Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

No, that's specifically what I was talking about. I tested it--the shroud doesn't seem to provide the effects of blessing.

Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

Which makes sense conceptually since blessing is the Pretender temporarily transferring a fraction of his power to the blessee. But when he's in a fight, the Pretender is already using his own full power and there's no way for him to do a godly loop of infinite power, that'd just be spaghetti godding. Down that recursive road madness lies.

IOW, real gods already play on 10. They just can't turn it to 11 to give themselves that extra push over the cliff.

(yes, I just mixed and matched Manowar and Spinal Tap references. Whatchagonna do about it, son ?)

Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

plox 2 answer, ty
Well, since a pretender's power is often faith based, couldn't he rely on a prayer from a string-willed priest to give him a little boost?
Or wouldn't he already have access to his power anyways (wouldn't a nature god, even if it was just a manticore, have the regeneration ability?)

Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

But that's just it. He's already the condensed, manifested form of the coalesced belief of each and every last follower of his. That necessarily includes your strong-willed priest. Their prayers are the only reason he's there in the first place (this BTW is made explicit by Machaka's Fetish chassis, which outright states it's just a statue which got infused and animated by the beliefs of worshippers and now acts as they think it should act - but that's true of all the Pretenders. That's why they die without Dominion. Belief comes first, then comes the god, not the other way around (even though after he's come he has a feedback effect)).

As for why gods don't carry their own bless effects: balance I guess, but you can handwave it away by accepting that all that godly power focused on itself doesn't necessarily have the same effect and properties it has when applied to actual living (or unliving, as the case may be) beings.

Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

Many of the special effects of blessing can very easily be applied by the god via spells, also. Any nature god that grants regeneration via blessing can very easily cast Personal Regeneration, given a small amount of research.

Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

Well I don't think every god is quite like the fetish god--the fetish is mindless, for one thing. And clearly the various mages and ancient creatures that "had nothing left to pursue but godhood" or whatever were functioning people/beasts before anybody began to worship them.

Re: spell effects on pretenders?
 

quite true, thank you