Clerics using talismans/ wands of other deities

[AllMYBudgies]

Okay. But you mention amulets specifically. What about rings and belts, and anything else?

I think it's fair to say that anything with another deities name attached to it would be included.
I believe that once an item is identified, all of the flavourful text that is with it would be information known to your character.
I could be wrong though.

[The Beggar]

I would think it totally cool for a Paladin of Lathander, an easy going jock sort of guy, a human representative of his God and his God's ideals to sport a little cross faith Bling Bling. You know, a little talonite ring here (just for the save bonuses, not because it has a talonite symbol on it), a shark tooth necklace talisman with holy inscriptions of the Troglodyte God, (for the bonus to taunt dude, and that it could look cool on polished ancient Jergalite armor - with the Jergalite symbol emblazoned on the front).

But just so long as he calls out "Go Lathander" more often and has atleast his holy symbol displayed along side all the others.

[Wildlings]

I would tend to agree that Clerics of a Deity should not wear items of another faith.  But, lets face it, sadly there are not items for each God out there.

In order for me to have rings, staffs, belts etc.  I would need a DM to give me each of them, as I have never seen a random item to my Characters Deity.  So that would leave me without the added spells or saves that other Clerics have access to.

I pick the Deity by flavor and what fits the character idea I have.  I would hate to see Clerics chosen because of the random loot / drops that are found on the island.

[MrGrendel]

Speaking of opposed deities, I'm even inclined to say that if a cleric of Malar somehow attains a protective amulet of, say, Torm, and uses it to further his agenda, the one to be upset should be Torm and any Tormites that spot this, rather than Malar. Why would Malar be upset that his priests are bending Torm's relics and power to his will? It would be nice, however, if said priest roleplayed a consecration/desecration of said item.
 
Could the consecrate skill somehow be used to add a line to item descriptions along the lines of "This item has been consecrated to [Deity]" along with a minor gold cost?

[newoptimum]

Could the consecrate skill somehow be used to add a line to item descriptions along the lines of "This item has been consecrated to [Deity]" along with a minor gold cost?

This would be rather nice.  The trouble is that the status of items isn't always clear - I had an amulet once that was described as a "bronze disc" (or something nondescript like that) that was "often used" by followers of a particular deity.  Now, did that mean that it was a holy symbol, or that it was blessed by that particular deity, or simply that it was a magic item that just happened to be "often used" by a particular group?  The description suggested the latter but it was named "Amulet of [God]" so it was hard to say for sure.

[The Beggar]

Why would Malar be upset that his priests are bending Torm's relics and power to his will?

Because it promotes belief and faith in Torm at the same time, and in my opinion, that is opposed to the daily acts of faith and religious adherence that a priest needs to do to maintain his spells and devotion to his God. Clerics realize that there are other Gods out there, but are -devoted- to theirs, and that dogma.

As to the rationalization of "there aren't enough belts, rings, etc without other gods holy symbols on them" - Don't wear them IMO. ANy priest worth his faith would get spell failure in any of my campaigns until he took it off. Besides, it's not as if Clerics as a class are nerfed, and really -need- that extra +1 Fort Goblin Bishops Holy SYmbol boost. They cast great spells, in armor, and have a good AB and save progression.

[Mort]

Yes, the bonuses are often negligible and you'll keep your roleplay integrity!

[putrid_plum]

A cleric for sure should never wear a holy symbol of another god, I would even say that goes for allied gods like the Triad, etc..  A cleric promotes his own god not his gods allies no matter how close they are.  That said, I do wish there were more holy symbols and such for other gods.  Most of that I have seen are evil ones.

[Coldburn]

I think the point came across. While I do not agree with the DMs on this and feel more for MrGrendel's points (not just because it's convenient), since I believe that even besides that most loot is simply given a description and religion is an easy flavor to add, they're still the ones who can smite your Cleric with spell failure.

So I'm gonna sell some shit soon!

[TheImpossibleDream]

Why not add a shop that sells flavored items from all faiths in one of those secret areas.

Here is how it would work. You see an inventory screen full of items you cannot afford. All of them are labled stuff like "Belt of" "Symbol of" "Ring of" all you then have to do is select through a dialogue option which item you want, pay a fixed price via the dialogue and then the item spawns in your inventory renamed "Belt of Cyric" "Ring of Umberlee" etc etc.

Sorry if I'm sort of derailing this thread, it would solve this issue though I think!

[Coldburn]

Thread was /thread, imo. Go ahead and derail it as much as you want until a DM locks it.

[MrGrendel]

Roleplay is not the loot you wear.

[Staring Death]

Because it promotes belief and faith in Torm at the same time, and in my opinion, that is opposed to the daily acts of faith and religious adherence that a priest needs to do to maintain his spells and devotion to his God. Clerics realize that there are other Gods out there, but are -devoted- to theirs, and that dogma.

As to the rationalization of "there aren't enough belts, rings, etc without other gods holy symbols on them" - Don't wear them IMO. ANy priest worth his faith would get spell failure in any of my campaigns until he took it off. Besides, it's not as if Clerics as a class are nerfed, and really -need- that extra +1 Fort Goblin Bishops Holy SYmbol boost. They cast great spells, in armor, and have a good AB and save progression.

The difference between your campaign and EfU is that EfU is a persistent world with mostly random loot table, whereas the loot is wholly dependent on the DM in your campaign.

While I'd agree that a cleric shouldn't wear items of another faith, I think it's fair to clerics that they can with generic deity loot due to the absence of continuous DM supervision and reward.

[Letsplayforfun]

On a side note, i dully noted more items of standard deities faith could solve part of the issue discussed here.

[Coldburn]

I actually think less items connect to a God would solve the issue here. When you add more Deity-related items to a random loot table the chance only diminishes you get it. Do away with it altogether, in my opinion, and reward Clerics who do things right with a flavored item instead.