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.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.
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.
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,
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".
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.How does the rest of the group feel about his character's behavior? Do they also think that he isn't acting like a "real" true believer? Or can they accept such behavior? Do they see that how he acts is in accordance to being true to his beliefs?
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".How did the party take his replies? Did they think that he was acting out of character for a true believer?
How does the rest of the group feel about his character's behavior? Do they also think that he isn't acting like a "real" true believer? Or can they accept such behavior? Do they see that how he acts is in accordance to being true to his beliefs?
The issue with that, Drachasor, is that being a True Believer and/or Champion of God isn't about being Religious, as I understand it. It's about living the faith you believe in. This is why Sanya, who isn't even Christian, has a Sword of the Cross. I feel that if someone is acting as a champion of the faith but behaving in ways that are counter to the virtues specified in their faith, then they should at the *very* least get a heavenly messenger with a sobering wake-up call.
The issue with that, Drachasor, is that being a True Believer and/or Champion of God isn't about being Religious, as I understand it. It's about living the faith you believe in. This is why Sanya, who isn't even Christian, has a Sword of the Cross. I feel that if someone is acting as a champion of the faith but behaving in ways that are counter to the virtues specified in their faith, then they should at the *very* least get a heavenly messenger with a sobering wake-up call.
Or to put things another way - we are a group of gamers posting on a board that frowns on "touchy topics". We are not theologians. We are not going be able to determine the "real" agenda of God as presented in the Dresden Files. Not in a way that we all agree on. Not in a way that everyone who follows Him would agree on. Not now and not ever.
I really didn't have a problem with how the character actually acting is providing all sorts of fallout for later in the game and as he is not picking fights with the rest of the party so they are ok with him acting chaotic neutral rather than lawful good. The only reason I had a problem with his true faith abilities is because I am not sure a character who being roleplayed as venal self-serving and just a little bit sadistic should have a power called righteousness.
Oh his high concept was
True Sword of God
His trouble was
Only Human
Venal and self-serving is one of the best descriptions of "Only Human" I've seen recently.
The character was true believer who had his family killed by Vampires and so permanently linked his faith to the destruction of monsters as its primary goal (though his definition of monsters is not defined very well) he is a character ruthlessly seeking vengeance and using his faith as an excuse. As a character though he is moving further and further away from a faith based justification and is now pretty much at the level of he is this because he wants too which was why the change in his powers came up, as at the moment the only thing his character seems to believe in is himself and his revenge.
Looking at other literacy examples, Jim Butcher mentions that he reads Simon R Green, and Simon R Green recently had a book where the Walking Man (the wrath of God among men) arrived in the Nightside, bringing death to the wicked. He's called the Walking Man because when he comes for you he walks in a straight line - nothing can stop him and he can kill practically anything while nothing can harm him. When various targets talk about repenting and God's forgiveness, the Walking Man calmly says "Not my department" and kills them. When other representatives of God try to talk to him the Walking Man basically ignores them - because they aren't his department. Narrow vision and armed with the Wrath of God - that's interesting take on a soldier of God. I'm thinking maybe Morgan as a Knight of the Cross.
I really didn't have a problem with how the character actually acting is providing all sorts of fallout for later in the game and as he is not picking fights with the rest of the party so they are ok with him acting chaotic neutral rather than lawful good. The only reason I had a problem with his true faith abilities is because I am not sure a character who being roleplayed as venal self-serving and just a little bit sadistic should have a power called righteousness.
Eh, altruism, self-sacrifice, kindness and such is only human as well.
The character was true believer who had his family killed by Vampires and so permanently linked his faith to the destruction of monsters as its primary goal (though his definition of monsters is not defined very well) he is a character ruthlessly seeking vengeance and using his faith as an excuse. As a character though he is moving further and further away from a faith based justification and is now pretty much at the level of he is this because he wants too which was why the change in his powers came up, as at the moment the only thing his character seems to believe in is himself and his revenge.If he believes the purpose of his faith is the destruction of monsters, no matter what, then he sounds like he's still pretty in character (and ignoring the death of hostages is a very appropriate thing to do). Just ask him to indicate in character that what he is doing is part of his faith (he only really needs to do simple things like shouting about how the enemy will see the fury of the White God or peppering his speech with religious lines like "As God wills").
Hmm, does the PLAYER understand that not giving a dang about people's lives and such is not very ethical? (Ethics and faith are two separate things, remember). It does seem like a problem if the character doesn't actually have any beliefs. Maybe you should sit down and try to figure that part out. If his faith tells him it is ok to be venal and a total jerk, then that can potentially be alright. Kind of odd for the Abrahamic Religions (at the very least they've been big proponents of their own communities).
Seems like he'd make a lot more sense as a worshiper of some god of battle that believed you had to test yourself in conflict and you could only find any inkling of true meaning that way -- guys like that can be real psychopaths.
Of note I didn't like the nightside books when I first gave them a try but this sounds awesome.
He killed a fairy that might or might not have been evil? Another way of looking at it is that he killed this thing from another world who was plaguing God's Children, interfering with their freewill, and had to be dealt with. As an aside, I could easily picture Micheal (in his prime) going toe to toe with Harry's Godmother over what she does with mortals.
However, if this character - as played - is working in your game, then please take what I/we think with a grain of salt. Ultimately, you, your fellow players, and your GM are the best arbiters of what will work for your game.
Knowing that someone is on a mission from God makes them scary.
You know that Fae i mentioned who was asking the pc to kill a pixie as well as giving the character information as to where the red court nests were in the area also offered the character a rather powerful sword (Caladbolg) in exchange for a large favour the PC refused at the time but the offer remains open, so if I persuade the PC that offer was a good he will replace his Angel Blade (Asrael) and his True Believer powers for a sword with recovery and strength powers.
Why'd the PC refuse Caladbolg? Was it because he wanted to stick to a holy sword or because he didn't want to do the big favor?
The PC refused Caladbolg I think because it involved owing a Winter/ Autumn Fae a large favour which is a very good reason not to do anything,