How to roleplay a Favored Soul?

[Kirin]

Hello, I'm Kirin. And I avoid divine classes like the plague.

Perhaps it's a latent fear of long-term commitment. But I feel that when I play a class dependent on a God for their abilities, I'm locked into a certain mode of play and some paths are closed off forever as a consequence of their strict alignment requirements. Certainly there is a lot of wiggle room, and certainly we have many brilliant players and characters that are divine casters, but it just has not been for me.

The description on the Favored Soul raised an eyebrow, however, and I'm having difficulty wrapping my head around it. Is a Favored Soul able to make their own decisions based on their own motivations even if it goes against the will of their God? Or does the Favored Soul merely have a bit more wiggle room, but is still the agent of a higher power that must follow similar morals and ethics?

How exactly does the favored soul work, roleplay-wise?

[Doubtful]

My understanding of it is that it varies from character to character - Some people might attempt to become paragons of their deities outlook, reflecting their sponsoring god in pretty much every way. Some people may not talk about it that publicly, keeping the source of their powers private and not using them specifically for their gods agenda.

They don't actually need to like their patron deity, and the favored soul has no say in the matter (Some gods just think it's a barrel of laughs to wreck someones life with s shedload of power).

Willing or not, the FS is a chess piece of the god in question, you could argue that their free-will is an illusion and that their patron is guiding them subtly rather than openly. This should be kept in mind if there's ever the desire to switch deities - It really isn't going to happen.

[Kirin]

I guessed you can never change deities. In my view, Favored Soul basically means they have planted a flag in your soul that says "MINE", and the other Gods will have nothing to do with you.

I haven't noticed and cannot check at work, but was the list of deities in Sundren expanded to include all the canon PnP ones? The one I was most interested in is not in the standard NWN2 list, but is a normal FR deity.

[[DM] Grinning Death]

The majority of the gods are listed, but not all of them are represented IG. Which god were you thinking of?

[Kirin]

The majority of the gods are listed, but not all of them are represented IG. Which god were you thinking of?

Sent you a PM. Rather not announce it, if I decide to play the Favored Soul.

[GodBeastX]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20051206a <-- Wizards will tell you. Although source books have much more info.

Some favored souls allow their link with the divine to define their personalities. Such a character may become such a fervent devotee of her deity that she tries to emulate her patron in every way and concerns herself with little else. But a favored soul doesn't have to become some deity's sycophant. Her relationship with the divine can remain a largely private affair, with the deity's influence adding a hint of depth and color to her personality. Whatever her outlook, a favored soul has access to divine magic that can prove a boon to any adventuring party.

Some things to note about favored souls from source books. They are NOT inherently part of the "Clergy" of a god. In fact, some priests/clerics even resent them. Clerics tend to become wise in the ways of their god, while favored souls tend to be just that, favored for whatever reason without all the inherent teachings and study being shoved into them. They're very much like sorcerers are to wizards. Wizards study all day to cast a fireball, while a sorcerer just wakes up one day and goes "I KNOW HOW TO THROW A FIREBALL! WOOT!"

I think one of the key understandings to playing a favored soul is "Why does this god favor this character?" I think an example from FR that might help get an idea is the city of people which gave their lives to Torm to defeat Bane's avatar. The source books talk about how the children of these people found that Torm had given them benefits as sort of a thank you for the sacrifice. I could see these kids becoming favored souls of Torm later in life. While a favored soul of Bane is likely to have been some Tyrannical overlord or being groomed to be one, so Bane favors them.

So RPing one is really dependent on the god and why you're favored. Like, if I was to play a favored soul of Beshaba, I might be one to cause mischief and misfortune, a regular Denis the Menace. Or maybe one of Ilmater might have been someone who has shown great mercy to people in history so might have found themselves favored because of it.

I, personally, gave players a rule of thumb in history. A favored soul may not follow the dogma of a god, but I like to tell players to look at the portfolios of your god and try to exemplify one of them in your RP. For example, Loviatar's portfolios are Hurt, Agony, Torment , Suffering and Torture. So I might pick from that list and work it into the personality of my character. Maybe they like to torture people above and beyond the norm.

Hope that helps.

[Kirin]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20051206a <-- Wizards will tell you. Although source books have much more info.



Some things to note about favored souls from source books. They are NOT inherently part of the "Clergy" of a god. In fact, some priests/clerics even resent them. Clerics tend to become wise in the ways of their god, while favored souls tend to be just that, favored for whatever reason without all the inherent teachings and study being shoved into them. They're very much like sorcerers are to wizards. Wizards study all day to cast a fireball, while a sorcerer just wakes up one day and goes "I KNOW HOW TO THROW A FIREBALL! WOOT!"

I think one of the key understandings to playing a favored soul is "Why does this god favor this character?" I think an example from FR that might help get an idea is the city of people which gave their lives to Torm to defeat Bane's avatar. The source books talk about how the children of these people found that Torm had given them benefits as sort of a thank you for the sacrifice. I could see these kids becoming favored souls of Torm later in life. While a favored soul of Bane is likely to have been some Tyrannical overlord or being groomed to be one, so Bane favors them.

So RPing one is really dependent on the god and why you're favored. Like, if I was to play a favored soul of Beshaba, I might be one to cause mischief and misfortune, a regular Denis the Menace. Or maybe one of Ilmater might have been someone who has shown great mercy to people in history so might have found themselves favored because of it.

I, personally, gave players a rule of thumb in history. A favored soul may not follow the dogma of a god, but I like to tell players to look at the portfolios of your god and try to exemplify one of them in your RP. For example, Loviatar's portfolios are Hurt, Agony, Torment , Suffering and Torture. So I might pick from that list and work it into the personality of my character. Maybe they like to torture people above and beyond the norm.

Hope that helps.

This helps a lot, actually, thank you.

[Root]

I think if I was a Cleric, I'd abandon my faith at seeing the existence of a favoured soul of my God.

'So, let me get this straight, Tyr... In your name, I have taken vows of celibacy and honour, given all I can spare to the meek, and spread your word to every corner of the land, acting as only you would wish, without fail and falter.'

'Yes, you have.'

'And yet you grant the same boons, no, even greater power, than you afford me, to this random passing nitwit?'

'HEY LOOK GUYS I CAN FLAMESTRIKE THESE BENCHES LOOOOOL'

'Yes. I have.'

'LOOKIE ME I JUST RESSURECTED THIS ILMATERI THAT WAS SITTING ON THE BENCH AS A ZOMBIE, THEN I PUT A HAT ON IT, HAHAHAHAAA ITS NAME IS BENCHY THE DANCING SKELETON'

'...Screw you, Tyr.'

[[DM] Grinning Death]

I just snorted soda through my nose. Thanks, Root.

[Kirin]

While hilarious, Root brings up a good point.

A Favored Soul is picked by a God before that person does anything for or in favor of that God (if taken at first level, anyway), then isn't taken away for misbehavior. It almost seems like a case of "no take-backsies!" with a Favored Soul, who then runs around and does his or her own thing.

Unless the mere fact you are favored by a God has influenced your personality in some way. There there becomes a really creepy question of how much free will a Favored Soul really has.

[Kaybrie]

In FR, gods can pretty close to freely destroy any follower who isn't doing what they want them to do, given that they very very often interfere with the lives of their mortal followers. So yeah, a favored soul COULD do exactly as Root was describing, but then a giant thumb would come out of the sky and just smoosh that favored soul like a bug.

[[DM] Grinning Death]

And your point about the free will would be an excellent way to play a favored soul. A person who is in constant question about what he decides to do, and how he comes to those decisions would make for a very interesting character.

[Kirin]

And your point about the free will would be an excellent way to play a favored soul. A person who is in constant question about what he decides to do, and how he comes to those decisions would make for a very interesting character.

I like that. Especially if the God is very "hands-off" about it. The character would never know how or if the God is meddling behind the scenes.

If the character is resentful, they can never be sure if they aren't still being manipulated. If the character becomes devout, this presents a new dilemma, as they never know exactly what their God wants them to do in any situation, or why they just won't tell them.

[Lothoir]

One of my favorite characters was an Illuskan favored soul/sorcerer of Mystra. Being from a superstitious tribal village he was exiled and found his way to Sundren. He hates Mystra for what she did to him and worships Selūne, but the past hardships he's encountered as an untrained sorcerer/favored soul gave him great empathy for others in those situations and so whenever he goes out of his way to help other magic users he ends up doing Mystra's will, but he just can't imagine not helping someone in need, even to spite Mystra.

[OnyxTigress]

One of my favorite characters was an Illuskan favored soul/sorcerer of Mystra. Being from a superstitious tribal village he was exiled and found his way to Sundren. He hates Mystra for what she did to him and worships Selūne, but the past hardships he's encountered as an untrained sorcerer/favored soul gave him great empathy for others in those situations and so whenever he goes out of his way to help other magic users he ends up doing Mystra's will, but he just can't imagine not helping someone in need, even to spite Mystra.

I miss him. ;_;