Contact Deity costs POW

[tendentious]

So why do people think that these spells cost POW? Or, to put it another way, what does the loss of POW represent?

Most spells that cost POW create something permanent, like Enchant spells.

And a cultist (well, multiple cultists)can literally Call Azothoth into a major metropolitan area with MP, but to have a dream-chat with Cthulhu the same cultist loses POW.

I realise I can change the spells if I like; I'm more just curious about other people's take on this.

[TheEnclave]

Honestly, much as I love the game, I've never thought the spells were designed well at all, and if a cultist wants to contact his alien overlords I handle it through roleplay and the story rather than a hard roll. The entire Magic system is more or less optional, in my opinion.

Edited April 15, 2020 by TheEnclave

[Stormkhan Cogg of Pavis]

Thing is, the magic system was designed with the source material in mind; it's rare for the good guys to use magic while the bad guys do. That's the, ah, nature of the bad guys in the Mythos, not an RPG. This might be an issue with those used to games - usually fantasy - where magic is flung around with nary a care. Horror games limit who can do magic, how they do it ... and at what cost to their soul or spirit.

 Magic Points are to use in the game mechanics, POW is part of the characters psyche.

[4Acrossisemu]

With POW being the defining factor of the PCs mental strength, for me it is the smothering of that will by something oppressively unknowable being interacted with, a stain on their soul almost, making the person lesser for it. Think about how small a person would feel next to an entity like these, that new window into the cosmic would shatter their world view, knowing it exists, and seeing it for yourself are two different experiences.

[tendentious]

1 hour ago, 4Acrossisemu said:

With POW being the defining factor of the PCs mental strength, for me it is the smothering of that will by something oppressively unknowable being interacted with, a stain on their soul almost, making the person lesser for it. Think about how small a person would feel next to an entity like these, that new window into the cosmic would shatter their world view, knowing it exists, and seeing it for yourself are two different experiences.

I think that is the general take on the spell. My only quibble there is that that is what I take loss of SAN to represent; the eroding of a humanocentric view, the grasping of the insignificance and smallness of one's self in the presence of incomprehensible entities. I take POW to represent Will and, in a sense, one's "potency", which is why it is sacrificed in making permanent change to the world. It's Tolkien-esque in a way, where the Valar and Maia expend themselves and diminish in shaping and changing the world.

Also, when you cast the spell, nothing may happen at the time. The deity may not contact you for several days. It would make some sense if you lost POW at the time when the actual moment of contact occurs, but instead it's when you cast the spell.

I don't question the cost because I want player's to cast Contact Deity spells. I just can't reconcile the cost with the casting of the spell and the outcome.

Of course, as spells that drive plot and are really only for NPCs the POW cost is not a problem, and I can tweak them however I want. Oh, the mad sorcerer just cast Contact Azothoth? Turns out his POW was actually 5-points higher than it appears in his stats.

Another possibility is that you could regard it is a sacrifice that the deity demands before it deign's to speak (if speak is the right word) with you, in which case the sacrifice is not limited to POW. Different entities may demand different sacrifices. Azothoth blasts INT, Shub-Niggurath craves blood (CON), Yog-Sothoth takes, um, SIZ - you literally get smaller! Cthulhu demands POW (makes it easier to interfere with your dreams), Chaugnar Faugn strips your APP - contact it enough and you'll look like it! Slothful Tsathoggua takes your DEX. That little wizened mummy god of death and time who's name I can't remember or look up drains STR. You get the idea.

Edited April 17, 2020 by tendentious

[EricW]

In the original Cthulhu stories contacting a deity often resulted in a permanent change to the place of contact, like consecrating a temple in other game systems, so I don't think its a big stretch for the first act of contact at least to require permanent POW. Of course, as the the malign influence grows, repeated contact becomes horrifyingly easy.

e.g. The Haunter of the Dark

[tendentious]

17 minutes ago, EricW said:

In the original Cthulhu stories contacting a deity often resulted in a permanent change to the place of contact, like consecrating a temple in other game systems, so I don't think its a big stretch for the first act of contact at least to require permanent POW. Of course, as the the malign influence grows, repeated contact becomes horrifyingly easy.

e.g. The Haunter of the Dark

Absolutely! Several of the Call Deity spells work this way: the tower for calling Yog-Sothoth, the henges for calling Hastur (although that's about summoning byakhee which helps summon Hastur). The POW is expended to "consecrate" the site for the Calling.