I've got this idea for a character but the idea makes it somewhat difficult to reason why he is shadowrunning. The character is a Catholic priest, mage specializing in Manipulation (though he did take Fireball so he can smite heathens with hellfire ) I have several backgrounds lined up for him, such as an Eastern Orthodox Catholic Priest (Russian) who has ties to the Vory in Seattle (Where the campaign is located.) I also threw around the idea of being on runs FOR the church, like a Van Helsing type church. Anyway, any ideas would be fantastic, and thanks in advance for the help! (Also he's a pacifist if that matters much.)

He could always be one of those troublesome Jesuits doing research. Jesuits have a reputation for being too damn tricky and getting where they shouldn't (for instance, Jesuits served as major diplomats with the limited opening of Japan to western intrusion, and again played politics when Latin America became the focus of western powers. There's a LOT of land in the UCAS in dire need of a missionary, and a sharp Jesuit might realize both that's a chance to convert people, and Shadowrunning specifically can be an excellent outlet for moral, if illegal behavior).

He can also be expelled and/or hunted, for whatever reason. Being a priest doesn't make you stupid, and priests tend to be better connected than most (so when his normal resources dry up, he still knows people on the bottom level to fall back with and disappear).

And of course, once it's an immoral priest who doesn't keep to his vows, anything goes.

Paranormal critter hunter priest ... Like in the anime Van Hellsing.

So, your character's a Pacifist with Fireball? Consider that Magicians are one of the few characters capable of consistently disabling their opponents without necessarily resorting to Physical damage. One of the strictures of the quality is that your character will take out opposition in as humane a manner as possible if you are indeed put in a position where you must kill. I'm not really sure how setting them aflame really qualifies. I'd recommend Petrify instead; maybe they even turn into a pillar of salt. That said, Fireball is fairly useful against drones and non-humans, but I'd definitely talk to your GM about things before assuming you'll get your points worth out of the spell.

Smiting sinners with Hellfire has always been ok with the church.

To be honest fireball was more of a joke. Most of his spells are Control this and Mob that.

Anyway @Nezumi:

I like the idea of being out and about trying to convert people, and correct evils, but Shadowrunning is usually stealing or kidnapping, or this and that. Things a priest under normal conditions would be against. Maybe a Robin Hood type perspective. "The big corps are just gonna abuse this information why not steal it for this guy instead? Lesser of two evils." But i'm not sure if that will fly sometimes, maybe he'll take the "I'm not looking and i'm not responsible for my teammates actions while my back is turned," type thing. I should also mention he will be the face (do Johnsons trust priests? haha) and will probably do most of the talking.

Thanks for the ideas so far, anymore would be great

That's irrelevant. Being religious doesn't mean your actions are automatically in accordance with the Pacifist Negative Quality. Not by a long shot. The Church's views don't have any bearing on whether the GM thinks you've earned your 5 bp or not. You can make an exception, but at that point we're not really talking about the RAW.

Anyway, Zeborazor already responded to my concern so I won't derail any further.


Edited because I am sometimes too dismissive.

Just make sure he does not use an edged weapon.

Touché.

I had considered Fireball, before the Pacifist quality, but at that point is was more of a religious zealot rather than a Priest. I traded it in for Knockout, which I plan to cast covertly (if possible?) An example of my intent is say, during a handshake, to knock the dude out cold. Obviously I'll probably be overcasting it in these situations to try and make it a one shot, but yeah.

Also Geas? Maybe you guys can apply words to what i'm about to describe. The first is, a daily self-flaying, based on the number of spells cast that day. Guy in Divinci Code did it, but you know...with out the blood. Also that "In the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit" cross hand movement Catholics do before casting a spell (Sorry baptist here, haha.)

What you're looking for is information about flagellants. Sorry about not providing a better source than wikipedia, but I'm feeling lazy. The hand thing is the sign of the cross.

@Whip

Ah, well there it is, I knew it could be described with a single word. And I knew it was a sign of the cross, but was wondering if it, as well, had a name. Anyway, thanks for the info, Wikipedia is fine by me, I'm not writing a history paper on it

not like this one http://images.absoluteanime.com/hellsing_u...e/alexander.jpg

OK, that statement right there just hurt my brain.How exactly does one whip or mutilate themselves without the blood?

So... you're looking to play a non-Catholic, pacifist zealot?

Ouch. (My head.)

Anyway, I think you should figure out exactly what you would like to accomplish with this character. I have the same problem when I play priests: am I playing an ordained individual, a monk or friar, a lay individual with strong faith? Or am I playing an ordained, special forces zealot, since one of the largest organizations in the world is absolutely going to have "Company Men."

And Geas aren't efficient at character gen; there are easier ways to get spare BP (unless your an Adept with the optional rules). When I play Awakened I plan out what are appropiate geas, and I utilize them during RP, but I keep the actual disadvantage(s) off my character sheet until I earn them ingame. (If you start out with them, you'll end up with a pile of geas, if you aquire any ingame.)

But is not very pacifistic is it?

Keep the Faith

A friend of mine played a theurgistic mage; he went shadowrunning to earn money to support his poor parish.

My current character is an ork Theurgist, allied with PALADIN; he is primarily a minister, but he's not afraid to toss fire and lightning (or use a spear)....then again, he also has the Dragonslayer Mentor Spirit (using Saint Michael as a role model, not so much a Patron Saint, but close).... just my two

What I meant was whipping, ie stun, and not flaying, ie physical, which is the word I misused for lack of a better word.


Thanks for the suggestions aswell! They really are helping develop the character.

Also I get what you mean with the Geas, i'll probably change it.

A shadowrunning priest (and a serious one, rather than a fanatic or a nutcase) could possibly work, but only with certain groups/playstyles. Shadowrun can have a strong flavor of runners as nominal "good guys" who stick it to the megacorporations. Heck, one of the archetypes is a radical eco-activist shaman.

But Shadowrun can also be about cold, hard criminals who would firebomb an orphanage for enough money. So be sure which kind of group it is.


Ask yourself questions about this character's moral code, because it will come up more, because of the concept. Decide where he stands on things like doing questionable things for the "greater good", breaking laws that he sees as unjust, using violence against people who might not always be "bad", and so on.

Not Saint George? How sad. You could ride a "pimped" out motorcycle and everything.

(PLEASE tell me you took the "Day Job" downside. )

zeborazor, what Glyph said. Your morals will come up -alot.- It was actually kinda ackward with my character; I was kinda getting railroaded/ping ponged around the board. (But I asked for it. Technically the character could have walked away.)

OR go the exact opposite, and just play Paladin Alexander. Since it's been fairly accepted around here (I think?) that Regeneration is -not- all that, and a bucket of fish, you might be able to get your GM to give you Regeneration as a SURGE quality. Take some mental imbalances (like Combat Monster) as the downside, then take every "quick healing" bonus you can. (Be sure to once again check with your GM; technically "quick healing" isn't compatable with Regen, I then.) And make him a Bio-Sam.

Then do -not- layer on some insane amount of armor, and your good to go. Human looking Ork (for Bod) with Regen, a armored coat and some balistic underware/Secure tech, and plenty of sharp objects. (And probably pistols.)

Look at active Catholics and their involvement in rebel movements. Kidnapping isn't especially evil (it depends on how you treat the prisoner), although threatening and lying is. Stealing unearned wealth from corporations to help smaller, good organizations (or individuals) is also in that moral grey area. However, in both of these cases, the Church would probably disagree, resulting in him being an excommunicated Catholic priest.

You are going to have to define very carefully what his moral boundaries are, then work backwards from there.

I wrote a short story, about 30 pages that has a member of the clergy in it. He joined out of penance, and as a safe place to hide.

Let me know if you are interested in reading.

I have a few thoughts to offer. Either a Constantine type character, but then he's not really a priest, just someone who works for them. The other thought was a character the the Shepard from the Firefly series. He hung out and did his Shepherding stuff, but got his hands dirty when he needed to.

Occult investigator or Monster hunter is the obvious answer here. Could be a lot of fun in a ghoul or vampire hunter game. Which actually could be a hell of a lot of fun. Possibly the priest is set out to get a team of runners for the church to take care of a paranormal evil. He is the go between for the church and the group of hard edge runners.

Another way to go about it is if the campaign was to revolve around one corp or gang as the antagonists. If that corp or gang was doing things that were hurting the common folk of the parish, maybe the priest has his own reasons for hating them and sees the other runners as a means to that end. maybe he is not a runner in general but want the anagonist knocked down a few notched for "evil deeds" that they do.

I created an ex-Catholic priestess who is running the shadows because the Archbishop of Seattle did not approve of her "Special ministry" to the local joyboys.

BTW, what is the proper title for a female priest? It seems kind of daft to refer to a female priest as "Father."

There are no Catholic female priests. It's verboten. Closest thing is a nun or sister. Neither are really the same thing as being a priest-- the former is a member of a monastic order and the latter is someone who has dedicated their life to helping the sick or needy out of charity. Women are often quite active in the Church and help out with a lot of functions, but they're typically lay people and cannot be ordained in any case.

There's also the Catholic underground in Aztlan, which keeps close contact to the local shadows and rebel movements. Would be a good explaination for a cleric with a more hands-on approach and contacs in the Seattle shadows.

Not so in Shadowrun. According to Shadows of Europe, Pope John XXV allowed women to become priests in the 2040s right around the time of Imago Dei.

IIRC, the same book mentioned the the Carmelites became an all-female order.

Which poses another question. Is John XXV still Pope in 2072? He'd have to be well over 100 if he still was.

Even with the leonization and lifespan enhancement technology and so forth, chances are he's pushing up daisies. Public figures rarely live nearly that long, gene therapy or not.

Hmmm.... I smell opportunities for runs in Rome... Maybe bring back the old schisms surroundiong Imago Dei back to the boil.

Episcopalian

(I don't care what SR canon says. The RCC will never permit female priests, and I rarely use absolutes. You're more likely to see the UCAS legalize murder than the RCC recognizes female priests.)

Maybe His Holyness has pointy ears

One of the shadowland posters mentioned in Shadows of Europe that John XXV looked very spry and active for a guy in his 90s.... Certainly something to make you go hmmm....

It is not out of the question. While Pope John Paul stated in no nonsense terms that women may not be ordained, he did not issue it as a Ex Cathedra statement, which would have declared it infallible from now until forever.

Given how progressive John Paul was, he knew what he was doing. He would have had no problem what so ever issuing an Ex Cathedra, given his popularity. It implies that he was leaving the option potentially open for someday. (A future pope would have the authority to change the decision, since it was not declared an infallible statement.)



And don't forget the Irish underground. (Stupid heretic elves.)

For some small amount of inspiration i would recommend watching the Sin Eater.

Why does the priest have to belong to an organised religion? As a magician he could easily believe in his own dark paradigm (think: Black Mage) and create some bastardised version of his belief - striking down sinners with pillars of white holy fire or some such.

- J.

Think "Boondock Saints"

It's not required, but it is kinda the theme behind his character.

And yes, watch Constantine, The Sin Eater, Boondock Saints (among others).

an Inquisitor ?

I haven't seen The Sin Eater, but please, spare yourself the trouble of bothering with Boondock Saints or Constantine.

Unless you elaborate on an opinion such as this, it is completely unhelpful and irrelevant. Several of us liked Boondock Saints and Constantine (though the jury is out on how helpful they will be for developing this character - I agree with Saints and disagree with Constantine).

I would say the same thing about those movies.


Opinions!


But if you want an explanation, I would expect a Catholic priest to be, I dunno, ordained at some point, or to have a relationship with religion that goes a li'l beyond thinking they had a vision and going on a vigilante killing spree (and leaving calling cards that come from Greek myth for some reason). Boondock Saints was a rare combination of half-assed and ham-handed.

I actually find the Constantine suggestion a tiny bit less objectionable as far as characterization goes, since magical tradition and faithfulness aren't exactly the same thing. For example, an Awakened child in a religious household may end up learning how to harness his abilities safely (as opposed to manifesting under stress) by a local Christian Theurge. Whether he remained faithful or became a lapsed Catholic/whatever, he'd probably still use many of the same trappings and mental constructs to tap into his ability since that is what he's used to and because it works. It's really not a radical concept at all once you consider that Sixth World Christians apparently do not believe that Magic is by definition divine in nature anyway. Injecting a li'l parody into the use of the cross as a holy symbol might appeal to a lapsed theurge if he's of the Pink Mohawk variety, although at that point we're obviously not talking about a real priest anymore.