Post/Author/DateTime	Post
WayneTheGame 03-09-04, 09:17 AM	My group recently moved back into d20 Modern from Shadowrun, and the campaign we're going to play is a variant of the "Shadow Chasers" theme, but set in San Francisco (I think) in 1930. I want my character to be a Catholic priest who studies the occult (Dedicated 4, going to take levels of Occultist soon) to try and use it against the Shadows (taking a page from the "Radical" Inquisitor faction in Warhammer 40K Inquisitor, he believes that the way to combat the Shadows is to use it against itself). He believes that the Shadows are the work of the Devil, but not so far as to be of the "Back, foul spawn of Hell!" cliche. The problem is, I'm not really sure how to play a modern-day priest, let alone when it's the 30s. So far, the only thing I can think of is to have him act educated by talking somewhat softly and not using contractions. I've tried to find some resources online about religion in that time, but to no avail. Any suggestions or ideas will be much appreciated :) P.S. If anyone has any good resource sites about life/culture during 1930, please post them. As I said I've looked at a few but they didn't contain much, if any, useful information.
Kobold Paladin 03-09-04, 10:14 AM	Be sure to take levels in the PrC Child Molster.
TheBlackBart 03-09-04, 10:48 AM	Be sure to take levels in the PrC Child Molster. That. Was. Not. Funny. And it doesn't help either. A complete waste of your time and ours. anyway, back to topic... I am not fully versed in the mores of the 30s... But a trick I have to determine what is my character's pernality is to think of his relationship with others... Our behavior is dictated by our environment. Your character must have a family (unless he's an orphan. At that time, almost every family had a priest amongst them. Maybe you were pushed by your parents to join the Orders, maybe you had to burry childhood dreams for your family's sake. What was/is your relation to your father, mother, siblings? How strong is your faith? In that time most people believed, but more by habit than of true conscious faith, even the priests. Maybe you broke your chastity vows or are an alcoholic... Maybe you see the Shadow creatures as a test of your faith? And you might hold some beliefs from that time, like contraception, homosexuality, alcohol and gambling are wrong, maybe hold speeches against Communism (I'm not sure it existed yet) and be a racist or a sexist, (but only in a mature campaign): this is before WWII and the Cold War, before Martin Luther King and before women emancipation (I think). Anyway, that's all I can think at the moment!
The_Yellow_Dart_Swinger 03-09-04, 11:48 AM	A few things to remember about the 1930 (Thats the year right and not 1930's I hope) Is that proabition is still going on until 1933 (No importing, selling, or drinking of alcohol) Also 'Black Tuesday' has hit in October 29, 1929 which was really the begining of the depressen and people are starting to lose their jobs, banks are closing. Herbert Hoover has been president of the united states for a year and his attitude with the depression is that it will fix its self. When it comes apparent it won't he tries to do major changes but its that 'too little, too late' thing. Also yes communism was in existance at this time in Russia or at that time the U.S.S.R (established in 1922) Now you have to wonder why he studies the occult. How did he learn it? Did some act open his eyes to the evilness that has secretly befallen mankind? Why did you become a priest? Was it like someone showed you the light? Did you want to help people and thought that being a priest was the best way? Did a higher power command you? Try www.historychannel.com (http://www.historychannel.com) and use their search engine for items and check the net also. Hope some of this helps. PS Kobold Paladin: Not Funny
zioth 03-09-04, 01:51 PM	I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Catholic priest who studies the occult. If people know about it, he's likely to be an outcast, perhaps even to the point where assasination attempts are made against him. For a nice example of an occultist/priest, read _the Hunchback of Notre Dame_. It's a couple hundred years before the 1930s, but it should still give you some good material.
WayneTheGame 03-09-04, 06:29 PM	Originally posted by zioth I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Catholic priest who studies the occult. If people know about it, he's likely to be an outcast, perhaps even to the point where assasination attempts are made against him. Probably true, but... since there are monsters and such in the campaign.. besides, the idea would be he'd study the occult in order to combat the evils, rather than use it for evil purposes. Anyways, thanks for the replies! I appreciate it.
TheBlackBart 03-09-04, 09:12 PM	He might have found some indexed books that talked about the supernatural... Somehow, maybe he was addicted to the knowledge, and couldn't stop reading and reading, justifying himself with his purpose of using this knowledge against the denizens of Shadow.
Skyrocket 03-10-04, 12:50 AM	The Vatican really does have people who investigate supposed mircles and deal with possesions. It wouldn't be to much of a strectch to say they might have some people who deal with Shadow stuff in order to protect the church.
Timespike 03-11-04, 02:42 AM	Originally posted by Kobold Paladin Be sure to take levels in the PrC Child Molster. Cute. I suppose the fact that the VAST majority of catholic priests are decent, honest, upstanding, generous, genuinely good pillars of their communities is lost on you, but that was beyond the pale. I SINCERELY hope some WizO bans you permanently. That was low. I'm not even a catholic and that REALLy offended me.
nick012000 03-11-04, 04:07 AM	Originally posted by Timespike Cute. I suppose the fact that the VAST majority of catholic priests are decent, honest, upstanding, generous, genuinely good pillars of their communities is lost on you, but that was beyond the pale. I SINCERELY hope some WizO bans you permanently. That was low. I'm not even a catholic and that REALLy offended me. I thought it was funny. *shrugs*
TheMightyMcClaw 03-12-04, 03:27 PM	I tried playing a similar character in a D20 Modern/Urban Arcana oneshot. He was loosely based off of Father Anderson, the priest from Hellsing. In general, he was a slightly creepy (NOT in a child molestor way, Kobold), very intense character.... sort of the archetypal occultist, but backed by religious faith. He also a gunslinger, by the way ^_^. It was part of the image I based the class of; a tall man in black with a priest's collar and glasses, holding a pair of handguns and grinning as demons poured out of hell..... It was a rather hack-and-slash, campaign, I might add.
Amator 03-17-04, 12:48 PM	Ever heard of a catholic priest and author named Malachi Martin? He was a priest who became an exorcist and was later released from his vows as a Jesuit to become an "independant" priest. Some alledged that he was actually defrocked and made up his unique ecclesiastical status. He's written many books on exorcism, occultism and satanism in the vatican, and corruption in general. I've only read one of his books(Hostage to the Devil - it's a lot of case studies in exorcism, freaky stuff), but his others look like they may also be helpful. Several of them are in the public library here. Here (http://www.starharbor.com/fr_martin/index1.html) is a page about the man. He lived from 1920-1990 or so. Also, you may want to browse through some of the more mystical works at a Catholic bookstore. Look for Unseen Warfare by Lorenzo Scupoli (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0913836524/qid=1079545157/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-2203017-1518246?v=glance&s=books&n=507846), The Divine Names;The Mystical Theology by Dionysius the Areopagite (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0922802971/ref=cm_bg_d_12/103-2203017-1518246?v=glance), The Cloud of Unknowing (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385030975/ref=pd_sim_books_1/103-2203017-1518246?v=glance&s=books) for a good start. Read up on the Jesuits(also referred to as the Society of Jesus), Opus Dei(the order highlighted in the Dan Brown novel The DaVinci Code (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385504209/qid=1079545438/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-2203017-1518246), The Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, etc. Also, check out Focault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345368754/qid=1079545490/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-2203017-1518246). These should give you a few interesting ideas. If you don't want to go that deeply into it, check out the first link on Malachi Martin. You could pretty much model a character after this guy.
titlt 03-20-04, 09:10 PM	.. Why's everyone flaring up about the child molesting jest? It wasn't that bad. Which reminds me of a joke A man went to confess his sins. As he spoke to the priest the priest said that he had to go to the bathroom and asked the man to take over for the time he would be in the john, the priest said that there was a list within the booth stating how many ave marias and other prayers each sin demanded. The man agreed and everything went fine until a guy came and confessed having a-nal sex and now sought redemption. The man who was in the booth looked in the list but didn't find butt sex, so he asked the choirboy who was standing next to the booth :"psst what does the priest give usually for :censored::censored::censored::censored: :censored::censored: sex " the choirboy replied : "Cookies and a soda pop"
Haradim 03-20-04, 10:34 PM	Originally posted by titlt .. Why's everyone flaring up about the child molesting jest? Most probably doubt it was a joke. *raise hand* I don't think this thread will last very much longer.
Sorel 03-21-04, 12:22 PM	Given the time period, I would surmise that such a character would likely be the second oldest son in a large family. One thing you could work into a background is the possibility that his first parish was in a poor working class neighbourhood (or maybe even a Dust Bowl farm community). In either case, something happened there that affected him profoundly, either a Shadow encounter or maybe even a growing sense of helplessness against a monster he could not dispatch. (Namely the poverty all around him.) In any case, his bishop assigns him a new posting, namely the local Diocesan Contraumbrian. Whether this is by the bishop's choice or the priest's request is up to you. Obviously, this office doesn't exist IRL. The Contraumbrian is a specific office (like a confessor or an exorcist or an evangelist or a hospital chaplain) in the diocese (local area under the supervision of a bishop) that is specifically established for confronting and investigating Shadow creatures. (Umbra is Latin for shadow) The key to the background of a modern priest is the fact that he's always answering to someone above him. He is likely doing his Shadow Chasing at the behest of the church. He is likely a Shadow Chaser because either his bishop or his order (the Jesuits or some Papal group) made it so. He could also be a monk belonging to a specific order that deals with Shadow. Heck, he could even be a Vatican envoy. The simplest background is probably to have him just appointed from the parish church to this Contraumbrian office. Or maybe he got posted to the Contraumbrian office becuase he's black.... What I should add is that I suspect being a parish priest does not lend itself to adventure very well. I used to work as a Protestant minister and I just can't see it turning into guns a blazing demon blasting very easily. Try to make it your character's JOB to hunt these evil things down (or investigate them). As for the Occultist AdC, it's not like you're casting spells willy nilly. You're essentially a scholar, not a wizard.