¶ Haze Piety System
"The gods do not count coin, nor do they keep ledgers. They remember the prayer whispered at dawn, the hunt honoured to the last scrap of hide, the quest seen through to its bitter end. Faith is kept day after day, alongside everyone else who kneels at the same altar."
The Piety System gives every faithful character a way to serve their god, and gives the Clerics and Paladins of that faith a way to call upon it. Your devotion flows into a shared well of faith for your primary domain, and the holy servants of that domain draw on it to work small miracles and give blessings.
Players never see any numbers. Instead of a total, you get a feeling for how strong your faith is.
Open the interface at any time with the !piety chat command, the toolbar at the top of your screen, or by using a shrine of your god.
¶ How Does it Work?
Piety is earned from your daily CXP allowance (the same pool used for crafting and research) and by living the way your god values. It is spent only by Clerics and Paladins, through miracles and blessings.
Every character chooses a god and a primary domain on the Deities form. That domain decides where your piety goes.
- Each domain has one shared well of faith, server-wide. A War follower of Tempus and a War follower of Garagos both feed the same War well, and both faiths' priests draw on it. Rivalry between faiths is intended.
- Everyone can add to their domain's well: by performing rites (paid with CXP) and by doing deeds your god favours as you play.
- Only Clerics and Paladins can draw on it, to perform miracles for themselves or give blessings to others.
- Faith fades. Each well slowly drains a little every day. The faithful need to keep it topped up, so it cannot be hoarded.
¶ The Interface
The piety window has a tab for each part of your faith:
- Devotion: your god and primary domain, the deeds your god looks favourably upon (and whether each has already counted today), and, for Clerics, Paladins and Druids, the state of your conscience.
- Rites: the rites you can perform, their CXP cost, and a Perform button.
- Miracles and Blessings (Clerics and Paladins only): what you can call upon, its effect and cooldown, and your Divine Sense of whether your god would answer.
- Conversion: change your primary domain or your god (see Conversion).
¶ Rites
Rites are acts of worship anyone with a god and a primary domain can perform, paid for out of your daily CXP. Each rite can be performed once per day.
| Rite | Cost | Where | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer | 4 CXP | Anywhere, outside of combat | Kneel and pray to your god |
| Offering | 4 CXP + copper or an item | At a shrine, or with a holy symbol in hand | The gift is consumed. Some gifts please your god more than others |
Vigil, Communal Rite and Pilgrimage appear in the list but are not available yet. They will be added in future updates.
¶ Offerings
An offering must be worth at least 10 copper per character level, in copper or in the value of a single item you carry. Plot and cursed items cannot be offered.
Every domain has gifts it considers fitting. A War god appreciates a fine blade, a Water god a pearl or a fresh catch, a Knowledge god a book or scroll. A fitting gift is worth more to your faith, and you will feel it: "It feels like a fitting gift." The Offering tab gives a hint about what your domain prefers.
¶ Rite Quality
Every rite includes a Knowledge: Religion check to see how well you perform it. A poorly performed rite still counts, but adds less to your faith ("The words feel hollow."). A well performed rite adds more, and a truly inspired one may draw a small answer from your god ("The air stirs; a warmth answers your devotion.").
Performing a rite at a consecrated shrine of your own god lets you take 20 on the check.
¶ Deeds
Your god also watches how you live. Almost everything you do in the world can count as a deed in your god's eyes: fighting, exploring, crafting, fishing, farming, healing, sailing, writing, building, singing, burying the dead, and much more. What counts depends on your primary domain, and every domain has at least four deeds of its own:
| Domain | Some of the deeds it values |
|---|---|
| War | Slaying a worthy foe, victory over a great champion, training at arms (sparring) |
| Healing | Healing the wounded, pulling someone back from death's door |
| Plant | Planting a seed, tending and gathering plants |
| Travel | Exploring the world, completing a voyage, discovering a hidden trail |
| Water | Drawing life from the waters, sailing the open sea |
| Knowledge | Mastering a new tongue, teaching it to others, charting the unknown |
| Death | Laying the restless dead to rest, giving the dead their burial |
| Sun | Burning the undead in daylight, bringing light to the streets (lamplighting) |
| Creation | Making something new, raising buildings, making broken things whole |
| Beauty | Creating a work of beauty, filling the air with music |
| Trickery | A deft theft, slipping past a lock, a convincing forgery |
| Luck | Fortune at the card table, striking it rich with buried treasure |
These are only examples. Every domain has its own list, and you will have to discover it.
Each kind of deed counts once per day. Slaying twenty wolves with one fireball is still one deed. To serve your god more, do different things they value rather than repeating the same one.
¶ Knowing What Pleases Your God
Your god's favoured deeds are a mystery at first: with no ranks in Knowledge: Religion, every one of them shows as "???". Each 2 ranks of Knowledge: Religion reveals one more, starting with the humblest deeds and working up to the greatest.
A deed still pleases your god before you have learned it, you just won't know it counts. The Devotion tab marks each deed (known or not) that has already counted today, so a "???" that lights up is a hint that you stumbled on something your god values.
¶ Miracles and Blessings
Clerics and Paladins can call on their domain's well of faith. A miracle affects you (and often your party); a blessing is always given to someone else.
Miracles are small, E6-appropriate graces. No miracle can raise the dead, and no miracle harms another player character. Against PCs and their companions, only beneficial miracles work. Blessings and helpful miracles will never land on an enemy.
Your god will refuse a miracle that cannot work before anything is spent: a blessing aimed at an enemy, Final Toll or Edict aimed at a boss, Final Toll on a foe who is not yet near death, or Call the Storm and Pilgrim's Stride under a roof or underground.
¶ Divine Sense
You are never told how much faith your domain holds. Instead, each miracle and blessing shows your Divine Sense, a feeling for whether your god would answer:
| Divine Sense | |
|---|---|
| "You are certain your god would answer." | Your faith runs deep |
| "You feel your call would be answered." | Your call should be heard |
| "You are unsure... your god may answer, or may not." | It may go either way |
| "You sense only silence." | Your faith runs dry |
| "Your god turns from you." | Something is wrong between you and your god (see Transgressions) |
Divine Sense is read with a Knowledge: Religion check, and the reading holds for 10 minutes. A priest with poor religious knowledge may misread the mood of their god, and come away less sure than they should be.
If your god does not answer, the attempt fails: "Your call for divine powers fades, and remains unanswered."
¶ Knowledge: Religion and Potency
- 6+ ranks: your miracles last 1 round longer.
- 9+ ranks: any saving throw your miracles force is 1 harder to resist.
¶ General Miracles
| Miracle | Who | Level | Cooldown | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renewed Prayer | Cleric | 1 | 4 hours | Restore one spent spell slot of 2nd circle or lower |
| Fervor | Cleric, Paladin | 1 | 4 hours | Restore one use of Turn Undead (which also fuels Lay on Hands) and, for paladins, one use of Smite Evil |
| Sanctify Ground | Cleric, Paladin | 4 | 8 hours | For 3 rounds, allies within 10m gain +2 to saves and undead suffer -2 to attack |
| Hand of Mercy | Cleric, Paladin | 4 | 24 hours | Every downed (not dead) ally within 10m is stabilised at 1 hit point. A very costly miracle |
| Bulwark of Faith | Paladin | 4 | 8 hours | Your aura grows to 15m and allies within it gain +2 AC for 1 turn |
| Oath Renewed | Paladin | 6 | 24 hours | Remove negative effects (not death or level drain) and gain immunity to fear and charm for 1 turn |
Level is your Cleric or Paladin class level.
¶ Blessings
| Blessing | Cooldown | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Blessing of the Road | 1 hour | +1 to saving throws for 1 hour |
| Hands Made Steady | 1 hour | +2 to the target's next craft, fishing or heal attempt within 1 hour |
| Ward Against Ill Fortune | 2 hours | If the target is downed within the next 8 hours, they bleed out 50% slower |
| Domain Benediction | 4 hours | A minor blessing flavoured by your god's domain, for 1 turn |
¶ Domain Benediction
The blessing depends on the primary domain of the cleric or paladin who gives it, not the target's. It lasts 1 turn.
| Domain | Benediction | Domain | Benediction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air | +10% movement speed | Luck | +1 to all saving throws |
| Animal | +2 Listen | Magic | +1 Will saves |
| Beauty | +2 Persuade | Moon | +2 Spot |
| Chaos | +1 Will saves | Night & Stars | +2 Spot |
| Creation | +1 Fortitude saves | Pestilence | +2 saves against disease |
| Darkness | +2 Hide | Plant | +1 Fortitude saves |
| Death | +2 saves against death effects | Protection | +1 AC |
| Destruction | +1 magical damage | Renewal | Regenerate 1 hit point per round |
| Earth | +1 AC | Storm | Electrical resistance 5 |
| Evil | +1 attack | Strength | +1 magical damage |
| Fate | +1 to all saving throws | Sun | +1 attack |
| Fire | Fire resistance 5 | Time | +1 Reflex saves |
| Good | +1 AC | Travel | +10% movement speed |
| Healing | Regenerate 1 hit point per round | Trickery | +2 Hide |
| Hunt | +1 magical damage | War | +1 attack |
| Illusion | +2 Hide | Water | Cold resistance 5 |
| Knowledge | +2 Knowledge: General | Law | +1 Will saves |
¶ Signature Miracles
At Cleric level 6, a cleric gains the signature miracle of their primary domain. Each can be called upon once per day.
| Domain | Miracle | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Air | Zephyr's Path | Your party gains +10% movement speed and immunity to knockdown for 3 rounds |
| Animal | Beast Kin | Hostile animals within 10m become neutral for 1 turn (Will save) |
| Beauty | Radiant Grace | Your party gains +2 Charisma and Influence for 1 turn |
| Chaos | Wild Turn | Chaos takes one enemy (Will save negates). For 2 rounds it is confused, dazed, slowed, knocked down or suffers -4 attack and AC, at random. Bosses always suffer the penalty |
| Creation | Hands of the Maker | Fully repair an ally's most worn piece of gear |
| Darkness | Veil of Night | Your party gains 20% concealment and darkvision for 1 turn |
| Death | Final Toll | An enemy below 25% health must make a Fortitude save or drop to 0 (never bosses or PCs) |
| Destruction | Ruin | Your next hit deals +3d6 damage and sunders 2 AC for 3 rounds |
| Earth | Stoneskin Ward | Your party gains damage reduction 5/- up to 30 damage |
| Evil | Dread Pact | Enemies within 10m are shaken (-2) for 1 turn (Will save) |
| Fate | Thread Spun | An ally gains +20 to their next saving throw within 1 turn |
| Fire | Pillar of Flame | 3d6 fire in an area (Reflex half) and a fire shield on you |
| Good | Mercy | Your party heals 2d8 + level and gains +2 AC and saves against evil attackers for 1 turn |
| Healing | Mending Light | Mass Cure Moderate Wounds on your party, removing disease and poison |
| Hunt | Quarry | Mark an enemy for 1 turn: everyone gains +2 to hit it, and your party deals +1d6 damage to it |
| Illusion | Mirage | You and one ally gain 3 mirror images |
| Knowledge | Revelation | Identify every item you carry, indicating if any are cursed. Your party gains +2 to all Knowledge skills (General, Arcane, Architecture, Nature, Religion) for 1 hour |
| Law | Edict | One enemy is held for 2 rounds (Will save). Never bosses |
| Luck | Fortune's Favor | Your party gains +1 luck to all rolls for 1 turn |
| Magic | Font of Power | Restore one spent spell slot of 2nd circle or lower |
| Moon | Silver Moon's Edge | Allies within 10m gain a +1 enhancement bonus against shapechangers on their equipped weapon (ranged or melee) for 1 turn |
| Night & Stars | Starguide | Your party gains +2 Search and Spot for 1 hour. If cast outdoors at night, they also gain +1 to saving throws for that hour |
| Pestilence | Blight | A cone that diseases enemies (Fortitude save) |
| Plant | Entwine | Entangle an area; allies inside regenerate 1 hit point per round |
| Protection | Aegis | One ally negates the next 2 attacks against them |
| Renewal | Second Wind | Your party sheds fatigue and regains 25% of their health over 3 rounds |
| Storm | Call the Storm | Three lightning bolts of 3d6 (outdoors only) |
| Strength | Might of the God | +4 Strength to an ally for 1 turn |
| Sun | Dawnburst | 4d6 radiant damage to undead (2d6 to other enemies) around you, blinding them |
| Time | Stilled Moment | You are hasted for 1 round |
| Travel | Pilgrim's Stride | Your party gains +30% movement speed for 1 hour (outdoors only) |
| Trickery | Misdirection | Your party becomes invisible until it attacks, or the duration expires in 1 turn |
| War | Battle Hymn | Your party gains +1 attack, +2 damage and +1 AC for 1 turn |
| Water | Tidecaller | Your party gains freedom of movement for 1 turn |
Every miracle draws on the same well your whole faith fills. A priest who calls on their god too often leaves less for their fellows, and a faith whose followers neglect their rites will find its priests met with silence.
¶ Transgressions and Falls
Clerics, Paladins and Druids are held to a higher standard. Some acts offend your god (or, for a druid, the wild itself), and the server notices them.
¶ Your God's Code Depends on You
What counts as a transgression depends on who you are: your class, your own alignment, your primary domain and your god.
- Paladins are held to the code of law and good, plus their domain. Slaying the helpless, raising the dead, poison, theft, or straying from law and good all betray an oath.
- Clerics are judged by their own alignment and their domain. A good cleric must not harm the innocent; a lawful cleric must not steal or forge another's hand; a Sun cleric must not raise the dead or smother the light; a Plant cleric feels every felled tree and every crop destroyed. A chaotic evil War cleric lives under very different rules from a lawful good one.
- Some gods have tenets of their own. Eldath grieves every life taken; Ilmater suffers for every innocent struck.
Knowledge: Religion reveals what your god forbids, under "Your god forbids:" on the Devotion tab. Every bound follower knows two forbidden acts, and each 3 ranks reveals one more.
¶ Your Conscience
When you transgress, you may sense it with a Knowledge: Religion check (easier for grave acts): "You feel Torm's displeasure at what you have done." If you fail, you notice nothing at all, but your god still noticed.
The Devotion tab shows the state of your conscience: at peace, uneasy, or fallen from grace. Transgressions fade slowly with time, and faster for those who keep up their daily rites.
- Unease: a warning. No other effect.
- Displeasure: your god may simply not answer your miracles and blessings, and your Divine Sense reads "Your god turns from you."
- A fall: when enough has built up, or after a single grave act, you are proposed for a fall.
¶ Falls Are Always Decided by a DM
No one ever falls automatically. A proposed fall is sent to the DM team, who review what happened and decide. Until then, you keep your powers.
- If a DM confirms the fall, you lose your god's favour and your fallen-class restrictions apply: "A cold silence settles where your faith once burned. You have fallen from grace."
- If a DM rejects it, nothing happens to you, though a DM may leave you with a warning.
Grave acts wound your whole faith: committing one drains your domain's well of faith immediately, and your fellow priests will feel it through their Divine Sense. If a DM decides it was not a real transgression, the faith is restored.
¶ Returning From a Fall
No rite, offering or amount of CXP undoes a fall. Atonement is played out in roleplay with a DM, and only a DM can lift a fall.
When a DM lifts your fall (at once, or the next time you log in), your god's favour returns: "Warmth returns. Your god has forgiven you - walk carefully." You begin again on probation, with an uneasy conscience.
¶ Druids
Druids serve the wild rather than a single domain's well. They earn piety for their primary domain like anyone else, but they do not perform miracles (yet). They can, however, fall.
Haze druids may be Lawful Evil, Neutral Good, True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral or Neutral Evil, and the wild judges each by their own outlook. Druids sense their transgressions with Knowledge: Nature instead of Religion: "The wild recoils from what you have done."
Every druid, of any alignment, is bound by these tenets:
- Kill it, harvest it. If you kill a creature that can be skinned, harvest it before its body fades. Leaving a kill to rot unused offends the wild. (This only applies if you have a flaying knife to hand.)
- No metal. Equipping metal armour, shields, helmets, bracers or boots offends the wild. Followers of Mielikki are exempt.
- No needless slaughter of animals that were not hostile to you.
- Leave others' crops be. Destroying a crop someone else planted offends the wild. Harvesting a field, even until its plants are spent, never does.
- Never raise the dead, and never betray a bonded creature. Both are grave acts.
- Keep to your outlook. A druid whose alignment drifts outside the five allowed alignments is proposed for a fall.
True Neutral druids, as keepers of the balance, are held more strictly to these tenets. Neutral Good druids must also not harm the innocent.
¶ Conversion
A character may choose to change their primary domain, or turn to a new god, from the Conversion tab:
| Change | Cost | Cooldown |
|---|---|---|
| New primary domain, same god | 20 CXP | 7 days |
| New god (and domain) | 60 CXP | 30 days |
- The new domain must be one your new god holds, and your new god must accept someone of your alignment.
- You cannot convert while fallen, or while a fall is waiting on a DM.
- Your past devotion stays with your old domain. From the moment you convert, you feed (and, if you can, draw on) your new domain's well.
Clerics, Paladins and Druids cannot convert. They are bound to their calling, and any change of god or domain for them is a matter for a DM.
¶ Quick Reference
| Who | Can do | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone with a god | Rites (Prayer 4 CXP, Offering 4 CXP + gift), deeds, conversion | Each rite and each kind of deed counts once per day; deeds are revealed by Knowledge: Religion |
| Clerics | All of the above (no conversion), miracles, blessings, signature miracle at level 6 | Can fall; falls are decided by a DM |
| Paladins | All of the above (no conversion), miracles, blessings | Bound by the code of law and good; can fall |
| Druids | Rites and deeds (no conversion, no miracles) | Bound by the tenets of the wild; can fall |
Your faith's well is shared by everyone who serves your domain. Keep up your rites and deeds so your priests find their god listening.