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Old 11-01-2022, 08:08 AM   #11
Bill_in_IN
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

Great Talent to Discuss.

I have never experienced a game with a priest as a PC until I was in the game with Anthony's priest. It has added an interesting dynamic to the game. In fact, even though he is dead, until his body is recovered and properly dispositioned, the character is still adding to game dynamics. The fact that the character was also a wizard seemed interesting to me. However, such a combo seems like it would be more likely than a hero priest unless you were building a Paladin type character.

How often do you see Priest being taken by players in your games?
I've only had it for some NPCs in my Classic TFT days. I did extrapolate the talent for some minor benefits beyond reaction rolls. I think that I once made a roll that the NPC Priest had prayed prior to the impending encounter and his faith in success allowed him to get away unharmed. The only meddling from the gods was the dispelling of a crossbow shot from a PC prior to his getaway. The PCs just assumed that he had the Dispel Missiles ability either through spell or magic item. In fact, this was GM meddling. I needed the priest to get away to keep the adventure going the general way that I had prepared it.

Does religion play a large enough role in your game world to make Priest worthwhile?
No one wanted to spend their Classic TFT IQ points on it even though I explained how the priest in the prior response was helped by that talent. Religion only helped to frame the adventure. Mostly from the standpoint of what kind of society the PCs were walking into.

Do you buff up Priest by giving it more influence over TFT's mechanics?
I think that you could and some ways have already been mentioned. I remember extrapolating the talents of Tactics and Strategist to allow for ability and hierarchy within military troop structure that better accommodated large scale battles. There is no reason why Priest and Theologian Talents couldn't have some extrapolated abilities that fall in-line with such talent types.

Do you require Priest for wizards?
I don't even require Literacy talent for wizards even though it is very highly recommended. Why would one require a wizard to have the Priest talent? Please explain the reasoning for such a requirement.
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Old 11-01-2022, 09:44 AM   #12
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

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Originally Posted by Bill_in_IN View Post
Do you require Priest for wizards?
I don't even require Literacy talent for wizards even though it is very highly recommended. Why would one require a wizard to have the Priest talent? Please explain the reasoning for such a requirement.
Doing so would frame magic, or at least some schools of it, in religious terms. In-game, those who hold that magic is conferred by the gods would--if they had anything approaching the typical morals of real life believers--almost certainly place constraints on what kind of magic is sanctions and what spells are taboo. This view of magic is probably best for game worlds in which magic is "hidden," such as it is in, for example, Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age. But I should point out that this is at odds with Cidri's description of a world much more accepting of practitioners of magic.
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Old 11-01-2022, 10:10 AM   #13
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

Whataboutism an agnostic world where there is a cult that trains wizards to practice magic in terms of their faith.
  1. Would you give these wizards a break by not doubling the cost of Priest?
  2. Would there be some penalty to read books of magic (if not scrolls) from or to those outside this tradition?
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Old 11-01-2022, 10:48 AM   #14
Shostak
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

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Would you give these wizards a break by not doubling the cost of Priest?
In my games, all characters pay the same costs for talents and spells.
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Would there be some penalty to read books of magic (if not scrolls) from or to those outside this tradition?
That seems reasonable. One could take it a step further and declare that certain spells simply can't be cast by those outside a specific religious tradition.
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Old 11-01-2022, 04:29 PM   #15
Skarg
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

How often do you see Priest being taken by players in your games?
Sometimes, but not very often. Priest PCs have almost all been in games where there was a religion of some note to be a priest of in the campaign setting. My original TFT campaign setting only had a minority nations where religion was an unignorable part of the culture, and mostly my players back then were happy to ignore religion and not have it be much/anything in their PCs' lives. Later campaigns have tended to have much more tangible cultures, with religions worked in, in a variety of ways.

Does religion play a large enough role in your game world to make Priest worthwhile?
Yes. Even in my original campaign world, a player who wanted to be a priest in a nation that didn't have a big social presence, would still have access to that religion's organization, social modifiers, work opportunities, allies, etc.

Do you buff up Priest by giving it more influence over TFT's mechanics?
Appropriate modifiers to reactions and legal rolls, some transactions, the job table, etc., sure. Access to berserk for some types of religious zealots. Some priestly orders use spells, and may know some different spells than the wizard's guild teaches, or other talents.

Do you require Priest for wizards?
Not unless you want to learn some spells only taught to certain priests.

Whataboutism an agnostic world where there is a cult that trains wizards to practice magic in terms of their faith.

Would you give these wizards a break by not doubling the cost of Priest?
Typically, yes.

Would there be some penalty to read books of magic (if not scrolls) from or to those outside this tradition?
Often, yes, but not always. Often they're written to require the relevant equivalent of Priest (or even Theologian) for that religion. But religions that share the same background may be close enough. Such books may also be written in a particular language . . .

There may also be a Thaumatology talent that could stand in for Priest for several religious traditions.
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Old 11-01-2022, 04:57 PM   #16
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

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Originally Posted by Skarg View Post

Do you buff up Priest by giving it more influence over TFT's mechanics?
Access to berserk for some types of religious zealots.
I like that idea!
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Old 11-01-2022, 05:51 PM   #17
hcobb
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

Does the Priest talent help or hinder research into a spell, potion, or enchantment related to the practices of that religion? (By say reducing the required IQ to only 2 higher than the spell level rather than the usual 4)
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Old 11-01-2022, 05:54 PM   #18
phiwum
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

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I like that idea!
Yes! That's a great idea, Skarg.
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Old 11-02-2022, 08:45 PM   #19
FireHorse
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

You'll find a similarly restrained take on Priest in GATE #1, in an article written by Carlisle Childress. It is my understanding that Steve Jackson even liked it — but the official taboo against functional religious material is inflexible.

Hence, the need for a 'zine full of Heresy. ;)
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Old 11-04-2022, 07:02 PM   #20
Axly Suregrip
 
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Default Re: Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

Years ago when some of the peculiar weapons were even more unbalanced than today (Naginata anyone?), I had a class of fighters that were warrior-monks. You had to take Priest ability in order to have access to UC* and peculiar weapon skills.

There were several players that took this up. Bolas, naginatas and boomerangs were popular.

I don't do this now.

Now, for PCs I use Priest as a Naturalist of undead for player characters. That is, either having knowledge of undead abilities or a IQ save to guessing it. No players have adopted it yet, since no need has presented itself.

For NPCs, I have Priests tied to some rituals or ritualistic magic that applies to the story but not available for PCs. Or for NPCs that are charlatans. Or NPCs that represent some local spiritual leader with no powers other than being a key member of the community.
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