[MH] Brazilian Secret Monster Hunters

[jackcelso]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I want the 'Comando do Santo Cruz' operatives to use some signature weapons, blessed by supernaturally-savvy Vatican priests, engraved with crosses and containing materials that are inimical to common supernatural threats.

Iron is probably the most practical material and, fortunately, works very well against anything fey and even affects various demons, monsters and manifested spirits, as well as providing some protection from many types of magic. In setting, the iron may even be alloyed to make steel without making it metaphysically useless, so high-quality swords and knives are still useful against the supernatural.

I'm wondering what kind of knife Santa Cruz operatives from ABIN should favour as their anti-curse blessed blade. Are there any Brazilian knife types or designs that would be appropriate? Would a machete be suitable? Or a combat knife? A medieval dagger?

And how about firearms? If ABIN operatives involved in monster hunting have a 'service weapon' that they carry for self-defence, as opposed to locally-sourced weapons they use to avoid leaving forensic evidence, what should it be?

I'm thinking that it was adopted at some point between 2009-2012, when ABIN established a permanent (if secret) force of operatives to provide paramilitary support for covert Vatican operations against supernatural threats in Latin America and the Caribbean.

I might be looking for both a full-size duty handgun and a concealable model. They should share ammunition, which would be either the 9x19mm that the Brazilian armed forces use or the .40 S&W that is popular in Brazilian police service. As the Santa Cruz operatives would often be covered as security contractors, perhaps it might be worthwhile for them to use pistols in a caliber that can be licensed to employees of a PSC. Until 2016, 9x19mm weapons were restricted to military and police uses in Brazil, but I haven't found whether that affects licensed PSCs. If so, and if .45 ACP weapons were not so restricted in 2009-2012, perhaps that chambering might make sense.

Caliber aside, hefty construction with a lot of steel would be good. Stainless steel is nice. As modern as possible, however, able to mount accessories like compact reflex sight, laser or light. Ammo capacity of 12+, with 17+ being expected if it is 9x19mm. Match barrel for the full-sized gun, threaded for suppressor. Either adjustable sights or the option of mounting adjustable optics useable with suppressor, so that the weapon can be zeroed for both a lightweight +P sintered iron rounds and heavy subsonic JHP loads. Ambidextrous ergonomics. Quality trigger, not DAO, ideally SA/DA or a proprietary equivalent that allows a 5.5 lb. trigger pull or lighter.

I'm thinking a Taurus PT 24/7 OSS with some aftermarket upgrades.

Any other suggestions?

Brasil doesnt have a tradicional knife... but many farmers, hunters and military units employ a blade called "facão" it is in reality a falchion with 15" long (so is actually a shortsword) used primary to cut trails in florest, jungle and rural areas

[jackcelso]

Originally Posted by Pip Boy

A LOT.

Brazil is a country that has a rich religious diversity. Due to cultural miscegenation, fruit of the various immigration processes, we find in our country several religions (Christian, Islamic, Afro-Brazilian, Jewish, etc.). By having a Lay State, Brazil presents freedom of religious worship and also the separation of State and Church. The data of 2010 census gives us:

- Roman Catholic: 64.6%
- Evangelicals: 22.2%
- Spiritist: 2%
- Umbanda and Candomblé: 0.3%
- Without religion 8%

So, a whopping 88% of the religious brazilians are christians. Monsters and the supernatural would be seen as very demonic in nature, as "devil spawns", "witches sons", and so forth.

ok what the census doesnt tell is this... most of the people that call themselfs catholic will also them you that they belive in Umbanda and Candomblé and Spiritism. There are SEVERAL - terreiros - places to practice african origineted religions all across the Brasil. Umbanda and Candomblé are special popular in the Northeast region of the country.

They are very good scource for supernatural power for good or evil. Gurps Vodoo is a very good suplement to this and is 70% accurated in its background

[jackcelso]

Originally Posted by Icelander

That's interesting.

It also brings up another question. How likely are Brazilians who discover the existence of monsters and the supernatural to conceptualize it in explicitly Christian and Catholic terms? That is, how much do the Brazilian monster hunters feel that Satan himself has to do with the unnatural evils they combat?

I understand that the views of any reasonable subsection of a whole nation will never be homogenous and that individuals will differ enormously. All the same, in terms of sociology, demographic studies, political science, religious anthropology and various studies of polls and statistics, it's possible to discuss broad trends in views and attitudes within populations.

So, can someone more familiar with any of Brazil, South American cultures and Catholicism provide some thoughts on what the prevailing views among Brazilian monster hunters are likely to be?

As a general rule you can say this: catholic people normaly doesnt believe in physical manifestation of devils and mounster. That said the country folk has a bunch of regional tales among them... most of indigenous source - o picho papão, curupira, mula sem cabeça, saci perere and many others are famouses monsters and supernatural protectors in Brasil

Evangelists in Brasil believe that Satan is behind almost anything... most of vices are from the Devil (smoking, drinking, illegal drugs and to some people that " demoniac game RPG"). They beleave that Devil is always trying to temptation the followers

Umbanda, Candomblé and spiritism belevie most in spirits, good and bad. Not in the Devil as an entity

[jackcelso]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Is 'Peixera' the generic name for all kinds of machete-like cuttting tools in Brazil? Or does it refer to a specific type of machete (if so, can you describe the main characteristics?)?

Would 'Peixera' be a reasonable term for training in the use of a machete as a weapon?

Aside from the training that jungle units of the military receive in the use of the machete as a tool, is anyone aware of a Brazilian martial art style using blades, whether knives or machetes?

In other places where sugar was cultivated and harvested with cane knives, the tools were sometimes used to resolve disputes among the poor and disenfranchised. Sometimes fencing with machetes/cane knives was even incorporated into local dances or martial sport displays. I've found numerous reports from the Caribbean of such styles of machete fighting and I know that Capoeira-like dances in Brazil are said to have sometimes included machetes.

Has the use of knives and machetes as weapons died out in Brazil, at least as any kind of martial art? Or could there be any sub-cultures where skill with blades is taught and practised, whether that skill is based on ancestral forms or recent experience?

peixeira is a long knife (mostly udes to cut fish (peixe in portuguese)), used in daily routine mainly in the Northeast States in Brasil, but is not a machete and is not used by the military

Most of the Capoeiristas (capoeira fighters) used in reality a razor in hands and sometimes in the feet (since most of the time capoeira in practiced bare foot) and razors been slick in format are very easy to be riden!!

[jackcelso]

That said your reserch about Brasil was VERY good... and very complety. Congratulations on your efford.

If you need anything please be free to contact me in by private messages

Good game!!!

Sorry my many english mistakes!!

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by jackcelso

That said your reserch about Brasil was VERY good... and very complety. Congratulations on your efford.

If you need anything please be free to contact me in by private messages

Good game!!!

Sorry my many english mistakes!!

Thanks and don't worry, your English is considerably better than my Portuguese!

As the current campaign stands, the PCs are not going to Brazil any time soon, but as private monster hunters working for an eccentric billionaire Patron in the Caribbean, they are likely to come into fairly frequent contact with any regional power group interested in the occult and paranormal.

As a very large and populous state that faces perhaps the most serious threat from the emergence of the supernatural* in the setting, Brazil has one of the world's most occult-aware authorities and certainly the most active monster hunting response anywhere near where the PCs operate.**

The PCs will probably encounter a team from the 'Comando da Santa Cruz', the secret counter-supernatural foreign intelligence and covert action group existing inside ABIN and supported covertly by the Vatican's occult intelligence.

This is likely to occur in the Caribbean, with the PCs investigating a supernatural threat of some sort and the CSC team probably having some kind of interest in a supernatural threat, quite likely the same one (though arriving with different intelligence, the PCs and the CSC operatives may not know that and suspect each other of being part of the threat).

*Connected to the Vile Vortices, which some theorist insist are twelve, but others consider more numerous (or even a misnomer, with the Vortices merely representing areas where some people have noticed a high incidence of paranormal activity, which might not, however, be tied to geographic factors at all). In any case, most informed observers agree that there is a powerful nexus of supernatural activity at sea 120 miles SE of Rio de Janeiro and this seems to lead to paranormal activity being more common and serious within hundreds of miles of that spot. Pakistan is the only other truly sizable polity with a Vile Vortex so close or within its borders,
**Though both are technically result of a conspirational network of those in the know within Brazil's intelligence, military and security services, not public policy by democratically elected representatives..

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Icelander

(. . . the PCs and the CSC operatives may not know that and suspect each other of being part of the threat).

And if the PCs are making free with magic, they're likely to confirm the CSC's suspicions.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by johndallman

And if the PCs are making free with magic, they're likely to confirm the CSC's suspicions.

Precisely and exactly so.

With Brazil exposed to the full horrors of malign influences, chaotic forces and invading ultraterrestial infiltrators from a Vile Vortex with an epicenter a mere 120 miles away from Rio de Janeiro, no one can honestly fault those who defend their country in secret from paranormal threats for feeling embattled and overwhelmed. Unfortunately, constant vigilence against the influence of dark spirits, curses and hostile shapeshifters can easily turn to paranoia and ruthless decisiveness kills the innocents as well as the guilty.

PCs being PCs, ruthless paranoia and impulsive violence is seldom entirely foreign to their natures. Hopefully, however, the PCs will possess pre-briefed knowledge of the most important powers in the occult underground of Latin America and the Caribbean and the investigative skills to recognize the CSC operatives for what they likely are.

All in all, I probably won't need to present much in the way of plot. Just introducing the CSC operatives into the situation which led to the PCs being sent to a small Caribbean island will probably lead to enough complications for an adventure to emerge from the resulting chaos.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by jackcelso

As a general rule you can say this: catholic people normaly doesnt believe in physical manifestation of devils and mounster. That said the country folk has a bunch of regional tales among them... most of indigenous source - o picho papão, curupira, mula sem cabeça, saci perere and many others are famouses monsters and supernatural protectors in Brasil

Evangelists in Brasil believe that Satan is behind almost anything... most of vices are from the Devil (smoking, drinking, illegal drugs and to some people that " demoniac game RPG"). They beleave that Devil is always trying to temptation the followers

Umbanda, Candomblé and spiritism belevie most in spirits, good and bad. Not in the Devil as an entity

That's interesting.

So, in a way, the Evangelical churches in Brazil are more likely to have reacted to early signs of supernatural phenomena than the mainstream Catholics. And might pursue more energetic anti-withcraft measures than the older faith, which after all has a long history of syncretization with indigenous and Afro-Caribbean mythology.

Are there any notable trends in religious demographics when it comes to the police, government bureaucrats or the military?

For example, do the demographics of the Policia Militar forces, say in Rio de Janeiro, reflect national demographics in terms of religion? Or are Evangelical Christians more or less common there than in the population as a whole?

Brazil has an Evangelical mayor, a bishop of UCKG. Does that translate into Evangelicals making up a higher proportion of local government appointees and administrators?

What about the armed forces? Is any service, command or unit famous for being a bastion of Catholicism and/or Evangelical Christianity?

[jackcelso]

Originally Posted by Icelander

That's interesting.

So, in a way, the Evangelical churches in Brazil are more likely to have reacted to early signs of supernatural phenomena than the mainstream Catholics. And might pursue more energetic anti-withcraft measures than the older faith, which after all has a long history of syncretization with indigenous and Afro-Caribbean mythology.

Are there any notable trends in religious demographics when it comes to the police, government bureaucrats or the military?

For example, do the demographics of the Policia Militar forces, say in Rio de Janeiro, reflect national demographics in terms of religion? Or are Evangelical Christians more or less common there than in the population as a whole?

Brazil has an Evangelical mayor, a bishop of UCKG. Does that translate into Evangelicals making up a higher proportion of local government appointees and administrators?

What about the armed forces? Is any service, command or unit famous for being a bastion of Catholicism and/or Evangelical Christianity?

There are not a direct relationship between armed forces\ police forces and religion. That said THERE IS in real life at Brasilian National Congress a considerable number of senators and federal deputies that are Evangelicals and some of them are even ministers !! They are called "Bancada Evangelica" the closest translation would be "Evangelical Committee"

They have a lot a political power in Brazil, in special in the southeast region of the country with includes Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo