The fanatic

His message of divine hatred is heard in every language, country and religion.

Almost every religion teaches love, harmony and peace. Ironically, the most fundamentalist followers of most religions tend to focus on intolerance, hate, and violence. The fanatic is about strictly adhering to what he considers the rules of his religion, even at the expense of loosing it's message and going against it's spirit. In previous eras they were the inquisition, the salem witch trials, and the crusaders. In the modern world they are the bible beating preachers, the leaders of protests, terrorist leaders and televangelists.

Fanatics (also called fundamentalists) are found in nearly all religions. In the guise of righteousness he stirs intolerance and hatred to any who will listen. To prevent his followers from questioning him, he preaches To those who would dare question him, he preaches hellfire and self-sacrifice.

They usually have a following that grows as they grow in power. Any followers who question his authority are cast out or worse. Anything that hurts the fanatic's reputation or his power also hurts his avatar.

Fanatics need not actually believe their words, nor even the religion they claim to follow. Some do, some don't, faith is irrelevant. Their power comes from convincing others of their faith. They gain power by gaining fame and power, but more importantly by causing public outcry in the name of God. The more violent, the better. Getting people to protest, riot, attack, suicide bomb, or even go to war is his goal. To do this he preaches that those who are not his followers are evil. Usually he tries to work in hatred of other cultures, races, religion and sexual orientation as well.

An interesting phenomenon is that non-religious people, or those under the affect of another fanatic seem resilient to his powers, able to see through his lies and manipulation. The most powerful fanatics appear in populations that are poor, uneducated and/or desperate. They exploit the prejudices, and struggles and add a divine blessing to rile up the masses

Taboo: Anything that would hurt his credibility among his "flock" (a scandal, being caught in a lie, drug habits). Big ones are when they are proven to not be living the way they preach. Also, changing your message or admitting to being wrong tends to hurt your credibility.

While not required, most fanatics are stern, serious and angry. Appearing fun or submissive often weakens the channel.

Symbols: Holy books, religious symbols, torches, swords, offering plates.


Channels:

1-50%: Words of God:
When talking about his religion, the Fanatic can flip flop skill checks related to talking or preaching his message. This only works if his message is both religious and hateful. This includes debates and discussions. The channel works even when the fanatic abandons logic entirely.

51-70%: Closed mind:
At this point the fanatic's mind starts to close to the point where things no longer affect him the same. Any time he has to make a madness check, he can reroll the check as long as he can somehow connect the experience to his message of faith and hatred.


71-90%: Blind faith:
You start to become untouchable by logic. In the eyes of your followers you can do no wrong, even if you are caught doing wrong. Any time you would start to loose credibility, you can choose to make up an excuse or somehow justify it. Even if it involves a conspiracy or illogical argument, your followers will believe it. Essentially you make an avatar check and each of your followers makes an opposed mind check. Those who roll under your check believe your story even in the face of impossible evidence. (The GM may assign shifts based on the situation, especially if you are constantly being discredited.)

91-98%: Rally the troops:
You are able to rally people to fight or even die for your cause. You make an avatar check and each of your followers can oppose with a mind check. If they fail, they are compelled to do whatever it is you ask. Usually this is done to generate money, but it can just as easily be used for petitions, protests riots, attacks, or similar. If you command something that requires significant effort, cost, risk or violence, your followers will usually get a bonus (10 - 50 depending on magnitude) to their roll to oppose your control.

(Be careful with these last two. Each time you use these you will likely have at least a few followers break free of your control. They may or may not leave your flock, but their faith will be weakened. If you use these too much, your followers will quickly thin out and you will loose power.)