Let's say that someone of an Alliance faith (let's say 1@1 Catholicism M1@0) who has performed minor holy magic in the past believes that he is no longer capable of calling on those powers - for whatever reason. This character, for whatever reason, attempts to call on an Anarch power, instead, to perform the same magical skill he used before.
What happens to his religion skill? Does he need to the learn the spell again as an anarch version at a different SAL (yes, I should think), and does he get to use his old skill as an example? If his religion skill changes - say, the old skill becomes 1@1 Catholic Theology M0@1 and he picks up 1@1 Occultism M1@0 instead - does this happen in time to bonus his skill-learning attempt?
I said "for whatever reason" twice, above, because I think the answers to these four questions probably don't depend on those reasons in these circumstances. Does anyone think those reasons matter after all?
Well, I remember from Verse Three Chapter One, Lauren Hastings shouts Bible quotes at a vampire, and it recoils in pain. It's not the Bible verses that hurt the vampire, it is Lauren's faith that hurts the vampire. If Lauren lost all of her faith, I don't imagine those would work as well, if at all. It's like so-called Holy Water. People will tell you that only a priest can bless water to make it holy, but the truth is anyone of faith can do it. It is whether or not you believe by faith that it will work. If you have no faith, or you change faith, I wouldn't think it would work anymore. Of course, I know nothing of what the rules say in this matter, I'm just giving my own personal opinion.
This is true, and it's supported by the rules - if a character loses his Religion skill, he can no longer perform holy magic associated with that faith. Here, though, we have a character who goes through a few stages:
1. Character has a little faith, and has the skill to perform very minor miracles. We'll use a M1@1 Bonus Morale as an example.
2. Something happens, and the character believes he has lost the right to call upon his god for aid.
3. The character falls into desperate circumstances and turns to his god's enemies, calling upon them instead to perform the same miracles he was once granted by his god (for example, the same M1@1 Bonus Morale as before).
I feel like an evil power would jump at this chance to perform corrupt magic on behalf of a former follower of a benevolent god, so I want to give this character a skill roll to perform an Anarch holy-magic version of his old spell. I'm curious about how the mechanics handle that.
Scott, not to burst your bubble, but bonus morale has nothing to do with magic. It's called Encouraging Someone!!!! Or do you mean in yourself?
Well, it has to do with magic when you encourage someone by calling upon God to fill them with the Holy Spirit (or something similar). A prayer that your comrades-in-arms not lose heart may be encouraging to hear, but it's even more encouraging if the prayer is heard and answered. Is that more clear?
Anyway, for my mechanics example a M1@3 Bonus Strike might be more appropriate - with "Lord, guide my hand" being replaced with a more sinister prayer once the character believes he has fallen from grace.
Gotcha.
You caught me?
I knew this was a potential problem, and I thought about it, and I never resolved it to my own satisfaction. My inclination is to say that this is on a case-by-case basis. Let me play with a few cases.
Joe believes in an anarch deity, and calls upon that power. He knows, as part of that, that his god is opposed to certain other gods; maybe he realizes that he is on the side of evil, or at least of the rebellion, or maybe he's just in it for the power. Then one day Joe goes toe-to-toe against someone of an alliance faith, and he loses. This shakes his faith, and he decides that it must be because the alliance god has more power than his god. He begins to examine the situation, and determines that he's been serving the wrong god and the wrong side; he's going to go over to the other side.
Now, in this case, an awful lot of Joe's old religion is part of his new religion. He still has a strong faith in the ability of supernatural beings to answer his prayers/spells. He knows something about his new god by contrast with his old god. While his knowledge will be partial, his faith might be greater, since he already believes that this new god has defeated his old god. Further, he has a fair amount of knowledge about spiritual things, in that he knows about the deity who is now his enemy, which is knowledge he can use in his new faith. I'd be inclined to transfer the religion score directly, or penalize it only slightly.
In the alternative, Zack has been a faithful lay follower of an alliance god, moderate amateur religion skill, who has prayed for small things and seen them answered. Then something happens--perhaps one of his prayers fail, perhaps he does something for which he supposes he cannot be forgiven--and he loses all confidence in his ability to call on his god. The player agrees with the referee that he now has not a 1@0 Religion skill but a rather dry 0@1 Theology skill--he believes that there is power, but not that he can access it. Then he needs help, and he still does not believe he can call on his god--but his god has, as you say, enemies, and enemies who would gladly claim an adherent who was on the other side. He dares to call on one of them, and gets an answer. In this case, he has taken the step into a new religion skill, 1@0 Religion in the anarch faith. His theology skill is unchanged, so he preserves what he knows from before (and if the change had not been made before this time, it is made now).
The problem, though, is whether he loses all of his skills in the process. My inclination is to say no (surprise). If I learned to trust one god to guide my sword, and now I'm trusting another god to do the same thing, the skill lies largely in the ability to trust that a god can and will do this; which god it is falls to the religion score.
It may require changing the ritual, and it's likely that I would reduce any expert level skills to 2@10 professional because of that, but a priest who changes his allegiance is still a priest, in my mind, and can still understand the use of power. It may also be that this deity bonuses or penalizes specific skills differently across the board, that is for example, that a particular deity (whether an anarch or someone like Odin) disdains healing spells and so all such spells are penalized. The skill ability level should stay the same, and unless there are changes made to the spell that should change the chance of success, the sit-mods should stay the same.
That's my thinking on it. I've not had it happen, so I've not had to apply it, but that's how I see it going.
--M. J. Young
I saw something kinda like this in 'real' life. J my really bright friend played a RCC priest hunter in a LARP roleplaying game. Everyone else played vamps. He did such a good job of intimidating them that on Day two of the game, most of the vamps turned in their character sheets, and went to play priests....
Eric
My example is drawn from an NPC I'm working up, and is simplified by the fact that he's a low-level amateur in all of these things. If it is possible to be an adherent of an Anarch faith while wishing you were still Alliance, I'm going to run him as you've described Zack in your example. Thanks a bundle.
I certainly think it's possible to have a strong theology SAL in one faith but a religion score in another, and to wish you believed the theology you know. Glad I solved your problem.
--M. J. Young