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Silver Flame Cleric as Merc?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
capfalcon
Jun 25, 2008 0:40:38 One of my players is planning on playing a Cleric of the Silver Flame in a Mercenary campaign.

Does anyone have any ideas of why a Good cleric of the Silver Flame is going to make a living killing people for money?

Thanks in advance,

Capfalcon
#2
julescarv
Jun 25, 2008 1:14:41 I think that if you interviewed some mercenaries, I think you'd find plenty of them are deeply religious. I don't know if the fraction might be less than that of the general population, but surely they're not all agnostic types. While you can't really say that religions are "aligned" in real life, in the sense that their clergy don't have auras or anything, many would have religions frequently construed as good. Erik Prince, the CEO of Blackwater Worldwide, for instance, is a devout Roman Catholic who has devoted considerable energy and money to Christian causes.

Of course, mercenaries generally aren't priests, because priest is an entirely different profession. However, a true cleric needn't be a priest in Eberron anyway -- nor need a priest be a cleric. (Most are commoners, experts or adepts. Some are clerics. The high priestess of one faith is a high-level wizard -- it'd be kinda interesting to play an utterly devout character with priestly trappings who was mechanically classed as a sorcerer, rogue, fighter, or the like who is a genuine ordained priest of the faith and not a fraud pretending to be a priest.)

So while he won't be preaching sermons in a church, neither would most PC clerics. He could be a mercenary who's extremely devoted to the Silver Flame and is also capable of channelling its power.

Now, as for the "good" part -- well, of course, a cleric of the Silver Flame doesn't really need to be good, but if this character will be, are you generally trying to run a campaign where good characters won't fit? Do you think good characters of all stripes, not just clergy of the Silver Flame, might be inappropriate? If so, then you might just tell your player "I'm not allowing good characters in this campaign. Sorry -- can we work out a neutral/unaligned or evil character for you?" That's just as acceptable, if not as conventional, as disallowing evil characters. If you're allowing good characters in general, then there's no particular reason to disallow this one.
#3
JohnLynch
Jun 25, 2008 1:15:23 A few options:
1) He doesn't have to have a merc mentality. It could be he's decided to help out the mercenaries because he either views them as a force of good or he wants to guide them towards doing good.
2) He acknowledges that to do good you must be able to live and survive. So he takes coin so that he can afford food, clothing, better armor, etc so he can continue to do good. He would, of course, refuse to take on any jobs that involve killing good people.
3) He's newly converted to the religion of the Silver Flame and is struggling to find his place in the world and is unsure on how to best do good in it. But he keeps trying every day.
4) He's from a more militant sect of the Silver Flame rather then the Church proper in Thrane and so is willing to kill almost anyone so that good can prevail. He also doesn't see anything wrong in profiting from this so he can continue to do the good work.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head.
#4
Gurv
Jun 25, 2008 12:37:49 It could be that he has been charged by the Flame to raise money for a very important cause- and selling his services might be the only way he had available. I would come up with a cause, but make it very specific. This isn't something the Church as a whole wants done...this is a holy quest give to one particular priest.

Maybe the Flame needs a relic created, and for whatever divine reason it must be this cleric who does it. Or perhaps someone has been wronged, either by the church or by the priest himself, and raising the money is a form of atonement.

This of course assumes that the player isn't expecting to keep the money he earns as a merc for himself. If it is expected that he be able to take the money and use it form his own ends, then you might not have a lawful good cleric on the table. If that is the case, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Just make sure that the character is selling his services as a warrior, not his capabilities as a cleric. Of course he can use his clerical powers to be a better warrior- just don't sell spells. It would also be helpful if the merc jobs he picked up also coincided with his beliefs. Hunting down possessed criminals, undead, and other supernatural things goes a long way towards appeasing the Church and the Flame. Naturally, he can't take jobs that run counter to his own faith (willfully working for the Lords of Dust, or eradicating the couatl, for example).
#5
durskut
Jun 25, 2008 15:39:03 i'd agree with the above. flip through Faiths of Eberron (if you/they have it) and on the 1st page of the silver flame section it says they are commited to fighting evil in all its forms. If this character is a good warrior, he could certainly join up to kill evil. some development ideas:

1. the character keeps a close eye on/communicates often with his commander to make sure they are still fighting evil.
2. don't forget people have perceptions too. the gnolls he's killing might be working for some good entity, but if he thinks things from droam are evil, he won't loose sleep.
3. kinda like the above, nationalism may come into play as well. if he was raised in a country he probably thinks that countries enemies are at best neutral (even if they are good).

with all of these you could turn the tables at any point by letting the truth (if it is bad for the character) slip. for instance he could be friends with his commander and after a battle he finds a symbol of the sovergin host on a body. upon confronting his friend he finds out Lt. Tirol glossed over the fact these were brelish troops because money was tight, he (the pc) did want to eat this month right?

good luck, and good concept
#6
thaliost
Jun 27, 2008 11:08:48 One thing to point out is that a cleric of the Silver Flame is not always good. Actually quite a few are evil, depending on what they believe in and which branch they belong to.

If your player is a good cleric, however, and he wants to be a mercenary, there're still several possible reasons that he could do that. I'm not going to repeat what other folks have mentioned here. Look into Faiths of Eberron and Five Nations, and you'll find a bunch more.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 capfalcon Jun 25, 2008 0:40:38	One of my players is planning on playing a Cleric of the Silver Flame in a Mercenary campaign. Does anyone have any ideas of why a Good cleric of the Silver Flame is going to make a living killing people for money? Thanks in advance, Capfalcon
#2 julescarv Jun 25, 2008 1:14:41	I think that if you interviewed some mercenaries, I think you'd find plenty of them are deeply religious. I don't know if the fraction might be less than that of the general population, but surely they're not all agnostic types. While you can't really say that religions are "aligned" in real life, in the sense that their clergy don't have auras or anything, many would have religions frequently construed as good. Erik Prince, the CEO of Blackwater Worldwide, for instance, is a devout Roman Catholic who has devoted considerable energy and money to Christian causes. Of course, mercenaries generally aren't priests, because priest is an entirely different profession. However, a true cleric needn't be a priest in Eberron anyway -- nor need a priest be a cleric. (Most are commoners, experts or adepts. Some are clerics. The high priestess of one faith is a high-level wizard -- it'd be kinda interesting to play an utterly devout character with priestly trappings who was mechanically classed as a sorcerer, rogue, fighter, or the like who is a genuine ordained priest of the faith and not a fraud pretending to be a priest.) So while he won't be preaching sermons in a church, neither would most PC clerics. He could be a mercenary who's extremely devoted to the Silver Flame and is also capable of channelling its power. Now, as for the "good" part -- well, of course, a cleric of the Silver Flame doesn't really need to be good, but if this character will be, are you generally trying to run a campaign where good characters won't fit? Do you think good characters of all stripes, not just clergy of the Silver Flame, might be inappropriate? If so, then you might just tell your player "I'm not allowing good characters in this campaign. Sorry -- can we work out a neutral/unaligned or evil character for you?" That's just as acceptable, if not as conventional, as disallowing evil characters. If you're allowing good characters in general, then there's no particular reason to disallow this one.
#3 JohnLynch Jun 25, 2008 1:15:23	A few options: 1) He doesn't have to have a merc mentality. It could be he's decided to help out the mercenaries because he either views them as a force of good or he wants to guide them towards doing good. 2) He acknowledges that to do good you must be able to live and survive. So he takes coin so that he can afford food, clothing, better armor, etc so he can continue to do good. He would, of course, refuse to take on any jobs that involve killing good people. 3) He's newly converted to the religion of the Silver Flame and is struggling to find his place in the world and is unsure on how to best do good in it. But he keeps trying every day. 4) He's from a more militant sect of the Silver Flame rather then the Church proper in Thrane and so is willing to kill almost anyone so that good can prevail. He also doesn't see anything wrong in profiting from this so he can continue to do the good work. Just a few ideas off the top of my head.
#4 Gurv Jun 25, 2008 12:37:49	It could be that he has been charged by the Flame to raise money for a very important cause- and selling his services might be the only way he had available. I would come up with a cause, but make it very specific. This isn't something the Church as a whole wants done...this is a holy quest give to one particular priest. Maybe the Flame needs a relic created, and for whatever divine reason it must be this cleric who does it. Or perhaps someone has been wronged, either by the church or by the priest himself, and raising the money is a form of atonement. This of course assumes that the player isn't expecting to keep the money he earns as a merc for himself. If it is expected that he be able to take the money and use it form his own ends, then you might not have a lawful good cleric on the table. If that is the case, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just make sure that the character is selling his services as a warrior, not his capabilities as a cleric. Of course he can use his clerical powers to be a better warrior- just don't sell spells. It would also be helpful if the merc jobs he picked up also coincided with his beliefs. Hunting down possessed criminals, undead, and other supernatural things goes a long way towards appeasing the Church and the Flame. Naturally, he can't take jobs that run counter to his own faith (willfully working for the Lords of Dust, or eradicating the couatl, for example).
#5 durskut Jun 25, 2008 15:39:03	i'd agree with the above. flip through Faiths of Eberron (if you/they have it) and on the 1st page of the silver flame section it says they are commited to fighting evil in all its forms. If this character is a good warrior, he could certainly join up to kill evil. some development ideas: 1. the character keeps a close eye on/communicates often with his commander to make sure they are still fighting evil. 2. don't forget people have perceptions too. the gnolls he's killing might be working for some good entity, but if he thinks things from droam are evil, he won't loose sleep. 3. kinda like the above, nationalism may come into play as well. if he was raised in a country he probably thinks that countries enemies are at best neutral (even if they are good). with all of these you could turn the tables at any point by letting the truth (if it is bad for the character) slip. for instance he could be friends with his commander and after a battle he finds a symbol of the sovergin host on a body. upon confronting his friend he finds out Lt. Tirol glossed over the fact these were brelish troops because money was tight, he (the pc) did want to eat this month right? good luck, and good concept
#6 thaliost Jun 27, 2008 11:08:48	One thing to point out is that a cleric of the Silver Flame is not always good. Actually quite a few are evil, depending on what they believe in and which branch they belong to. If your player is a good cleric, however, and he wants to be a mercenary, there're still several possible reasons that he could do that. I'm not going to repeat what other folks have mentioned here. Look into Faiths of Eberron and Five Nations, and you'll find a bunch more.