According to Sigurd, prayer is "very distracting until you learn how to block it out." So at least initially, it's not a straight advantage.
Aye, that's part of the reason why I'd like Jade to get comfortable with hearing prayers now, while she has the chance. Better here on Magi with a small amount of deliberately managed followers, than afterwards when the MGLN plane unlocks. She'll likely be dealing with
orders of magnitude more worshipers from the Agni cults, so this isn't something we can avoid in the long, or even medium term.
So I'd like to treat Magi as an experimental case, to test the effects of worship. If it's really so awful, Jade's going to want to know. Likewise if it's beneficial; Jade could use the extra power for the Jewel Seed incident. And yes, I believe it's possible to get results in a mere month. Sigurd said some demons managed it, and they didn't have Enhance Learning:
: Dunno. It's not really something anybody talks about. Could be like most other magic, where you have to actually know what you're looking for, but it can't be too difficult. I know of a couple demons who founded cults and started exploiting worship in less than a month.:
Where did you get that from? Sigurd explicitly stated that anything less than a "full-fledged invasion" or dedicated attack on their follower base is allowed for a godling. "Forced to defend" is quite a high standard.
Eh... this may be an assumption on my part, but the prohibition against technology proliferation probably still applies to us, since it's a pretty foundational part of the gods' plan for Velgarth stability. We likely can't pull a Remnant or Magi without earning divine ire. So no founding of high-technology utopian kingdoms, sadly.
There are other opportunities for intervention, of course, but they require Jade's personal involvement and are stuff we could accomplish over the time span it takes to fully ascend. (Fixing Valdemar's mage defense system so they can recruit Herald-Mages, intervening in Karse, that type of thing.)
You haven't explained why "becoming a god" is a perk, and why both Jade and we players would want it. Because from your post it almost seems "god" is just a title.
Edit: I'd love if you could give a good argument; I believe it'd greatly help Jade into acepting the idea of divinity.
We only have a rough idea from our one conversation with Sigurd on the subject, but he outlined basic divine abilities:
The more mortals who believe in your divinity, the easier it is for you to meet their expectations. I believe Celestial Fortress subscribes to the type of magic which works by 'convincing' mana it's actually something else, correct? It's not a perfect analogy, but think of followers as doing such work for you whenever you're foremost in their thoughts.:
It's just not a very good idea in general; divine powers are frequently better for broad blessings and workings which affect the entire land, not small-scale stuff like helping them catch the eye of this one girl they think they're in love with.:
-[x] What are the standard "divine abilities"?
:Boy, is that a big question. The creation of avatars like me is the biggest one; typically, they pick out a dead human follower and grant them either a portion of, or access to, some of their own power. Infusing existing extraplanars or making new beings from scratch is more unusual, but not entirely unheard of.:
"Which are you?"
:Well, I was an extraplanar. Now I'm stuffed in a squishy animal shell and am a great deal weaker than I used to be.:
"...Next ability?"
:Right, right. So, since we're on the subject, bodies. Gods don't really need 'em; they, and a lot of extraplanars, are made up of masses of what could be best described as 'essence.' Oh, they can take specific forms if we want and it's a really good idea if you're about to go into combat, but for the most part, deities can do without. More importantly, gods have enough essence to send off part of themselves and literally be in multiple places at once. I sometimes think gods decided to give up on killing one another simply because it was so difficult to be sure you'd gotten all of one.
:Next, followers don't just provide you with extra power, they also make specific tasks easier in the first place. For instance, if you're a god of plants, you might have an easier time making them grow, wilt, controlling them, and so on. A little bit of power could go a long way in that department if your followers have already convinced your magic it's something you should be able to do.
:I suppose knowing when someone is praying to you and roughly how much power they're generating could be considered another ability. I'm told it's very distracting until you learn how to block it out. I know at least a few gods set up specific words or rituals followers can use to basically say they're in deep sh—trouble and could really use some advice or aid right about now.
:I know there are a lot more, but I'm afraid deities tend to be pretty close-lipped. That and I honestly never thought to ask. Didn't really seem like something which would ever be important to me.:
tl;dr:
- Infusing dead followers with power to create avatars
- Broad (possibly land-based) blessings
- Incorporeality & the ability to manage multiple bodies
- Drawing extra power from followers
- An easier time performing magical feats your followers believe you capable of
We'll probably only see the last two anytime soon, but even those would be very useful. If followers believe Jade to be a goddess of fire, she'll use less power and have an easier time with her pyrokinesis. If they believe her to be a benevolent goddess who heals the sick, she'll have an easier time healing. Etc.
This may include the development of new traits; managing the expectations of worshipers over decades/centuries may very well be how Indira made herself immune to lightning, for example.
In the long term, having an ability like multiple bodies would be invaluable. Interacting with Indira or Earthland gods isn't nearly as dangerous when Jade can just send a secondary body in her place. And I shouldn't have to explain why blessings that affect the land might be useful for a Planeswalker.
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