#maybe BH would have been more Compelling if they were the party that defied the background noise of “not enough faith”

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Braius, FCG, and Sam

There's this interesting dynamic of how each different player essentially performs faith through their character. For example, the way Jester does faith is the way a long time fan has faith in their favorite popstar. The Traveller is great and she will spread the good word as far as she is able. And Caduceus seems to have a more meditative take on it. The Wild Mother isn't necessarily his hero but she is the forces of nature which must be respected and even wonder at.

The way Braius and FCG handle faith is a lot more to the point. It's a boss-servant relationship. Braius and FCG are almost always seeking guidance from their god - seeking certainty - seeking evidence. When stuck, they cannot move forward without concrete directions from their gods. In short, because they don't leave room for doubt, they struggle to have faith.

Which, unfortunately, places them as the least equipped in this crisis of faith, especially given that the gods are in question. The way FCG, and to an extent Braius, tries to advocate for their god is more or less "I do what I'm told". Honestly, I think Matt could've engineered a way to really challenge Sam in this role by not spoiling his characters too much. (I think in some ways this applies to all of Bells Hells but that's a different post)

Like in Dimension 20, in The Seven, their cleric never heard a word from her god until the Very End. I feel like Matt should've deprived FCG of Changebringer guidance - ESPECIALLY because she's the Changebringer. There's nothing more transformative or changing than having this little robit come into their faith on their own, yanno like a person and not a program awaiting command.

Unfortunately, the way Matt played this, FCG was given directives and direct messages. It all comes to the point wherein FCG finally makes a decision - his decision, wherein he truly understands the meaning of Change. And it's when the Changebringer muted herself .

Now with Braius, we're back to square one. Sam is once again asking Asmodeus for guidance at this critical juncture in time. And again, this is not the best example of how gods are not... tyrannical. If the god-follower dynamic is more of "you give orders and I follow", in the campaign wherein the gods are basically on trial for tyranny, then yeah!! Not great!!! If the god-follower dynamic was more, "I will give you some signposts but ultimately (perhaps even if its at the cost of myself), you go where you will." Then we have more room for nuance and complexity when the gods are equally having faith in you.

But that's it, isn't it? At the core of this campaign, that's the deal with the gods. Even before Ruidusborn and Ludinus lost faith in the gods, the gods lost faith in their followers. When Predathos was on the scene, they couldn't trust a simple follower to take care of Aeor, they had to go in and do the work themselves. They had to be certain that this job would be seen through. And if they had to be certain, then there's no room for doubt, and in doing so, no room for faith.

Braius is mirroring this circumstance by moving forward by the direction of Asmodeus instead of dwelling on that doubt, and coming to his conclusions absent of any evidence/correspendonce with his god. That's what faith is, in the end - when you believe despite not having any true way to prove or explain. Braius must be certain, and so he cannot have faith. Likewise, the gods are threatening "to handle shit themselves" and break the Divine Gate to do so.

It's such a strange backdrop to the how Bells Hells as a whole cannot come to a unanimous decision. They're so plagued with doubts and yearn to have certainty that they bend over backwards trying to find the Right, True, Absolute Answer. But there's no such thing. They must have faith!!

And no one - not the gods, not Ludinus, not Bells Hells have any.