Why be religious?
You can gain favor from the deities. What is favor? It is when a deity rewards your faith.
What if you’re not a priest?
The gods can still give you blessings.
How do you gain favor?
You can gain favor by offerings and actions.
Offerings
Here are all the common ones for all the deities, incense, holy water, lodestones, holy symbol, drop of blood, powder silver, water, sand, yew leaf, powdered iron, silver mirror, pray strip with holy text written on it, white cloth, holy text marked sticks/bones or similar token, book, ruby dust, fur or feather from a beast, salt, pair of copper coins, straight piece of iron, fork twig, platinum ring, piece of flesh, pinch of bone dust, jeweled horn, a glass eye, grave yard dust, powder diamond, gem, copper wire, clay model of a ziggurat, cork, etc, basically any thing that can be used as a component in divine magic.
You can also gain favor by celebrating the deity during their month. This can only be once a year but can be done too many deities threw out the year. Normally a feast is prepared, ritual preformed or offering are given to the deity. The offerings the deity prefer are those of their circle or domain.
Preferred way to give offering.
Ako like when you burn the offerings at high noon,
where Gaia prefers that it’s celebrated in the forest were the trees are decorated,
Luna only ask that it be done under the moon,
Void prefers that it offering is left out to decay, this is done on the day of the dead. Mostly it is fruit or vegetables that is left out to rot as offerings to the dead relatives.
Mordadin like crafted items donated to his temple. They are not to be destroyed but used by the temple priest,
Mystra love of knowledge is what pleases her the most. So many leave research, scrolls and tomes in her temples which makes her temples a great place of knowledge,
Deneir is know to prefer notes with secrets to be burn as offerings,
Oghma celebrations are much like a magic fair with magical potions and scrolls to entertain the folks. Tempus gives favor shown to those that respect the fallen soldiers,
Arvoreen are celebrated with horse races and warriors show their combat skills on horse back.
Najm prefers a great hunt followed by a feast of the beast hunted,
Sharindlar prefers songs and priest healing those that can’t afford to pay. It’s not as if they will deny somebody from healing only they will be for those that cannot pay indebted to the temple to do a service or two.
Amberra favor that lost children are adopted and the poor are given a feast.
Issek prefers offering of blood from those eaten to fill the void inside,
Dexus favors materials of necromancy be place at the temple,
Erevan has no preference of offers but ask that they never see the light of day.
What if I fall out of favor?
If you should displease the deity you will lose your blessing and even divine magic if a priest till you atone for your sin.
Some sins can gain favor from the dark gods so be careful what you do, it may change your future karma.
How do you atone?
You must have a geas casted on you by a priest of the deity you offended. Where you will preform an act of repent. You can try again if you fail but will have to go through it all over again. Losing favor with one deity is not losing favor with all deities. (This is done with a faith check of wisdom but you role at disadvantage.) If you can’t find a priest willing to cast geas then you can wait till the month of celebration and give offering in hope of being forgiven.
