Chaplain DLC: Relics and Their Abilities

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

The Ouiji Board available to chaplains has been a fun little thing, and with its inclusion being a foot in the door for Chaplain's supernormal abilities we can go beyond them having only a Hasboro copyrighted toy. The Chaplain role can be fun, but it's very difficult because they have no mechanics to play around with.

This suggestion is about adding relics to the chapel that can be customized to fit the major religions of our setting based on what religion the chaplain picked at roundstart. I am going to focus on Unathi relics since I am the Unathi maintainer and ask that any other species maintainer or humandev (or anyone) to come up with fun relics for their chaplains to run around with. Having expanded religious and supernormal material is also important for Unathi, because the major faiths are incredibly important to the species.

General Philosophy

These relics are meant to provide roleplay benefits and not buffs to combat or general abilities. They are roleplay focused. The goals should be to allow players to retain agency by not forcing stats or moods on them such as presence. In addition, all relics should have some ambiguity to them that they can be casually disregarded by atheists with mundane explanations.

At least for Unathi, the abilities are locked to be affective only on followers of that faith. It is an important part of Unathi lore that the faiths are divided, and that a Sk'akh would not benefit from Th'akh rituals. This both reinforces the divides between the different religious communities. So for the characters, the Th'akh are clearly heathens with profane rituals while the Sk'akh is a stuffy elitist who is not properly in tune with the ancestors.

All of the following and any/most subsequent relics are created from a generic Blank Slate item in the chapel that can be customized depending on the religion of the Chaplain.

Th'akh
Sheriz'akh Incense - A set of scented incense composed of a variety of sacred herbs that are burned during worship. It is said that Shamans using them can help attune spirits to the material world, allowing Unathi to commune with their ancestors during times of deep meditation.

• The incense comes in a pack of 10.
• When lit and set somewhere, it burns for 5 minutes and provides very low lighting.
• Those within 5 tiles of visible range get messages about the smell of the incense.
• If characters set to the Tha'kh religion hold still within the 4 tile range for 60 seconds, the chaplain is next to the incense, and the room is dark, they can see a Unathi mob with a low alpha value spawn on top of the incense with a randomized appearance.
• The mob does not spawn if non-Th'akh are in visual range.
• Ghosts that click on the mob can make it nod or shake its head, with a 5 second cool-down.
• It is banished if the lights turn on, the incense goes out, the shaman moves, or a character not set to Th'akh enters visual range.

Sk'akh
Threnody of the Weklin - A sacred set of three hyms that are said to have been sung by Sk'akh to bring the first souls into the material world.

• It is a book that, when activated, plays an audio clip (spliced from this audio ideally) to emulate the Priest giving the sermon.
• Non-Sk'akh within visual range receive the following message:
  • "You hear singing."
• Sk'akh Unathi within visual range receive one of the following message:
  • "You feel the melodies resonate with your soul."
  • "You feel the song wash over you like a warm ocean wave."
• Cultists within visual range receive the following:
  • "You hear blasphemous utterances from a false god."

Si'akh
Fragment of the Prophet (Crozarius) - An open censer that burns an eerie green flame, sustained by an arcane mixture of powders and herbs known only to the Si'akh Flame Priests. They claim the flame is a fragment of Juzida himself. Si'akh adherents who fear they are falling to temptation are told to gaze into the fire to see visions of salvation or damnation.

• When lit and held in the hand it provides a warm glow like the lantern. Si'akh within 5 tiles of visible range get passive messages.
  • You feel slightly more sure of yourself.
  • You feel slightly more clear-headed.
  • You feel temptation ebbing away.
• When used on a Si'akh follower the message "[name] looks into the fire, and looks transfixed!" is seem by all. For the mob themselves, they get a flash on their screen and one of the following:
  • "Damnation! You feel the flames illuminate the daemonic presence you've nourished within! You walk the path of temptation, and must redeem yourself!"
  • "Struggle! You feel the flames illuminate the daemonic presence you've fought within, and how it is weakening day by day. You walk the difficult path, and may yet join Sk'akh."
• When used on a cultist, they see the following:
  • "You see fire, brimstone, and hellfire swirling all around you. This false god sure is fussy with its lies, but you know what truly lies beyond the veil."

Aut'akh
Aetheric Resonator (Vux)- Pioneered by the Ansiba, this device measures the aetheric waves emitted by an individual, providing an assessment of how much concentration of magical energy they possess. High concentrations are signs of good omens and future success, while low concentrations are signs of impending failure or disaster.

• A rune stone with a PDA screen on it, the Chaplain waves it over another mob like a health scanner. When used, it provides one of the three messages:
  • The Spirit Tablet declares, "Aetheric waves waxing. Continue current course of action!" -- Positive.
  • The Spirit Tablet states, "Aetheric waves detected at middling concentrations." -- Neutral
  • The Spirit Tablet states, "Aetheric waves waning. Seek alternative course of action." -- Negative
• When used on a wizard, it provides the following message:
  • The Spirit Tablet declares, "Warning: Stack overflow! Aetheric wave intensity beyond operating parameters."

Edited November 4, 2019 by Marlon Phoenix

[VUX]

This idea is super good for giving some flavor and, theoretically, some sort of gameplay to chaplains, who don't currently have a lot to do. Some more properly mechanical items for chaplain would be a plus though.

[geeves]

Looks good, convince a spriter to make sprites.

[Azande]

I love this so much. 

[Crozarius]

I have a conflict of interest, as I helped come up with the Si'akh relic, but the rest of it looks good. I support.

[Zundy]

The Skakh relic should work on and be available to Tribunal followers since they worship the same god would thus share the same creation hymns lore wise and gameplay wise it's a good display of that cross species factional interaction "will-they-wont-they" Tsundere romance between the Hegemony and Dominia.

[Azande]

2 hours ago, Zundy said:

The Skakh relic should work on and be available to Tribunal followers since they worship the same god would thus share the same creation hymns lore wise and gameplay wise it's a good display of that cross species factional interaction "will-they-wont-they" Tsundere romance between the Hegemony and Dominia.

Yes, but the Dominians should also get their own version so they can claim theirs is the superior version. Both would work on either but each side would be able to use/benefit from the other.

While they're rooted in the same ideology, the Moroz Holy Tribunal has become a super-heresy in terms of the Tribunal holding god-like interpretive authority with their edict-issuing.

[Azande]

OH, a tribunal codex that when activated - makes your character read out a random edict.

[Sheeplets]

Commumion wafers and wine for Christianity would be cool.

Edited November 6, 2019 by UncleJo

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Now to find a dev to help...........

[Snake2512]

Ignore the calls for Christianity to get communion wafers and wine. It is canon that any unleavened bread (or leavened bread in the case of extraordinray circumstances, a space station would qualify) can be used as the Eucharist, same with any Wine can be used as the blood  of Christ. Simply giving it to Chaplains will stop them from actually going out of their way to cooperate with the Bar and the kitchen to produce these items.

The true addition to Christianity would be more and better outfits, especially for Requiem services. Also big hats. Also a book called the 'Code of Canon Law' that just redirects to http://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/cic_index_en.html that hosts the Laws so people who claim to be Christian actually realise there are rules concerning the religion.  I have always held the opinion that any Christian Chaplain should be the corporate liaison of the Church and run around to those affiliated with him and ensure they aren't being bullied. If they catch a single offence punishable by Canonical Penalty then they should be able to fax the local Bishop with his signature to excommunicate the big loser.  

If you really want to be 300 IQ big brained make it so that anyone who eats a consecrated host as a non-christian immediately suffers 200 Toxic damage and is rendered uncloneable as his soul is torn apart by demons. 

Edited November 11, 2019 by Snake2512

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Lets try a relic thats nondenominational. 

[Carver]

In regard to Christian relics/items, I'd say they can have multiple options depending on their denomination/sect. There's no reason to only give them a singular choice in that regard. Snake's suggestion was neat enough that I'd see it fitting even as just one of said options.

[Wigglesworth Jones]

Big fan of all the relics, especially the Si'akh one. Hopefully, this gets added.