I'm trying to write a background story for a demonologist/exorcist "hero", but I have no idea what information Champions PnP has about those two topics. Also, what in-game role would make sense for a character with those concepts? Controller? Healer?
@bulgarex is there anything relevant you could share with me? I'm in need of your help once again
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Occult superheroes frequently oppose such infernal evils, but a few specialize in fighting them, like Akumashibaru of Japan. As an inverse of sorcerers who draw their magic from the Netherworld, others call on the powers of Elysium (the agglomeration of all Heavens) for their spells, as does the Iron Imam, and Robert Caliburn before he became Archmage. There are superheroes who claim their powers come directly from God, as with the Messenger or the late Archangel. That is possible in this setting, since all the "gods" of human faith also exist, or at least the manifestations of their followers' belief in them exist.
Bottom line, if you want your hero to follow the exorcist traditions of the Catholic faith, and deal with the devils of Abrahamic tradition, you'd have plenty of justification and more than enough to keep him occupied. If you'd like to follow another tradition, or have him confront demons from any source as a non-denominational "generalist," you certainly can. Or if you just want a superhero who can blast demons with his innate "holy light," without any particular faith-based perspective or training, that's readily doable.
Cool, I'll take a look there, it aligns with the stuff I have in mind.
Thanks for the info, Bulgarex, I never get tired of reading the pieces of lore you drop for us.
What I have in mind is indeed a "traditional" Catholic exorcist, but he would face any kind of demons, all faiths included. Any relevant church in Champions Lore that's worth mentioning? I'm considering my character to be a theology (former) student, or something related.
Considering the "subtle" nature of an exorcist, I guess I'll try the controller or healer role in-game, since blasting stuff away with my holy power kinda diverges from the ideas I have in mind.
Thanks everybody for the help so far
that's every variation of exorcism used in supernatural - you could also use the real-life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vade_retro_satana which is what was used in medieval times...no idea if it's still used in modern times
There just might be.
Vibora Bay is the birthplace and headquarters of one of the most distinctive Protestant sects, the High Apostolic Church. It's a unique blend of Catholicism, Pentecostalism, and Native American and African spiritual traditions which for want of a better term could be called, "Voodoo." The Brethren, as Church followers are called, believe that an omnipotent God exists, but is distant from the world. Lesser spirits most often called "saints," with specific spheres of authority, are prayed and sacrificed to, to ask them to intercede with God to bring about desired effects. But Brethren also believe that particularly holy people can bypass the saints through direct experience of the Holy Spirit. Such people may manifest gifts from the Holy Spirit, including prophecy, faith healing, and spontaneous exorcisms; collectively these are called charismata.
Normally charismata manifest during church services, which feature prayers, song, rhythmic chanting and clapping, building to a crescendo. However, a small group of advisors to the church called The Convocation are elder members known for their general wisdom and particularly impressive charismata. They act to protect not only the High Apostolic Church, but the city of Vibora Bay, from mundane or supernatural threats. (Details of the Church are in the Vibora Bay source book.)
If this was my character, given the background you suggest, I would make him a former theology student, maybe a seminarian, who suffered a tragedy due to demonic action, causing him to question his faith. Wandering without purpose he eventually came to Vibora Bay and witnessed a High Apostolic service, during which for unknown reasons he manifested exceptionally potent charismata, far more easily than most Church members. Trained to use his gifts by the Convocation, he decided God had given him the mission to combat supernatural evil wherever people are threatened, so no one else would be hurt by it as he was.
Basically, what I'm saying is take the stuff in Supernatural about as seriously as the High Apostolic Church, ya know?
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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also, any lore violations in supernatural are intentional...because they take lore and tradition - especially religious - and turn it on its head; which is why all angels are depicted as junkless douchebags
That's excelent! I'll definitively work with this to build my character background
About Supernatural, I'm probably gonna use a lot of it's lore to support my character beliefs/actions.
Thanks a lot for the help guys, I'm pretty excited to work on all this!
Very true; but as the Champions source book, The Mystic World, points out, traditional Abrahamic angels may be objectively "good," but many of them aren't nice. Only angels of mercy are uniformly kind and compassionate. Angels made for war or punishment are aggressive and ruthless. Created to follow God's laws with absolute fidelity, they have no sympathy or tolerance for the fallibility and frailty of mortals.
OTOH merciful or honorable demons, as you sometimes see depicted in contemporary pop culture, aren't traditional. Devils were imagined by humans to be embodiments of the worst evil, so that's how they behave.
Is it really?
Ars Diavola's PnP write-up appears in Book Of The Empress, source for info on the Multiverse in general and Istvatha's immense empire in particular.
It occurred to me that I should use this power, but I couldn't afford to cut anything from my healer build without losing it's efficiency... so I passed
The other Devil's Advocates are quite diverse in appearance, at least in their "super" manifestations; but I'd prefer not to transcribe more of that text on an open forum.
Hmm, I'll test this. Thanks!
The 6th edition of Champions Villains Vol. 2 has a picture of every Devil Advocate. Here's how the Demonologist looks like: