Priest

Priests profess some form of specific religious or philosophical belief, and act as leaders to the rest of its believers.

Religions in the Afterfall vary wildly in their beliefs and tenets. You may find sects evolved from ancient religions such as christianism, islam, hinduism, or judaism. However, you may also find plenty of religions that revolve around nature, mutations, war, death, disease, human sacrifice, cannibalism, rape, and all sorts of weirdness and atrocities. Some groups have made science their religion, others reverence the ancients as gods, while other religions are so outlandish and nonsensical that are laughable to outsiders.

Some Priests actually have True Faith, but many of them are nothing but hypocrites, looking to gain power, manipulate the masses, prey on the weak, or satisfy their own sick perversions under the cover of sainthood. Whatever the case, they have a deep understanding of human nature, and society, and are experts in everything related to their own religion.

All Priests are heavy users and exploiters of the Religion System. All priests start at a +4 Faith level in their own religions. They must select a religion on character creation among the ones provided by the GM, or create their own, following the Creating a Religion rules.

The favored skillset of priests may vary dramatically depending on the nature of his belief system (see Creating a Religion). The followers of Kalag the Bloodletter may favor Heavy Melee, whereas the followers of Pasha the Wise may favor Control.

They also tend to know a great deal about the many beliefs that plague the wastelands feeding on desperation, since they compete for the same souls.

Priests are masters of mass manipulation, stirring people's hearts and emotions, through promises sustained in faith, or ancient wisdom, and gain bonuses to social rolls against the members of their flock (see Faith), so they can manipulate them and get away with their agendas. Some priests might also be decent warriors when it comes to smite the infidels.

Special Skill: none

Setups:

• Ascetic yogi
• Charismatic preacher
• Hierarchical politician
• Corrupt powermonger
• Nature witch or druid
• Warrior monk
• Philosopher
• Whatever you can imagine

Looks:

• Clothes: Ragged tunic, nearly naked body covered in ashes, flashy garb, clean white tunic.
• Face: Wise, Happy, Calm, Haggard, Old, Proud, Dismissive.
• Eyes: Deep, Insightful, Mysterious, Charming, Thoughtful, Angry.
• Body: Old, Fragile, Slim, Gaunt, Fat, Muscular, Scarred.

Drives:

• The Martyr.
• Holier than thou.
• Evangelizer.
• The Path to Enlightenment.
• True Faith.
• The Pleasure Seeker.
• Whatever you like.

Edges:
On character creation, choose two:  

• Shielded by God - Bonus to dodge and parry gainst infidels.
• Hammer of Infidels - Bonus to attack and damage against infidels, requires Shielded by God.
• Capture Attention - You can capture attention of a group of people
• Stirring Hearts - You can induce a specific emotion or feeling into a group of people. Requires Capture Attention.
• Convert - You can indoctrinate people into your religion.
• Faithful Mob - You can control a mob of faithful, requires Convert.
• "Miracle" - You can get social bonus by performing or faking some kind of stunt.
• Truly Mystical Shit - You can actually do mystical shit, choose to be a Seer or a Soulspeaker, requires "Miracle".

  Relationships:
You must state relationships with other characters.

• One of them is a good person, but a nonbeliever, a soul to save, material for conversion.
• One of them is a sinful infidel beyond salvation, nonthelesss, he's not a threat to your religion or your flock.
• One of them is a soul-less rational esceptic... hopeless.
• One of them is a faithful believer in your religion.
• One of them is a believer in your religion, but an unrepentant sinner...
• One of them is a source of temptation, you try to get away, but you can't help yourself.
• One of them is a useful merc - what's wrong? religion has always waged wars...
• One of them is a source of some sort of thing you need (candles, incense, sacrificial animals, whatever).
• One of them is an alleged believer... but you suspect he's a fake.
• One of them suspects you are a fake... are you? Keep him close and watch him, he may be a threat.
• One of them calls himself a believer in your religion, but he is an heretic, twisting the dogma in ways that are not meant to be.

Starting Gear:

• 195 Barter.
• 1 dagger.
• 3 days worth of dry rations.
• 1 waterskin.
• 1 satchel.
• 1 torch.
• 1 small chapel or shrine, where you also live.
• The GM selects a Toolset depending on your religion:
  • Nature priest: Tent, 1 Horse, Bow and arrows.
  • War priest: Full Light Armor set, 1 iron Heavy Melee or Polearm weapon, 1 whip.
  • Healing priest: Surgeon's Kit, 1 staff
  • Wiseman: Lots of paper, some pens, books, 1 staff.
  • Death Priest: 1 Sword or 1 Axe or 1 Scythe, Shovel, Torture tools, Dark talismans made of human pieces.
  • Fertility priest: Aphrodisiacs, Lube, Obscene talismans (usable as dildos).
  • Holy man: Lots of symbols, talismans, 1 staff, 1 whip.
  • Tech preacher: Fragments of Ancient science books, useless Ancient tech worn as talismans, 1 hand crossbow.
  • Other: Whatever makes sense to your concept, bear in mind - this is the Afterfall.

Weakness:
Depends, there are many paths...