Characters: True Believers
The Knights of the Cross don’t have the whole market cornered on faith-powered heroics. They might be the big dogs, but there are plenty of other true believers out there willing to face down the darkness.
True Believer
Faith has power in the Dresdenverse, where the strength of your belief can-when focused properly-turn back the tide of darkness. There are special mortals among us whose belief is so strong that it crosses into the territory of true supernatural power. These mortals might be called true believers, for lack of a better term.
At their most extreme, true believers are among those actually called upon by a higher power to take action (and are better represented by the Champion of God). But short of that, these men and women of faith can still give pause to the creatures of the Nevernever, for the strength of their convictions is such that it is a palpable supernatural force.
BILLY: From my reading of the casefiles, this is where I’d put Father Forthill. He might not be a sword-swinging Knight of the Cross, but he’s still someone you’d want at your back when the demons come pounding on the door.
Musts: A true believer must have a high concept aspect that speaks to the strength of his or her abiding faith in a higher power or other similar construct (e.g., MAN OF GOD or ZEN PRIESTESS) — in short, a belief in something powerful and life-affirming beyond oneself. A high Conviction skill (Good or better) is highly recommended.
Additionally, true believers must take the following supernatural abilities:
- Bless This House
- Guide My Hand
Options: True believers may also have Righteousness, and a select few might even carry some holy relic, warranting a custom-design Item of Power agreed upon with the GM.
Tune in two weeks down the road to learn the shapes the were-form takes.
This will be my first character if I am fortunate enough to play rather than GM. Excellent stuff.
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Side Note: I just got my copy of Spirit and it is excellent. Already have a head full of ideas. My hat is off to you folks at Evil Hat. I came for Dresden and now own Spirit and DRYH.
Here’s a question: Does a true believer actually have to believe in something religious? The point is that it’s the power of their belief that manifests, so if they really, really believed in something non-religious (like some famous person, or even themselves) would they still count? My only thought on why this couldn’t be the case is if they’re drawing power from a sort of “pool of faith” (such as the power of all the people that have ever believed in a religion). Anyone have the official word on this?
In the books, Harry talks about Faith (capital F) which leads me to believe it is more than belief. I can see someone believing in Martin Luther King Jr. but I have trouble seeing them express faith in him. However, that’s not to say that someone couldn’t have Faith (capital F) in democracy or some-such. It would have to be relevant to the beastie of the moment in some way though to work, in my opinion.
I’d guess that the source of the Oomph behind this concept is belief that being in harm’s way is The Right Thing To Do, and devotion to whatever the ideology is. I wouldn’t expect devotion to Kate Moss to have much value except perhaps where Kate Moss is concerned, whereas if the ideology is more generally applicable, you’ve got yourself an appropriately heroic (or anti-heroic) concept.
You don’t have to believe in something religious. One of the Knights of the Cross (which is sort of the super-fied version of a True Believer) is an atheist, after all. What does he believe in? The principles of community and common good found in *communism*.
Ultimately, the big deal with capital-F Faith is that you believe in something *bigger than yourself*, with just a little element of unprovability tossed in for spice. (Principles of common good are founded on the notion of humans as intrinsically good, in a way — not exactly the sort of thing you can prove.)
Murphy might come *close* with her beliefs in the Law, but it doesn’t quite cut it on the basis of it being bound and defined within human comprehension. This is why religions work best for True Believers, but there are always outliers (such as Sanya).
So, defining a Big-F-Faith that is meets the criteria of…
A) thematically appropriateness,
B) believable (pun intended),
C) at least a portion of it is ‘beyond logic’, and
D) manifests as bigger than oneself
…could produce some of the most wondrous discussions on this board. Are there any other criteria? Skipping over the “easy” ones based on real-world belief systems (either current or “defunct”), would anyone care to take up the challenge of defining a Faith based on something else?
So would Faith in Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, be sufficient, if you tacked on the belief that he did not truly die on the john but somehow transcended in some way?
bit wacky, but could work…
@Iorwerth — That’d be too goofy and too… I don’t know, mundane (is Elvis as big as Zen or Christianity or Communism or whatever?) for a game I’d run, but hey, if the GM lets it in…
This is wonderful and exciting and all, but my favorite line is that last one – “Next week: Were-things!” Lycanthropes were never enough for me.
Two questions about that: is that the flavor of werewolf that Tara was, or the “Native American were-buffalo” Bob mentioned? Can’t remember now if they’re the same thing. Also, are we going to be seeing Hexenwolfen? Because the one character I am dying to play is Hector Caux, Ex-enwolf.
@Raegan — Sorry, dude. You’ll have to wait and see.
hmm… it think i could see this work for the more defensive player… wanting a form of power to protect and defend against super baddies , but less power than as to smite them down single handed… i’d suppose they have more free will than the knights of the cross… what with the errands for god.
True Believers have access to every power that Knights of the Cross do except Holy Touch. Why is that?
@Skyler, because Red Court vampires don’t burst into flame when they touch Father Forthill… but they do when they touch Michael.
Always wanted to do a character who had an unshakable belief in the Dollar, look at everything thats been thrown at it and it keeps on ticking (I’m from Blighty btb), or some other similar concept, never had a GM willing to run with it though
If I ever get to play and not run Dresden then I do believe I have my character
@Chris
Yikes. A Richard Rahl concept.
Minor point, but I’m pretty sure he’s an agnostic.
@fred
Doesn’t that just mean that one single instance of a true believer, Father Forthill, didn’t take that power while he was being statted up? (so to speak!)
I think a holy man whose flesh repels the undead — but who isn’t necessarily all-that with a sword — isn’t particularly outside of scope for the Dresden Files.
::shrug:: I guess it depends on how proscriptive things are.
Theoretically, wizards can’t have foxes for pets, since no vulpine famulae turn up in the books…
This is what I think folks are missing: Holy Touch is the point at which someone crosses over from the “True Believer” character template (a divine-power lightweight) into a “Champion of God” character template (a divine-power heavyweight). The kinds of character types folks are talking about here are completely supported — under that other template. Not all Champions of God are Knights of the Cross. Go back and read that entry! http://www.dresdenfilesrpg.com/2008/12/29/champion/
@fred
::is sheepish:: Thanks, fred
I’m really looking forward to this class and the Champion of God. I’m working on an idea for an organization, started by elements within the Vatican, to help and augment the Knights of the Cross. Working title for the group is the Knightly Order of St. George. St. George was a martyr who was famous for slaying a dragon.
The members would be true believers who are Priests(including Military Chaplains), Monks, Nuns, Lay-peole who would act as eyes and ears for the KotC and the Vaticans own heavy hitting Champions of God. When KotC or higher level KoSG went to an area, he could count on the local member of the KoSG to provide, food, shelter and intel.
The ranking system of this order would be set up like ranks within the British Knightly orders. Member, Lieutenant, Commander, Knight Commander, with the Grand Cross of the order at its head. Only Knight Commanders and above would be Champions of God. Of which, there would only be 6 Knight Commanders, 1 for each inhabited continents. With the Grand Cross of the Order headquartered in Rome.
What do you guys think?
@Brendan S., love it.
We’ve actually got a lot of potential for positive religious characters in the game, thanks to the source material. In our Baltimore example setting, there’s a quartet of True Believers running around: a nun, a rabbi, an imam, and a reverend.