Okay, so I'm a CF middleweight. I've restricted myself until now to mainly melee characters because I've been intimidated by the empowerment classes. But I'm really looking forward to trying maybe a healer or shaman (have char ideas for either).

But I have some questions.

I really don't understand the "praying" process. When the helpfiles say 'Go find an appropriate place and pray to your god', does that really mean the command 'pray'? Doesn't that mean that any immortal will hear it, and wouldn't that get annoying? I don't want to irritate anyone.

What does it mean to have a 1st empowerment and a 2nd empowerment? I understand the 1st empowerment... that's in the beginning to get your commune powers, but what about the 2nd?

The help files seem to reccommend choosing a religion with a god, but some of the forum threads claim that un-godded religions leave you the freedom to intrepret the sphere in your own way. What have been the experiences of the veteran players?


Thanks for your input!

a) Have a description that doesn't make the reader want to puke too badly.
b) Have a basic role (I say this as I glare at the follower who had a dozen entries at level one, but was nice enough to give me a chapter titled "Cliffnotes." Very nice.)
c) Know 'something' about your god and their religion. Some of us require you be able to recite chapter and verse of countless obscure texts, though most will help you along and give you some limited empowerment to get you started.
d) Never approach 'god' with a "Hey dude" attitude.
e) Don't over emote or esay...it isn't all that necessary.
f) Act like you are speaking to a GOD!!! Just because I really am a cat gynecologist in real life has no bearing on the CF world (unless you are felar).
g) Because you are hawt in real life, it doesn't matter here...I am always hawter.
h) This is a filler until I think of the next letter.
i) Remember it is a game and it's meant to be fun...remember fun?

Most imms will help you as much as they are able in working through empowerment.

Oh yeah -
j) Bring gifts appropriate to god. This is optional, but I get some cool stuff now and then. One of the best was an invisible corpse...I guess we were rping that there was a corpse. I didn't have the heart to mention there was nothing there...I checked! I'm an imm and I swear it wasn't there. Darned insane followers always messing with me!

The opinions expressed here are my own, and I am likely insane.


eshval@carrionfields.com


Remember, some people are alive simply because it is illegal to shoot them. - Source unknown

>am a cat gynecologist in real life has no bearing on the CF

Must...not...make...obvious...joke......aarrgh.

>b) Have a basic role (I say this as I glare at the follower
>who had a dozen entries at level one, but was nice enough to
>give me a chapter titled "Cliffnotes." Very nice.)

Ok, sometimes I completely miss the obvious..are you saying you actually liked that there was a summary role since it was an extrodinarily long role or would you just prefer a simpler, shorter role all together?

I only ask because I have considered adding a "cliffnotes" like role chapter at the beginning when pre character creation I see my role getting longer and longer.

An ideal addition to any role. If you add a cliffnotes every so often, it affords me a very easy way to catch up on what has transpired with the character. That being said, cliffnotes should just be some highpoints and the author will not get xp for it, as that would be given to worthwhile main entries. You will, however, have my undying gratitude.

Role size is optional...it should be done with some regularity.

These are just my opinions...especially if you want a happy Eshval.


eshval@carrionfields.com
http://blackmarquessa.blogspot.com/

Remember, some people are alive simply because it is illegal to shoot them. - Source unknown

> cat gynecologist

....they really have those? i'd have thought that would fall under general vet work

Praying from the shrine, or an appropriate place with reference to your character and your god is never going to get annoying.

Praying every five minutes with something like. Corrlaan I need empowerment. Or... Corrlaan? Will get annoying. Think about your character and how he would pray to gain inspiration from his/her god/goddess. Be creative.

I generally would expect you to visit the shrine once per login, and send up a pray thats pretty much standard as far as what I see, and when I play an empowerment mortal.

1st and 2nd empowerments are pretty standard as well. Almost every god has a sort of progression you must follow. Mine is very regimented and there are certain things you have to learn for yourself..and certain things I'll help you learn. But you generally won't get empowered all the way to level 51 the first time you meet your patron imm. We'll get you halfway...or whatever..then the next time we see good stuff from you we'll take you the rest.

Remember too that bad behavior will often result in DECREASING your empowerment. Although its not common it can still happen.

I highly reccommend picking a god that already exists. I know some advocacy on other sites for choosing your own god has been out there but let me just explain it to you from an immortal's perspective.

Its a hard sell to most of the empowering immortals to take on your storyline and roll with it unless you are being VERY creative and involved. I would expect you to be writing notes, preaching your religion, and just essentially being like those nutty people you see at the bus station. Banging on a pamphlet and yelling scriptures. Because essentially noone knows who your god is..so you better be telling people. And really...shouldnt a priest be....preachy?

Furthermore you have to be willing to take this on without getting as much interaction as the normal god follower because your going to gain the interest of one or maybe two immortals who will make a point to 'check in' on you if your doing well. If your not making things happen...we'll get bored with the storyline as well and empowerment is supposed to be for players putting forth that effort RP-wise.

Now thats just my take...There may be immortals who absolutely love to step out of their 'skin' so to speak and play your story. I'm just realistic about the time I have online, and if I can't give you the time you want then we'll both be dissapointed.

Corrlaan followers are NICE. With a capital NICE!

I would like to ask some expansion questions on this if I may, as I am trying out my first empowerment class.

First, I kind of got the feeling from not only the helpfiles not once mentioning praying often, but from the echo saying you ask for help suggests it should only be done for important stuff...I guess this is not the case?

As well, I saw immortals mention they make sure they're visible to people looking for them etc, I read this as meaning don't bother praying unless I'm on and you can see me.

Is there any way to tell how far you have been empowered to?

Preaching is mentioned often, and I would love to do this, but would it be like "tell <name> hello, do you have a moment to talk about the lord?" or is it expected to be in Galadon, since every helpfile says for the love of god stay out of crowded places.

I do make every effort to talk about my god in pretty much everything I say, but I feel like people don't want to hear it, and so don't run the two way RP street. Any suggestions for this?

>I would like to ask some expansion questions on this if I
>may, as I am trying out my first empowerment class.
>
>First, I kind of got the feeling from not only the helpfiles
>not once mentioning praying often, but from the echo saying
>you ask for help suggests it should only be done for important
>stuff...I guess this is not the case?


How much praying did you do before you got the echo? If you prayed every minute for like 10 minutes, you prayed too much. Send up a prayer (meaning one), if you don't get an answer, you can pray again after 15 minutes or so. If you are praying for a specific immortal, pray once and if you don't get an answer, send them a note. Don't keep praying. The immortal you are looking for may not be around. If you are praying for an immortal who is on the wizlist listed as dormant, you may not get empowered at all. The times that the active immortals are general guidelines, they may not be there all the time that it is listed. We have lives too.


>
>As well, I saw immortals mention they make sure they're
>visible to people looking for them etc, I read this as meaning
>don't bother praying unless I'm on and you can see me.

No. Imms are not visible all the time. You pray as I mentioned above. The imms can see you no matter how well you think you are hidden. If they see you and know that you have been praying for them, they will most likely vis themselves to give you the hint is what this means.


>
>Is there any way to tell how far you have been empowered to?

No, unless your imm tells you.


>
>Preaching is mentioned often, and I would love to do this, but
>would it be like "tell <name> hello, do you have a moment to
>talk about the lord?" or is it expected to be in Galadon,
>since every helpfile says for the love of god stay out of
>crowded places.

You do it when you can and where you can. It doesn't mean someone is going to be willing to listen though.


>
>I do make every effort to talk about my god in pretty much
>everything I say, but I feel like people don't want to hear
>it, and so don't run the two way RP street. Any suggestions
>for this?

People are rewarded for what they do, not what others around them do.

I should have clarified. The echo being "You pray to the heavens for help!" suggests to me you need immediate help.

basically the question is- as a cleric, should I be praying for IC reasons other than empowerment? The helpfile does not answer this at all.

I just don't want to have my god feel I am snubbing after I got what I needed.

>basically the question is- as a cleric, should I be praying
>for IC reasons other than empowerment? The helpfile does not
>answer this at all.


My take is it's definitely a good idea to attempt to have 'visits' (beginning with an appropriate pray, of course) with your god in the times between when you're begging for them to empower you, and even after you've been fully empowered. I've always sort of gotten the impression that not only do the imms want their priests putting the message of the religion out there, but also don't mind having discussions with the priest on faith/life/conflict/whatever. I see it as you don't just go to your god for POWER but for guidance as well, and what better way to acheive that than by talking to them? Same principle can/should be applied to tattoo seeking characters.

>basically the question is- as a cleric, should I be praying
>for IC reasons other than empowerment? The helpfile does not
>answer this at all.

Here's a general principle: if something seems to require more effort, is role-play related, and provides no game-play advantage, typically you get karma points for doing it. This includes stuff like continuing to pray to your deity after getting full empowerment. Or, for that matter, as a non-empowerment character. Not that praying is really that difficult. It just shows that you're still interested in the religion beyond just, "sweet, I got full empowerment," or "sweet, I got a tattoo".

Plus it just makes sense. You're role-playing a priest whose deity has a specific physical sanctum on earth. How realistic would it be for that priest to 1) never pray to his deity and 2) never visit that sanctum to pay homage?

Here's something I've always wondered about:

Is there an "automated" system for alerting imms to prayers addressed to them while they're offline? If so, does it involve scanning the text of the prayer for the imm's name?

I ask, because I usually refer to deities by something other than their name. Corrlaan might be, "Lord of Archons", etc. If there's an automated system based on name, though, then my prayers would probably slip through the cracks.

But they're kind of wonky and broken, you only get to see the first page of them, which is like 20 prays I think? Otherwise you have to search out prays. So if it's further back in the Q than 20 prays and the imm doesn't search for anything but Corrlaan, then you're going to get missed.

There will be no white flag above my door. - Dido

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to cry
So come on courage
Teach me to be shy
Cause it's not hard to fall - Damien Rice

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter, footsteps even lighter - Kelly Clarkso

But they're kind of wonky and broken, you only get to see the first page of them, which is like 20 prays I think?

Hell if I can fix the web stuff, but remind me to show you Valg's Hackz0r Workaround for this.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Some of us are notoriously bad about looking at the pray logs most of the time, which is to say, we don't.

Most Immortals have a shrine (HELP SHRINE) that mortal followers can pray from, using the pray command. Their individual helpfiles should divulge if they have a shrine at all, and if so, give a clue as to it's location. You can also ask around IC by looking for players who are empowered by, or follow, that Immortal. WHO SPHERE might help with that.

The pray command sends a message that every Immortal can (optionally?) see. I believe prays from shrines are specifically logged so that an Immortal can check to see who might be looking for them when they are offline as well. Another thing to keep in mind is that many Immortals have a prog or trigger in their shrine, where you say something or do something and it alerts them of your presence, so read the room / mob descriptions carefully.

Immortals can choose to empower you up to a certain level. Usually you are empowered to a midrange level (high 20s, low 30s, maybe) after your first interview, then later you have another talk and get the full juice. If your RP is good and you're doing well you might even get that second boost at random after you beat down some buff group with your Paladin or whatever, it all depends on the Immortal in question and what they see and hear you doing.

When you choose an un-godded religion you're either choosing a sphere that doesn't have a patron Immortal or you're making up a God. This could be a completely fabricated idea that you outline in your role (to give the Immortals some idea of what you're talking about) or an entity from CF lore. In this case, you find an appropriate place to pray from and fire off a generic pray to your made-up God and hope an Immortal with free time takes ahold of your idea and runs with it. Success in this department varies, but the Immortals have said in the past that you're better off doing this than following a dormant Immortal in many cases. My best advice would be to be very creative and think up something you think an Immortal will be eager to get involved with.

There is a ton of info, plus some tips, on empowerment, religions, roles, etc. in EMPOWERMENT WORSHIP, EMPOWERMENT TIPS FRUSTRATION, PRAY, TATTOOS, and the Religion link on the left.