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Old 05-22-2011, 04:47 PM   #11
Acolyte
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Seattle
Default Re: Characterizing Holiness

I'm going Saminga on some threads that happened while I was gone and that interest me. Missed you guys.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JCD View Post
I am having a hard time characterizing holiness. Making angels seem angelic. Frankly, my games are low contrast...but that is because I can't seem to imagine a high contrast game without dipping into the saccarine idiocy of Touched by an Angel or some similar drivel.

Any tips would be appreciated.
I think your question is about more than just playing an angel well, but about creating at atmosphere with stark good-and-evil overtones that doesn't seem like a D&D paladin's wet dream.

What helps me create that aura of goodness is to constantly reference the true battlefield of the War: human souls. Angels wouldn't even BE on Earth if God hadn't lifted the ban in response to demonic intervention. Every angel on Earth, the convicted and the doubting, the merciful or wrathful, human-like and alien-amoral (to humans), is supposed to devote every moment of its sleepless existence to fostering selfless devotion and fighting selfish rebellion on the part of humanity. How they interpret that mission, and how they go about doing it, is colored (obviously) by Word and Choir, but at the end of the day, if an angel hasn't helped push humanity closer to God's ideal, he's failed.

(Note on contrast: In a low-contrast game, angels focus more on the obedience side of "selfless devotion" and in a high-contrast game they focus more on the altruism aspect. The same applies to demons, who in low-contrast focus on the free will side of "selfish rebellion" and in high-contrast focus on unenlightened self-interest.)

Most angels don't work directly for Yves, though, and so don't usually actively target individual humans and push those through to their Destinies. Rather, they work within the confines of their Words to push human systems in a more selfless and devoted direction. Angels of Trade run the gamut from large-picture economic policy advisors to small-picture home economic teachers, with the middle ground being people who work to replace empty factory districts with the restaurants, boutiques, and upscale office spaces of a revitalized downtown. The same goes for all the other Words.

So how does this translate to running a game where angels appear "holy"? You have angels whose stated (because angels tend to be pretty open about their goals and aims) goals are making things better, walking around telling people that they're making things better, working literally around the clock to make things better, and doing all sorts of (to humans) unpleasant activities to make things better. And sometimes they have to get into a nasty, violent confrontation with demons, after which they will simply pick up their PDAs, reschedule the appointments they missed while fighting, and go without a break back to working around the clock to make things better.

That dogged (demons say servile) devotion to duty makes angels seem holy to those of us in the real world who see hard work as a virtue, who need vacations to work year-round, and who need leisure activities like RPGs to work all week long. *grin*

When we someone working long hours for other people without much pay, like a dedicated social worker, teacher, or free clinic doctor, we say, "what a saint." Angels work harder, longer, and (except for Angels of Trade) without any pay. That makes them holy.
__________________
“The world is going to Hell in a hand-basket, but I’ve got Good News: I saved my soul by switching to Heaven.”
—Baruel, former Djinn of the Media, now Cherub of Destiny and the Angel of Good News

Last edited by Acolyte; 05-23-2011 at 10:10 AM.
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Old 05-23-2011, 08:03 AM   #12
JCD
 
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Default Re: Characterizing Holiness

Thank you Acolyte. That gives me a starting point
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