Losing True Believer Powers

[bitterpill]

 If a True Believer (in God) character went around acting utterly against their faith showing no mercy and choosing combat as his primary means of dealing with any in game problems would it be right for a GM to take away his righteousness power and holy touch power as long as he gave the character a rebate in refresh as the GM is unwilling to kill the character off as he is proving too much fun.

[sinker]

I'd say yes if the GM spoke with the character first and made sure the player was okay with it. Otherwise you could try compelling him regularly to try to bring him back into line with his aspects.

[bibliophile20]

Or if they, y'know, bisect any unarmed and defenseless octogenarians. 

[Bruce Coulson]

Wouldn't it be more fun if someone went around and did all that...and didn't lose their abilities?  Making people wonder what God's plan really was...

Seriously, I'd definitely speak with the player first.  Playing a crisis of faith could be a dramatic set of stories...if that's what the player wants.

[bitterpill]

The real trouble is that as he is he fits better into the group dynamics than as a real true believer, the party are all DD players so they are all into hitting stuff till it dies screaming and are all playing morally ambivalent characters, so if I forced my true believer to act like a true believer I would be isolating him from the rest of the party. My only problem with the status quo is thematically it makes very little sense. I suppose I should just leave things as they are or see if I can persuade the player to find a supernatural sponsor and ditch the Believer Powers.

Or if they, y'know, bisect any unarmed and defenseless octogenarians.  

Our party would probably sensure him if he did something like this because they would see it as wasteful use of human life.

[bibliophile20]

Our party would probably sensure him if he did something like this because they would see it as wasteful use of human life.

I was making a reference to a webcomic, The Order Of The Stick; the author had a paladin character who was a case study of a "Lawful Stupid Paladin" mindset taken to its logical conclusions. 

(click to show/hide)

She ends up killing the city's leader--the aforementioned 80-year-old--in a fit of paranoia and has her paladinhood revoked as a result.

 

[Bruce Coulson]

I don't think I would work well with your group...but if they're all having fun, it seems wrong to punish one player just because his concept doesn't quite fit.

I'd work with him and see what would work given the group dynamic.

[Drachasor]

If a True Believer (in God) character went around acting utterly against their faith showing no mercy and choosing combat as his primary means of dealing with any in game problems would it be right for a GM to take away his righteousness power and holy touch power as long as he gave the character a rebate in refresh as the GM is unwilling to kill the character off as he is proving too much fun.

Lots of ways to go.  Is it real Wrath of God type stuff that he's doing?  Jehovah wasn't big on mercy, nor was he very nice.  Perhaps his patron isn't the White God, but some other entity.  Alternatively, there are plenty of fundamentalist crazies (though I suppose not all fundamentalists are crazy) who wouldn't fit in well with the White God.  Perhaps they create a reservoir of power with their faith that this guy taps in to.

On the other hand, if he's killing innocents or something because he just doesn't care much, then he should probably get confronted with that at some point, especially if it goes against any of his aspects.

[Drachasor]

The real trouble is that as he is he fits better into the group dynamics than as a real true believer, the party are all DD players so they are all into hitting stuff till it dies screaming and are all playing morally ambivalent characters,

Hey, I've played D&D a lot and never was morally ambiguous.  Always Neutral Good and fought for justice and dealt with the difficult moral issues.  Well, there was the one character that used his knowledge religion and such to hack up those goblin scouts we killed now and then so the other goblins thought one of their big boogieman gods was displeased with them.  He also used some illusion magic to back that up.  That was necessary for the war effort though and saved a lot of lives in the end by scaring the jujubes out of them...and desecrating bodies isn't that bad in that sense, I don't think.  Also, it was pretty cool.

[mithrandirthewhite]

My DM would totally strip the powers from him, but then again noe that I am a DnD player not a DFRPG player. I just lurk this forum.

[sinker]

Now that I think on it the "Hellfire and Brimstone" style preachers would not be above utterly destroying a supernatural baddie, but if he's slaughtering innocents then it get's a bit off.

[bitterpill]

He has never killed an 'innocent' directly but there have been situation where I set up a Mexican standoff with vampires and the vampires were using a bunch of college students as shields, the vamps were like 'don't come any closer or we will kill them all' he said 'meh' and jumped the distance between them beheading the vamp in one stroke and got the students killed in the crossfire, when the others in the party asked if that was necessary he replied "very". Then there was the time he accepted a job from a fae no less to kill a rogue pixie, before taking the job he asked was the pixie evil to which the fae replied "you could say that" and his response was "good enough for me".

[Richard_Chilton]

There are varying interpretations of any faith.  Point to practically any faith and you'll find members who sincerely tell you that "that group over there? they aren't part of our faith even though they say they are".

Believe it or not, during the Albigensian Crusade crusade, one papal representative in reported to have said:
"Caedite eos! Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius" is response to the question of "How do we tell the good Christians from the heretics?"

That phrase basically translates as "Kill them all! God will know his own." - meaning that in the worse you're helping someone to heaven a little bit early and it's better to do that then let one of the sinners escape.

Which is a long way of saying that there are countless ways of playing True Faith.

Richard

[mithrandirthewhite]

Funny thig belief. It doesnt make it true. (I know this statement can be interpreted many ways, but I'm commenting on people who  think they follow the teachings of thier faith when really they are twisting it to thier own ends.  Hope no offense is taken by people of faith.)

[Moriden]

Just wanted to put it out there that some of the things considered "the proper course of action" from a historical Christian viewpoint would be considered mildly abhorrent by most modern individuals.

On the other hand if hes acting in direct opposition to how the st thinks he should then absolutely strip his powers. maybe offer a slightly more demonic alternative. if he starts hearing voices hes likely to think there from god after all.