In Roll the Dice or Say Yes in the Codex, Luke mentions that rolling dice should accomplish something—that failing should not just be a “false note,” but I find that praying in BW often ends with exactly this. Nothing of consequence has happened, because God Did Not Hear.
How do you as GM handle or avoid this situation? I think with good role play this can be a satisfactory result for the player because treating your god like a vending machine feels inherently cheap, but it more often feels like a letdown for the player and the table, especially because faith only advances on successes, so they aren’t even gaining the benefit of a test.
I realize there’s the Something Else Was Listening possibility, but you can’t break that out every time or it loses its thunder!
You could decide that the character’s prayer has caught the attention of the divine but the divine thinks something else is best for the character in this moment:
Perhaps the character needs to understand their own power to do good? Rather than a negative consequence in scene, a situation manifests shortly after where doing the pious thing is doing the difficult/costly thing. The divine doesn’t judge the character for their choice but it is obvious to the character in hindsight that the situation was put in front of them rather than being mundane.
Perhaps from the perspective of the infinite, the character’s need is strong but the solution is different? Rather than not granting a miracle, grant a different effect from the one the character prayed for. For example, the zealous inquisitor calls down divine fire but gets a revelation of his target’s crappy childhood instead.
Looking at the situation the character is in at the time has also been useful to me.
Are they before a spectators who are expecting a miracle… and then see nothing?
Similarly, did the character threaten (divine) consequence, and then was unable to produce anything?
Is it the crushing silence of nothing being there to answer, and what that might mean for the character / the world?
Was an ally of theirs in danger, and the character hoped that their prayer would save them?
Could they have physically done something instead, but instead did nothing but pray ineffectively?
Remember that time moves on, so if they “wasted” their time in prayer, that opportunity (whatever it was) could now be passed.
I’ve tended to use “God Did Not Hear” when the character is new to Faith, and might not have the confidence / clout to trust in themselves / their Faith. Alternatively, when they’re “solving everything with Faith”, and they reach for it, to find it’s not there.
Overall, the lack of a response can be an opportunity for the character to reflect on their choices.
I do have the codex, but haven’t read through it completely yet (it’s slow going with children!) and hadn’t seen this section while browsing. Super helpful, thank you!
Perhaps from the perspective of the infinite, the character’s need is strong but the solution is different? Rather than not granting a miracle, grant a different effect from the one the character prayed for. For example, the zealous inquisitor calls down divine fire but gets a revelation of his target’s crappy childhood instead.
This seems super powerful, though also very situational. I will keep it in mind moving forward.