Religious Rites

Religious rites are in-character ceremonies performed by Religious Practitioners to invoke divine power, create religious consumables, offer blessings, or enact spiritual effects within the game world. Each rite reflects the practitioner’s connection to their faith and often requires specific items, roleplay, and time to complete.

Performing Religious Rites

When a Religious Practitioner has the required items to perform a rite that they know, they must spend time conducting the rite. The duration depends on the type of rite being performed:

• Minor Consumable Rites – 5 minutes base.
• Minor Rites – 5 minutes base.
• Major Rites – 5 minutes base.

These times can be modified by the sub-skill Well Versed. Players must engage in appropriate roleplay reflecting the nature and intent of the rite for the required duration.

Components

The following might be required to perform a rite. Requirements will be listed on the specific rite (see List of Religious Rites):

• Holy Symbol.
• Altar.
• Religious Consumables.
• Vocals (required words or phrases that need to be spoken during the performing of the rite).

Rite Limitations

• A character or item may only have one rite active on them or it at any time.
• Religious consumables are used at the start of a rite and are destroyed regardless of whether the rite is successful or not.
• Religious rites, unless otherwise stated, will not affect ‘Dead’ creatures or characters, nor characters that have the Atheist flaw.

Interrupting a Rite

A rite is considered interrupted if any of the following occur:

• The Religious Practitioner becomes unconscious, starts their death count, or is affected by fear, stun, or fatigue.
• The Religious Practitioner loses possession of their Holy Symbol or the Holy Symbol is broken (for example, through the Mangle effect).
• The Religious Practitioner moves away from their Altar (more than 10 feet) or their Altar is broken (for example, through the Mangle effect), for rites that require an Altar.
• A Referee informs the player that their rite has been interrupted. This will always be for an in-game reason and may not be immediately apparent to the Religious Practitioner.

Tools of Faith

Holy Symbol

To perform any religious rite, a Religious Practitioner must possess a Holy Symbol. This should be an item that can be worn around the neck or held in hand, and it must be special and unique to the bearer. Upon choosing the Religious Practitioner archetype, the player provides their own physical representation (phys-rep) of this item.

The Holy Symbol has no mechanical in-game effect beyond serving as a focus for the Religious Practitioner's will. Without it, they are unable to perform religious rites. As the symbol is deeply personal, it cannot be used by another character. If lost or stolen, the character should roleplay their inability to perform rites until they create a new one in-game. How this is achieved is entirely up to the player, providing a rich roleplay opportunity.

The Holy Symbol should be based on, or be a copy of, the official religious symbol of the faith (see below for reference image). Players are encouraged to incorporate their own stylistic elements while maintaining the core design.

The Symbol of The Divine and the Profane. The Profane is a mirror image of The Divine and is depicted as an inverted copy of The Divine. Sometimes just the top half is depicted, sometimes without the square. This however is the complete symbol.

Charging a Holy Symbol with Rites

Some rites grant the ability to ‘charge a Holy Symbol’ with a religious rite that can be used at a later time, as per the individual rites description, following these rules:

• A standard Holy Symbol can only be charged by the Religious Practitioner who owns it, and only they may use the rite stored within.
• A Religious Practitioner may only have one charged Holy Symbol at any given time.
• Standard Holy Symbols can hold only one rite at a time.
• Charging a Holy Symbol with a new rite will immediately replace an existing charge.
• Charged rites last until they are used or till the end of the day on which they were performed.
• If the Religious Practitioner loses possession of their Holy Symbol, the charged rite is lost.

Altar

In addition to the Holy Symbol, some rites may require further components. Every Religious Practitioner begins with an Altar, which the player must also provide a phys-rep for. Unlike the Holy Symbol, an altar can take any form the practitioner desires. It may be as grand as a carved wooden pulpit, as simple as a blanket displaying sacred items, or even a portable altar that unfolds into a sacred space.

Generally, altars are unique to their owners, reflecting their faith and personal interpretation of their beliefs. We encourage players to be creative and inventive with their altar designs.

Religious Consumables

There are four types of consumables, each corresponding to an element:

• Sacred Incense (Air).
• Blessed Food (Earth).
• Holy Water (Water).
• Anointed Candle (Fire).

Religious Consumables can be created by performing the associated Minor Consumable Rite. Each rite produces one unit of the relevant consumable. Players may perform as many Consumable Rites as they wish and collect all their Item Cards at the same time. When a consumable is made, the player must collect the corresponding item card from the Post Office. (See Minor Consumable Rites.)

Religious Consumables are in-game items and will be represented with a laminated card. Players should aim to physically represent these items where possible. For example, an Anointed Candle could be represented by a tea light. Consumables can be traded in-game or purchased from the Post Office (the Post Office will not buy Consumables).

Religious Consumables are not unique to the practitioner. Anyone with the Religious Practitioner archetype can use them. When Consumables are used, they are destroyed and removed from play. Once used, Consumable Item Cards should be ripped in two and disposed of appropriately.