: The Basics

    To Invoke, a character rolls on the turn undead table for a Cleric/MU spell that a god would grant. If the check succeeds, the god is invoked and the desired spell is cast, with the caster gaining a -1 penalty to further invocations of that god. Depending on if a character is a priest of a god or not, their Invoking difficulties are different.

Standard Worshippers: Will roll the check as using their maximum spell level as their player level (for example, If a character has a maximum spell level of 1 or none, they will roll as a first-level cleric to turn unholy, and they can cast up to 3rd-level spells as invocations).

Priests: Use their HD for the player level (for example, a priest with 2 HD is counted as a second-level cleric for the purposes of Invoking).

    "But what about T and D?" you may ask, well: If the difficulty of the check is listed as T, that means the difficulty is considered 7, however, they may make another Invocation check, unmodified, against a TN of 7. If this one succeeds, they gain 1 favor, and a failure makes them loose 1 favor. If a result is listed a D, the process is the same, except no favor is lost.

    Now onto Favor: Favor represents a person's standing with a God. An action that looses favor is considered a sin, while an action that gains favor is considered a virtue. For every 5 favor, gain a +/-1 to invoking. Favor caps out at 10.

    Each time a character reaches -10 Favor, they may be smote and receive punishment from a god when they invoke them. Conversely, if they reach +10, they incur a boon. Both of these occur at 1-in-10 chances.

A god may also receive a chosen type of sacrifice. If it is a living being, the caster is counted at an amount of HD up to that creature’s for the next invocation, and that much favor is added. If it is an item, the process occurs but for every 1000XP’s worth of the item.

Godly Descriptions

    Below is how gods are to be listed
- Name and Title
- Alignment
- Who Worships Them
- What they can grant power over
- Ritual Implement: a tool or gesture required to invoke them
- Sacrifices
- Boon
- Smiting
- Virtues: 1 each at +1 and +2 Favor
- Sins: 1 each at -1 and -2 Favor

Example Gods

Arioch, Knight of the Swords (Moorcockian Multiverse)
Alignment: Chaos
Worshippers: Melnibonéans, specifically their royal Family.
Invoked To: Grant dominion over insects and to conjure flesh-melting clouds
Ritual Implements: Swords, preferably Great Ones
Sacrifices: Humans
Boon: May grant a magical sword
Smiting: Melts the invoker’s flesh
Virtues: Engaging in Desires (+1), being a member of the Melnibonéan Royal Family (+2)
Sins: Taking Orders (-1), Inhibiting Desires (-2)

Crom, Chief of God of the Cimmerians (Conan Stories)
Alignment: Neutral
Worshippers: the Cimmerians
Invoked To: Grant protection, courage and strength
Ritual Implements: Weapons and Shields made from Steel
Sacrifices: None
Boon: +d4+1 to STR Score
Smiting: Earthquake is cast upon the Invoker
Virtues: Being a Warrior (+1), Invoking upon him Rarely (+2)
Sins: Being a Coward (-1), being a Tyrant (-2)

Cthulhu, Sleeper of R’lyeh (Cthulhu Mythos)
Alignment: None
Worshippers: Cthulhu Cults, Deep Ones
Invoked To: Contact Deep Ones, Call forth Star Spawn or Awaken Him
Ritual Implement: Carven Idol
Sacrifices: Humans
Boon: Turns you into a Deep One
Smiting: Causes water to drown you form the inside out
Virtues: Worshipping Deep Ones (+1), Being Near R’lyeh (+2)
Sins: Being Human (-1), Visiting R’lyeh when not a Cultist (-2)

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