Unaligned Faithful

Those who worship unaligned beings.

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Mortalist

Type: Believer

A believer in mortality over Divinity.

Mortalists are believers in mortal will, the rigid power of the mind and soul of a mortal who does not worship or acknowledge the power of the Divine. They are believers in a philosophy of the power of mortality to be the true masters of their own fates. Their faith is in themselves as members of mortality, and therefore, they wield mortal will. As they have no Divine being, no inmortal, nor even a potent concept to rely upon, their faith is tested and proven with their belief in themselves and other mortals' abilities.

The power of their faith has little utility except when wielded against the powers of the Divine or inmortals, and then it provides some protection based on the strength of their own mind and soul. The average mortalist gains +1 to any roll against Divine power or anything done by an inmortal being. If they ever betray their oath by accepting Divine or inmortal aid or support, they will lose all of their powers.

Their mortal will is wielded through “antifaith”, a rejection of the need for the Divine (not the existence thereof - that is more than proven on Shem). Mortalists who wish to gain more power must go out of their way to live without any Divine power affecting them. They do this in various ways, usually making sure they know what sources of Divine power are - what objects are imbued with it, what people have it, etc. They end up knowing more about religion than most religious people.

The more they do this, the more they practice what they believe, the greater their antifaith becomes, and the better they can resist Divine powers.

PRO / ATH / STR / AWA +2 WIL +4 PRS -1 STH +1

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Pastorialist

Type: Preacher

A pastorialist is a preacher who uses social interactions to convert people to their faith. This method can be used by almost any faith, but what is written here assumes faith in an unaligned deity, being, or concept.

Pastorialists use emotional connections to relate to people and spread their faith. They channel emotional resonance through special threads. These threads are woven into special pieces that resonate with emotional connections. They must be mentored and trained by another pastorialist for years to be able to do this.

Pastorialists draw their special threads from their own metaphorical hearts, their emotional being, via a ritual. The first step is to attune themselves to their own emotions, they then must place their hands over their hearts, meditate to their own heartbeats, and then pierce their skin with a narrow needle. If they are truly attuned to their emotions, no blood will flow; instead, the needle will pull out an invisible thread. When they open their eyes, they will see the thread shimmering, though no one else would be able to. They can then spool the thread around a something, pulling for hours until they need to rest. This thread will represent all of their own social connections. From then on, they can only create more thread if they build a new meaningful emotional connection with someone. This thread can be used to sew pieces that can be given to those with whom they have a connection, which allows the pastorialist to influence their emotions so long as they carry or wear the piece.

For this reason, they must get close to those they need to influence, but it only takes one meaningful interaction to have a potent enough emotional connection to draw enough thread to make something. Once the target has the piece, the pastorialist can roll WIL any time that person is within sight to influence the emotional state of that person. Influence - not control. They nudge it in a direction, add a small dose of certain emotions. Depending on the strength of their emotional connection, they have a limited number of uses of this power. One use for a brief but meaningful encounter. Max of nine uses for someone they have a long-term, deep connection with (a lover, a parent, a close friend, a sibling, a long-term coworker, etc.).

If a pastorialist loses attunement to their own emotions, they lose their powers.

Some pastorialists use these powers deceptively and manipulatively. Others only use them with consent to build powerful circles of the faithful.

PRO +1 ATH -1 STR -1 AWA +2 WIL +3 PRS +2 STH -1

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Preacher

Type: Preacher

A preacher is a faith leader who spreads the word of their deity. They work among the population and preach the values of their deity. What is written here assumes an unaligned deity, but this can apply to any preacher of any deity, though some have other abilities from other energies.

They gain power by remaining in their deity's favor, which they do by living up to the values of their Divine and spreading the word. Converting someone to the faith is especially effective. Depending on their deity, they may gain different abilities. All preachers may invoke the favor of their deities via prayer or ritual, asking for almost anything, and roll their favor score to see if they receive it. Success or failure results in loss of favor points.

They may pray for absolutely anything, but if they expect an actual effect, they must be sincere in their request. If the request is within the domain of the Divine, it will be easier to do. If it is outside the Divine's domain, it will be more difficult. If it is antithetical to the Divine's values or their domain, it will be impossible. Asking for something insincerely or antithetical to the Divine's values will result in loss of favor.

Some Divines will have a set of standard prayers and invocations the preacher may refer to, but these vary by deity. Consult the GM and see the Religion page for more information.

PRO -1 ATH -1 STR +1 AWA +2 WIL +2 PRS +3 STH -1

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Ritualist

Type: Priest

A ritualist is a priest who worships not a deity or being, but a concept. They gain power via a set of rigid rituals that honor and evoke that concept and by living up the tenets of their faith. There is no favor or disfavor. Instead, it is the power of belief itself and the practice of their rituals that grants ritualist their abilities.

To become a ritualist, they should be initiated and taught by another ritualist of the same faith. They must undergo that faith's rituals and learn them perfectly, and they must repeated them for years until they gain the power to invoke the true power of their faith. They must also live up the values of their faith and sincerely believe. Because there is no being to grant them favor, they must be their own sources of energy. This is done via the repetition of the rituals.

The content and practice of the rituals will vary by their faith, but as priests the rituals will always have a delayed effect. Any faith and concept is possible, but this writing assumes an unaligned faith. See Religion for more information on extant faiths, but the player may create their own in consultation with the GM.

What abilities go with this will depend on the faith. Consult the GM.

PRO / ATH / STR / AWA +2 WIL +4 PRS -1 STH -1

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Shaman

Type: Shaman

One who is attuned to their ancestral memory, shamans engage in ancestor worship. They do not gain favor with Divines or inmortal beings via their faith, but instead commune with their ancestors and gain guidance, abilities, and protections.

How a shaman communes with their ancestors may be based on actual practices on Earth if and only if the player adequately and respectfully researches and develops it (with GM discretion). Otherwise, the methods will be developed between GM and player, usually involving meditations, visions, quests, rituals, and customs based on the character’s species or nation.

Ancestral memory may connect a shaman with their direct blood ancestors, with their communal ancestors, or with ancestors based on found family. Regardless of which the player chooses, the shaman will only be able to trace their lineage back to an event in history known as the Fall, the earliest stages of class society. Most shamans only go back a few hundred years at most.

Shamans can only connect with ancestors who have passed away. Novices can connect only with the most recent generations back, but powerful shamans can go back thousands of years. The further back they go, the harder it is to have a clear connection, but also, the more power they can draw. Most shamans connect with a relatively recent ancestor as a guide.

• Ancestral guide: the shaman can consult their ancestral guide so long as they are conscious, as if the ancestral guide is a present NPC, by spending 1 point of energy at any given time.

• Resounding inquiry: the shaman may send a question into their ancestral memory, asking all who can hear them, spending 1 point per 5 generations back (roughly 100 years).

• Deep memory: the shaman may direct their question or request back deep, going past the usual limits, by spending time meditating or focusing, spending 1 point per 20 generations back (roughly 400 years), but spending 10 minutes per generation instead of 1 round.

• Ancestral protection: the shaman may draw protection from their ancestors, creating a magical aura around themselves of psionic energy.

• Wisdom of the past: the shaman may draw directly from the knowledge of the ancestors without asking a question, simply rolling the memory as a lore, but with less direct and guided results.

• Might of the lineage: the shaman may draw physical attributes from their ancestors at a cost of 3 points per 1 point of physical stat (STR or ATH).

• Vision quest: the shaman may go on a vision quest into their ancestral memory to rebuild their power. They do this via various methods.

• Meditative learning: the shaman may meditate and learn skills directly from the ancestors, spending four hours meditating per point above 4 of a skill, six hours per point above 7, eight hours per point above 10, twelve hours per point above 13, sixteen hours per point above 16, twenty hours per point above 19, etc.

Other abilities may be possible. Consult the GM.

PRO +1 ATH +1 STR +1 AWA +4 WIL +2 PRS +1 STH -2