I don't think the expectation to worship the associates is _this_ strong, but doubtless there's an element of social pressure.
> Now, what I was thinking, was that if you joined a
> specific part of the pantheon, you would be able to funnel your magic
> points in a more effecient way to your boss. However, you would not be
> able to funnel 'em as well with the associates anymore.
This actually fits pretty well with the Boring Old RQ3 Model; you leave the cult of Orlanth (Thunderous), associated with everyone and his mangy old yellow dog, and join another, with different, and almost invariably fewer associates.
As previously noted, though, this does need the rules for associates and temples sizes to be clarified/refined/creative reinterpretated, and the O. Adventurous observations points out another necessary tweak: different "aspects" of a god are going to differ slightly in their associates. O-A may have fewer associates than O-T (or O-R), and will certainly be a bit less "closely associated" with the "Hearth" side -- or to use Rich's terminology, will funnel MPs to them less efficiently.
> say people who are initiates to the pantheon [...] can donate at a 2:1
> ratio to any of the members of the pantheon. However, initiates to
> that particular god can donate them at a 1:1 ratio. However, when an
> initiate worships in an associate ceremony, he only gives at a 5:1
> ratio. [...]
Apart from my usual grumbles at the premise and the terminology, I also don't agree with the suggested effect here. In this model, an "Initiate of the Pantheon"/"Orlanthi Lay Member" is a _more_ useful person to have at an Ernalda ritual than an Actual Initiate(TM) of Orlanth Thunderous, or of Barntar. Doesn't this seem completely backwards? I'd suggest that this sort of "semi-initiate" be in all cases no more "efficient" than an actual initiate of an associate god, but obviously better than a non-associate; which is exactly what joining Lhankor Mhy, never mind Humakt, makes you.
> I would probably say that a certain
> amount of common divine is available and the special "available at all
> shrines" spells would be available from each of the associate cults.
I can see some merit in having an "Orlanthi Lay Member" status; I can't see why they ought to have access to scads of rune magic. My approach would be to look at the magic available to an Actual Orlanth Initiate (or Ernalda, for those on the Generic Female Path) in the particular location (and remember, this will be _no_ Common Divine Magic in most places, according to the temple size "guidelines"), and conduct a sharp Dutch Auction from there. If most are going to become "real initiates" at 20 or so, this shouldn't be an overly harsh restriction.
Stingily,
Alex.
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