*the god/desses used in this are for discussion ONLY...no disrespect to the diety or ANY that believe, revere, or other wise worship or honor these dieties was implied or intended. In fact I would expect the devs to rewrite, and/or rename the dieties other than real life. I simply wanted a frame of referrence that many could grasp easily.*
I like the idea of a warrior being able to \"self heal\"(amount HIGHLY dependant upon fame/faction with their god and their current rankings in some skill like sword/axe/faith *shrug* something to reward the faithful but NOT imballance the game by full healing a first ranked character) at a temple/altar of their god, if they have behaved IN character for their allignment/diety(that would have to be another stat like strength will etc). Actions would affect your standing with your god, and if you prayed for certain things (healing HP, curing a disease, restoring lost skills/xp/gear etc) then your god could \"take it into concideration.
The god\'s motives would be EASY to understand from a role play perspective, if you are SERVING them...and currently are hindered from continuing that service...it is in the god\'s best interest if you are not so hampered...but...if you haven\'t \"shown your god some love\" then why in the heck would he or she care what you want? Results of this system...players would act MORE in character with either their allignment OR their stated god.
I think that this diety decision should be LATER than character creation...those races that have a CHOSE in the matter should have to visit a temple and listen to the priest and either chose to be converted...or...deside respectfully that that path was not suited to them thank you...next temple...next sermon...next choice.
Why you ask? Easy...a new player can not be expected to know which diety will best suit the personality of the character they are dreaming up in character creation...even with the BEST player manual in the universe...the decision...much like in real life...is best suited to when you can make an INFORMED decision about the matter.
For instance...to use real life dieties. A player that was aiming at a character that was harsh, hateful, malicious and \"evil\" would not do well picking Quan Yin...the oriental goddess of compassion, love, and peace. That is unless the player is TRYING to start a war with the goddess of peace...then that MIGHT be role playable.
OR a player aiming at a well centered, reasoning, ORDERED, cerebral (brainy) mage would NOT be well suited to the Norse god of Loki the trickster.
I think if gods in game are written well enough that you could gain skills from picking a god, maybe lose other skills (IE chosing Loki should remove will and/or int, while picking Quan Yin would ADD those stats, and maybe add to healing or Calming spells), Picking Oden or Thor or Zues should add to strength, various combat skills and MAYBE add lightening to your weapons once you PROVE yourself worthy of such a boon.
Another option on god/faith selection during character selction would be a DETAILED profile on the faith/god in the character selection screens with a SERIOUS warning that diety can and WILL affect your game play and should be taken as seriously as race, and other choices.
Maybe a pop up box like the race selection with an image of the diety and a paragraph or three on the nature of the diety/ies of that faith and the \"typical\" follower (Ie Joe Shome is the god of death and decay...his usual followers are necromancers, shadowknights and others that \"play with\" death, disease or the dead. Not well suited to Holy Knights, clerics or other healers.)