Father Rucker's Admittance
I fully understand everyone's reluctance to allow an investigator into this campaign who is more focused on investigating the supernatural as opposed to science, and I recognize that the questions that are being posed are really aimed at me, the GM. Why am I allowing this unique character into the game? Expecially when
Q1. I have specifically asked for characters whose roles focus on science and exploration;
Q2. Allowing Father Rucker to join us would seem to violate the nature of the campaign (i.e. the roleplaying of the discovery of, and reaction to, the mythos by these characters who are men of science and exploration);
Q3. Allowing a character who is a combination scientist/priest with possible spellcasting is a stretch. Why am I allowing this in a campaign that is otherwise one which I've set it up as in item 1. above.
Q4. As is already obvious, everyone is putting a lot of effort into their characters and their writings, and everyone knows that this module is a classic that presents tremendous opportunity for unique adventure. Why am I risking everyone's collective efforts, possibly altering the nature the campaign in a dramatic way, in a game as outlined in item 2. above?
These are tough questions and I'll do my best with them.
A1. I have been open to characters possessing some mythos knowledge or abilities, and have requested that it be kept to a minimum as per my original statement in this OOC thread as follows: "Psychic feats are allowed, but I would rather that everyone not have them." My statement is a little ambiguous, since using a feat is not the same as having mythos knowledge or using a spell, and I should have been more specific about what would be allowed, but that statement (in my mind) opened to door for players to submit a character outline that could include some mythos knowledge and experiences.
A2. Yes, Father Rucker is not truly a man of science; he once was, but is no longer. How, then, can I reconcile his traveling on this mission? Father Rucker will have a logical roleplaying reason for coming along and, as you've seen, Father Rucker has much more work to do before Starkweather will consider allowing him on the expedition. I have no intentions of violating the roleplaying aspects of this campaign. Additionally, the Father Rucker character must be played very carefully; any use of mythos abilities by Father Rucker, or any release of mythos knowledge by Father Rucker to the general crew (i.e. NPC's), will subject him to responses that we might expect from an unknowing population (i.e. shunning, incarceration, immobilization, and outright killing are all possible responses). I expect nothing different from his interactions with the PC's. Father Rucker will be walking a deadly tightrope, and it's one that he will need to carefully roleplay through to cross that tightrope without falling.
A3. I will be careful to ensure that the Effective Level of Father Rucker will be similar to the other PC's (i.e. a 4th level CoC character) and will demand of Dallas that his character be logically drawn up, just as all of you have done. In my view, a man of intellect, and particularly a man of God, is not likely to be also strong in his abilities to melee or use ranged weapons. There may be some minor abilities that seem out of character, if say the priest had a unique hobby or sport, but Dallas and I are now working on this. I am putting Dallas' character through a careful review of his background, personality, and abilities to ensure that it all fits together.
A4. I believe that the character of Father Rucker presents some absolutely stellar roleplaying opportunities, both for Dallas and for you, our other players, and I've already seen that Dallas' writing is very good. I expect that we'll have some in-game conflict to work out, and that we may need to occasionally request that he alter a post (and vice versa) since our PC's and NPC's are likely to react strongly to his character's behavior. But, folks, this entire campaign is a risk. It is long. It is deadly. It is demanding on the players and on the GM. Adding Father Rucker to the mix is really not as much a risk as it might seem; being able to cast a spell, or fire a rifle, or set a dynamite charge, or run the fastest will, in the end, not alter the campaign dramatically. In the end, our game will be the story of how all of you interact with each other, and how you respond and work together, in confronting the environment and the challenges set before you; Incorporating Father Rucker may prove tricky, but it may prove also to be of great benefit.
I hope that this helps.
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Thanks!
Job (the tortured one).
