I am a SR3 newbie as the last time I played a game we were using the old Bug City sourcebook.

One of the players in my new group is thinking about being a voodoo practicener and as he is from New Orleans he has some idea about the background to this character and how he could work him into the story. He also understands the real world religion so that is not the problem.

My questions are theirfor on the practical side. I was looking for advice on how to play the character from a power standpoint. I understand the ways and means of shamans and mages but really have no real life understanding of how Houngans can compete from a combat standpoint.

How have you found the rules on summoning of loas? I personally think it seems to be very complecated in comparison to a shaman and the Houngans as a whole seem to be by far the most complecated of all the mage users. Also do you allow the player to control the character when they are hosting a loa or should the GM?

Lastly should I just tell the guy that the voodoo rules are just not worth the trouble and that it would be easier to just play a normal shaman with a gulf coast bent?

My biggest worry is what if he comes up with some reason to "raise the dead" should this be a problem or should I just say thats just not done?

Note: I read the databases posts on this subject but unforchentiy it seem to become a flame war and was not helpful from a rules point of view.

Thanks for you time.

Alright, I happen to think that Voodoo is the coolest thing around, and if it were up to me, Shadowrun would probably have no Hermetic magic, thus keepin' the mystic arts more . . . American. But that's just me, a-HEM.

Anyway, Voodoo magic has one totem that has no combat magic (expressly forbidden, Obtala) and two totems with very strong combat magic (Ogoun gives you two dice, Shangoun gives you three for fire and lightning manipulations). Other than that, it's all pretty normal, combat-wise, in comparison to Shamans.

Houngans do take a bit of a bath in the Spirit department, considering that they're only able to summon Loa spirits. While Loa spirits are interesting guys and I happen to know either Ghede or somebody just like him (except with intact sunglasses), they don't have the power of most spirits when it comes down to stuff they can do. Possession is handy when you're a Houngan of Shango and it's time to go int battle or you've got to seduce somebody and you're with Erzulie, but the rest of the time it doesn't help much.

Hey, don't stop your buddy from raising the dead. That's one of the major reasons to play as a Houngan. However, tell them about the huge, huge illegality of it (forbidden magic plus playing with corpses). It shouldn't really be problem. Considering the other problems that highly Awakened characters can cause (ahem, flying through the air?), enchanting Zombies is the least of them.

Personally, I think Voodoo characters have a lot of charisma, and I encourage people to play as them. The various Loa are certainly more interesting than the bland animal totems.

Thanks alot thats real helpfull. I have been out of Shadowrun for so long I am back to being a newbie. I was a little worried that by allowing a voodoo character I would be getting into a real problem with min/max and balance with the other classes.

Got a question on summoning loas. If a hougan has a servant that was to be possed by Sango and that servant has spent the karma to be able to be a host can that hougan also summon Sango for a second servant?

I tend to find Voodouans to be underpowered compared to their shamanic and hermetic counterparts, if anything. Its nothing to be worried about from a powergame standpoint. The Loa are a a unique tool to have on hand, and with the summoning restrictions on them they function in their own way. I would also allow zombies without a thought; for just as the assualt cannon may be supercool its also not practical most of the time. Zombies are the same way, useful but hard to implement such that if they take the time and effort to set up a situation to use them, props to the player. Sorry I dunno your the answer to that karma question, book isnt handy to look it up. But just wanted to add an "ok" stamp if someone wants to try this version of a magician character.

Some things to bear in mind with Voudoun:

Loa cannot materialise- which can often be a problem, but I do believe that because of this they are allowed to use their powers without having to manifest e.g. using Confusion on a bunch of security guards. Because the loa do not have to materialise those sec guards are totally out of luck in countering this Confusion power unless one of them can astrally project or perceive.

The player shoudl totally lose control of the character when mounted - that is what is so frightening about it. It is tempting to get all the benefits but you really don't know what the hell your character will do. If you prefer, you could let the player run the character but feel free to overall their choice of actions when you feel appropriate.

Channeling will likely become a favoured metamagic to avoid this loss of control.

Treat a practioner like a shaman, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to spirits though and that will take some getting use to. The real trick is gonig to be to remember they are not just some spell slinger but also a religous leader.

Hmm... while loa can't materialize, they can manifest. They probably have to do so before being able to use powers on the material plane. The whole section is a bit confusing, though, so I might be wrong

I would say that the GM takes over the character when the loa takes possession.


Now if you really want to put a good twist on things and make it more realistic when the loa takes possession of the character, the player should have to leave the room....


After the possession is over have the player come back in and describe to him where he is (he could be someplace different than he was) whats around him, etc.


Let the people around him fill him in on what happened. It is how it really happens in real life.... The person checks out and the spirit checks in.



Gator


Also to have fun with some of the other players have the loa say shit to them that they would know but the character wouldn't (if you have the player out of the room) it would make it seem more real to an outsider (pc's and npc's alike) even if it's not important.

Also the Loa like to show off their power just to impress, not in a mean or nasty way per say but they like to show off none the less.

Tell that to the spirit who will be, until sundown, making chirping noises like a very large cricket about ten feet behind you.

I would make an on-topic post, but everyone's covered most everything. Voodoo's great for PCs as long as the player knows the rules and the background well enough to play it right.

The Abstruse One

Yeah Voodoo is definitely a "Role Player's" character. They can really enhance the session. Whether you want to let them control the possesion part or not is really up to you. If it was one of my players that I think excell at "Role Playing" i'd let them take control of possesion. If it was one of my players that exceeds at "Roll Playing" then I would gladly take control of the character.

They make awesome NPC's, my group still remembers "Grandma" the Voodoo Priestess, that was able to subdue and very agressive Hermetic mage by simply using the "Magic Fingers" spell and a 'ahem' well placed grab.

AS far as the summoning, it says you can have one patron loa on bound, and only one of another type. I don't know if they count towards that total after possession or not.

As far as the spirit controlling the char, its up to the gm in my opinion. The spirit is bound to do its commanded task, and will disappear afterwards (or after 12 hours, whichever is first). I do like the idea of having the char leave the room, but it is annoying not knowing what your char is doing, even though it is realistic. And, there are some GMs out there that would screw something up while you're not in control, just to be spiteful (the gm-against-chars kinda playing, which happens), instead of actually role playing the Loa

i would say it counts as the spirit is just using your body to perform services for you...

while the loa can help the houngaon without doing a possession or anything like that i will say that it have to posess to affect the real world outside of the houngan. this is a very sentral part of the voodoo system that the loa ride the "priest(ess)". so to strike fear in the guards you summon the loa and have it possess you. one thing tho is that i would allow the player to control the loa as the loa are more focused on the real world and will want to help the houngan. one just have to keep count of the services thats all...

the best way to think of the loa are that they are closer to the human world then both elemental and nature spirits, they watch over the human world and help theyre belivers in a more direct way then maybe god or similar does. this is a street religion after all

as for zombies, thats mostly the dark side of voodoo, but as runners are most of the time amoral its up to the gm. but just as the troll with a phanter cannon on his back on the open street will draw the attention of the lone star, so will a guy followed by walking corpses...

the vary act of summoning binds the loa to a contract of services defined by the character. it cant break this contract so it will do what the character wants and then leave when the contract is fulfilled. but there is a posibility for the loa to come without being summoned, alltho this must allways be the exception, not the rule. if the loa see it that the best way to help is to not come then it will not come, no matter how hard the houngan summons. it will not show up only to leave again...

I'm not saying that the loa itself would leave...


but the loa while in possession of the hougan would leave (ie. the hougan would leave because the loa left the area although it still remained in possession of the hougans body)


it would sort of be like the loa saying to the hougan, oh you don't need to be here for whatever reason that is not in your best interest, so I'm going to move you someplace else.


Gator