[Wids]

(Do these forums have a Q&A thread anywhere, by the way? I couldn't find one.)

So I recently heard that tithing to the temples offers possible gains in Notoriety. Before that, I was just giving tithes because I figured it was something that Tristella would do. Notoriety boosts sure can sweeten the pot, though. :)

But my question is whether or not the exact amount tithed has any effect on that chance of Notoriety gain. 20% of 10 and 20% of 10,000 are two considerably different amounts, after all. I would think that the temples would smile more on a well-to-do person who just packed 2,000 Talons into their coffers, and it would discourage those cheapies who might drop 10,000 Gold on the floor, talk to the priestess, give 20% of their leftover pocket change, bask in the priestess' glowing praise, take their 10,000 Gold back and leave.

On the other hand, if the exact amount of a tithe mattered, wouldn't the priests ask for tithes in fixed amounts rather than percentages?

Toughie. I hope that someone can fill me in here. :-/

[Balanor]

There's no Q&A, but if someone were so inclined to search and compile answers that would be cool. :)

So without revealing too many details that could lead to powergaming: when tithes are accepted the amount of gold given is compared to the tithing PC's level to determine if any benefits are given. Basically, a level 5 PC doesn't need to tithe as much as a level 10 PC to receive a benefit - and if people are dropping coins before tithing, they are more than likely not meeting the bar. The primary reason tithing was implemented though is so PCs can to try and shift their alignment (slowly) by tithing to good/evil/neutral temples over a long-term period. There is also a small boost to notoriety. But both the alignment shift and notoriety increase are granted on a limited basis, so tithing 10 times in row is not going to benefit your PC any more than tithing once every tenday or so.

I'm willing to reveal a *few* more details if there is still come confusion (I'd need to crack open the script to review it), so just post if that is needed.

[Wids]

So I guess Tristella didn't really do too far wrong that one time when she walked into the Manor with about 5,000-something Talons and dumped over 1,000 of them in Myrla's lap. You're welcome, Loviatar. :D

So tithing's foremost purpose is Alignment shifts, followed by Notoriety. Between all the tithing and all the slaving, Tristella's probably pretty well convicted in her goddess' ways by now. But then I hear about characters like the Ilmatari paladin who became a Cyricist blackguard, and I imagine that characters like that would benefit from this system quite handsomely. :)

And there are the feel-good upholding-your-temple roleplay reasons, of course. I've also heard that tithes somehow influence the temple's power in Thay. Maybe that's why Loviatar's Manor can raise the dead when it seems like most of the temples in Bezantur--including some of those which serve more powerful gods--can't. Or am I off the mark here? :-/

[Animayhem]

Tithing benefits, do they only apply to clerics or if you are a lay person in your temple and tithe do you reap the rewards as well?

[Wids]

From what I understand, you can tithe to pretty much any temple and possibly benefit from it, which would make sense in a polytheistic civilization. Tristella may be Loviatan, but if she received a massive windfall of money through some obscenely remote stroke of luck, she could still gratefully leave a big bag of that gold with Tymora.

Too bad there aren't any Tymoran temples on the server, huh? :P

[Hellstrom]

It's my understanding that anyone can tithe to any temple and reap the rewards from it.

[Animayhem]

Ok thank you

[Wids]

Hellstrom (also known by his tribal name, Dances-With-Gorgons) has my back! :D

Polytheism rules. Loviatar gets the lion's share of Tristella's money, of course, but I think that Cyric, Myrkul, Ilmater, Eldath and Lliira are the only gods who will never get tithes from her. Even Helm might get a few coins as a compensation prize every time a paladin tries to kill her and ends up in the slave pits instead; those tithes are paid out of the bounty from selling the paladin into slavery, of course. Like, "Hey, here are some of the coins that I got from consigning your holy warrior to a life of suffering and misery. Thanks for the cash flow, Helm! You earned it."

Tristella's a mean-spirited bitch like that. :P

[Balanor]

There is a minor update I want to provide now, which will be officially announced in the server updates thread with the next 'major' update. That is: tithing feedback has been considerably improved. You should now have a better idea if your tithe was looked upon favorably, if you need to consider giving more money for your PC's level to actually work toward that alignment shift, or if you tithed too recently to possibly obtain an alignment shift. In addition, the cost of a tithe which can shift alignment has been significantly reduced.

Keep in mind though that the tithing system is meant to be a way to slowly shift your PC's Good/Evil alignment over time. As mentioned, there are timer-enforced limits so people cannot spam-tithe to quickly shift alignment to good, neutral, or evil.