Religion! Oaths, Blessings, Sacrifices and Curses for each god

Here’s a new idea for religion, stemming out from a different thread.

This overhaul focuses on the relationship between the player and their gods. In return for fulfilling and respecting Oaths, a player is rewarded with Blessings from their gods.

The key change is that Zeals are generated within the player — a sort of ‘worship currency’ used for transactions between the player and their god. Shrines are still used to perform Sacrifices — by offering up certain items, or unconscious thralls (or players) to gain zeal.

Blessings are purchased at a shrine for a certain zeal cost. Each blessing provides a buff to the player, which lasts for several hours of online play, and persists through death. All blessings have a duration of effect, or provide a certain item which can be used by the priest to trigger an instant effect.

Curses are applied to the player when they displease their god. They are also applied when a player converts to a new religion.

In this design, not all players are expected to become max-level in their religion. Only those who pay close attention to their religious requirements will be able to summon Avatars. Most of these religions have heavy burdens to fulfill religious mastery. These are often opposite to what would be most expedient to survival.

Only those fanatic few who reach the top echelon of religious mastery will have the ability to summon their Avatar.


Mitra, the Benevolent God
Known in the lore as a gentle god, Mitra resembles the highest arc of the progression from old and terrible gods, to new and benevolent ones. Contrasting to the battle-gods of the north, Mitra expressly forbids blood sacrifice. Simplicity. Dignity. Beauty.

Mitra is designed here as a ‘PvE’ god.

Oaths

  • “Thou shalt not kill.” Mitran priests are forbidden from killing other players, as well as human NPCs. While it is hard at times for a Mitran priest to live in the Exiles Lands, some priests find success living among others. Lose zeal and be cursed when you kill any human.

  • Bountiful Harvest. Earn zeal from planting and harvesting from farming plots.

  • Craftsmen. Earn zeal from crafting decorative items.

Blessings

  • Good Harvest. Extra resources gained from rocks, trees, and bushes.

Yog, Lord of Empty Abodes
The “lord of empty abodes” is perhaps the most fearsome and terrible god. Yog-worshippers prey on the weak.

Yog is designed here as a ‘ganking’ god.

Oaths

  • Cherished Flesh. Yog worshippers are forbidden from damaging the meat before it may be eaten. Lose zeal from damaging humans using bladed weapons, such as axes, swords, spears, javelins, and bows.

  • Partaking in the Flesh. Yog worshippers must eat purified flesh about once every in-game week (while they are online), or lose zeal.

Blessings

  • Purified. Gain strength and vitality for a short while (2 days) after Partaking in the Flesh.

  • Bat-demon transformation. Turn into a bat-demon, capable of flying.

Sacrifices

  • Exiled Flesh. Sacrifice a player for a great amount of zeal, plus many purified flesh.

  • Flesh Sacrifice. Sacrifice a human NPC for some zeal, plus some purified flesh.


Crom, the Grim God
It is said that those who pray for Crom’s blessings are unworthy of them, and those who are worthy have no need for them. Nevertheless, Crom is known to cast dooms and death down upon the world. He despises weaklings most of all — the strong are less likely to raise his ire.

Crom is designed here as a ‘skirmish’ god.

Oaths

  • Worthy Opponent. Gain zeal upon killing enemies of equal or higher level than you.

  • Riddle of Steel. Gain zeal for crafting steel weapons and armor.

Blessings

  • “Or to hell with you!” Gain a large strength and vitality buff, but only while you are outnumbered by nearby players.

Ymir, God of the North
The father of Frost Giants, and the lord of war. The battling clans of the far north worship Ymir, who calls them to feast and to fight.

Ymir is designed here as a ‘clan warfare’ god.

Oaths

  • Crumbling Empires. Ymir is pleased when you destroy another clan’s structures.

Blessings

  • Frost & Fury. Gain an aura which buffs the strength of your allies, while also warming them.

  • Feasting Hall. Gain an aura which regenerates the health of your allies upon each enemy death.

Sacrifices

  • Smoking Heart Upon the Board. Sacrifice a smoking heart to earn zeal. Hearts are ‘smoking’ when they are freshly harvested. They become regular hearts after a duration of 5 minutes.

Derkheto, God of Lust
A god of decadence and seduction. Priests of Derketo thrive on bounty and plenty.

Derkheto is designed here as a ‘settlement’ god.

Oaths

  • Pleasing Hands. Gain zeal from crafting healing items.

  • Decadence. Gain zeal from crafting high-regeneration foods.

Blessings

  • Alluring Presence. Human NPCs will not attack you.

  • Decadent Recruitment. Use on a Human NPC to convert them to a followed thrall.

  • Dance. Using the dance emote will trigger the same effect as a dancer thrall — regenerating health of nearby players, and reducing their corruption.


Jhebbal Sag, God of Beasts

Jhebbal Sag is designed here as a ‘hunting’ god.

Oaths

  • Circle of Life. Gain zeal for killing adult animals. The bigger the game, the more zeal.

  • Measured Hunter. Lose zeal for killing baby animals.

Blessings

  • Beastkin. Animals such as hyenas, wolves, rhinos, and elephants will not attack you, unless in self-defense.

  • Hunt Leader. Use on a predator (hyena, wolf, etc.) to cause them to follow you, hunting for prey.

  • Night vision. See in the dark.

  • Were-hyena transformation. Turn into a were-hyena, capable of climbing extreme heights, and even over spiked walls.

Sacrifices

  • Raw Meat. Sacrifice large quantities of raw meat to gain zeal.

Bel, God of Thieves
The god of thieves provides legitimacy for acts of thievery, by blessing otherwise nefarious deeds. Most thieves at least pay lip service to Bel, although only master thieves may gain his true respect and blessings.

Bel is designed here as a ‘thief’ god.

Oaths

  • Thieves’ Code. Zeal is lost when a priest of Bel purchases or sells an item to a merchant.

Blessings

  • Skeleton Key. Used to unlock one chest or door that belongs to another clan.

  • Shadows. Become transparent or invisible for a short duration. Ends upon attacking.

Sacrifices

  • Coinage. Sacrifice coins to Bel to gain zeal.

Set, the Serpent God

Oaths

  • Sacred Snakes. Lose zeal for killing snakes.

Blessings

  • Snake Arrows. Shoot a bow without equipping arrows to shoot Snake Arrows instead.

  • Poison Mastery. For a duration, harvest twice as much poison from animals.

Sacrifices

  • Virgin Sacrifice. Sacrifice a player who has not been sacrificed in the past week. Their time played over the last week determines the amount of zeal gained.

Hope you find these ideas interesting and exciting. I’d love for religion to play a bigger part in the game, and even branch into some of the ‘sorcery’ aspects.

I used the gods information at https://hyboria.xoth.net/gods/gods.htm to gain some extra insight into the gods. Highly recommend that source!

4 Likes

I agree that need to add buffs from the gods for the victim. Also need to add debaff if player not give victim for gods.
But i think that need to associate buffs with battles in pvp and with npc. If player kill other player and take from him thing for victum than he get baff from god. If the player does not make a sacrifice for some time, he gradually receives a debuff. It would be cool if the player will be able to choose a specific buff depending on the number and quality of the victim. A player can gain more buffs from pvp. If for npc already invented things for the victim, then I would have entered things for the victims from the players in pvp.

1 Like

Yeah, from what I can make of it, here is what you’re suggesting:

  • Needs to be some form of defending against being sacrificed in PvP, or at least a way to not make it so annoying.
  • Agree with giving players buff for sacrificing others.
  • Likes the idea of choosing from different levels of buff, with that level made possible by the quality of the sacrifices.

Maybe players could profane their bodies in some way, to resist being sacrificed. If a player has a high corruption, for instance, they might make a very poor sacrifice. In Age of Conan, there was this brilliant moment where a ■■■■■’s blood is replaced for a virgin’s, causing a ritual to backfire and a volcano to erupt.

Sacrifices might have very specific requirements, and ‘live’ human sacrifices only being part of Yog and Set’s religions.

There are gods, not God

I agree on expanding the god’s use within the game although I don’t totally like the blessing and curses system laid out this is a great idea.

it might even be couplet with this other treat about capture player. It could be fun if the killer could simply drag the body of another dead player back to his altar in order to perform more ritual ?
(I don’t know, like heal the dude for Mitra, making the dead player respawn on the shrine, or simply the god bubble ?)

i love expansion of religion system…

but its a very big goal

theoretically if devs decide to redo this system, it need A TON of work, content and rebalance

about your ideas, i agree with most of part, but this new system must not to be very complicated

here some of my solutions and ideas (this is just the ideas, numbers, timers and etc are just examples and all of this discussable):

1. Each active god have Blessings\Curses

Blessing - token at altar player can use (just as potion), its gives buff, or maybe even change you for period of time. Each temple tier gives 1-2 types of blessing.

-its not cheap you can only buy it with zeals (strong ones demand a lot of zeals)

-its expire while not used 1h (irl time) for preventing exploits and balance

-examples of blessings (depends on god):

gathering buff

more damage, more stamina

magical weapon (appears in inventory, cant be given, cant be taken)

movement speed

HP regen for you and clan mates very close to you

open closed door\chest (once)

invisibility for special type of enemy

shoot snakes from any bow without arrows

turn into human sized demon, and etc =)

—If players DIES and respawn: blessing effect are gone—

Curses - punishment from gods (gods are watching?). Player take punishment for breaking oath, loosing all faith (zeals), change god. Two types.

Small one - for breaking oath, player immediately lost a zeal(s) from temple, and receive ONE negative buff for some period of time (depends on god)

Example, (10) minutes of:

slow movement

reduced gathering ability

stamina or hp penalty and etc.

Big one – player keep piss off his god, he lost all zeals from temple, and god send a curse

Example, (100) minutes of:

Yog – enormous hunger, all food give only 10% of it potential and hunger rate x10
Mitra – attack reduced by 90%
and etc

The same if player betray his god and built new altar (old one disappears and player receive his curse)

—If players DIES and respawn: timer keeps going…who said gods are nice?—

2. Oath
When player choose god he can see what each gods demands. I think 1-2 oath is enough. Breaking the oath cost zeals and immediately gives you SMALL punishment. After losing all zeals or betray you god, you receive BIG curse.

For ex.:

Yog – player must feast human flesh at least once per 2 days of in game time (only while online)

Npc drops 1 flesh part, real players 2 or maybe 5? So Yoggites now have a purpose hunt down humans and not only gather flowers on PVP. PVE servers people just can live nicely with NPC flesh I think =)

Mitra – player must not kill other human

You can only fight back against humans, its some kind of saint sacrifice, let enemy hit you first. So after attacking the player, NPC or other player name marked red (target crosshair turn red too) so you know which one you can kill free.

And etc depends on gods mythology and Conan books lore

3. About Crom

I think Crom should remain outside of religion system, BUT people who choose that way must receive something. Passive ability and buffs for example.

-steel bars and weapons crafting time (and cost) reduced

-attack and defend bonus while using steel weapons and armor

-bonus in fighting outnumbered

-chance to get help by mysterious woman specter in fight when health below 25% (just spawn transparent friendly npc near you to distract enemys and deal good damage to them for short period of time)

and etc.

4. Some unclear moments

-Blessings work like potions, so people can take it and use when they want, or it only activates on altar?

-Can people worshiping other gods use your blessings?

This system requires worshiping 1 god at same time, but I don’t think it’s a big problem, BTW its more straight to Conan lore. People can learn and use different gods 1 after 1 anyway, or just like that, each clan member worship own god so they can share benefits.

So what this about?

  1. Make religion system more deep and alluring. So players really can invest a lot in it, and much to get in return. Including punishment for disrespecting gods.

  2. Keep Conan mythology straight and charming. No more Mitra priests butchering peps with Yog cleavers for flesh =)

  3. Good replacement for lacking of the sorcery in game.

Thanks for reading and all cheers! Gods are watching!

Loving it. Adding more flavor and lore in-game mechanics to Conan is a must in my opinon. Also it would be neat to have certain merchants that only sell to players that can fullfil the requirement that merchant has ie having a certain amount of zeal for a particular god. Also, those merchants would attack players of different gods if their zeal is high enough in that deity.