When a player first purchases the skill Clerical Investment, they must immediately select a deity from the list within the rulebook. The deity determines all aspects of the Clerical Investment and so selection is mandatory.

Losing Faith

Sometimes a character can come to a point where they feel that they can no longer follow the deity they chose for Clerical Investment. This can be for a variety of reasons but are generally due to actions taken in-game. Should the player decide that their character can no longer follow their current deity, then they must inform Plot that their character is giving up their faith. Once this notice is given, these effects happen immediately:

• The skill Clerical Investment level remains on the character’s sheet as is. No skill points are refunded or altered.
• The deity focus of the character’s Clerical Investment is changed to <None>
• The character can no longer cast any spells through their Clerical Investment.
• The character can no longer Work for a Cause.
• The character can no longer use any At Will spells from their Clerical Investment.
• Any other abilities or drawbacks causes by the character having the Clerical Investment skill are removed (with the exception of any specifically excluded by Plot).

A character may remain in this state with their Clerical Investment indefinitely.

Regaining Faith

A mortal who loses their faith in a deity is not one that will be welcomed back by any in the pantheon easily. For a character to gain an Investment in a new deity, then they must perform a suitable penance and then prove their devotion beyond a doubt. Here are the general requirements for this to occur:

• The character must spend a minimum of 1-3 full events without faith as described above.
• During this time without faith:
  • The character must perform significant actions to promote or glorify the deity they seek Investment in during the events.
  • The character must devote a significant amount of their downtime between events in service to the deity they seek Investment in.
•  The Investment must be approved by Plot and Owners at their discretion.

It should be fully understood that becoming Invested in another deity is not an easy task as the deities in the Fantasy Alive world do not take kindly to anyone turning their backs on any of the pantheon. As such the requirements above are merely guidelines and may be more or less difficult based on the details of the character, the deity (or deities) involved and the circumstances. Some examples of things that could affect the difficulty of proving faith are:

• Returning to the same deity turned from before.
• Attempting to Invest in any deity more than once.
• Being tempted to change to an Opposed deity.