I understand. There was a very nice armband in a mod that mechanically would have fit very well with my character except for the flavor associated with it. A different character probably wouldn't have cared. It makes things interesting though.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

That's a great question ... because of course Belisarda is very mysterious to us. To paraphrase Ardelia, Belisarda's prophet, the elorii should not to be too bitter or angry with mankind because they were/are merely the tools of cruel gods. Some of mankind will fight by the elorii in their war of Vengeance. That seems to be a vote sharing the blessings of the Goddess with honorable individuals.

There was also the module in the old campaign where you go to get the Suromari shields. You stumble upon an ancient shrine Eluwe pool. Things go badly for heretic elorii (a Celestrial voice castigates them as the items are crushed and they are picked up and kicked out). But vals who express remorse for the lost eloran gods gain a vision. SInce Belisarda does not have a lot of known Celestial servants there was a good bit of speculation about just who/what was doing the speaking. That's a little more of a mixed message ... but still seems to lean towards detente with mankind.

Of course is Belisarda is really primarily the Skinless Lady then helping mankind is a bad career choice.

For Tukufu's part, he tries to avoid receiving blessings from outside the Pantheon of Man, but he's also pragmatic and bends in the face of necessity. So Tukufu wouldn't take a generic buff on the principle of tooling up before kicking in a door. But in combat if he's hurt badly then he'll take healing if its offered from an honorable companion.

Tukufu also is deeply aware that *NONE* of the human sects worships the PoM the way they set it up back in the First Imperium. From the perspective of the Heirophants of old everybody today is a herretic. =/ So Tukufu tries to stay away from extremes of Dogma on all sides while trying to understand what Altheres and the PoM wants of their followers.

Luckily for me, Kelb'Bakari, while a prior follower of the Coryani Church and now converting to Milandisian, has no compunction against taking blessings of the Elorii gods or even the Fire Dragon, should it be offered. He is of the school of thought that "A tool is to be used, it matters not who manufactured it." He reveres Althares and Cadic mostly, but is also not hesitant to whisper a prayer to any of the gods while in their domain. Likewise, if he can make use of a blessed item of Belisarda to achieve success, then he will. That doesn't mean that he is converting to the Elorii religion.

John

Whereas my primary character is both a shaman and a psionicist. So he’s a heretic by definition, as well as probably belief. He believes in the gods, of course, but really just thinks of them as really big “spirits.” So he has lots of fear and respect for them, but no real faith. But if they (or their followers) want to give him power, he’ll take it. And if he met one (or a powerful servant of one) who said, “yes we’re really powerful and here is why you should follow us,” in a way that didn’t conflict with his service to the spirits he deals with, he would probably become a follower. After all, he could serve a god spirit as faithfully as he keeps his deals with the spirits with which he does deal.

That said, he’s a Val and is perfectly aware that many people (and probably the entire church) immediately consider him a heretic for his shamanistic practices. So he hides them the best he can, even from his fellow adventurers (since you never know what some of those fanatics might say to the other fanatics they know). To them he’s a psionicist who has specialized in transmutation (which explains some of the animalism abilities) and has pyrokinetics (to explain elemental bolt). He feels a need to “meditate” every morning – preferably naked and in touch with the earth, that obviously has nothing to do with communing with spirits. And he tries to disguise his shaman spells – not as not spells, but as psionics.

Also, he is very vocally a dedicated follower of Sarish. God of magic, always confusing. Helps cloud the issues while throwing people off the scent. And you know what? He really does respect Sarish – his obvious power and intelligence, his cunning. He just doesn’t currently really trust him enough to have “faith” in him. I guess that makes him a heretic, but he doesn’t really think of himself that way, more of a skeptic.

So I guess for him, there is a "benefit from Heresy" because he'll take pretty much any blessing that doesn't appear to be dripping evil slime from it...

This list was compiled as items which specifically have Pantheon of Man associations. They don't require worshipping the deity but there was some questions around whether these items could be 'defaced' and have their symbols changed without impacting their ability to function?

Althares’ Gift
Anklets of Foresight
Bone Ring of the Fallen
Bone Ring of the Ghost
Boots of Endless Strides
Cape of Glory
Greaves of the Scout
Hat of the Foolhardy
Monocle of the Marksman
Night Stalker’s Cloak
Flask of Verdant Glory
Inquisitor’s Rope
Pipes of the Underworld
Quiver of Saluwé
Sunblessed Lantern
Violin of Agony
Assassin’s Bracer (maybe)

John

Where it's appropriate for a mod, I could see many of them easily rebranded with an updated description and a note to the effect of:

NOTE: This item works exactly the same as <X> as detailed in Forged in Magic <I or II> p. <#>.

With a sweep of his hat,

Paul

Refluffing on some of these items would be awesome, but until it's otherwise stated, one can only assume they aren't.