The first part of this sub-series analyzed the basic character of the modern priest archetype, identified elements that representatives of that archetype all have in common, and along the way considered how to employ casual encounters to enhance and reveal the character’s basic role in a campaign. In this second part, I’ll take a closer look at the variations that are possible, and how to devise and utilize casual encounters based on their distinctiveness.

Photo courtesy tome213 (Elvis Santana)

Introduction to part 2

After all the discussion of variations that went on in the “Who is the priest” section of the previous article, you might be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t a lot more to say on the subject. But you’d be wrong…

Differential Threads

The object of casual encounters derived from common threads, which were discussed in the first half of this article, is to emphasize what is different about this particular archetype in comparison to any other. The point of casual encounters that derive from Differentials is to emphasize what is different about this particular incarnation of an archetype.

This can get tricky with characters like Priests, because while there may be superficial similarities, there are potentials for deep and complex differences between archetype examples. This causes differential thread encounters to invade the common thread encounters turf, and vice-versa.

It means that its very hard to be as specific as was the case with the archetype featured in the first in this series, the Barbarian; compared to a modern-day priest, with all his permutations and variations, the Barbarian is the soul of simplicity!

It is entirely possible to have exactly the same basic encounter, for exactly the same PC, and simply by altering the finer details of the circumstances and the NPCs involved, to transform the one type of casual encounter into the other.

So if there is an element of familiarity, of Deja Vu, about the discussions that follow, it’s partly because I’ve deliberately emulated the structural breakdown from the first part of the article – but only partly so.

Doctrine & Theology

There are three primary sources of casual encounters that can be h as coming under this heading. There are:

• encounters that expound the difference between this character’s doctrine and theology and those expected of priests in general;
• encounters that expound the difference between this character’s doctrine and theology and those expected of priests from this character’s specific faith;
• encounters that highlight the difference between this specific character and others from within his specific branch of his specific faith.

Without knowing the specific doctrine and theology of a specific character, it’s very hard to create encounters that are rooted on any of these three sources. However, if I don’t try to get too cute by deciding which of these categories an idea fits into, it is possible to list a few generic encounters that can be appropriately repackaged into a relevance to any specific representative of the archetype. So that’s what I’ve done.

Ethnicity

A similar issue exists with respect to ethnicity – there are simply so many choices that it’s impossible to get too specific in terms of casual encounters. However, an analysis on general terms still yields a profitable outcome.

There are 10 general encounters that fall into this category:

• Situations in which the Priest’s ethnicity and his Faith will come into conflict;
• Situations in which the Priest’s ethnicity and his role as a Foe Of Supernatural Evil will come into conflict;
• Situations in which members of the Priest’s Ethnicity will expect or request a particular reaction because of that ethnicity, but which will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Priest;
• Situations in which non-members of the Priest’s Ethnicity will expect a particular reaction because of that ethnicity but will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Priest;
• Situations in which members of the Priest’s Ethnicity will expect or request a particular reaction because of that ethnicity, but which will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Foe Of Supernatural Evil;
• Situations in which non-members of the Priest’s Ethnicity will expect a particular reaction because of that ethnicity but will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Foe Of Supernatural Evil;
• Situations in which members of the Priest’s Faith will expect a particular action or reaction because he is a Priest, but which will trigger an unexpected reaction because of his Ethnicity;
• Situations in which non-members of the Priest’s Faith will expect a particular action or reaction because he is a Priest, but which will trigger an unexpected reaction because of his Ethnicity;
• Situations in which members of the Priest’s Ethnicity will expect or request a particular reaction because he is a Priest, but which will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Foe Of Supernatural Evil;
• Situations in which non-members of the Priest’s Ethnicity will expect a particular reaction because of he is a Priest but will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a member of his particular Ethnicity.

If you pay close attention to the logical combinations, you will detect a few in which his ethnicity doesn’t figure at all. These have been included in the relevant Common Threads category. For the record, they are:

• Situations in which the Priest’s Faith and his role as a Foe Of Supernatural Evil will come into conflict;
• Situations in which members of the Priest’s Faith will expect or request a particular reaction because he is a Priest, but which will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Foe Of Supernatural Evil;
• Situations in which non-members of the Priest’s Faith will expect a particular reaction because of he is a Priest but which will trigger an unexpected response because this individual is a Foe Of Supernatural Evil.

Role

The character’s role within the campaign can be defined within three different frames of reference: his role as an adventurer, his role within the church, and his role within society in general. Encounters can derive from any of these, but the question needs to be asked, how many of these highlight variations and differences?

Consider these frames of reference individually.

His role as an adventurer could focus on the differences between the archetype and a generic adventurer – but those are matters for the “commonalities” section, which deals with general archetypal encounters. If it should happen that a particular representative of the archetype is poorly-equipped to carry out a standard function of the archetype, it migrates encounters built on that capacity from a commonality classification to a divergence one without changing the encounter specifications in the slightest – only the expected difficulty and possible outcomes will change. Listing any encounters derived from this sub-source is therefore going to be redundant; the encounters will be the exactly same as listed in the common threads category.

His role within the church, being unusual, could be a valid and useful source of encounters, pointing out the differences between this particular sect or internal division of the Church to which the character belongs – but those are already covered, in the common threads relating to the role as a Foe Of Supernatural Evil.

Finally, there is his role within society in general. Perhaps half of the encounters that stem from this category are already going to be listed within the scope of Ethnicity, detailed above; and everything else is going to be already listed under the “common threads” category. Either this archetype representative will posses that common quality, making that the correct source; or he won’t, in which event it is that absence that is to be emphasized – with exactly the same encounter.

There’s no ground not already covered.

Personality

Which brings us to the ultimate expression of individuality, the personality of this specific character. Casual Encounters designed around the PCs personality are always going to be worthwhile.

But it’s very hard, once again, to offer specific encounters without knowing the personality in question.

Nevertheless, there are five types of casual encounter that can be derived from this category that are designed to express some aspect of the individual within the game. These can also be an excellent tool for helping the player think about these aspects of the character if they are not sufficiently delineated.

Temptations
What tempts the character and how he deals with that temptation are especially good questions for a character like a Priest. But rather than focusing on temptations that may already be specified, a more general approach is warranted, showing how the character deals with those temptations that he may not have already considered.

Temptation is the opportunity desire to commit one of the seven (originally eight) “deadly sins”, and those sins cover a great deal of territory.

• Lust – Lust is the simplest of the sins; it comprises desires of a romantic or sexual nature that are excessive or inappropriate.
• Gluttony – Gluttony is overindulgence to the point of waste. It includes overindulgence in food, in other forms of consumption such as alcohol and drugs, and indulgence in excessive credit without the intent or ability to repay. Even habitual thrill-seeking could be covered under this sin.
• Greed – Greed is the selfish desire for anything of inherent value. That anything could be money, land, works of art – in fact anything that is valuable or collectible. That last is important; an object can have relatively low actual value, but be of sufficient sentimental worth to someone that desire for it qualifies as Gluttony.
• Sloth – Sloth is laziness, apathy, inattention, indecisiveness, and extends to paralysis or inattention to matters of significance through the indulgence of excessive sorrow or grief.
• Wrath – Wrath includes excessive anger, acts of revenge, stubbornness in the face of reason, and resentment. It especially includes holding people to an unrealistic standard of behavior or piety.
• Envy – Just as Greed deals in the desire for objects of material wealth, Envy deals in the excessive desire for the immaterial and intangible that someone else possesses. It includes the desire for fame or power for its own sake, or the indulgent pursuit of those qualities.
• Pride – Also known as Vanity and Ego, Pride is excessive or unrealistic self-value. It includes indulgent creativity in sermonizing, excessive cynicism, excessive narcissism, a sense of entitlement, and any form of bigotry or deliberate inequality. It also includes the vice of excessive conspicuous humility, an “I’m better than you because I’m more humble” attitude that is especially seductive to Priests.

I’m sure you’ll agree that this provides plenty of scope for encounters! For each of these, there are three possible encounters:

• The Priest becomes involved in a situation which is really about one of these sins, though it appears initially to be something else;
• The Priest has to resolve a situation which obviously involves one or more of these sins; and
• The Priest is offered a temptation which he can choose to accept or refuse.

There are way too many combinations listed above for me to offer a comprehensive set of encounters. By way of example, I’ll offer a few, but most of them will be left to the GM to create when he needs one.

One further distinction needs to be noted – and once again it derives from the issue of relevance. If the character or his faith are typical in the way they they are supposed to deal with a particular temptation, these are part of the Common-Thread encounter set; if the reactions of one or both are likely to diverge from that typical attitude, then they belong in the Divergences encounter set.

Opinions on Controversies
In the previous article I offered a partial list of controversies. It’s reasonable to expect that a Church would have a very different perspective on most if not all of these. Things become more interesting when you consider the potential for conflict between those official policies and the priest’s personal opinions.

Once again, there are far too many possibilities for me to go them all, but I’ve offered a few examples within this category.

Opinions on Politics
Priests are human, and while there may be a strong conservative streak in many Churches, there is more than enough variety of opinion to make for interesting conflicts and situations.

There are four basic encounters under this heading:

• Extreme X in a Pro-X environment
• Pro-X in an extremely Pro-X environment
• Moderately opposed to X in a Pro-X environment
• Strongly/Radically opposed to X in a strongly or radically Pro-X environment

You’ll notice that these are very generic. It doesn’t matter whether X means conservative or liberal. However, only two will apply to any specific character, because the first variable describes the character’s attitude. That doesn’t matter, because the second variable spans the entire range of possibilities; simply create an interesting situation that reflects that local attitude, and the let the player decide what his character’s politics are.

It might appear that these four combinations do not account for all the possibilities, but in fact, they do. Any possibility that you might think is missing – for example, “moderately opposed to liberalism in a strongly anti-liberal situation” – can be achieved by flipping “X” to the opposite and reselecting the encounter according to the relevant position: “moderately pro-conservative in a strong or extremely pro-conservative situation” – that’s number two on the list; it’s a situation in which the character will have some sympathy for the goals of whoever he has encountered, but will discover that they are willing to go too far.

Opinions on Society
Similarly, everyone has their opinions on various social issues. These may or may not be at odds with the stance of the local authorities, and/or the church that the character belongs to. The same four-way options described above work with these encounters as well – you simply replace “X” with one position or the other on the social issue concerned.

“X” might be equal opportunity, or segregation, or nuclear power, or war with Nazi Germany or free medical insurance, or teacher tenure, or higher wages for garbage men. The same mechanism works with any issue.

The trick is to define “X” relative to the environment – either moderately or strongly Pro-“X” – and then determine the character’s position with respect to that perspective on that issue.

But because there are two standards of comparison here and not one, there are more combinations: The character’s opinion vs that of society, and the official church position on that same issue. This can bring about a conflict between the character’s personal opinions and the position he is supposed to hold – and that’s where things get interesting for the character, as he is caught in the middle.

Hobbies & Interests
Finally, we have something that’s outright obvious. If you build an encounter around a hobby or interest of the character, it highlights that the character has that pastime, or would like to. Equally, you could build a casual encounter around something that the character has zero interest in – a variation on the old fish-out-of-water idea.

Conclusion to part 2

In the introduction to part 2, I rebuked anyone who thought there was nothing more to say on the subject of distinct variations on the Priest archetype, and how to express them in the form of casual encounters designed to highlight each variation’s distinctiveness. Well, here we are at the end of that discussion, and it has proven to be so extensive that there is no time for the example encounters themselves – so this article will be extended to a third part…

Update:
…or maybe even four. I’ve finally been able to get back to writing, having lost an entire week to post-surgical recovery. I’m still not 100%, and part three – which is scheduled to appear on Thursday – is less than 1/6th finished after working on it all day. I can’t realistically see getting it more than half done before it’s scheduled to appear in public. On top of that, I’m supposed to attend a family function this weekend, so it’s entirely possible that even the last part won’t be quite finished on time, even splitting it into four – but I’d rather post the final part a day or so late than break it apart any further than four parts…

So maybe I’ll do another quick post in between, so that people not into this series will have something else to look at – and so that I’ve got a little more time to get everything done.

One thing’s for sure – like it or not, future parts of this series will not only need to be subdivided, but those parts will probably need to be separated in time. There’s just too much work for them to appear in a string, it’s too hard carving that much time out in a solid chunk. Each part will need to be separated by something that’s a LOT quicker to write…

About the Casual Opportunities series:

This series seeks to offer opportunities for PCs to reflect their primary role within a campaign. Opportunities for heroes to be heroes, for villains to be villains, for geeks to be geeks. It’s easy to become so focused on the primary plot, or on the things that the PCs are contributing to it, that it’s easy to overlook these touchstones that remind players of who their characters really are when the chips are down.

Each part focuses on one particular character archetype and list at least half-a-dozen or more minor encounters for that major type of character that showcase an essential characteristic of the archetype, explain the significance to that character type, and make some attempt to get under the skin of the archetype and examine what makes it tick.

The series itself will be an irregular one, appearing every now and then – don’t look for it every week. And while it might have started with a D&D / Pathfinder character class, I intend to cover superhero, sci-fi, and pulp archetypes along the way – all in no particular order. In fact, I’m going to deliberately mix it up…

I found out with the first entry in this series that they are just too big to write as a single article – and that was before my recent computer problems and the ongoing headaches of writing with an overenthusiastic laptop while recovering from surgery.