1879: Professions High Tiers: The Priest

1879: Professions High Tiers: The Priest

The Warden Priest has moved beyond the parish, the local temple, the meeting-house, and has moved into representing their Faith on a larger scale. They address mass gatherings, swaying the crowd with their Oratory empowered by their Bardic Voice. They can rouse the faithful to direct action with Incite Mob (or, with a Skill Knack, convince them to listen to reason). They brush off insults to themselves and to their Faith, having moved past such minor concerns of the material world. In the spirit world, the Priest has become a force to be reckoned with, able to conjure a Summoning Circle and order astral entities with Spirit Command. Furthering the Faith remains paramount, though, and the Priest must evangelize, Winning Their Souls for the deity, pantheon, or set of principles.

The Master Priest has reached the highest levels of their Faith, serving in a high position within the administration. This may involve office work, or it may involve field work, as the Faith will try to put the Priest where they are the most effective. With the Glyphs of Unweaving and Shielding, this may be on the front lines of the battle against the Faith’s enemies. Disarming Smile and Truth Through Lies mean that the front lines may not be on the field of battle, but in the marketplace, the court, and the diplomatic arena. Advancing this far means the Priest has gained considerable favour with the power behind the Faith, through active promotion and expansion of the belief. This grants the Master the occasional Favour of the Divine. Such intervention in the mortal world comes at a high price, but may be worth the sacrifice if it furthers the ends of the Faith.

Skills and Abilities

  • Warden
    • Core Skills
      • Astral Survey, Bardic Voice, Oratory, Spirit Command, Summoning Circle
    • Optional Skills
      • Arcane Mutterings, Incite Mob, Lasting Impression, Resist Taunt, Safe Thought
    • Abilities
      • The character gains +1 to their Mystic Defense.
      • The character gains +1 to their Social Defense.
      • The character may spend Karma on CHA-only Tests.
      • Winning Their Souls: Once per week, the Priest may attempt to convert a GMC to the Priest’s Faith. The GMC must have a Friendly or better Attitude toward the Priest and a Neutral or better Attitude toward the Faith. The Priest spends thirty minutes with the GMC, explaining the advantages of the Faith as appropriate to its practices. The player spends 3 Strain and makes a Charisma-based Knowledge (Religion) Test. Since that is a Core Skill, the player may spend Karma on this Test. The Priest increases the GMC’s Attitude in regards to the Faith by one step per success. If the GMC’s Attitude towards the Faith increases to Awestruck, the GMC becomes a convert. Gamemasters should note that there are few things as zealous as a new convert. The GMC will recur frequently in the Priest’s life, perhaps at inopportune moments, and for possibly longer than is convenient.
  • Master
    • Core Skills
      • Disarming Smile, Glyph of Shielding, Glyph of Unweaving, Second Chance, Truth Through Lies
    • Optional Skills
      • Emotion Song, Lion Spirit, Memory Probe, Perfect Focus, Soul Aegis
    • Abilities
      • The character gains +2 to their Mystic Defense.
      • The character’s Max Karma increases by 15.
      • Favour of the Divine: Once per week, the Priest may invoke their deity, divine principle, or other theurgical ideal, and spend 6 Strain to achieve an automatic three successes on one Skill or raw Attribute Test. The Priest must take one full day and celebrate the formal rites of their Faith, with any requisite costs, audience / congregation presence, and/or time in isolated meditation or other requirements, before this ability may be used again.