Paladin - Inquisitor

[Zak Arntson]

My Indie Gaming Group is playing Paladin this coming weekend, and I've given them the choice (which I may have to make) between straight up Star Wars (with Jedi and all that) or a WH40k-inspired dark gothic setting. I'm inclined to go towards the gothic, with a possible Inquisitor Paladin mini-sup follow-up (we'll see).

So here's where I ask for inspiration and ideas. I want to run 1-2 sessiosn with Paladins as Inquisitors for the Holy Roman Church-equivalent. So far I have the following (I'll hit y'all up with the actual scenario in a follow-up post):

Inquisitor

Culture: Oppressively fascist church-based domination. There is a clear division among the people: Shepherds (clergy), Dogs (warriors) and Sheep (peasants). Outside of this are the heretics, infidels and others. It's the far future, though technology is stagnant, with only certain orders of monks maintaining any high level of knowledge. Starships, complex weapons (guns, etc), automatic vehicles (cars, etc) are all either well-kept relics or their bowels are produced by highly trained artisans (most often monks).

Conflict: Rooting out heresies, demon-possessions, demon infestations and other Acts of the Devil. The PCs are Inquisitors whose role is judge, jury and executioner. They are only outranked by higher clergy.

Order: Inquisitors for the Church. The doctrine is that the sins carried out in duty are acceptable in the face of the sins they prevent.

Code:
Minor Laws: You shall resist temptation. You shall not condemn the innocent. All experience shall be recognized as divine gift.
Major Laws: You shall obey your earthly superiors. You shall seek the truth.
Unbreakable Law: You shall not disobey the Scripture.

Arms:
I'm not sure about this. I'm thinking the most potent weapon is the Scripture. Everyone could pick their own weapon, be it a gun, hammer, sword, etc, but their Holy Armament is a copy of the Scripture.

Power:
The Inquisitors have been gifted with divine powers (read: psychic ability). This can manifest in many ways, from subtle mind-reading to fingertips alight with crackling energy bolts. Shapeshifting or demonic-seeming traits could even be granted (see old statues of Moses with horns as a real-world example of weird holy imagery).
Of course, non-clergy (or heretics) with these same powers are considered in league with the Devil.

Light vs. Dark:
I'm not sure about this. I'm going for a "how much will you sin, and sacrifice your own soul, for the glory of God?" Any acts of sin (gluttony, pride, lust, violence, etc) fuel Dark Animus. While acts of light (love, compassion, mercy, etc) fuel Light Animus. Inquisitors, being under a mandate of rooting out evil will often cope with their own sins (killing a heretic, while serving a means to an end and absolvable through confession, is still a sin and stains your soul).

Issues/Your thoughts:
Any other Laws? I feel there're not enough. I have to work on this more.
Should there be a Devil? Some other name or an entirely different concept of evil?
Would God or a more WH40k-style Emperor/Christ figure be more appropriate?
Arms? I like the idea of a copy of the Scripture being the signature weapon. Any other ideas?
Anyone have advice on Light vs. Dark?

[Valamir]

While the setting sounds fun in that grim=cool kind of gothic way...I'm not really seeing the basis for a good Paladin game here.  Instead of light vs dark, you seem to have dark vs dark.

The "good guys" are oppressive inquisitors who are allowed to sin in pursuit of rooting out the "infidels".

I'm not getting a good vibe there.

The all time coolest character to play in Star Wars is the Grey Jedi.  You know the one who successfully manages to tread the line between light and dark, successfully avoiding being ensnared by the darkside while laughing at the light jedi and their silly little rules.

Very cool...and very boring (I know I played one).

That seems to me what you have here.  Good guys with a license to be bad.  Not quite the internally agonizing decision choices I see Paladin being ideal for.

Maybe the PCs should be defenders of the infidels using force when necessary to defend their pacifistic flock.

[Blake Hutchins]

OR... you might just run with it.  Reverse the tropes so that Light Animus comes from strength and the end justifies the means kind of morality, whereas Dark Animus is defined as weakness or moral squeamishness in the face of sin.  Wouldn't that be a bitch, eh?

Also, hell's bells, give 'em a real weapon to zap sinners with.  Fading Suns uses the Avestite Order and their flame guns.  I kinda like that take for Paladin.

Of course, if you put some REAL dark powers out there... maybe the harshness of the Inquisition isn't the worst evil.

Best,

Blake

[Bob McNamee]

Bring out the Holy Hand Grenade....


sorry....
Bob McNamee

Nothing about this setting seems less appropriate for Paladin than any of the example ideas... it leans a bit toward  my Bab5 Psi-cops idea... "this is the good side?"

[Zak Arntson]

The "good guys" are oppressive inquisitors who are allowed to sin in pursuit of rooting out the "infidels".
...
That seems to me what you have here.  Good guys with a license to be bad.  Not quite the internally agonizing decision choices I see Paladin being ideal for.

Well, I'm aiming towards the Characters being inherently against sinning, yet to achieve the results they want they'll inevitably sin. Becoming an Inquisitor is a tragic, heroic, sacrificial act. It's like staining your soul for the greater good. The Inquisitors would be necessarily dark, but not evil.

The trick here is to put them in situations where they can take the harder road of less sin or the easier, dark road. This is what the Paladin system is all about, right?

OR... you might just run with it. Reverse the tropes so that Light Animus comes from strength and the end justifies the means kind of morality, whereas Dark Animus is defined as weakness or moral squeamishness in the face of sin. Wouldn't that be a bitch, eh?

Also, hell's bells, give 'em a real weapon to zap sinners with. Fading Suns uses the Avestite Order and their flame guns. I kinda like that take for Paladin.

Reversing it would make for a queasy campaign. The problem is that the Paladin System would cause your Characters to just use the twisted Light Animus. What would be the reward for acting weak? The original System rewards the Dark Animus but at a cost.

I don't know about the weapon thing. I'm going to have 4-6 players. Should they all be using the same weapon? Which is why I'm thinking a book of Scripture would be their weapon.

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My vision for the game is shifting (thanks to your comments and talking to Clinton) from the sinister feel of Warhammer's 40k's Inquisitors to Christian Jedi Knights transplanted into a gothic Warhammer world.