Houngan: a male Voodun priest. A female priest is know as a Mambo. There is no such thing as a Voodoo Adept. You're either fully a houngan or you're not.
The Houngan is Voodun's religious leader. The Houngan acts as a community leader as well as a spiritual leader, and he serves many functions within the société. He maintains absolute authority over the community, because he is the only person who is fully trained to interact with gods and to interpret the complex body of belief that makes up Voodoo. They are highly revered members of the community, someone who can be relied upon to offer sound advice, with all the force of the spirit world behind it. Virtually nothing is done in the community without first consulting the Houngan. He has many means by which to contact the gods including dreams, ritual invocation, fortune telling using cards, palm reading, or figure drawings. Each société's spiritual leader also has the power to alter the Voodoo ceremonies of his community, tailoring them to the particular gods that are revered by that community. As well as priest the houngan acts as confessor, confidential adviser, financial adviser, and prophet for the people in his community. Generally the current priest trains future priests from a young age, and the new Houngan is not fully initiated until he reaches his early thirties.
| Step 1: Attributes | ||
| Roll attributes as normal but raise INT to 15, or if already over 15 add +1. Hit points = CON +8, +8 per level. | ||
| Step 2: Skills | ||
| Choose skills in
the normal manner but also gain the following free ones; Knowledge Alternative Medicine Knowledge Artifacts Knowledge Demons Knowledge Geomancy Knowledge Magic Knowledge Undead |
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| Step 3: Abilities | ||
| Houngans gain all the
following free;
Spellcast - The first sphere the Houngan learns from is free and must be Tantric, each subsequent sphere costs 5 points. He starts with one spell per INT point over 9, he can learn an equal amount per level. Thus INT 13 = 4 spells +4 per level. The spells can come from Tantric, Necromancy, D'arque, Common, Faerie and Dreamspeak. However all magic must be taught by a summoned Loa. Houngan can tap into the world’s natural mana at a rate of INT + WIS x4. +10 Mana at levels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20. +1 Spell save at levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18. +1 Sanity save at levels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19. +1 Willpower save at levels 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16 and 20. +1 Toxin save at levels 4, 7, 11, 14, 17 and 19. When fighting Undead (including spirits) gain +2 to Thaco and AC. This increases by +1 to all bonuses listed every 3 levels. +1 Spell Bonus at levels 4, 7, 11, 15 and 19. Pick 1 extra spell at levels 3, 7, 10, 13, 17 and 19. Additionally Houngans start with 30 Points to spend on any of the following abilities. As they earns more experience they may buy or rebuy more abilities. |
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| Ability | Cost | Notes |
| Astralwalk | 5 | The ability to shift one's
soul into the astral plane. The character's spirit is intangible and
invisible while in this plane but he can see and hear others. He can
instantly appear at a known location or fly to an unknown one at 2.997925
x108 metres per second. He can remain in the astral plane for 1
minute per WIS, +1 minute per level.
While in this form he can still use all his abilities and cast any of his spells. |
| Contact | 5 | The player may have 1 contact per 5 CHA and this may be in any country. The player should determine this with the GM. Add an equal amount of contacts each time rebought. The contacts should be followers of the D'arque and Loa. |
| Damage Bonus | 10 | +1 or +25% damage each time bought (whichever is highest) and only applies to one sphere of magic. Must be rebought for each additional sphere. |
| Dreamwalk | 5 |
This Houngan can actually enter into the
short lived pocket dimensions created by a person's dreams and nightmares.
These Dreamworlds are outside the boundaries of normal reality and exist
solely as a reflection of the dreamer's imagination. The Dreamtraveller must
be within line of sight of the dreamer in order for the power to
function. The Dreamtraveller has no direct control over the conditions
within the Dreamworld. He can interact with things within that world by
performing "physical" actions much as he would in the real world. If the
hero has other powers these exist in equivalent forms. The Dreamtraveller
can suffer real damage as a result of events that affect him within the
Dreamworld. He might even die. The equivalent of the damage appears in the
hero's real body. Normally the hero's real body retains its solidity during
Dreamwalking. Each Dreamworld is unique to the specific dreamer and retains
no existence except during the act of dreaming. Dreamworlds are not the same
as the Dream Dimension, although it is possible they exist within the
greater Dream Dimension. It is possible that Dreamworlds touch each other
and may even overlap in the case of telepathic dreamers. If so, it is
possible that the Dreamtraveller can enter one Dreamworld and exit one of
someone else's.
Additionally he can induce a nightmare so severe that victim must save vs. psi or go into a coma. |
| Evil Eye | 5 | Line of sight range. The character can invoke his enemies' greatest fear causing them to panic and be routed, fleeing for WIS x1 round. Any who save and remain to fight suffer -1 per 2 WIS on all their rolls for WIS x1 round. |
| Extend Duration | 10 | Spell duration increases by +1 round and only applies to one sphere of magic. Must be rebought for each additional sphere. |
| Loa Endowment | 5 | A Houngan is capable of summoning any
Loa and endowing himself with its abilities. Loa are special spirits that
are not either elemental or quite Gods, but have some characteristics of
both (detailed information can be found in the Voodun Gods section of the
Pantheon). The summoning takes 10 minutes of ritual to complete, -1 minute
per level (requires a minimum of one round). If the chosen Loa refuses to be
summoned then the GM determines how long it takes the character to find
another one. If the Loa does agree to endow the character then he can remain
for up to one minute per WIS.
As a last ditch emergency measure the character can request that the Loa take possession of his body. While controlled the Houngan is aware of what is going on, but is unable to do anything without going through the Loa to do it. The possession goes on until the Houngan's body collapses from physical exhaustion. While in possession the Loa has access to all of the Houngan's knowledge, skills, and powers. It can however be banished from the body, or be forced to leave if it's host is knocked unconscious or killed. Of course the Loa might decide it likes having a physical body and refuse to vacate.. |
| Range Boost | 10 | +25% range for spells and only applies to one sphere of magic. Must be rebought for each additional sphere. |
| Save Bonus | 10 | This is the cost for each additional +1 added to the character's spell save. |
| True Sight | 5 | Can see the true image of any person or object regardless of any form of concealment, disguise, illusion or invisibility. This also includes the ability to detect whether it is magical, and the exact nature of the magic. |
| Step 4: Careers | ||
| Possible related careers include; Psychic, Tarot Reader, Relationship Advisor, Natural Medicine Doctor, Historian, Witchdoctor and Academic Researcher (specialising for instance in Geomancy, etc). | ||