Holy

But it is not as if the people of London spend their time arguing over the existence of "Holy magic". After all, the Church is certainly real, and the general belief that God exists and works through his servants is almost considered a truism. There are very few atheists in the world of Brassy's Men, and even fewer are vocal. [Game Note: See the section on Church and Religion for more details.]

The remainder of this section pays no more heed to those nay-saying atheists. The power of God can be made manifest on Earth, and brought to bear by his most devoted servants.

Not every holy man is a Holy Man, so to speak. The Church's ranks are filled with priests who are not touched in this manner. Those who are truly blessed seem to be distributed fairly randomly through the Church's ranks - the favor of God does not seem to be a prerequisite to a bishop's chair, at least not so much as a few political connections. There are even those with the power of Holy who are not part of the Church's hierarchy, or even of its flock.

In the world of Brassy's Men it is possible to wield the power of Holy and not even be Anglican! It is perfectly permissible to have a character who is Jewish, or Muslim, or Hindu and still possessed of the powers of Holy. The privilege is even extended, begrudgingly, to Catholics. What is common is that the practitioner must have solid faith in some existing religion. [Game Note: Characters who have the power of Holy have a new stat: HOLY. Such characters automatically gain the handicap "Duty to: Religion" at a level equal to their HOLY. Note that this handicap does not imply duty toward a particular temporal church structure, but rather a tendency to keep the tenets of one's chosen religion in a strict fashion.]

It is rumored that there have been individuals fully convinced of their Holy nature who in fact have been duped by the darker powers. Truly the Devil may act in a pleasing fashion. [Game Note: It is possible to have a character who has UNHOLY, not HOLY, but who believes themselves to be HOLY. This combination is not possible for a starting character.]

The abilities wielded by a practitioner of Holy differ from Magic spells in several respects:

• Holy abilities need not be prepared ahead of time. All Holy abilities are available "at will".
  
• Holy abilities are powered by the HOLY stat, not the MANA stat.
  
• In order to use a Holy ability to aid another character, the target character must in general agree to pray with the Holy person. They need not necessarily believe in the religion, but they must at least say the words. Note that many might be unwilling to do this.
  
• Generally Holy abilities are used to aid other people, not to aid oneself.
  
• The use of Holy abilities uses up HOLY points. HOLY points may be regained by praying. [Game Note: Praying for ½ hour adds 1 HOLY point per five people involved in the prayer. Praying in groups is more beneficial than praying alone. You may accumulate up to twice your HOLY score in HOLY points in this manner. Points last until the end of the game period. Players begin each game session with their HOLY score worth of points.]

Some common HOLY abilities are:

• Consecration. This may be performed on a piece of a land, an object such as a weapon, the Host, an altar service, etc.
  
• Exorcism
  
• Blessing. Unlike Consecration, a blessing is laid upon a person or animal.
  
• Heal, or Laying on of Hands. This ability is fairly rare, and may not even exist. [Game Note: This ability may be used only in a coincidental fashion, such as discovering that a wound is not as serious as was first imagined. It may not be used in an overt manner. The specific mechanics for this are TBD.]
  
• Intercession. Turn fortune in your favor, pray for a random occurrence to save you.
  
• Aura of Holiness. Dissuade those hostile toward you into behaving more civilly or even renouncing their violent ways. Convince people to do things for the greater good.
  
• Word of God. Remove fear, boost morale, other intangible effects.

As noted, these Holy abilities all tend to be of the sort which would allow a skeptical onlooker to declare that nothing at all had actually been done. Those with Holy tend not to let this sort of thing bother them; their powers are not for personal gain or to forcibly convince others of the rightness of their cause; they are to succor and aid the faithful in their times of need.

There are Holy rituals and Holy relics as well. "Holy" relics are particularly common, while those with true Holy powers are much more rare. There is no known means of telling these apart, however. Even someone with a very high attunement to the workings of God [Game Note: High HOLY score] cannot pick up a bone and tell if it is truly the thighbone of St. Christopher. One must have faith. [Game Note: Player characters may not start the campaign in possession of relics, but may acquire them or borrow them for use during play. Borrowing relics is likely to be more fruitful if one has connections within the Church.]