Religious Extremism in FR

[vonmolkew]

I've been kicking around something for several days now and would like to get anyone's opinion, good bad or otherwise:
Based on our own world of religious extremism, would it be possible for a radical fundamentalist fringe group to develop, that worships any or all of the Triad? (Tyr, Helm and or Torm)
My idea is this: this radical group has taken the teachings of these Gods to the extent that they see Evil in every creature except the "five pure races" (elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, human) This group would be lead by Clerics and Paladins of these gods, acting in the "best interest of Law and Good." They would start out small, going after half-drow, half-orcs, half-ogres, etc. as they obviously have some taint of Evil in them. Then it could widen to Fey creatures (who seduce or play pranks), Centaurs (another "half" creature), etc.
I've been referring to the Dogma listed under each God in the FRCS, but they are kind of vague.
What I'm ultimately going for is a group to hound the party of characters as they rise in levels. The group consists of good drow, a NG tiefling, a pixie, and 2-3 other as yet undetermined, but non-standard race characters.
The logic I've come up with so far: Torm - "stand ever alert against corruption", "Strike quickly...against the rot in the hearts of mortals" Tyr - "Reveal the truth, punish the guilty...", "Keep a record of your deeds...and your ability to identify lawbreakers will expand" Helm - "Know your foes", Always obey orders...", "Demonstrate excellence and purity..." Helm himself is mentioned as being "emotionless and unconcerned with moral issues in the face of duty." Torm is mentioned as requiring his clerics to report and fix areas of wild and dead magic. The church also sends out agents to ferret out corruption in good groups. Tyr's clerics serve as judge, jury, and executioner in lawless areas.
All these fragments could be taken in an extreme light to act in the ways I've previously mentioned.
Our group has been debating the difficulty of playing LG characters, based on our own history. We've discussed the Knights Templar, the Crusades, The Inquisition, etc. All have occurred under the guise of "Law and Good". I thought it would be a real twist for them to be chased by LG-types instead of the standard CE/LE/NE types.
Any thoughts?

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Out of those, from what I read in various novels, I'd have to say Helm. His clergy seem to be heavy-handed in alot of "inquisitor" type plotlines (The Maztica Trilogy, Book 3 of the Druidhome Trilogy) where his clerics seem to go against anyone who don't believe as they do. I'd go out on a limb to say that'd include non-basic races or half-breeds of those races (as the original poster pointed out).

I don't see any from the clergy of Tyr or Torm from that list. They don't seem that kind of deity to allow that kind of racism crap to go on. Tyr goes more for the justice bend; justice to all, no matter race, background, income level, etc. And Torm just goes for evil in general. He's not picky as to WHO is evil just that they're evil and to remove them by the most expedious means possible. (I'm sure he can give his POV when he gets on this board sometime..... )

You can play a LG character without being part of the "inquisition".... just stay away from Helm. Torm would be a great deity for removing evil without prejudice. Or Tyr for granting them justice before either letting them go with a warning and writing in your ledger the proceedings or killing them if they don't show any signs of redemption.

 

[Jeremy]

Didn't Torm have to destroy an entire branch of his church because they went heretical? I'd say it's a definate possibility. Just because the god is good, doesn't mean that people are human and subject to poor ideas, greed, pride, avarice, or being led astray...

 

[CrusaderX]

Just remember that Paladins are no longer Paladins when they stray from Lawful Good. Their personal interpretation of lawful goodness is largely irrelevant. If they slide into the realm of Lawful Neutral actions (or, by killing innocent Fey creatures, much worse), it's definitely bye-bye Paladinhood.

 

[CrusaderX]

Didn't Torm have to destroy an entire branch of his church because they went heretical? I'd say it's a definate possibility. Just because the god is good, doesn't mean that people are human and subject to poor ideas, greed, pride, avarice, or being led astray...

Paladins, by definition, can't be led astray. Because as soon as they are led astray, they should cease to be Paladins. Now you can have some wiggle room, so the loss of Paladinhood isn't instantaneous. And repentance is always a good thing. But a Paladin simply can't make a career out of continuously acting against his alignment.

That Lawful Good requirement actually means something.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Didn't Torm have to destroy an entire branch of his church because they went heretical? I'd say it's a definate possibility. Just because the god is good, doesn't mean that people are human and subject to poor ideas, greed, pride, avarice, or being led astray...

No. He asked his faithful to give themselves to him so he'd have the strength to defeat Bane. He didn't know about the corruption until it was pointed out to him by an outsider to his church, Adon. He first refused to allow those heretics to sacrifice themselves but relented, seeing as they were at least somewhat repentant of their actions. This is why he has that edict of helping other good-aligned religions. To make up/atone for this f-up his clerics did "in his name" under his nose while keeping him distracted and away from their doings.

 

[Alzrius]

Helm's missionaries tend to be very extreme. They've done some rather...questionable, things when making inroads to Maztica and the Moonshae Isles. They tried to do the same in Zakhara, but the locals there immediately put the smack-down on them and sold them into slavery.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Helm's missionaries tend to be very extreme. They've done some rather...questionable, things when making inroads to Maztica and the Moonshae Isles. They tried to do the same in Zakhara, but the locals there immediately put the smack-down on them and sold them into slavery.

Heh. Serves the "righteous" bastards right! They got what they deserved. I guess word got to Zakhara about the crap they pulled in Maztica and the Moonshae Isles.......

 

[Jeremy]

Just remember that Paladins are no longer Paladins when they stray from Lawful Good. Their personal interpretation of lawful goodness is largely irrelevant. If they slide into the realm of Lawful Neutral actions (or, by killing innocent Fey creatures, much worse), it's definitely bye-bye Paladinhood.

I agree, but I thought we were talking about religious fanatics in general, (non-classed) congregations and sects that get the wrong idea and end up doing downright evil things (inquisition, crusades, conquistadors, whatever).

I was simply saying that a good god doesn't mean that bad people aren't going to kill in his name. I find it hard to keep in mind that Helm is an honorable deity with all the crap that's been done in his name.

 

[Brennin Magalus]

Whichever FR power(s) you decide to go with, I think you should have fanatical priests and/or mages cast delayed blast fireballs on fanatical underlings and instruct them to go to marketplaces and other such populous places. If the underlings are reluctant remind them of the carnal pleasures that await them in the afterlife if they do as they are told (oh, and you should be sure to have the underlings shout "[insert name of FR power here] is great!" before he or she explodes in a conflagration).