I've been writing a story that includes in it a bunch of demon-hunting Ninja's.
In said story, the 'mascarade' is kept up by the average citizens inability to comprehend magic when they look at it. They instead can't perceive it or rationalize it away. I did this partly to avoid explaining why the government doesn't factor into things with a magical MIB, but also partly to make a joke about the government being too incompetent to keep such a huge thing a secret.
Anyway I was also considering maybe having a secret order of demon-hunting cowboys get referenced at some point, cause why would Ninja's be the only ones to hunt demons? I'm thinking though that these guys would be a pretty decentralized group of average americans. Makes me wonder if they ever came to blows or anything (like say how the Suffragette movement split between the north and south over the issue of slavery). Like I wonder if being a secret society of what'd be old white dudes if they'd try to forcefully keep it that way. (Likewise the Ninja's I want to write as specifically very much behind the times- they don't train them to use computers or guns, tools very convenient to modern day people, hence they are still recognizably Ninja's).
That said- I also set it in an alternate dimension where the Rock is president so I could avoid the constant political upheavals we see day-to-day so I can probably just say they sorted that shit out in the 60's and there's been zero complications since.
I dunno, but I have this game I call Cryptid Hunters, though it'd be better named as Paranormal Hunters.
It takes place in the modern day and all my players' characters are just people that have had interactions with the paranormal. For example, one character was a hacker that found a literal ghost in the machine, another had bigfoot kill his family, and another got bitten by the rougarou and bathes in silver to keep the curse at bay.
I had them face all sorts of paranormal shit from the chupacabra to shadow people, and then some.
The gist of the concept is people are naturally blind to the paranormal as a subconscious primordial survival instinct, and the nasty critters are aware of this, so they try to do some World of Darknes-esque "masquerade" shit to remain unseen. But some of them, for whatever reason, frick around with particular mortals and then it's like our eyes are finally open to the supernatural.
So yeah, I guess take my unhinged ramblings for inspiration and all that.
I could have had them fighting demons if I had thought of an original plot for it.
>why no Protestant exorcists?
Because a preacher would normally be the one to handle. You don't really need some special group to handle it, just the name of Jesus.
Another reason is that many Protestants don't literally believe in demons and the like and scoff at the idea of exorcisms. Those people naturally aren't going to have someone to fill that role.
I really wouldn't wish dealing with this sort of thing on anyone.
Most protestants are narcissists so they don't bother calling in a priest and just shout at the demons themselves. Very common sight on ghost hunting shows.
Pick your flavor. If snake handlers and tongue speakers are a thing I'm sure there is a group out there that believes in castigating demons. But chances are they are just weird sexual deviants who abuse their own families by performing "exorcisms".
In anycase, the idea of demons and demon hunting revolving around the Christian god is boring and Japanese demon fighting is equally used. Then again, I don't imagine there is too much else to draw upon.
>the idea of demons and demon hunting revolving around the Christian god is boring
Mileage may vary. I like the idea of modern day demon hunters getting in over their heads because the Apocalypse is coming and the fallen are taking off the kid gloves to do as much damage as possible before their time is up.
>Who does this besides priests?
No one, because most people don't fricking care about demonology. If you tie someone up, screaming bible verses at them while beating the shit out of them you are going to jail. >auxillary question: why no Protestant exorcists?
I'm pretty sure there are some branches who do that type of stuff but that's just me being pedantic.
Jokes aside, how prominent should the mundane consequences of an exorcism?
I wouldn't argue that priests hunt demons at all, necessarily. As for your second question, it's because God is the one capable of casting out demons, not necessarily man (unless sufficiently endowed by the Holy Spirit, but refer to my previous point)
You have to have the blessing of your bishop. There is no line of succession among Protestant preachers. They are entirely divorced from the Holy Tradition of the Church which hands down the authority of Christ to his disciples. There are stories of priests attempting exorcisms without a blessing, and being rebuked by the entities they are attempting to cast out. These stories always end with them getting the proper blessing from the Bishop, and then casting out the demon. Pastor Steve at the LifeChurch(tm) Dispensationslist Evangelical soft rock megachurch in the strip mall across from the Applebee's cannot do this.
What if the Protestant swallowed his pride and asked the nearest bishop for help, low-key signifying the potential of the Church to one day mend itself?
Demonic possession is a way for low-status members of families or organizations to blackmail their parents or superiors by publicly embarrassing them. exorcism fell out of fashion because belief in the supernatural has waned and because the sort of person who would become "possessed" in prior generations now has more appealing alternatives.
Alternatively, the possessed have gotten better at hiding their status, so now you have literal demons running potentially important institutions and messing them up in small ways that wouldn't easily lead back to them.
From a GM running priest hunting scenarios, I would also like to know who else to add to the foe portfolio beyond cultists and academics (secular priests). >no Protestant exorcists
They tend to be more isolated, off-the-grid solo types.
pretty much every religion has the concept of demon, appropriate those cultures, for example >Sufi Baby Driver who pops in his earbuds and enters a trance, joining with god to defeat evil. special power: whirling dervish >hillbilly pastor who handles snakes to give him divine advantage. special power: soak poison >buddhist monk who can see the deva for what they are, and they can always see him. special power: battle meditation
Demonic possession is a way for low-status members of families or organizations to blackmail their parents or superiors by publicly embarrassing them. Exorcism fell out of fashion because belief in the supernatural has waned and because the sort of person who would become "possessed" in prior generations now has more appealing alternatives.
A TV show was based around a government department hunting Vampires, it was pretty good. They had various skillsets, but more importantly had to be bitten by a Vampire before being accepted into the organisation.
I've been writing a story that includes in it a bunch of demon-hunting Ninja's.
In said story, the 'mascarade' is kept up by the average citizens inability to comprehend magic when they look at it. They instead can't perceive it or rationalize it away. I did this partly to avoid explaining why the government doesn't factor into things with a magical MIB, but also partly to make a joke about the government being too incompetent to keep such a huge thing a secret.
Anyway I was also considering maybe having a secret order of demon-hunting cowboys get referenced at some point, cause why would Ninja's be the only ones to hunt demons? I'm thinking though that these guys would be a pretty decentralized group of average americans. Makes me wonder if they ever came to blows or anything (like say how the Suffragette movement split between the north and south over the issue of slavery). Like I wonder if being a secret society of what'd be old white dudes if they'd try to forcefully keep it that way. (Likewise the Ninja's I want to write as specifically very much behind the times- they don't train them to use computers or guns, tools very convenient to modern day people, hence they are still recognizably Ninja's).
That said- I also set it in an alternate dimension where the Rock is president so I could avoid the constant political upheavals we see day-to-day so I can probably just say they sorted that shit out in the 60's and there's been zero complications since.
>demon-hunting Ninja's
... so ... Taimanin?
I think ninja as a term has been stretched beyond it's limits much like the veganas of those women
I dunno, but I have this game I call Cryptid Hunters, though it'd be better named as Paranormal Hunters.
It takes place in the modern day and all my players' characters are just people that have had interactions with the paranormal. For example, one character was a hacker that found a literal ghost in the machine, another had bigfoot kill his family, and another got bitten by the rougarou and bathes in silver to keep the curse at bay.
I had them face all sorts of paranormal shit from the chupacabra to shadow people, and then some.
The gist of the concept is people are naturally blind to the paranormal as a subconscious primordial survival instinct, and the nasty critters are aware of this, so they try to do some World of Darknes-esque "masquerade" shit to remain unseen. But some of them, for whatever reason, frick around with particular mortals and then it's like our eyes are finally open to the supernatural.
So yeah, I guess take my unhinged ramblings for inspiration and all that.
I could have had them fighting demons if I had thought of an original plot for it.
>why no Protestant exorcists?
Because a preacher would normally be the one to handle. You don't really need some special group to handle it, just the name of Jesus.
Another reason is that many Protestants don't literally believe in demons and the like and scoff at the idea of exorcisms. Those people naturally aren't going to have someone to fill that role.
I really wouldn't wish dealing with this sort of thing on anyone.
ok but my prosperity gospel televangelist exorcist wants to play too
That's a whole different can of worms and not at all what I'm talking about.
I'm talking about the modern day people who would be anti hero exorcists in a game where you play demon hunters, what the frick are you talking about?
Most protestants are narcissists so they don't bother calling in a priest and just shout at the demons themselves. Very common sight on ghost hunting shows.
>Why no protestant exorcists
Pick your flavor. If snake handlers and tongue speakers are a thing I'm sure there is a group out there that believes in castigating demons. But chances are they are just weird sexual deviants who abuse their own families by performing "exorcisms".
In anycase, the idea of demons and demon hunting revolving around the Christian god is boring and Japanese demon fighting is equally used. Then again, I don't imagine there is too much else to draw upon.
>demons and demon hunting revolving around the Christian god is boring
name one game that does this
Kult? Wasn't that about the Christian Dichotomy?
>the idea of demons and demon hunting revolving around the Christian god is boring
Mileage may vary. I like the idea of modern day demon hunters getting in over their heads because the Apocalypse is coming and the fallen are taking off the kid gloves to do as much damage as possible before their time is up.
>Who does this besides priests?
Anyone with a vendetta, and people payed to do it by organizations in the know.
>Who does this besides priests?
No one, because most people don't fricking care about demonology. If you tie someone up, screaming bible verses at them while beating the shit out of them you are going to jail.
>auxillary question: why no Protestant exorcists?
I'm pretty sure there are some branches who do that type of stuff but that's just me being pedantic.
Jokes aside, how prominent should the mundane consequences of an exorcism?
I wouldn't argue that priests hunt demons at all, necessarily. As for your second question, it's because God is the one capable of casting out demons, not necessarily man (unless sufficiently endowed by the Holy Spirit, but refer to my previous point)
You have to have the blessing of your bishop. There is no line of succession among Protestant preachers. They are entirely divorced from the Holy Tradition of the Church which hands down the authority of Christ to his disciples. There are stories of priests attempting exorcisms without a blessing, and being rebuked by the entities they are attempting to cast out. These stories always end with them getting the proper blessing from the Bishop, and then casting out the demon. Pastor Steve at the LifeChurch(tm) Dispensationslist Evangelical soft rock megachurch in the strip mall across from the Applebee's cannot do this.
Why do I get the feeling you are Orthodox?
What if the Protestant swallowed his pride and asked the nearest bishop for help, low-key signifying the potential of the Church to one day mend itself?
Alternatively, the possessed have gotten better at hiding their status, so now you have literal demons running potentially important institutions and messing them up in small ways that wouldn't easily lead back to them.
Because fighting demons usually requires some level of ritual, and protestants stripped out basically every bit of ritual from Christianity.
Do this with a game you like or make a game around the concept, then you'll have what you want.
From a GM running priest hunting scenarios, I would also like to know who else to add to the foe portfolio beyond cultists and academics (secular priests).
>no Protestant exorcists
They tend to be more isolated, off-the-grid solo types.
pretty much every religion has the concept of demon, appropriate those cultures, for example
>Sufi Baby Driver who pops in his earbuds and enters a trance, joining with god to defeat evil. special power: whirling dervish
>hillbilly pastor who handles snakes to give him divine advantage. special power: soak poison
>buddhist monk who can see the deva for what they are, and they can always see him. special power: battle meditation
Demonic possession is a way for low-status members of families or organizations to blackmail their parents or superiors by publicly embarrassing them. Exorcism fell out of fashion because belief in the supernatural has waned and because the sort of person who would become "possessed" in prior generations now has more appealing alternatives.
A TV show was based around a government department hunting Vampires, it was pretty good. They had various skillsets, but more importantly had to be bitten by a Vampire before being accepted into the organisation.
Any more info about the show? Name, decade, country?
Damned people making a deal with the Devil — capture/kill escapees from hell and rogue demons — in exchange for soul redemption.
Protestant exorcists are freelancers.
Catholic exorcisms are an event.
Orthodox exorcism is an everyday activity.
3am challenge youtubers
>why no Protestant exorcists
protties are basically atheists and may not truly have souls
>why no Protestant exorcists
Why would real demons fear priests of an explicitly fake religion?
Knights Templar, obviously
Illuminati too, provided the demons are causing chais where it doesn't benefit their plans.