[UA] Power from Cults.

[Chris Cooper]

Here is an idea about power from home-baked cults...
Ah! The joys of boredom in the workplace.

Enjoy.

Chris.

Hagioplasty (God Hackers)

Hagionauts perform hagioplasty, that is, they make
gods and devise the religions through which gods can
be worshipped. They’re sort of the ultimate hack High
Priest. The paradox is that the hagionaut can never
believe in the vehicle which surrounds his god; he
creates it like a chicken battery farm and siphons off
the ecstatic furor generated by those within.

Luckily for the hagionaut, he can cut, chop and change
from any source to create his however offbeat
religion.

Hagionauts are people with faith that the world is
utterly lacking and devoid in faith. They may milk
money and sex from those people but always at the
starting point they are cynically manufacturing a
quick-fix solution for those people.

Note: This school is blatant in such a huge way. It is
a school that only works publicly that if the
hagionaut pumps for believers, the local witch watch
will want severe explanations. Also all the local
magic scum will come sniffing for possible easy
powerful artifacts.

Hagioplasty Blast Style
Hagioplasty has no minor blasts, only significant
blasts and they can range from hideous plagues of
boils or spontaneous human combustion.

Stats

Generate a Minor Charge
Perform a small service venerating your religion.
Standing on street corners and ranting is fine, and so
is ministering to the downtrodden in a shelter is fine
too. Every three people in a random crowd that stop to
listen to your words will also generate an additional
minor charge.

Every person that chooses the hagionaut’s religious
philosophy as their obsession skill, will gather an
additional minor charge per sermon.

Generate a Significant Charge
Creating a small but dedicated following of five
people or setting up a regular place to preach your
religion is good for a significant charge. Every five
people that join permanently will also net a
significant charge. 
Generate a Major Charge
Create a nationally recognized church. Have major
television coverage monitored by a hundred thousand or
more believers. Every additional million gathers
another major charge. 

Taboo: The hagionaut can never believe in a religion,
political structure or higher organizing force or
principle, he is a huckster. He can say he does, he
can jump and shout with the best of them, but if the
hagioplast ever officially joins with a social
structure (such as another religion, political party,
or elite old-boys club, he loses all charges and
cannot regain any until the enrollment is officially
invalidated. Just leaving is not enough.

A hagioplast can also never join with another
congregation during sermons and preachers unless
they’re preaching his word. All religious/spiritual
social structures he doesn’t create himself are a big
no-no. Again, the hagioplast will lose all charges.
A hagionaut must defend his religion or religions at
all times. If he ever admits that he is wrong or hears
of negative criticism without defending his
however-half-baked religion without an acceptable
rebuke loses charges.

A hagionaut is, of course, a supreme hypocrite. The
hagionaut may belong to any number of religious groups
provided he created them. That’s more then dandy.

Random Magick Domain
Random magick can be anything that currently proves to
observers that the hagionauts treatment of a
religious, political, or mystic of the universe is
correct. He can make his god-thing throw down miracles
like winning poker hands. The random magick must be
specialized to that specific god. Calling down
miracles from other sources is not possible – even if
the hagionaut created them both. 

Starting Charges
Hagionauts start with one die’s worth of minor
charges.

Hagioplasty Minor Formula Spells

I am Your Salvation (three minor charges)
The hagionaut can administer counseling to someone
that’s been spiritually hurt. If he blesses them, they
can re-roll one failed notch and if it’s successful
they lose the failed notch. 

I See Your Path (two minor charges)
This spell creates a flicker of synchronicity that
allows the hagionaut to instantly know a target’s
personal shame. This usually relates to a severe
stress check. No details are known but a rough feel of
what to whom and where.

Mend to the Fallen (Three Minor charges)
A slower version of laying on hands allows the
hagionaut to heal the target of injury. The total is
the sum of the magick roll plus an extra die. The
target heals five points per round as the hagionaut
administers his talents.

Rebuke the Censured (Five minor charges)
This spell marks the target as someone who has angered
God. The target cannot pass any Soul or soul based
check. The target still rolls to see how badly they
fail, though. This spell ends as soon as the target
enters any religious institution for guidance.

The Heat of the Righteous of the Blood of the Lamb
(eight minor charges)
When cast the hagionaut’s congregation gain +30 Body
which also affects their wound levels. All opponents
they face have their Body and wounds lowered by -10.
This is not an physically apparent change but more of
the fact

Hagioplasty Significant Formula Spells

Rain of Fiery Pestilence (Two significant charges)
This is the Hagioplasty blast spell. It is fairly
customizable depending on what religion it is supposed
to be originating from. It does firearms style damage,
but it does slam onto the target at once. It does ten
points of damage per round and during the time the
target can only writhe around in excruciating agony
and make Rank-8 Helplessness checks and people
watching can make Rank-5 Unnatural, Violence, or
Helplessness checks. 

Am I the I Am? (Five significant charges)
This spell messes with the target’s Obsession. If the
target fails a Rank-10 Self check, their obsession
becomes wiped, a clean slate for one hour. By
carefully talking to the victim, a person can make the
target change his obsession.

The victim changes his or her obsession and gains a
failed Self notch. If left alone for an hour the
obsession returns. Until that hour of dazed confusion
passes, the victim is bereft of his obsession skill.

Walking on Holy Water (Six significant charges)
This spell draws out a major unnatural phenomenon
tailored for the current needs of the hagionaut and
his spouted philosophy. The GM has full control of the
phenomena but is must suit the specific needs of the
hagionaut. 

Half-price at the Simony Bakery (Nine significant
charges)
The hagionaut can take an ordinary object that has
somehow become a central part of the hagionaut or one
of his religions and bestow ten Soul points to the
object. Although the GM can tailor the needs and
affects of the artifact to his tastes, the real power
only comes later. The hagionaut can continue to spend
experience on the Soul stat of the artifact, even if
it becomes lost and when it reaches 100 it
transubstantiates into a random Major artifact.

Nice hey?

What you hear…

Mark Cowen, a.k.a. Lord Minister to the First
Enlightenment Temple of the Christ the Buddha built a
small, but substantial following of congregates. His
sermons always had a show of his famous Crucifixion
Yoga and Acupuncture Bleeding. After fourteen years,
his public relations officer insisted he buy a slot on
public access television. His famous acupuncture kit
disappeared after the cops busted the show and falsely
arrested the congregation for torturing the bled
acupuncturee. The kit bag of thin scalpels has never
been seen since it vanished from the evidence locker.
This was in 1998.

Six weeks after the theft and after a huge posted
reward, Cowen sent agents to look for the kit bag.

Four months ago, Sam Kwong was found dead carving
scrimshaw in Alberta, Canada. Kwong had apparently
bought an unusual scalpel for delicate carving a few
days ago. The work he carved also disappeared and
those closest to Kwong said it enjoyed smoking
cigarettes while being whittled.




=====
Way too sexy for your love.

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