Arcane Background: Blessed (Noir)

The Blessed

Blessed are individuals who have been granted supernatural abilities by mysterious and distant powers of good. Some are priests or actual clergy while others are simply chosen for the nobility of their struggle or their soul. Though most are enlightened and good by nature they don’t have to be—sometimes the light chooses even troubled souls to carry out its will. Blessed are rare in any era, but they are particularly absent when mankind loses faith and the powers of good grow weaker. But there are always a few noble souls who struggle against the darkness regardless.

Below are the rules for those who want to play these spiritual warriors.

Arcane Background (Blessed)

Requirements: Wild Card, Novice, Faith d4+, Spirit d8+

Arcane Skill: Faith (Spirit)

Power Points: 10

Starting Powers: 3 (Protection, plus two of player’s choice)

Available Powers: Armor, banish, beast friend, blind, bolster, boost/lower Trait, confusion, deflection, dispel, divination, greater healing, healing, light (not obscure), numb, protection, quickness, slow, smite, spirit shield, stun, succor, warrior’s gift.

Special Rules

• Crisis of Faith: When a blessed rolls a 1 on her Faith die (regardless of the Wild Die), her Faith is reduced by a die type until she spends an hour in restful meditation, contemplation, or prayer. A blessed’s Faith can never be reduced below d4 by a Crisis of Faith.

• Miracles: The blessed may use Edges that require Arcane Background (Miracles).

• Sinning: Blessed who violate their core beliefs are temporarily or permanently forsaken by whatever forces of good grant them their powers. Minor sins give the character –2 to his Faith rolls for a week. Major sins rob him of all arcane powers for a week. Mortal sins cause the character to be forsaken until the penitent hero completes some great quest or task of atonement to regain his lost powers (Marshal’s call).

New Power: Protection

Rank: Novice

Power Points: 1

Range: Self

Duration: 3 (1/round)

A blessed who does nothing but concentrate on his faith is very difficult for creatures of darkness to oppose. A supernatural creatures that wants to directly attack a blessed using protection must win an opposed test of its Spirit versus the target’s Faith. Casters who present a proper religious symbol add +2 to the roll.

Trappings

Blessed powers are always subtle if not outright imperceptible—usually so much so that only the effects are visible. None of the non-cosmetic Trappings from Savage Worlds may be applied to their powers.

Blessed-only Edges

Exorcist

Requirements: Novice, Arcane Background(Miracles), Spirit d8+, Faith d10+

The character is a member of the clergy trained to drive demonic spirits from human bodies. Anytime he makes an opposed Spirit or Faith test versus demons or supernaturally evil forces, he adds +4 to his roll.

Monster Hunter

Requirements: Seasoned, Spirit d6+

The character is completely immune to Fear checks from one broad type of creature, such as ghosts, werewolves, vampires, or constructs.

If applied to spellcasters, it includes the fear spell as well. The Game Master is the final arbiter of whether or not the Edge applies to a particular horror. The Edge may be taken multiple times, each applying to a different creature type.

Adept

Requirements: Novice, Arcane Background (Miracles), Martial Artist, Faith d8+, Fighting d8+

Adepts are holy warriors who have trained themselves to be living weapons. Some do so to be ultimate warriors; others do it in the service of a cause or deity. As a free action, an adept can spend 1 Power Point to gain AP 2 with all of his unarmed attacks until his next action. In addition, upon taking this Edge and at each new Rank, they may choose to change the trappings of one of the following powers to work only on themselves but be activated as a free action: boost/lower trait, deflection, healing, smite, or speed. The Adept must have the power to begin with, and this does not allow him to activate more than one power in a round.

Champion

Requirements: Novice, Arcane Background (Miracles), Spirit d8+, Strength d6+, Vigor d8+, Faith d6+, Fighting d8+

Champions are holy (or unholy) men and women chosen to fight for a particular deity or religion. Most are pious souls ready and willing to lay down their lives for a greater cause, but some may have been born into the role and follow their path with some reluctance. Champions fight the forces of darkness (or good). They add +2 damage when attacking supernaturally evil (or good) creatures, and have +2 Toughness when suffering damage from supernaturally evil (or good) sources, including arcane powers and the weapons, claws, teeth, etc., of such creatures.

Holy/Unholy Warrior

Requirements: Novice, Arcane Background (Miracles), Spirit d8+, Faith d6+

Acolytes, clerics, paladins, holy slayers, and other avatars of the gods are frequently tasked with battling the forces of evil in the mortal world. This Edge gives them a slight advantage against such foes. As an action, a priest or other holy person may call upon his chosen deity to repulse supernaturally evil creatures, such as the undead, demons, and the like. It also works on evil characters with the Arcane Background (Miracles) Edge. Repulsing evil costs 1 Power Point and has a range of the character's Spirit. Targeted creatures within that range must make a Spirit roll. Failure means the creature is Shaken; a 1 means it is destroyed. Wild Cards suffer an automatic Wound instead. A character may also be an Unholy Warrior working for the forces of evil. In this case, he repulses good creatures, such as angels, paladins, or good characters with Arcane Background (Miracles).

Talisman Craftsman

Requirements: Novice, Smarts d8+, Spirit d8+, Arcane Background (Magic or Miracles), Knowledge (Occult) d8+, arcane skill d8+

This is a magical version of the Gadgeteer Edge. Once per game session, a character with the Talisman Edge can create a magic device and imbue it with arcane energy. The device uses any power available to a magician or miracle worker in that setting (though this is still subject to Rank restrictions). It has half the creator’s Power Points. Once these are used up, they do not recharge. The ritual to imbue the object takes d20 minutes. Activating the device requires a Smarts (magic) or

Spirit (miracles) roll.

Holy Water

Holy water is reasonably clean water that has been blessed by an ordained or otherwise recognized priest of some sort. Undead and demons despise this blessed essence of life itself and suffer severe reactions to contact with it. Non-Wild Card demons or undead contacted by holy water must make a Spirit roll or be Shaken. Wild Cards are automatically Fatigued instead, though it cannot render them Incapacitated. Holy water is usually delivered in one of three ways:

Splashed: The liquid is splashed from a container of some sort, such as a flask or canteen. This creates a cone-size spray. The attacker makes an Agility roll at +2 (due to the scattered nature of the spray). Victims make an Agility roll as well, and if they exceed the attacker's total manage to dodge the spray and are unaffected.

Grenade: These are typically manufactured from water balloons, glass globes, or other containers likely to shatter on impact (they are not actual explosives). Most shatter in the size of a Small Burst Template and hold one pint of holy water.

Water Gun: In modern times, clever monster hunters use children's toys to deliver holy water to their targets. (Similar devices might be rigged in less industrialized eras.) Most water guns have a Range of 1/2/4 and hold two pints of water. Better water guns with high-pressure systems can be found, and if pumped for an entire action, increase Range to 3/6/9.

Making Holy Water

Holy water is normal water blessed by an ordained member of an organized religion that endorses generally good (non-destructive) tenets. The “priest” must have the Arcane Background (Miracles) power. Blessing a pint of water requires a Faith roll and uses 1 Power Point. The water remains blessed until used or actively despoiled. In a fantasy game, most “good” deities should allow their priests to bless water. There may be some exceptions, of course. The god of fire, while probably a benevolent deity, is very unlikely to have water used in religious ceremonies honoring him.