Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 leliel Oct 11, 2009 11:16:24	You see, I hope to create a lycanthrope PCs game, where the werebeasts are an oppressed minority with the stigma of leprosy about them. They have any alignment, of course, more often then not just being scapegoats who want to be left alone more than anything. I had always held the main "villains" of my campaign to be of the "mistakable for heroes" variety, and I have proof of that-when I posted the BBEG, Erebin Pullusia, on Giant in the Playground, more than a few posters were unhappy he was slated for the "bad guy" corner. One even suggested he be the "mentor" figure to the PCs. So, I naturally had to create a truly monstrous character, so utterly vile that the very fact you're opposing him assures you that you're the good guy. And given that most of the major characters, good and bad, are going to have a bit of a sympathetic connection to the moon, why not a priest of the sun?  And you know? I already had one! Inquisitor Caelum is a cleric of Pelor who is responsible for most of the misery that turned Erebin from a noble knight into the lycanthropic Malcolm X he is today. Even when I was focusing on Erebin, he was a right old scumbag, murdering the poor guy's werewolf wife in front of him, not because of his dislike of lycanthropes-which he has, in great amounts-but because he was jealous of Erebin's success as a holy warrior and wanted him to commit suicide. That's pretty much the bottom of the morality barrel to begin with, but I want the PCs to really loathe him as an individual-not only because they're the target of a genocide spearheaded by him (a hypocritical position at best, given that one of Erebin's first acts of revenge was infecting the Inquisitor with lycanthropy himself), but that Erebin's own terrorist group looks like saints in comparison. To be fair, making the Moonlords look more like freedom fighters isn't all that hard-see comments about Erebin's morality above, and now realize that he attempts to apply his standards to everyone who works for him-but I want Caelum to be, simply put, scum who still works for a mostly benevolent sun god (who, if he knew of Caelum's depravity, would send him into the physical representation of his domain). So, how would you role-play a light-based cleric who happens to be one of the evilest people in existence?
#2 slobo777a Oct 11, 2009 12:51:24	I immediately thought of Torquemada from the 2000AD strip Nemesis: Torquemada
#3 death_isthe_begining Oct 12, 2009 23:29:21	"Let all the corruption burn before the light of Pelor" Says this priest just before he subjects a smiling child to a light. He might truly beleive he is in the right in which case the afore-mentioned light burns the child, but if he is just using religion as an excuse to do want he wants then the child is merely aglow with light(then he proccedes to kill every one who disagrees with him). If you really want him to be screwed up in the head maybe he starts using the religion as an excuse but he begins to beleive his own lies burning everyone(including other priests at the end).
#4 Svempa Oct 14, 2009 11:08:57	You see, I hope to create a lycanthrope PCs game, where the werebeasts are an oppressed minority with the stigma of leprosy about them. They have any alignment, of course, more often then not just being scapegoats who want to be left alone more than anything. I had always held the main "villains" of my campaign to be of the "mistakable for heroes" variety, and I have proof of that-when I posted the BBEG, Erebin Pullusia, on Giant in the Playground, more than a few posters were unhappy he was slated for the "bad guy" corner. One even suggested he be the "mentor" figure to the PCs. So, I naturally had to create a truly monstrous character, so utterly vile that the very fact you're opposing him assures you that you're the good guy. And given that most of the major characters, good and bad, are going to have a bit of a sympathetic connection to the moon, why not a priest of the sun?  And you know? I already had one! Inquisitor Caelum is a cleric of Pelor who is responsible for most of the misery that turned Erebin from a noble knight into the lycanthropic Malcolm X he is today. Even when I was focusing on Erebin, he was a right old scumbag, murdering the poor guy's werewolf wife in front of him, not because of his dislike of lycanthropes-which he has, in great amounts-but because he was jealous of Erebin's success as a holy warrior and wanted him to commit suicide. That's pretty much the bottom of the morality barrel to begin with, but I want the PCs to really loathe him as an individual-not only because they're the target of a genocide spearheaded by him (a hypocritical position at best, given that one of Erebin's first acts of revenge was infecting the Inquisitor with lycanthropy himself), but that Erebin's own terrorist group looks like saints in comparison. To be fair, making the Moonlords look more like freedom fighters isn't all that hard-see comments about Erebin's morality above, and now realize that he attempts to apply his standards to everyone who works for him-but I want Caelum to be, simply put, scum who still works for a mostly benevolent sun god (who, if he knew of Caelum's depravity, would send him into the physical representation of his domain). So, how would you role-play a light-based cleric who happens to be one of the evilest people in existence? Well, you seem to be the kind of person who likes to stir up trouble, and that is a good kind of person, because I think people on this forum act a little too mellow sometimes. Sure, its good to be gentle, but troublemakers are sometimes needed to make things more entertaining. Well, since Pelor is a sun-god, the swastika springs to mind. As you know perhaps, the swastika is a sun symbol. Another similar symbol is the circle with a cross inside it. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_symbol#Sun_cro...) Its often used by fantasy geeks in illustrations, rune script etc. Ironically, this second from the top symbol on the wiki page (the one I am talking about) was used by a Swedish neo-fascist movement that garnered a little support during the late eighties and the early nineties.  There were a lot of seemingly benign people who supported the nazis-- Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun was one of them. "After Hitler's death, Hamsun wrote an obituary in the leading Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, describing him as a "warrior for mankind". If you watch the movie "Hamsun" with Max Von Sydov in the lead-- that is how I would play him.
#5 inferiae Oct 14, 2009 14:20:46	He has no concept of mercy, and has no sympathy. Not just for his enemies, but for anyone, really. He does go out and kill arguably evil things, but is willing to accept a LOT of collateral damage in the process.  If a town is known to harbor lycanthropes, just burn it to the ground while barricading the exits with troops.  It's the only way to be certain the evil of Lycanthrope will not spread further. These lycanthropic abominations represent the ultimate corruption of people and must be eradicated.  He is a fanatic, and deals in absolutes.  To him, there is no such thing as a good lycanthrope, and further, no one who willingly associates with them can be good.  Even those who were unwillingly with them are suspected of having been corrupted. Further, every success vindicates his prior actions. He will grow bolder in his acts, eventually reaching the above example of burning villages.
#6 Salamandyr2000 Oct 14, 2009 16:22:25	Reminds me of the Burning Crusade.  I'd suggest including an NPC Priest of Pelor who isn't a villain for the PC's to have someone to reflect on.  Without a contrast, the player's don't really know that "no, that's not how priests of Pelor are supposed to act in this world".
#7 leliel Oct 17, 2009 17:11:35	Reminds me of the Burning Crusade.  I'd suggest including an NPC Priest of Pelor who isn't a villain for the PC's to have someone to reflect on.  Without a contrast, the player's don't really know that "no, that's not how priests of Pelor are supposed to act in this world". Good point.   Erebin himself is a Pelorite, although his faith is decidedly lapsed.    Indeed, I plan on having a minority of the Moonlords take "hero worship" to the next level and believe him to be a mortal incarnation of the sun god-"The moon reflects the light of the sun, as our savior was born from the true Lightbringer." He...thinks they're blowing him out of proportion.