Quote:
Originally Posted by Epaminondas
I do not necessarily disagree with this decision; I am merely curious about the rationale behind it. Was it because uber-Blessed pretenders would be too powerful? Or were there other reasons behind it? From a narrative perspective, it appears to make more sense if pretenders were Blessable.
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Here's how I think it goes:
Belief in the pretender's divinity grants the followers the bless effects. The pretender is the source, as it were. But the pretender himself does not necessarily share all the beliefs nor can he tap himself for the power flowing from that faith. The pretender may be just out to exploit he gullible to gain more power or have any number of other motivations. Some might even believe that they are in fact gods when they are only aspiring to become one in truth, but such ones would by definition be deluded and/or insane.
The best analogy I can think of are the Sorcerer-Kings of the Dark Sun world of AD&D 2nd Edition, beings who were men once before beginning to undergo a metamorphosis into a dragon-like creature. They tapped into the power of some extradimensional creatures, which allowed them to grant clerical powers to their followers, essentially acting as channels, but they could not use that power themselves.
I see the pretender gods as being very much like the sorcerer kings, just more varied.
