Faith & Divine Relationships

Divine Powers are people, forces, gods, patrons, ancestors, philosophies made manifest, or other setting-specific sources of sacred relationship. A Character may follow none, one, or several. Doubt, distance, former worship, opposition, private practice, and uncertainty are all valid. Class, ancestry, magic, and alignment never assign faith automatically.

Faith uses five relationship tiers. A Seeker reaches outward and may receive coincidence, omen, or meaningful silence. Known means the power recognizes the relationship; dreams and recognizable signs may join the omens. Favored may bring waking visions or clearer inner communication. Chosen may involve messengers, sustained dialogue, urgent direct contact, or bounded intervention. Beloved is a rare, deeply reciprocal bond that may allow personal audience and the clearest contact. Beloved is not automatically romantic.

Communication is cumulative rather than a locked spell list, and it remains shaped by the Divine Power's personality, knowledge, limits, agenda, attention, and willingness. A tier makes a form of contact more plausible; it never guarantees obedience or rescue. Prayer can be guidance, grief, ritual, argument, gratitude, habit, bargaining, or silence. Meaningful devotion, service, broken vows, betrayal, reconciliation, doubt, and discovery can change the relationship over time.