I was considering this topic this morning from a slightly different perspective, and I don't think opposing DCs are a good idea.
I understand a simple solution is an ideal solution, but it can't be so simple it breaks the accepted reality of the game world, y'know? Opposed checks would mean the one hiding his faith is hiding it specifically from the Cleric standing near him. The Cleric, though, isn't looking to the one hiding his faith, but to his own god for answers; he isn't examining the hider but praying to his god. It would need to be opposed checks between the one hiding his faith and a god, since the god is the one doing the examining.
The Cleric is
praying when he asks for that check. All Cleric spells are prayers (and yes, I know Divine Relation isn't supposed to register as a spell, but it still is mechanically):
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorganath  And let's also be clear of another thing: the "spells" that clerics cast are the result of prayers. They ask, and their respective deities provide. Clerics don't cast spells directly like other casters. |
Even though Divine Relation is a prayer we are supposed to pretend we don't see cast in-game, it is still a prayer, just a really private one. I would argue that it is the weakest prayer a Cleric has available; the Cleric asks his god for information and gets a single, vague word in response. It is nowhere near the power of other prayers that ask for healing or raising the dead or smiting enemies with lightning and holy fire,
none of which ever fail to be answered. Yet somehow, there are arguments being presented that this weakest of all prayers should be susceptible to failure, that the gods will simply not bother to give their Clerics a vague notion now and then though they will still instantly grant their power and answer any other prayer of greater magnitude.
It's silly when you look at it like that. Unless Clerics need to make checks to have any prayer work, then they should not need it for the simplest prayer of all.
If there is to be any solution before the MMO, then it probably needs to be something on the side of the character trying to hide his faith, but I don't have any suggestions on how that could work right now. I would say it shouldn't be based on a skill since that would leave higher level characters who had not invested in that skill (but would have had they known) from participating in hiding their faith the way they might like. This one kind of seems like it goes in the "it's too late for that" category.
Alternatively, Divine Relation could be changed so that it has different requirements and/or effects, one of which could be failure to receive an answer. In that case, though, I would recommend making it more informative and less vague - the Cleric would get a god's name rather than just a word describing the relation of the two gods. I don't really like the idea that the simplest prayers can fail to be answered when
columns of fire never are, but if the amount of information given can balance the possible failure, y'know, alright. I can imagine people playing certain characters might feel better about "enemy" than "Corathite" showing up on Clerics' radars, though.