Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 crusadercitadel Jul 08, 2007 12:22:15	Greetings, Usually, when running my Dark Sun campaign I stop by these boards and mine your excellent discussions. I never have anything to add, so I haven't really posted much over the years. This year I received the CPsi, and I told my players that the Ardent and Lurk were now available as classes if they so wished. The Erudite had already been allowed since its release in Dragon Magazine some years ago, as I thought that they fit with the concept of the Order. Divine Minds, much like standard Clerics, don't really belong in a standard Dark Sun campaign. Yet, with the release of the most recent Mind's Eye article I figured some people might be thinking of adapting the Divine Mind to Dark Sun, either as an optional Templar or as an optional form of elemental worship. Yet, Google doesn't show me such a thread here. Astounding! So, does anyone here care to discuss this here?
#2 ruhl-than_sage Jul 08, 2007 16:04:39	I know this topic was discussed soon after the release of the Complete Psionic. Some people thought that perhaps the Divine Mind could be used to represent the followers of the "Gods" of the Green Age.
#3 dirk00001 Jul 09, 2007 9:46:22	I know this topic was discussed soon after the release of the Complete Psionic. Some people thought that perhaps the Divine Mind could be used to represent the followers of the "Gods" of the Green Age. Yuppers - there were like 2 or 3 threads re: this, but I think they were all on the old board and lost following the transfer/rebuild. Anyway; that was my take on it (and some others as well, IIRC), that they could represent the "divine clerics" of the Green Age, their psionic potential manifesting itself through their belief in divine - and technically nonexistant - entities. My extrapolation from there, however, was that during the Cleansing Wars they faded out in large part due to their gods "not answering their cries for help" and thus their belief in them dwindling...which took with it their psionic abilities. As far as a modern-day Athasian Divine Mind is concerned, I don't really think they fit except in special cases, such as (for example) a secluded monastery deep within the Ringing Mountains that still worships some of the dead gods, or perhaps an extremely "savage" barbarian culture somewhere out in the wastelands that has avoided contact with most everyone else for millennia, thus still holding onto their belief in gods.
#4 crusadercitadel Jul 09, 2007 12:42:57	I know this topic was discussed soon after the release of the Complete Psionic. Some people thought that perhaps the Divine Mind could be used to represent the followers of the "Gods" of the Green Age. Yuppers - there were like 2 or 3 threads re: this, but I think they were all on the old board and lost following the transfer/rebuild. Is there no way to resurrect the old threads? I knew that there should have been some discussion. That's rather clever to use Divine Minds as the worshippers of the Green Age. Did anyone figure out any specific mantle sets, or was it just high-concept discussion? What about Divine Mind elemental worshippers now that the June Mind's Eye article gave separate mantles for each element? I know this board tends to be split between those that prefer Athas.org, Paizo, and their own homebrewed DS3s. Did anyone try to make Divine Mind templars, ala Paizo Cleric templars? Sorry to make you folks rehash it all. I wouldn't be bothering you if I could find the relavent posts on my own.
#5 cnahumck Jul 09, 2007 13:31:47	Is there no way to resurrect the old threads? I knew that there should have been some discussion. That's rather clever to use Divine Minds as the worshippers of the Green Age. Did anyone figure out any specific mantle sets, or was it just high-concept discussion? That depends on what "gods" existed back then. No one knows who they were.
#6 Jaysyn Jul 10, 2007 8:25:00	As far as a modern-day Athasian Divine Mind is concerned, I don't really think they fit except in special cases, such as (for example) a secluded monastery deep within the Ringing Mountains that still worships some of the dead gods, or perhaps an extremely "savage" barbarian culture somewhere out in the wastelands that has avoided contact with most everyone else for millennia, thus still holding onto their belief in gods. By the normal D&D definition, doesn't a group of people worshiping gods make them not dead? Did the old gods just get "cut-off" one day, did something kill them outright, or were they just very powerful mortals that could grant powers & were worshiped as Gods to begin with?
#7 cnahumck Jul 10, 2007 8:51:22	By the normal D&D definition, doesn't a group of people worshiping gods make them not dead? Did the old gods just get "cut-off" one day, did something kill them outright, or were they just very powerful mortals that could grant powers & were worshiped as Gods to begin with? No one really knows. There never were gods in the traditional sense on Athas. Some might have worshiped elementals that took on aspects of divinity rather than just elements (The Forge Keeper [fire], Harvest Keeper [rain], The Builder [earth], etc.). And some people may have had living vortexes that they attracted for some reason. It is a mystery
#8 dirk00001 Jul 10, 2007 9:24:52	Right - the Athasian histories state that there were elemental clerics as far back as the Blue Age, and that "gods have never existed"...at least not in a "traditional" D&D sense. In the case of "worship = god existance" I just don't think it applies on Athas; we're talking about a world that, even in 2e, was far removed from the norm...after all, it was inaccessible via Spelljamming, if you tried to get there (or away) via planar travel there was a high likelyhood of becoming hopelessly lost, etc.