Implementation of a A Religion System

[Sula]

As way of most ancient religions, most people worship a pantheon of Gods. The needs of one would favor the attributes of who was being paid the most attention, therefore devotions were given to that particular God. The love struck were for Aphrodite, while the wicked worrier was Ares. The you have Pantheon vs Pantheon as a mix bag which can make things even more interesting were temporary truce of infighting is halted for the greater good. so this topic can be very exciting for those that step into the robes so to speak.....

I dont think this is historically accurate but I think I still get your point. However, those gods you mentioned weren't really actively worshipped by the regular people, much in the same way you don't worship your dentist - you go see him when you need him to do something specific for you, you pay for his services and the rest of the time you dont give him a second thought. I actually hope there will be a system where you can buy blessings from churches you don't actively belong to, even if only to give the priests an additional bargaining chip. Even the word god can be misleading since a whole lot of time these gods weren't thought of as transcendental beings but as a very real, ontological part of the world itself - we can't see microbes, they couldn't see gods, both of us "knew" they were there. A lot of the time they just simply weren't relevant.

The idea of tying shrines to the respawning mechanic (as discussed in the "What happens when you die?" thread) is one very good example of how you could make the common man give a damn that the religion he is paying lip service to actually has a strong presence in the area he is currently in. If bigger shrine means less death penalties then suddenly it becomes a very real and important part of their lives.

[Numb]

I like the basic structure of the faction based religion system that OP presented. I however have a few general question and suggestions about the overall religion system of EoC. First of all, will the religions be based on an actual, living God, that interact with their worshipers in a concrete way, or are the religions merely institutions to promote state control? Could new religions be created by players or are they all pre-created and part of the world's lore? Maybe a player could become a God of a religious cult? Most early civilizations had God Kings and it'd be interesting to see such practice in action in a game.

Personally I wouldn't want religious belief to bring skill benefits for worshipers. I would like to see religion being primarily about prestige and social cohesion. If there would be benefits for a worshiper, they would be primarily player created - a religion could guarantee a bowl of food, clothing and medical services for it's worshipers but they would all have to be produced by other members of the religion.

[Thradok]

Numb, I believe religion is tied to the disciple system, so it's magic for people who can't hack it as Magi. I believe we can create our own religions/gods, and I would find it likely there are some to start with as well. Don't know much more than that.