We had some good questions from PCs that came up in PELs that we thought we’d answer for everyone!

Question 1: Is there a set total number of times you can die at Zealot before you Permanently Die?

Do not read this if you want Death to be a complete mystery!

No, there is no set number, and it’s very fluid. 

Now that some of you have experienced how it functions in game, we wanted to offer a little more insight on both the in-game and out-of-game mechanics of Death. 

At Zealot, when players die during the course of the game, they draw from the Deck of Fate. You can read more about that here. 

Importantly, players are brought back by a Blessing or Favor from a God. Blessings indicate that the God looks favorably upon the fallen and appreciate their service to the world. Favors indicate that the God may eventually expect some sort of repayment or service–generally, a simple consecration of a strand of beads or something similar is enough.

However, individuals or towns who repeatedly incur Favors from the same God may find themselves tasked with larger services to the God.

Out of game, this process is mostly randomized. This is partially because randomization is fun for staff, because we have to adapt the story to fit the PC’s narrative. There will be times when it will not be randomized which you can explore in-game. (But you can imagine, for instance, that if the town angered Steramestei or T’Zyri, the Goddesses might remove their own Blessings from the Deck, making it only possibly to draw Favors.)

What is not randomized is Permanent Death. By design, PCs are the superheroes of the Mortal World: they are supposed to die again and again because they are there to be in constant danger and in service to the Realm. If your character’s actions have brought you closer to Permanent Death, we’ll let you know so that you can attempt to move off of that path or jump full throttle into it.

(There are times, such as when using the Chesterfield Vanity, where you encounter the chance to Permanently Die. We let you know about these instances in advance.)

Generally, Permanent Death is achieved through repeated narrative action your character takes over the course of multiple events. However, if your character dies many times and incurs multiple Favors from the same God, they may drift towards Permanent Death if they fail to compensate their Favoring Deity or seek out some other sort of reconciliation.

This isn’t a survival horror game, and we really do encourage a high risk playstyle. We want you to make the dangerous gamble and the unexpected power play without worrying about if your character will perm. While your character will absolutely face consequence for actions, you won’t need to worry about them perming without warning.

Question 2: Can I worship a Minor God such as Ca’ri’kara?

Yes, but it must be pursued in-game. Prior to next event, a Minor God header will be available for Ca’ri’kara (with CP expenditures) so that you know the mechanics of it.

However, you must have the pathway opened and clarified for you in-game.

Minor Gods are not the same as Fallen Gods. Minor Gods have never been on the Pantheon, and it should be assumed they are less powerful than both the Pantheon and the Fallen Gods.

Remember: worshiping Minor Gods is risky. Why? That’s a great question to pursue in-game during the spring season!