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Forums > Home› Champions Pen and Paper RPG

Psychopomps in the setting?

Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
edited September 2011 in Champions Pen and Paper RPG
I love that word. It's just funny for some reason.

As far as the actual meaning, though, and my question: Is there any info in the lore on spirits and collect and guide the dead? My most recent new character is drawing thematically from various interpretations of the Grim Reaper archetype (and also the shinigami of Bleach, because anime has seeped into my brain) and I would prefer to not be coming up with something completely opposite the setting.
Post edited by Archived Post on

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  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Well, that's both simple and complicated. ;) All the religions of the world that are or ever were are "real" in the mystic part of the Champions Universe, in that the collective imaginations of humanity generate gods, spirits, etc. of those faiths, which inhabit one of the Imaginal Realms. The souls of the dead -- or maybe just part of those souls -- travel to the allotted heaven or hell of their faith. So, any entity from theology or mythology whose function is to conduct the dead to their final destination exists, and can be played as described in appropriate source material.

    OTOH Death itself is also a real entity, and dwells in a dimension known as Death's Dominion, along with, apparently, the spirits of everyone who has ever died. How these spirits can exist in their faith's afterlife and Death's Dominion at the same time is a great mystery. Current CU continuity lists no particular servants for Death, although like other Archetypes of fundamental concepts it's able to possess gods of appropriate background -- death gods, in this case -- and use them as its avatars to interact with lesser beings on other planes.

    Not all deceased souls pass immediately to one of the afterlife dimensions. Some linger as ghosts on the Astral Plane, briefly or in some cases for centuries, particularly those who have died a traumatic death. It's also possible for some beings to "cheat Death" and exceed their allotted spans, usually through some powerful magic such as becoming undead.

    The PnP source book, The Mystic World, discusses these issues in further detail, if you're interested. It's also an overall informative and entertaining read. :cool:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    also one thing important to note is that the big thing for an entities existance is the belive in it, given that plenty of people belive in the grim reaper the grim reaper this likely exists.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    BrianDavion wrote:
    also one thing important to note is that the big thing for an entities existance is the belive in it, given that plenty of people belive in the grim reaper the grim reaper this likely exists.

    That's a very good point. Given that the "Grim Reaper" figure, as a distinctly recognizable image of Death, is a relatively modern phenomenon, not connected to a particular religion, I would guess it probably manifests in the Imaginal Realm of Babylon, the City of Man, along with "urban legends" like Bloody Mary.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    SquidheadJax wrote:
    My most recent new character is drawing thematically from various interpretations of the Grim Reaper archetype (and also the shinigami of Bleach, because anime has seeped into my brain) and I would prefer to not be coming up with something completely opposite the setting.
    Lord_Liaden wrote:
    Given that the "Grim Reaper" figure, as a distinctly recognizable image of Death, is a relatively modern phenomenon, not connected to a particular religion, I would guess it probably manifests in the Imaginal Realm of Babylon, the City of Man, along with "urban legends" like Bloody Mary.

    Now that I think on it, given the kind of character SquidheadJax describes, Babylon might be the most reasonable place for it to come from. Maybe the Reaper is the "official" psychopomp for the citizens of Babylon.

    Then the question becomes, what's it doing on Earth?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Lord_Liaden wrote:
    Now that I think on it, given the kind of character SquidheadJax describes, Babylon might be the most reasonable place for it to come from. Maybe the Reaper is the "official" psychopomp for the citizens of Babylon.

    Then the question becomes, what's it doing on Earth?

    Well, not the reaper. I was hoping for some sort of guild or group, like in Dead Like Me and some other fiction. I have an idea percolating for a group of powerful ghosts who go around protecting weaker ones, manifesting to fight malicious undead, and the like. The character would be an appointed liaison of this 'Grim Reaper Corps'* to PRIMUS as they deal (repeatedly) with the Takofanes problem.

    Is Lord Death the 'everything must die!' sort of personification of death or the 'death is a natural part of living, not the enemy of life' sort?

    *She doesn't like the name, and wonders if the real mythical thing is ever going to get annoyed about that.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    SquidheadJax wrote:
    Well, not the reaper. I was hoping for some sort of guild or group, like in Dead Like Me and some other fiction. I have an idea percolating for a group of powerful ghosts who go around protecting weaker ones, manifesting to fight malicious undead, and the like. The character would be an appointed liaison of this 'Grim Reaper Corps'* to PRIMUS as they deal (repeatedly) with the Takofanes problem.

    Is Lord Death the 'everything must die!' sort of personification of death or the 'death is a natural part of living, not the enemy of life' sort?

    *She doesn't like the name, and wonders if the real mythical thing is ever going to get annoyed about that.

    basicly the answer to a question about the planes is "if someone imagined it, it proably exists"
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    SquidheadJax wrote:
    Well, not the reaper. I was hoping for some sort of guild or group, like in Dead Like Me and some other fiction. I have an idea percolating for a group of powerful ghosts who go around protecting weaker ones, manifesting to fight malicious undead, and the like. The character would be an appointed liaison of this 'Grim Reaper Corps'* to PRIMUS as they deal (repeatedly) with the Takofanes problem.

    Can I just say at the outset how very cool I think this idea is. :D

    As I mentioned earlier, ghosts certainly have a place in the Champions Universe. You might be interested to know that one of the members of the Canadian superhero team StarForce is a revenant, a ghost of a murdered police detective returned in corporeal form.

    Also relevant to your concept, it mentions in The Mystic World that Death may in extraordinary circumstances be bargained with to restore a dead person to life, but usually demands another life in exchange. However, it may instead require the bargainers to bring it someone who has cheated Death, like a powerful undead. So there's certainly precedent for the concept you describe. Perhaps this "corps" is made up of deceased people who have agreed to a period of service to Death in exchange for an eventual return to the world of the living, or saving the life of someone they care about.
    SquidheadJax wrote:
    Is Lord Death the 'everything must die!' sort of personification of death or the 'death is a natural part of living, not the enemy of life' sort?

    Death (just "Death") is very much the latter, although in a very impersonal way. It doesn't fight anyone, and in Death's Dominion can't be fought or even perceived. There is an entity mentioned in the lore who embodies the former, though.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    BrianDavion wrote:
    basicly the answer to a question about the planes is "if someone imagined it, it proably exists"

    Well, more like, "if enough people imagined it for long enough, it probably exists." ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
    edited September 2011
    Lord_Liaden wrote:
    Can I just say at the outset how very cool I think this idea is. :D

    As I mentioned earlier, ghosts certainly have a place in the Champions Universe. You might be interested to know that one of the members of the Canadian superhero team StarForce is a revenant, a ghost of a murdered police detective returned in corporeal form.

    .

    that'd be The Constable. he's a quest giver in Steelhead Station
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