New God, or change an existing one?

TribblesTrouble · 2019-09-16T04:47:15.594Z

I am suggesting adding a new god, or changing a current one. Actually changing a current one would be much easier to develop. I will explain what I’m thinking now.
Currently there are 6 gods. Ymir, Set, Derketo, Mitra, Jhebbal Sag, & Yog. There are extra “religions” that can be learned like Mountaineer, & Crom. Crom would be my choice for the change/addition in mind.
Crom does nothing for you, has no altar, and can only be learned by making that religion choice when you create the character. Based on the movie series, the altar could look like Conan sitting on a throne atop a pile of skulls. The god itself, could be a larger version of Conan wielding his Atlantean sword. You could even mimmic the movements and actions of the Ymir god.
According to the movie, Crom was the god of steel/swords. Maybe some bonuses could be obtained such as a potion to add extra damage in battle, and/or different grades to the Atlantean sword already in the game. The item that you collect in order to upgrade the altar, could be called, “Cimmerian Destiny”.
All just suggestions to be sure. But it would follow the story line and keep within the parameters of the game.
This thought came to me after upgrading all of the other altars and seeing the beams pointing skyward at night. It occurred to me, that Orange was the only color missing from the rainbow. So Orange should be the color for the new gods altar beam.
Also, since Conan was himself Cimmerian, perhaps a place to learn his religion could be somewhere near where most of them are found in the game. Near the mounds of the dead.
Thank you for considering this.

Kapoteeni · 2019-09-16T07:20:40.891Z

The thing is, Crom doesn’t care about puny humans or their affairs. Or so the Cimmerians believe according to Robert E. Howard (mentioned in several stories, as well as Howard’s own notes). The only detail we know about Crom worship is that “They [Cimmerians] did not practise human sacrifice, for it was their belief that their gods were indifferent to the fate of men.” Cimmerians tended to avoid praying to Crom because calling his attention would more likely result in being cursed or otherwise subjected to his wrath, rather than his aid.

Altars to Crom and other edifices in his honor possibly existed, although I don’t remember reading about any in the original sources.

Summoning Crom’s avatar sounds like something that would annoy him greatly. Then again, the gods in the Exiled Lands are not the gods in the Hyborian world, so it wouldn’t really be any more lore-breaking to summon a giant barbarian than it is to summon a giant statue of Mitra to stomp on other people’s houses.

But it’s also very fitting in the Howardian lore that Crom does nothing for you, and worshipping him has no benefits.

miodeleo · 2019-09-16T08:53:31.391Z

As of now, gods are useless except for rp purposes. Why you would want to add another one seems moot to me, sorry to say this. The only use right now I could think of, are the special craftable items from the altars. Aside of that, not much use, until god bubbles and summonig is enabled.

TribblesTrouble · 2019-09-18T20:22:36.190Z

I tend to agree with the points made here, but, I also think the overall point has been overlooked. This post was originally intended to address at least 3 issues players are experiencing.

There is no way to learn the Crom religion except by way of choosing it when you create your character.
Choosing Crom for your religion doesn’t do anything for you during the game making its choice basically non-existent. Most players make their choice based on what buffs you can get. Crom has none.
The Atlantean Sword. The sword itself has mediocre stats at best. Yet, it is almost as much a symbol of the game/movie as Conan is. And, right now, you can’t get it unless you are lucky enough to get a first day edition of the retail hard copy of the game. Those of us with the digital download can’t get it. (Feel free to correct me on this one, as I’m sure there are those that would like to have it. Myself included.)
Finally, there are those that play the game looking for aesthetics. I know the colors aren’t perfect, but they are close enough. The addition of an Orange beam merely completes the “rainbow”. If the shrines are aligned properly, you could make your own rainbow. Crom was used as the example here simply because it already exists and could easily be modified to satisfy these issues.
So far only negative comments have been made. I would like to see some constructive criticism and/or positive feedback.

WhatMightHaveBeen · 2019-09-18T20:47:37.556Z

First and foremost, Conan says the Gods of the exile lands aren’t recognizable to him, becasue they are but avatars, and the exiles basically bastardized the names of the Gods for fear and intimidation reasons. So having a Crom Avatar would not be far fetched for Conan Exiles lore. I understand the sacrilege that it implies, but if done is not immersion breaking to me.

With that said, i still would rather the fine tune the ones they have first. Fix the duping so PVP can use them again, and give each very unique raiding uses. If Crom lore wise is a game breaker, then Dagon was just introduced a few patches ago, and could be one to add. But again, fix what is broken first on this front. IF done right, Gods could be a great addition to raiding again. Even in the broken state, i still remember the adrenaline rush of a token moving across the map, not knowing who it was taht had it, and not knowing the target (pre tattle tale event log!!!). Also remember getting psn messages that a token was moving towards our main base from allies. Then the battle on the beach to stop 2 Sets. Those were the “innocent” days

Anglinex · 2019-09-20T07:28:43.319Z

The Devs said that Crom as a none religious option. They put it in the game for people who didn’t want to religion stuff. You don’t “Learn” Crom because there is nothing to learn. It is like picking atheism. They also stated that they are done adding gods. If they did do something with gods I would rather they get Derketo correct as it currently is a mix of two different gods.

Croms_Faithful · 2019-09-22T01:12:40.710Z

Welcome back TriblesTrouble! My name is Croms_Faithful, and I am the forums leading campaigner for Crom related features and change, and researcher of Crom related facts. @WhatMightHaveBeen here is a good friend, and fellow advocate, as with @jesstheripper. Its so nice to meet another Crom advocate. I will now begin teasing out this topic and its facts for you throughout this thread.

Here is a bit of a Crom 101 post from a seperate thread which has been calling for improvements to the games religion system and Crom as a religion:

Crom is first and foremost a cold, distant and uncarring being. Crom cares little for men other than allowing them to exist, while he broods from atop his great mountain Ben Morgh, which is considered sacred to Cimmerians. His sole gift to men is at the time of their birth, where he imbues them with the power to strive, slay, succeed and overcome. Free will, intelligence and self-determination are his gifts to us. Crom ultimately does not care for, nor meddle in the affairs men. That is the norm, however like all norms there are exceptions to this. There are a number of incidents in the books of Crom smiting individuals. Crom despises weaklings and it is generally dangerous to call upon him for aid. Although, there is also a small handful of times he has actually helped people he percieves as worthy, including twice helping Conan himself, and aiding the earluest men to depose Shuma-Gorath. However as stated these are the exceptions, NOT the norm.

Here is where the common disagreement lies. While Crom dislikes being called upon (ie-asked for help), he does NOT dislike being worshipped, he is simply indifferent to it. His discription on our gamepedia site reiterates this; he is (line 1) “The god who requires no worship.” It will simply yield you no reward. Finding faith and worshipping a god is not just about ‘asking for things’. I have provided numerous lore referenced examples of people doing this, here are some examples. The ability to strive and slay are granted to a Cimmerian child at birth through a Cimmerian ceremony of worship. Crom and a statue of him seated on his throne are openly worshipped in a cave on the Eastern side of Ben Morgh. Weapons have been forged by men in honour of him. Crom also accepts animal sacrifice (but not human sacrifice), with Conan himself once sacrificing a goat to him as restitution for saving him.

While some disagree, I firmly believe that Crom is also unlikely to strike someone down for simply uttering his name. I mean think about this now. How would the knowledge of his religion even be passed on if his followers couldnt even speak or write his name? Especially to Cimmerian children. His religion would have ceased to exist centuries ago. Even the very mountain symbol depicting his faith would not exist. Moreover, he would be annihilating the rulers and lower level denizens of other Hyborian nations almost constantly; basically whenever one mocks and scorns his religion, or even speaks of him. These would in turn conflict with the very fact that he is a distant and uncaring being, and make him a god whos constant meddling would rival even that of Set.

So while it is acceptable to worship him or create displays of allegiance to him, it is dangerous to directly call upon him and ask for help. And a distinction must be drawn here. Crom worshippers create their own advantages with their own two hands using the gift he granted them . They exist, but are forged by man, not directly given by Crom himself or instilled with his godly powers.

Now to discuss some of your points, the majority of which are quite plausible.

TribblesTrouble:

There is no way to learn the Crom religion except by way of choosing it when you create your character.

Agreed. We should be able to learn it from either Conan himself or Braga; whether or not it gives anything is of no consequence. He should be better represented within the game. Not everything we do has to have a reward attached to it.

TribblesTrouble:

Choosing Crom for your religion doesn’t do anything for you during the game making its choice basically non-existent. Most players make their choice based on what buffs you can get. Crom has none.

Agree again. There have been multiple calls for Crom Themed Weapons and Armour (we now have 2 weapons) which are crafted from the Handcrafting menu, not at a shrine, and a Flat Stats bonus.

TribblesTrouble:

The addition of an Orange beam merely completes the “rainbow”.

Probably not what you were hoping, but Croms (hypothetical) Shrine colour would likely be…grey. He is rederred to as “the old grey god” and in his afterlife presides over an “grey void of freezing ice and winds”.

I will also outline some Shrine and Avatar possibilities for you in the next post.

Croms_Faithful · 2019-09-22T01:23:23.706Z

@TribblesTrouble here are some posdibilities for a Shrine which myself and jesstheripper were discussing in a seperate thread:

Religion is dumb in Conan Exiles

There are numerous ways we can have a Shrine to Crom, and still be in keeping with the lore. For example, it could be simply a glorified placeable which produces NOTHING, just sits there.

Alternatively, it could harm or kill the player. For example, placing it or pressing the interact button on it could result in the player a) getting hit by lightning and dying as you said b) the player taking on a big stack of noxious debuffs such as poison, bleed, sunder, etc c) it could emit heavy corruption d) it could result in several high tier creatures spawning in to kill the player e) the player could simply drop dead, like we do when removing the bracelet.

ALL of these would be 1) consistent with the lore, 2) mean we wouldnt have to betray our alegiance to him just to complete the Journey Steps 3) allow all players greater role playing freedom.

Now in terms of an Avatar: most the above ideas could also be used here. We could for simply get hit by a bolt of lightning. Alternatively, he could manifest as an AI controlled avatar which attempts kill the player, or ALL players for that matter.

Croms_Faithful · 2019-09-22T01:38:48.268Z

Exactly! Thankyou for raising this point WhatMightHaveBeen, its nice to be back on the same side of the argument again. Here is another strong point which WhatMightHaveBeen has made here @TribblesTrouble. Here is a quote directly from Conan himself in the game:

"… But nowhere have I seen gods as I see them in this land. These avatars that stalk and spread destruction in their wake. These are not gods. These are what men want the gods to be. Weapons".

This means that the gods in Exiled Lands are not the real gods, but weapons created by men. So if these arent the real gods, it would be posdible to have an Avatar of Crom, as it wouldnt actually be the real Crom. Thus it further wouldnt conflict with the lore.

WhatMightHaveBeen:

Dagon was just introduced a few patches ago, and could be one to add.

I also agree that Dagon would have made a fine addition, and he feels like his knowledge of an acolyte should be unlocked as a reward for releasing him.

WhatMightHaveBeen:

Fix the duping so PVP can use them again

Annnnd I wholeheartedly agree again. As I have stated time and again, all exploits should be eliminated without mercy. Hopefully the duping will stop when they are returned.

jesstheripper · 2019-09-22T19:03:47.192Z

I think it’s worth staying that the cimerians do worship Crom in the books, as is stated by Conan several times throughout the different novellas. They only thank him for their strengths though. The idea of Crom as your deity is your faith to self reliance and the thanks of being born healthy, hence why Conan and the cimerians are so tough and capable.

Having Alters to Crom would be cool and Choosing Crom as your starter religion should grant a boost in survival if you ask me, just the Alters should be essentially non functional rock mounds.

Croms_Faithful · 2019-09-23T13:22:12.018Z

Correct jesstheripper. There are a number of instances of him being worshipped in the books. I personally think any flat stats bonus should go to Strength, or maaaybe Grit or Vitality. And I agree that any Crom altar should be a very rudimentary thing. A simple stone slab with a pile of skulls, or maybe a giants skull or sword mounted to it would suffice. And which is essentially just a big placeable, ie- does and gives nothing. Actually the one thing it could do is log the Journey Step as completed.

system · 2019-09-30T13:22:15.260Z

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