Piety

The gods look to spread their influence in the world, and one of the best ways to do so is through followers and champions. Being a god’s champion carries no benefits in itself. In the entries for each god are basic ideas of what a champion might look like to give players and idea of how their character might end up as a champion.

The gods reward the devotion of their champions and their followers. The strength of your devotion to your god is measured by your piety score. As you increase that score, you gain blessings from your god.

Piety has nothing to do with faith or belief, but instead it reflects the actions you have taken in your god’s service.

It is suggested you choose a god to worship at level 1, but you can choose to instead wait until either more gods are discovered or until you get to play a couple of sessions. When you do choose a good to worship, your piety score related to that god is 1. Your piety score increases by 1 when you do something to advance the god’s interests or behave in accordance with the god’s ideals.

The gods expect great deeds from their champions, so your piety score typically increases only when you accomplish a significant goal (such as the completion of an adventure), make a significant sacrifice of your own self-interest. Typically the same action will not gain you more piety unless something makes the new act makes it different or a harder action to achieve. Each god’s description includes a list of the god’s goals and ideals.

Changing Gods

If you choose to switch gods in the middle of playing you can do so. Once you abandon a god’s service, you can rarely go back without performing some act of contrition.

Your DM decides whether your new god will accept you as a champion and what you might have to do to prove your commitment.

When you change gods, you lose all the benefits granted by your old one, including rewards for piety and any other divine blessings. You no longer have a piety score to your old god, and your piety score to your new god starts at 1.