Jesus As A Superior

Shiftkitty · 08-18-2013, 01:08 PM

Jesus is the Archangel of Humanity in the French game. Sounds angelic enough, but that version also has him squatting in an apartment in southern France (IIRC) as a beach bum/stoner. It is more than a little irreverent, the French version, and we enjoy using it when we can, but we're a little more sympathetic to Jesus, casting him instead as pretty much the ultimate friend. You know, always encouraging you to do your best, being there when you need someone to talk to, etc. We've cast him as a Mercurian among Mercurians, always helping people find the peaceful resolution and talking sense when everyone else is about to lose their cool. He is "Hostile" to nobody (we don't really use that aspect of the game much anyway) and it's hard for any of the Host to feel "Hostile" towards him.

We never worked out what his Servitors would be like, but there used to be a guy who patrolled Highway 17 in California back in the 1970's. He was a retired mechanic who bought an old utility truck and loaded it with all kinds of tools. He would drive the whole highway looking for breakdowns. He would stop and help, get the person up and running or else hook up the downed car and tow it to a nearby garage, all for free! He called himself the Road Ranger and I think he'd be one of Jesus' Servitors (Ofanim, maybe?).

How would you interpret Jesus as a Superior, or what do you think his Servitors would be like?

Jason · 08-18-2013, 09:33 PM

I think it was a really good idea to NOT address this directly in the books, but I've often wondered how individual groups might approach it. Personally, my group has people from a range of religious and non-religious backgrounds, so I'd want to be pretty careful to keep things respectful without veering into preachy. If anybody's going to be rankled by making Jesus a Superior, I don't think it's the agnostics or atheists (who are already suspending disbelief enough to pretend to be angels), but Christians who see it as selling Jesus short by only giving him "Archangel" status rather than "God Himself in the flesh" status.

There's already some precedent for this in the rules as written, however, with Yves being pretty close to "God the Father." So, I'd consider using that my starting point, and maybe even directly introduce "The Holy Spirit" into the game somehow directly (or just say that THAT is what is the force acting when someone rolls a 111). I might pull Yves back into the Higher Heavens, remove Michael's animosity toward him, have Jesus take over as "Arch Saint of Destiny," and have Laurence and Dominic act all smug about being right about the divinity of Christ. His Servitors, then, would be pretty much exactly like what Servitors of Destiny are already.

Alternatively, I could see making Jesus "Arch Saint of the Chosen," playing off his title of "Christ" (meaning messiah, from roots meaning "anointed"). In this understanding, "the Chosen" refers to all of humanity, who are chosen to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. I could see Jordi bristling at this unless God specifically speaks up to clarify the importance of humans (or even just to say, "Yo, here's my kid, He's in charge," etc.) In this case, his Servitors would cooperate most closely with Destiny's and Protection's (and might even just be "in service to" those Superiors, who have a clearer mandate), primarily concerned with helping humans bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. As I see it, that means helping humans help each other, rather than the much more individualized approach of Destiny. (In a lighter campaign, I could see saying that most of the Superiors really don't know what the heck Jesus is talking about when ht talks about "bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth," but they all like him okay, and nobody wants to **** off the boss's kid.)

08-18-2013, 01:08 PM	#1
Shiftkitty Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: A little south of Heaven and a little north of Hell.	Jesus As A Superior Jesus is the Archangel of Humanity in the French game. Sounds angelic enough, but that version also has him squatting in an apartment in southern France (IIRC) as a beach bum/stoner. It is more than a little irreverent, the French version, and we enjoy using it when we can, but we're a little more sympathetic to Jesus, casting him instead as pretty much the ultimate friend. You know, always encouraging you to do your best, being there when you need someone to talk to, etc. We've cast him as a Mercurian among Mercurians, always helping people find the peaceful resolution and talking sense when everyone else is about to lose their cool. He is "Hostile" to nobody (we don't really use that aspect of the game much anyway) and it's hard for any of the Host to feel "Hostile" towards him. We never worked out what his Servitors would be like, but there used to be a guy who patrolled Highway 17 in California back in the 1970's. He was a retired mechanic who bought an old utility truck and loaded it with all kinds of tools. He would drive the whole highway looking for breakdowns. He would stop and help, get the person up and running or else hook up the downed car and tow it to a nearby garage, all for free! He called himself the Road Ranger and I think he'd be one of Jesus' Servitors (Ofanim, maybe?). How would you interpret Jesus as a Superior, or what do you think his Servitors would be like? __________________ "Your problem is you play too many role-playing games." ~My brother's complaint when I wouldn't help him commit a felony. I wound up turning him in. Maybe he should have played more.

08-18-2013, 09:33 PM	#2
Jason Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Boston, MA	Re: Jesus As A Superior I think it was a really good idea to NOT address this directly in the books, but I've often wondered how individual groups might approach it. Personally, my group has people from a range of religious and non-religious backgrounds, so I'd want to be pretty careful to keep things respectful without veering into preachy. If anybody's going to be rankled by making Jesus a Superior, I don't think it's the agnostics or atheists (who are already suspending disbelief enough to pretend to be angels), but Christians who see it as selling Jesus short by only giving him "Archangel" status rather than "God Himself in the flesh" status. There's already some precedent for this in the rules as written, however, with Yves being pretty close to "God the Father." So, I'd consider using that my starting point, and maybe even directly introduce "The Holy Spirit" into the game somehow directly (or just say that THAT is what is the force acting when someone rolls a 111). I might pull Yves back into the Higher Heavens, remove Michael's animosity toward him, have Jesus take over as "Arch Saint of Destiny," and have Laurence and Dominic act all smug about being right about the divinity of Christ. His Servitors, then, would be pretty much exactly like what Servitors of Destiny are already. Alternatively, I could see making Jesus "Arch Saint of the Chosen," playing off his title of "Christ" (meaning messiah, from roots meaning "anointed"). In this understanding, "the Chosen" refers to all of humanity, who are chosen to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. I could see Jordi bristling at this unless God specifically speaks up to clarify the importance of humans (or even just to say, "Yo, here's my kid, He's in charge," etc.) In this case, his Servitors would cooperate most closely with Destiny's and Protection's (and might even just be "in service to" those Superiors, who have a clearer mandate), primarily concerned with helping humans bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. As I see it, that means helping humans help each other, rather than the much more individualized approach of Destiny. (In a lighter campaign, I could see saying that most of the Superiors really don't know what the heck Jesus is talking about when ht talks about "bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth," but they all like him okay, and nobody wants to **** off the boss's kid.)