Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay First Edition Wiki
Advertisement

Exorcists devote their lives to hunting down and casting out the Undead, Daemons, ghosts, and those who would summon them. They are not the same as witch-hunters; while their goals are similar, their methods are completely different. Witch-hunters abhor sorcery, while exorcists learn the arts of necromancy and daemonology to use against the forces of darkness. They are driven by a burning desire to eradicate all traces of these foul arts.

There are three kinds of exorcist. The first is religious: priestly initiates trained by secret cabals within one of the temples - often but not always that of Mórr - in dark arts which would have them burned for Chaos-worship if they were discovered. They have sympathizers within some of the colleges of magic who are prepared to grant them magic licenses so they can practise their art more openly; but because the issuing of licences is so carefully monitored, only a few can be given out this way each year. Some witch-hunters are recruited to the profession this way.

The second kind of exorcist is dynastic: exorcism is in their bloodline and they possess a natural talent for it. The skills of exorcism and the secret knowledge of Daemons, the spirt world, and the nature of Undead are passed down from generation to generation, from parent to child. There are only a few of these families in the entire Old World and, although they suspect there may be others like them, they have no contact with each other.

The third kind of exorcist is the rarest: the necromancer or daemonologist who has succeeded in tearing themselves free of the grasp of their foul profession and has vowed to destroy all traces of it and those who follow it.

The life of an exorcist is a lonely one. Whatever their training, most spend their lives travelling from place to place, dealing with hauntings, possessions, and other supernatural phenomena wherever they are found. Because of the nature of their calling, the exoricst will also be skilled at detecting and exposing hoaxes, where supernatural activity is faked for one reason or another.

Many are forced to work secretively, like hedge-wizards, and have both the supernatural and the official wizardly community against them. Most never meet another person in the same line of work and, then, only if their temple or sponsor summons a group together to take on and exorcise a particularly strong force or supernatural entity.

The exorcist's goal is to rid the world once and for all of supernatural perils and of those who meddle with things best left alone. Some exorcists ultimately become witch-hunters in order to achieve this. Exorcists make use of a variety of skills and spells to deal with the supernatural; for the purposes of spell-use, they are treated like wizards.

To use magic openly, an exorcist must be licensed, unless he is a priest of a church or temple. No college would ever be willing to give licenses to people who admit that they have learned necromantic and daemonic spells, no matter how good their motives, so licenses must be obtained either in secret, by forgery, or by adopting the guise of a legitimate wizard. Some exorcists live double-lives, appearing only when needed, while others travel constantly, not staying in one place for more than a few days.

Exorcists will never work with witch-hunters and live in fear of them: Magnus' laws and the charter of 1913 clearly state that anyone found practising daemonic or necromantic magic is a follower of Chaos and must burn.


Advance Scheme - Level 1

M

WS

BS

S

T

W

I

A

Dex

Ld

Int

Cl

WP

Fel

 

 

 

 

+2

+10

 

 

 

+10

 

 

 

Advance Scheme - Level 2

M

WS

BS

S

T

W

I

A

Dex

Ld

Int

Cl

WP

Fel

 

+10

+10

+1

+1

+3

+20

 

+10

+10

+20

+10

+10

 

Advance Scheme - Level 3

M

WS

BS

S

T

W

I

A

Dex

Ld

Int

Cl

WP

Fel

 

+10

+10

+1

+1

+4

+30

 

+20

+20

+30

+20

+20

 

Advance Scheme - Level 4

M

WS

BS

S

T

W

I

A

Dex

Ld

Int

Cl

WP

Fel

 

+10

+10

+1

+1

+4

+40

 

+30

+30

+30

+30

+30

 

Skills - Level 1

The Cast Spells skill for exorcists is a special hybrid of other traditions. This has been devised over the years to support their specialisation, but, as a result, it is not very versatile as normal Cast Spells skills. The skill allows exorcists to cast spells from several magical traditions, but only the ones in the list below. The skill must be bought again at each higher level, as with any other wizardly career.

Levels 2-4

Exorcists do not gain access to new skills at levels 2, 3, or 4, with the exception of the Cast Spells skill, as described above. The experience point cost for each level is the same as for normal wizards (not specialist wizards).

Magic Points

Just like wizards, Human and Elf Exorcists gain 4D4 Magic Points at each level, whilst Halflings and Dwarfs gain 2D4. In practice, there are few (if any) non-human exorcists.

Trappings

  • Hand Weapon
  • Religious token
  • Bell, book, and D6 candles
  • 5D6 Gold Crowns


Career Exits


Spell Use

Exorcists use spells from a variety of sources, blending daemonic, necromantic, and other magic to suit their own purposes. Their spell allowance is the same as for a wizard of the same level, but they can only use spells from the following list (although similar new spells may be added at the GM's discretion):

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Advertisement