Religious skills
Every religious skill requires a dose of liao to use. Liao is provided to everyone who ministers to a congregation, which is a personal resource. A starting congregation resource produces five doses of liao per event.
The majority of the religious skills involve the creation or removal of auras. These are roleplaying effects only; they can affect a person, an item or an area but they have no mandated rules outcome. A player is always free to choose how their character responds to a roleplaying effect based on what they believe is appropriate for their characterization.
Religious skills do not require touch, but do require you to be close enough to touch the target. If there are multiple participants, they must be close enough to touch the target or another participant. You must complete at least 10 seconds of appropriate roleplaying to use a religious skill.
Dedication
- You must purchase the dedication ceremony before you can purchase any other religious skills
A dedication ceremony marks the soul of another human, excluding themselves, with the same dedication mark on their soul. A priest with no dedication soulmark cannot lead a dedication ceremony, though they may support a ceremony performed by a priest with a dedication soulmark. A character who has purchased this skill during character creation can choose to begin play either with a dedication mark of one of Imperial virtues or without a dedication soulmark.
A dedication soulmark has no demonstrable effect on the person whose soul it is on. However, it is a pre-requisite for leading ceremonies of anointing, hallowing and consecration.
A dedication soulmark may be removed with exorcism or by replacing it with a more powerful dedication mark. Priests with no dedication soulmark, or with a matching soulmark to the priest leading a dedication ceremony, may support that priest making the dedication mark stronger than the one it is replacing, or simply harder to remove.
Any character who has purchased this skill is able to act as a guide when someone consumes True Liao. A character who consumes True Liao can choose to have a single character with the dedicate skill act as a guide. Although that character does not experience a past-life vision of their own, they do share the past-life vision of the character who has consumed the Liao.
Anointing
A priest may use this skill to perform a ceremony over an individual. This creates a roleplaying effect that directly affects the recipient of the anointing. The roleplaying effect is themed by the dedication of the priest leading the ceremony. Priests with no dedication soulmark, or whose soulmark matches the lead priest's, may participate in the ceremony making it stronger. Stronger anointings replace weaker ones or one can be removed by an exorcism of equal or greater strength.
Consecration
A priest may use this skill to perform a ceremony over an area. This creates a roleplaying effect that affects that area. The roleplaying effect is themed by the dedication of the priest leading the ceremony. Priests with no dedication soulmark, or whose soulmark matches the lead priest's, may participate in the ceremony making it stronger. Stronger consecrations replace weaker consecrations, or one can be removed by an exorcism of equal or greater strength.
Excommunication
This skill can be used to excommunicate a character. A character who has been excommunicated cannot make use of liao or use any skill that requires liao. The more priests that participate in an excommunication the harder the excommunication soul mark is to remove; this applies irrespective of any dedication or any absence thereof meaning that any priest with this skill can co-operate. The soul mark of excommunication can only be removed via a sufficiently powerful exorcism.
Exorcism
This skill can be used to remove soul marks and auras from a target person, object or area. Whilst some auras can be replaced with a stronger aura, others, such as testimonies, excommunication and possessions, can only be exorcised. The more priests that participate in the exorcism the more likely to be able to take down the effect; this applies irrespective of any dedication or any absence thereof meaning that any priest with this skill can co-operate with another. An exorcism need only equal the strength of the aura to remove it. Each exorcism ceremony must be directed at a specific target mark or aura.
Hallow
A priest may use this skill to perform a ceremony over an item. This creates a roleplaying effect that affects anyone bonded to that item. The roleplaying effect is themed by the dedication of the priest leading the ceremony. Priests with no dedication soulmark, or whose soulmark matches the lead priest's, may participate in the ceremony making it stronger. Stronger hallows replace weaker ones, or one can be removed by an exorcism of equal or greater strength.
Insight
This skill allows you to examine the target’s soul. You can view any dedication soulmarks, read any testimonies and see any auras that are affecting them.
Testimony
By performing a testimony, you can place an indelible mark on the target’s soul. This consists of, at most, two words; an adjective and a noun. Examples include “Oathbreaker”, “Bold Warrior”, “Fool”, “Wise Leader”. Testimonies can be perceived by any character who uses the Insight skill or an equivalent ability to examine the victim’s soul. Multiple priests may participate in the ceremony making it stronger, causing a mark to be harder to remove with exorcism. Soul marks of this kind can only be removed with a sufficiently powerful exorcism.