no spirit type really fits well with Mormons. that is to say, the conjuring and binding skills simply do not fit at all (though banishing would be acceptable).

angels are simply people who have either passed on and are awaiting ressurection, people who have passed on and been ressurected, or people who are awaiting birth before gaining their body in the first place the problem is, according to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (AKA the Mormon church... i will refer to it as such below to save myself typing), those angels are possessed of free agency (that is, they are permitted to make choices according to their own will, and are accountable for those choices. in the case of angels, these people have devoted their lives to God's service, and as such, continue to do his will). furthermore, they are not generally available to ask them to do things... they are sent by God to do his work, according to his will. there is no way to appeal to angels for help (though you could ask God for help, i suppose, and he could, potentially, choose to send angels. it would have to be specifically for the advancing of the purposes of God's will, though)

however, if i were to ignore the fact that practising Mormons would not actually thematically be able to conjure or bind spirits (though banishing 'demons' would fit), i would put it something like them having spirits of Man, Guidance, Guardian, Task, and Fire probably (is that the same as Christian Theurgy in SM?), and be a materialization tradition. in any event, there would most likely be severe restrictions on mental manipulation effects, since the use of such spells would most certainly violate other people's free agency, which is a very important concept in the Mormon religion. possession traditions would also be opposed, generally speaking, for the same reason.

of course, the Mormon church probably should not exist any more in SR... the awakening is the kind of thing that God would have mentioned to his prophets at some point, and prophecy is also important to the mormon religion... so much so that we have a prophet today, who is at the head of the church. ignoring the fact that there would have to be prophecies about the awakening, however, the importance of prophecy would probably result in divination being a common metamagic technique... method would probably be studying of the scriptures, prayer, and so forth.

interestingly, the concept of a lodge fits in very well, however; the home is often referred to as being a very sacred place, provided you live in such a manner as to allow it to be so. having your home be a lodge would make perfect sense. furthermore, you can even have your home specifically blessed.

if you have any further questions, feel free to ask... i'd be willing to help if i can (but i suspect i just gave you more than you really were expecting lol)

[edit] just realised... forgot to suggest a drain attribute... i am personally torn between logic and intuition, since it is both important to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost (which i would relate to intuition), but at the same time there is a great deal of emphasis on studying the scriptures, and forming your own opinion on things, thinking it through, before praying about them. ultimately, i lean more towards intuition, though, but a case could be made for either. [/edit]

Actually, they'd be one of the few groups who'd have a good excuse to wander around without an active mode comlink.

On the downside, they'd stick out like a sore thumb in the average sprawl.

Um back on topic...

I think a Catholic would have as much reason to be shadowrunning as anyone else. Most world religions and philosphies turn up their noses at the sort of things shadowrunners do on a regular basis.

Sad.

Basically, Street Magic documents the Christian theurgy tradition. It also talks about religously oriented Magical groups. You could have a church sponsored group, at the parish level or higher. How about a magical group sponsored by the Knights of Columbus?

hehe, well, I'm mormon, more or less, I sure don't have any issues ywt. Hell, I'd say this threads being pretty damn friendly for one discussing religion (the swearing is one reason I say "more or less";)).

Edit: grr.. beat to the punch. Need to learn to type faster! (or less).

Anyways, in canon, at least up to SoNA, Salt Lake is still controlled by the church, because IIRC, they helped out Howling Coyote during the war. I coudl defintely see some intolerence issues, with metatypes though. Heck, this place is pretty damn white-washed as far as races today. I live in Orem BTW, just south of SL. We had a game where we went through the area, and there were underground clubs where people would drink and smoke, because it was completely outlawed.

Back on topic, Street magic has good rules for using Christian magic in general. I'm running a game now where an exrunner is getting slowly brought in to the templerate. He's Irish, formerly a Knight of the Red Cross, formerly a shadowrunner, trying to clean him self up a bit. Using some of the new spirits like guardian spirits helps a lot. For the most part, it's easiest to play a christian "mage" of any type more sorcery-centric. Conjuring angels bring up to many different issues. He has an ally in 'angelic' form, that acts more like a guardian/guide than a typical ally spirit. Metamagics tend to go to things like shielding, divination, that sort of thing. It would be difficult to play a "typical" runner, because most of the things runners do are against the tenets of the faith.

An alternate campaign, going after magical threats, supporting groups like Catholics in Tir NA Nog and Aztlan, and fighting church opposition like the Black Lodge are the bread and butter of the campaign I'm starting for him. Other interesting things for the faith would be the geas flaw, requiring prayer time three times a day, fasting once a month, donating to the church, that sort of thing. Remember that magic works off of the practitioners mindset. I've been thinking of incorporating the work of John Dee, and Enochian magic into it as well.

This is the SR4 forum. Is there a limit on the number of ally spirits in SR4 (other than lack of karma)?

I thought Gyro-mount was an oxymoron. When the combatants start using gyro-mounts, combat is already out of control.

Thanks for the clarification on ally spirits.

Back on topic: A natural role for Catholic magicians would be exorcist. That would put them at odds with the possession based traditions.

No kidding. Particularly regarding the desecration of the dead for use as zombies, possession/inhabitation of the living, etc.

I don't recall a limit on the number of Ally Spirits a magician can have in any edition of SR.

I can see your point, but there's still big differences between angels of death, devout Catholics, and professional criminals. A devout Catholic would not go around breaking laws and killing people for money from anonimous corporations. Now a delusional Catholic with that whole "God commanded me to kill so it must be done" mentality I could see working Or something like Sam J from Pulp Fiction could work well too

Tell that to Al Capone, who was indeed quite a devout Catholic.

actually, I was thinking more like an exorcist or perhaps someone who follows those verses that talk about Jesus being with prostitutes and druggies and what have you. or the crazy "god told me to" route is also an option. an inquisitor-esque character would be cool too, in my opinion. however, taking money from corporations to kill or what have you doesn't exactly fit the bill for a praciticing clergymember. however, I think that perhaps he would ask God to forgive him of his sins every time he did something sinful, being as God loves everyone equally. so in my opinion, it doesn't really matter if he's going around killing things, as long as a) it's the only way, and b) he asks for forgiveness. and gets roleplayed with a very very heavy concious.

but right now a mormon magician sounds a bit cooler. I don't know though, a rosary would be a pretty cool focus.

Exactly what I was thinking, and he certainly wasn't the last "family" member to fall under that catagory. Basically it works on the Emo Philips Principle.

“When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.”

Or, as my Italian grandparents used to joke "Italian men are only in church 3 times:
When they are baptized, married and executed."

Seraphim, Cherubim, Ofanim, Elohim, Malakim, Kyriotates, Mercurians, Grigori.