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 Post subject: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 10:29 am 
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Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 8:25 am
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Location: Dallas, TX
Ok WH GMs, writers, and designers, I need some help here. How are the rest of you using the church of Rome in your game? Are they capable adversaries able to threaten the cadre? Foils who step in at just the wrong moment to screw up the best laid plans? Willing dupes of the adversary (the Dominicans seem to fit this bill)? Or are they just more of a social issue for the witch hunters?

I'm asking because I'm looking at introducing the mother church as an antagonist in the next leg of my campaign. One of my players did some great background work and I want to reward that in the worst way possible. But on the surface, aside from the Dominicans recruiting "reformed" cultists to sniff out the enemies of the church, the Catholic Church and the various Inquisitions seem woefully underprepared to go toe to toe with any seasoned group of witch hunters.

But maybe they aren't supposed to. They make great foils and social adversaries as is.

But you would think, in a world where magic is certified, monitored and controlled by the mother church (the Ordeal), that they would have a few arrows in their quiver that could be a real threat to a group of witch hunters (or the adversary, for that matter). Just off the top of my head, I can think of a couple of options:

* A secret order of assassins that work (in)directly for the Pope (a cliche of gigantic proportions, but I'm brainstorming here so cut me some slack)
* An arsenal of holy relics
* A secret tradition of sorcery that combines prayer and hermeticism, including (maybe?) a couple of damnation cost rites.
* An secret order of magi that deal with significant threats to the church (slightly less cliche than the first option, but only by a few inches)

But really all of these options feel like low hanging fruit. So I'm fishing for ideas here. Surely a few of the Dark Providence adventures involved the church.

Help!
Tom

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 Post subject: Re: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 8:35 pm 

Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2013 12:48 pm
Posts: 214
The Church as frenemy makes for a powerful plot device as well.


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 Post subject: Re: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 9:11 pm 
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Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:34 am
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Location: Southwestern Ohio
Have you watched Brotherhood of the Wolf? As I recall the Monica Belucci character was a Papal agent. Give her some supernatural abilities and you got a Witch Hunter NPC/possible obstacle. If you have not watched the movie do so it was a major inspiration for the game.

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 Post subject: Re: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 7:49 am 
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Haakon,

It's been so long since i watched that movie I can't even recall the character. The cool Native American martial artist, sure, and the "wolf", absolutely. But the church agent? I got nothing. Care to refresh my memory?

Eric,

That's kind of what I've set in motion now, and perhaps that's the most insidious angle I can play up. But the player has put in some cool background stuff regarding his Jesuit order, it feels about time to reward that in the worst way possible. :)

Tom

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 Post subject: Re: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 8:41 am 
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The church agent was played by Monica Bellucci. I've attached an image to jog your memory. Personally I think her character would fit right into a Witch Hunter campaign.

Attachment:
thHHPMZXOX.jpg
thHHPMZXOX.jpg [ 12.88 KiB | Viewed 12292 times ]

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Michael T. Hebert

Haakon val'Ishi, Beltinian Exorcist 2.7 [Divine]
Ursula val'Holryn, Grand Master of the Tralian Hammer 2.2 [Martial]
Arun of Tultipet, Holy Champion of Neroth 1.10 [Expert]
Rikitsa val'Holryn, Psion 1.9 [Arcane]


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 Post subject: Re: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 9:11 am 
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Nice! One more token to add to my collection.

So would you say her character would work as a witch hunter, or as an adversary? What exactly was her role for the church?

Tom

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Witch Hunter: The Invisible World Unofficial Home on Google+


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 Post subject: Re: The Church of Rome...
PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 9:37 am 
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It's been a while since I have seen the movie as well. While I of course remember well Mani (that quarterstaff fight was amazing) I never forget a pretty face. ;) As for her character I'm sure you could go either way, but she would be more interesting as a mysterious ally who could be an adversary under the right circumstances. In other words as long as her agenda and yours align no problem, go against her and there's trouble.

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Michael T. Hebert

Haakon val'Ishi, Beltinian Exorcist 2.7 [Divine]
Ursula val'Holryn, Grand Master of the Tralian Hammer 2.2 [Martial]
Arun of Tultipet, Holy Champion of Neroth 1.10 [Expert]
Rikitsa val'Holryn, Psion 1.9 [Arcane]


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