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Tips on warrior concepts
By Eirek R Highley
First
off let me explain that warriors aren't chiseled
in stone. There are varying views, location and
environment, number of other setites, and nitch.
There are a few common archetypes warriors fall
under Temple Guard, Hunter, Assassin, Body Guard,
General, and Gladiator. I'll expand on each one
of these individually. Each requires it's own
attention. Also some of these concepts transition
through role-play into other archetypes. This
is very common because all characters evolve just
like people do from their experiences.
Also
note that warrior concepts come in two flavors
and are not restricted to the warrior bloodline.
The bloodline is a setite dedicated to the arts
of war and has been gifted as such by the blood
of Set. These warriors differ from a normal Setite
in that they get an inherent combat discipline
of potence. Where as standard Follower of Set
has to find a teacher for potence but still has
Obfuscate at his disposal.
Not
all warriors are Fanatical martyrs. Some of them
are face men or secretive hunters. Every warrior
should have a unique personality. But then so
should every character.
Societies and cults
There
are warriors in each cult and with in the cults
their duties and purposes differ. A warrior who
holds a regional society title is responsible
only for his region and the protection of the
regional temple and priest. A warrior in a minor
or major cult may only be responsible for the
defense of its high priest or training of new
initiates in martial prowess. Needless to say
no one warrior position is the same. In some instances
a regional priest may dictate a regional warriors
positions duties and in others the warrior is
more likely to be in charge of the region. This
is pretty much a very flexible organization.
Individual respect and prestation
Warriors
can be prideful or modest. A warrior of the bloodline
may show disrespect to non-bloodlines but that
is character preference. Some non-bloodline warriors
have attained much acceptance and respect where
those of the bloodline have done little but sit
and guard a temple. Either way each warrior should
know that they are doing their part to serve set.
Regardless of how they do it each knows that their
role increases the chance of Set's return.
Other tips
Don't
make it obvious that you're a warrior. The general
populous doesn't know how many warriors there
are and no lore but setite lore covers warrior
bloodline. Announcing that you're a warrior marks
you as a target and a threat. "The priest
is harmless but the warrior could kill someone"
would be a misconception that could be fatal for
a character. Do your best to be either an enigma
or find a way to create lots of misdirection.
It's none of the Aeons business what you do for
the clan.
Archetypes
Temple guards
These
could be new initiates that haven't earned their
place out side the temple. This isn't to say that
all temple guards are young pushovers. Someone
has to be in charge of them. This is a good role
for a neonate or young ancilla warrior. Temple
guards usually aspire to one day become one of
the elite guards at the national or global temples.
Elite
Guards, these are more likely to be fanatical
in how they fight and serve set. These are not
novice warriors but proven hardcore veterans.
They only serve in grand temples at some regional
levels but usually not lower than national. These
are the guards everyone should be afraid of. Their
martial and military discipline is as legendary
as Set himself.
Suggested
research material for temple guards, Look into
the Catholic Vatican in Italy. They have their
own religious temple guards who are trained in
martial prowess.
Body Guard
This
is a warrior that is either a mercenary or the
personal guard to a priest. I'll elaborate on
each one.
A personal guard to a priest is in charge of the
safety of on particular individual, usually a
priest. They take on the full responsibly of keeping
this person safe from all harm. Priest personal
guard is more likely to die in order let the priest
escape than they are to betray the priest. Mitigating
circumstances do happen to prevent that. Like
the warrior feeling that the priest has been lead
astray from the teachings of set. But all in all
this warrior goes wherever the priest goes to
ensure their safety.
A
mercenary is an accomplished warrior who sells
his ability to whom ever needs a guard. This seems
off kilter from the whole war against the Aeons
thing but it isn't. By helping an Aeon he is making
that Aeon more comfortable with a follower of
Set and that Aeon may eventually seek Set's enlightenment
from the warrior. This is one of the many ways
for a Setite to gain favor from Aeons as well
as betray them. Also these warriors have magnetic
or chameleon like personalities to fit in, in
any social setting.
Gladiator
Now
this looks out of place and that it may not fit
the paradigm but it does. There are ancient snakes
still around from the roman era. These snakes
ran private gladiatorial fights to seduce the
Aeons or kill them in the arena pits. During this
time there were many gladiatorial Warriors whose
prowess was noted for how good a show they put
on. Think WCW and you got it. Except Gladiator
snakes weren't likely pitted against each other
but against Aeons like brujah, Ventrue, and Gangrel.
One
common beginning is that these warriors started
out as slave ghouls that fought in the Circus
Maximus until they earned the embrace. Or they
could be a product of the modern boxing rings
or pit fights. Anyplace and time were people battled
for the entertainment of others.
Modern day we see movies about street fights and
pit fighting. Who's to say that modern day kindred
to enjoy the same past time?
Hunter
I'm
not referring to the mortal hunters but to the
idea of a big game hunter. This is a warrior who
has taken it upon himself to hunt down and slay
the Aeons to sacrifice them to Set. These warriors
tend to operate in small coteries to make surgical
strikes so well orchestrated that there is a minimum
chance of failure. These hunters keep trophies
and are less likely to brag about a kill. They
hunt for Set not personal pride. These warriors
are likely to learn out of clan animalism instead
of presence. It is a more useful power when hunting
down kindred, gathering information, and setting
up the kill zone.
Assassin
This
is a more specialized hunter type. This Setite
is more likely to operate alone or in very small
cells and strike important court officials or
high profile clan enemies. This doesn't meant
that he has to kill the target but has the ability
to make sure events fall into place and the target
gets destroyed. There is one common tactic that
destroys a target's character. That when he is
finally slain it looks like a mercy killing as
apposed to murder. A good example would be setting
a chain of events that gets a well-known kindred
bloodhunted and then swooping in and killing the
target
General
These
are elder warriors that have survived many a war
campaign. These are the ones that are National
warrior heads or likely regional warrior heads.
They lead during times of war and great battles
organizing dozens if not hundreds of Setite warriors.
These are the venerable ones capable of maintaining
both logistics and knowing the best distribution
of their assets. That's not to say they aren't
formidable combatants themselves. They only attained
this rank through proving themselves over and
over again.
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