Pholtus & St Cuthbert (ATTN Col_Playdoh)?

[S'mon]

St Cuthbert's ethos came up on the Wizards boards.

St Cuthbert was an 11th century Northumbrian Saint I believe, so a rustic Anglicized version of medieval Roman Catholicism ought to work well.
BTW I treat Pholtus as a kind of Protestant/Puritan type sect, with a bit of a holy-roller snake-handler element, explaining the Cuthbert-Pholtus hostility. Not sure if this is what Gary (Col_Playdoh) intended? How do you trear Pholtus & St Cuthbert in your own campaigns?

 

[herald]

I believe the good Col. Said that his St. Cuthbert and the "real world" St. Cuthbert are indeed two different people, but the game version is definitely based on the other.

I have always based my perception of the religions as a disagreement between fundamentalist groups. So, your perception is somewhat on the spot, but a god old fashioned rivalry similar to Catholics and Protestants works as well.

Either way I would use the plot device as a issue between mortals. The Gods themselves should be mysterious, IMHO.

 

[Mr. Grimm]

It's been a while since I've played Greyhawk, but as I recall we used to play Pholtus as a fairly indifferent god, with those in the Theocracy of the Pale very similar in nature to the whitecloaks from Jordan's Wheel of Time books. Very xenophopic and very intolerant of any other religion as well as other races and other kinds of magic other than priestly, and militaristic. I liked the idea of the Inquisitors and an Inquisition-type of feel in the campaign with the burning of "heretics". I had a paladin at the time who needed to travel thru the Pale and so I wanted to make it particularly difficult for him and his fellow PCs.

 

[S'mon]

Ok, thanks. Any other thoughts?

"Oh blinding light
Oh light that blinds
I cannot see
Watch out for me"

 

[S'mon]

Ok, thanks. Any other thoughts?

"Oh blinding light
Oh light that blinds
I cannot see
Watch out for me"

 

[ScottyG]

Pholtus was based on a comedy sketch by the Firesign Theater. Originally it was the Powerhouse Church of the Presumptious Assumption of the Blinding Light. "O Blinding Light..." was their hymn. Serten was originally a cleric of the Powerhouse Church.

 

[tsadkiel]

I get the impression (at least from recent Greyhawk material) that the church of Pholtus is supposed to be a thinly disguised medieval Roman Catholic Church, complete with inquisitors and Templars and the like, while St. Cuthberts bunch are supposed to be more Low Church.

That's not how I play them, of course - like you, I run the Church of Pholtus as Puritans; my Theocracy of the Pale is pretty blatantly inspired by the Puritan Commonwealth.

 

[S'mon]

I get the impression (at least from recent Greyhawk material) that the church of Pholtus is supposed to be a thinly disguised medieval Roman Catholic Church, complete with inquisitors and Templars and the like, while St. Cuthberts bunch are supposed to be more Low Church.

That's not how I play them, of course - like you, I run the Church of Pholtus as Puritans; my Theocracy of the Pale is pretty blatantly inspired by the Puritan Commonwealth.

Yes, I'm most interested in the original intention, rather than the current approach, and it seems to have been a long long way from high Church Catholicism. Also there's really no way to plausibly put Cuthbert and Pholtus as branches of the 'same' church. I hadn't made the connection between the Theocracy and the Puritan Commonwealth though, that's a great idea which I must use.
Pholtus may not have Inquisitors, but he can still have Witchfinders...