The Law: Territorial Authority vs Steward vs Dogs

[jburneko]

I figured that sort of problem only came up if the Steward was incompetent or corrupt.
(which I assumed would be a rarity, not the norm - else, the Faith would need to re-think how it selects Stewards)

Heh.

Among Dogs players in my area there's a running gag about how you shouldn't bother asking questions, just shoot the Steward.  A great deal of Dogs games end with the Dogs replacing the Steward.

More practically there comes a point during Town Creation where inevitably the GM runs into a situation is SO bad that either the Steward is in on it, or he has to in some way be blind or unknowing of it.  It's a really tough point in Town prep and making the Steward in on it, is generally the easier, if somewhat lazy solution.

Jesse

[Noclue]

Having armed men in conflict with each over vague roles just leads to pride and anger and resentment.

Heh, I had a long post in my head about not trying to fix the Faith and just playing the town and how any religion that sends out gun-toting virgin teenagers to fix its problems has to be completely broken...and then I read this line. I just decided to let the irony speak for itself.

[cra2]

Stewards are preachers, yes. Pastors. They're responsible for the well-being of the individuals and families in their congregations, as individuals and families. They're responsible for the sinner's well-being just as much as for his victims'. That means calling the sinner to repentance, not murdering him for the good of all. If the sinner won't repent, the Steward's job is to nevertheless keep working with him. (See pages 44-45 for an example.)

One of my favorite lines for a Steward to say, when the Dogs give him grief about the state of his congregation, is this: "Dog, if God allowed me to gun my own parishioners down in the street, He wouldn't need you."

-Vincent

PERFECT.  totally got it now.
fearing making things too black & white, my default mentality is going to be thus:
TA = unarmed beauraucrat or armed marshall, depending on the town
Steward = unarmed pastor
Dogs = armed protectors of the Faith

[lumpley]

Right on.

-Vincent

[Lance D. Allen]

This discussion reminds me of a short story I read in High School.

It was the story of a murderer and criminal going to Heaven to be judged. Rather than finding God sitting on high and handing out judgment, he found a panel of three former mortals, who had been judges in life. They called a single witness: God.

In the story, God kept digressing, talking about the good things this man had done in his life, and had to be brought back in line by one of the judges, who only wanted to know his guilt or innocence.

The Steward is like God in that story, I think. He knows that the vile sorcerer has done nasty things, but he also likely baptized that same person as a youth, seen the light of Faith shining in their eyes. He's seen the circumstances that lead to the fall. He knows everything bad they've done, but he also can see how human these mistakes were. The Steward probably loves the sorcerer in the same way he'd love his own children, and desperately hopes that they can be brought back into the light.

He's the witness. He cannot be an impartial judge, jury and executioner.

[hix]

Lance, I think you have changed the way I will write and run Stewards from now on.