Hi, Gingi! You’ve been questing this for a while now, so let’s see about getting it ready for acceptance! This ended up being much longer than I thought it would, but I really wanted to help and make sure you’re getting the most out of your character!
First and foremost, you are more than welcome to quest for a character who is a nun (or who aspires to be a nun)! However, the way you have set her up in this quest is actually a bit dated and at points incorrect! Some of the issues stem from some terminology that needs to be worked out! Admittedly, I had to do a bit of research on this myself, but hopefully some of this will prove helpful!
The terms “Nun” and “Sister” are usually used interchangeably in society, but they actually refer to two different things! Traditional Nuns (cloistered Nuns) are women who retreat from the world to live lives of prayer and contemplation in a convent or monastery. These women are much more closed off from society. Visitation is limited and there is typically much less interaction with the rest of the world than there would be for a Sister. Religious/Catholic Sisters, on the other hand, remain in the world and can have a variety of occupations. They can be teachers, nurses, social workers, lawyers, artists, scientists, political activists, etc. Therefore, Sisters continue to be involved in society in many ways. Nuns take perpetual
solemn vows, while Sisters take perpetual
simple vows, and I have honestly not been able to find a very good explanation as to what the difference is (although Sisters can inherit property while a Nun cannot), but they
do both take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Also, a lot of religious communities these days want applicants who at least have a bachelor’s degree before taking their vows, so that’s something to keep in mind as well!
Right now you have Bethany written very much like a traditional cloistered Nun, which I think would be unrealistic as it would make it nigh impossible for her to be involved in a powered life (as she would have to remain in the convent and would likely have no chance for any direct involvement/contact), nor would she have much interaction with other civilian characters were she to be cloistered. For those reasons if nothing else, I think having her be a Sister would work out best for you!
You can read more about Nuns and Sisters and what it takes to become one at the following links:
http://anunslife.org/resources/sister-or-nun/
http://people.howstuffworks.com/nun.htmIf you decide to go the Sister route then there are a couple of other points I’d like to make before getting into the meat of the profile! The first is a very minor thing (and perhaps even nit-picky), but as a Sister I would see no reason as to why she would not be able to eat chocolate! Yes, Sisters do follow certain guidelines as to what they can and can’t eat during certain days of the week or times of the year, but so long as what they’re eating doesn’t cross the line into “extravagance,” then their day-to-day diets are usually no different than yours and mine (I’m pretty sure chocolate is fair game, as I’ve found nothing that says otherwise)! At the same time, Beth
would probably follow certain abstinence rules when it comes to food, such as not eating meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, and having no sugar, dairy, or eggs during Lent (at which point chocolate may be out).
The second point I want to make is that as a Sister she would almost certainly not wear a full Nun’s habit. Full Nuns might wear the more traditional garb we tend to imagine, but Sisters these days are more likely to be seen in suits or modest skirts and blouses! Some may wear the cloth headdress, though I’ve seen many who do not!
Civilian:Bearing all this in mind, there are definitely areas within her profile that could probably use a little updating! There are also certain aspects of it that I think might become limiting in regards to RP that you might want to consider substituting for something that could make her a more open character in regards to interaction outside of St. Mag’s!
Her “Reading” and “Counseling” hobbies seem to work well enough (as a part of St. Mag’s administrative system I can certainly see “Counseling” being a viable option), though you could always extend her counseling further into the community and perhaps even into the other schools as well! I
do think you should remove the part you’ve stricken out about the trashy romance novels in “Reading.” As Guine said in her crits above, "I'll just ask for forgiveness" isn’t true repentance. In Catholicism, doing something you know is wrong is considered a sin, and I can’t imagine a Sister doing something purposefully like that. It seems like you intended to remove it anyway? So it’s probably best to just go ahead and do that so as not to confuse it with the rest of the profile! Mysteries and fantasies should be okay so long as the content is appropriate! Harry Potter is actually also a-okay as far as I’m aware! Most of the criticism of Harry Potter has come from evangelical Protestants, not Catholics (that isn’t to say there haven’t been Catholics to criticize it or that the Vatican has been wholly accepting of it—the Church itself has no official position on the books, as far as I’ve been able to find—but in recent years especially there has been a bit of a more positive attitude toward the series, its depiction of good vs. evil, and Harry’s sense of morality; the US Conference of Catholic Bishops even rated each film as having no content that was morally offensive).
Overall, with her hobbies I think you might be restricting yourself unnecessarily by deferring to the more traditional image of a cloistered Nun which, in this setting, she would not be. There is so much more that she can take part in! Religious Sisters can go to the movies, they can go to ball games and athletic matches, and they can participate in a wide variety of events within the community! Any sort of community involvement or an outreach program could work well here and might be something you’d want to consider for her! In Destiny City especially, I’m sure there are plenty of people who could use a little extra help! She can certainly enjoy reading, counseling, and sewing, but those can be rather solitary activities and might not open many doors for interaction with anyone other than St. Mag’s students. I would definitely suggest considering other hobbies that would also see Beth interacting with people outside of the school!
As for her personality… her virtues are okay but, again, they read more like an old-fashioned, cloistered Nun, and here you may be restricting yourself again. Don’t be afraid to get fun with her! She can be spunky! She can have a sense of humor! A broad range of women—young or old, quiet or boisterous, cheerful or severe—decide to live the life of a Sister in an effort to serve God and work to better their communities and the world around them! They aren’t all the patient, motherly sort! There are a lot of super cool, feminist Nuns/Sisters out there, too! In fact, there has recently been some controversy with the Vatican conducting a doctrinal assessment of American nuns. You can read about that controversy on the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious Wikipedia page (yeah, yeah, it’s Wikipedia, but I did a little checking and the information seems legit). You can also read about a recent protest conducted by Nuns/Sisters over a federal budget proposal
here and
here. Not all Sisters are like this, of course, but I thought these were good examples or ideas of what else can realistically be done with this sort of character! (Also, in just the last month,
Jon Stewart and
Stephen Colbert both did a segment and an interview on this issue. In Colbert’s interview there’s even a brief comment about the clothes a Sister wears and why that has changed!)
I do see another potential problem in Beth’s flaws. I can definitely see how her “nurturing” virtue can blend into her “overbearing” flaw, though “overly-cautious” makes her seem rather meek while “judgmental” seems to be in conflict with the rest of her personality as you have it written out, especially with “overly-cautious.” It seems to me that in being overly-cautious and therefore incapable of making any progress at times that she wouldn’t
want to get into some of the issues she might pass judgment on. Not only that, but being a woman of faith (whether in a general sense or as a Sister) does not necessarily mean that a person is judgmental. There are many passages in the Bible that caution against passing judgment! If Beth is serious about her religious calling then I imagine this would be something she would strive not to do!
Powered:The first thing I want to point out here is that DMC Senshi
do have specific guidelines when it comes to their fuku. Any of our shop artists will be able to go into more detail about this with you once you’ve won Nuxui if you intend to keep her as a DMC quest, but do keep in mind that there are certain elements of the sketch you’ve provided (the hood/lack of a collar, for example) which may not make the cut! I’m not saying to nix anything right now, just bear that in mind for the future!
As for her attacks, for the most part they look fine, though I would suggest removing the dice-roll component, as whether or not an attack is dodged or broken is something I believe should be left for the players to decide between themselves! You could probably raise the time limits a bit, especially in her regular attack, as five seconds seems rather minimal to me. You can see about up-ing the time there to 15 to 20 seconds. It’s only slowing them down, not immobilizing them, so this seems reasonable to me. With the super attack slowing them down even more than that, I’ll suggest setting the time limit at 15 seconds. Since her Eternal attack completely immobilizes someone, you definitely don’t want it lasting too long, as that would be unfair. I’d say 15 seconds should work there as well!
The last thing I want to discuss is her alignment with Chaos. I’m having a bit of trouble understanding
why Bethany being a Sister would lead her to become a follower of Chaos. There are, of course, characters with many differing personalities who possess a wide range of beliefs in both factions, but on a whole we’ve seen how ruthless and calculating (and at times blood-thirsty, in the case of certain characters) Chaos can be (although Order is not completely innocent here either, obviously). She would be working alongside many of these people. She would be exposing herself to things that her faith considers to be a grave sin, regardless of what faction she ended up in. I’m just having a hard time seeing how she would justify some of the things that have happened via her faith, or how she would be able to reconcile the two, and I’m very curious as to how you intend to play this out! What specifically makes her suited for Chaos? What would she bring to that faction? How would being an agent of Chaos affect her personally?
I hope this helps a bit! If you have any questions, definitely don’t hesitate to ask!
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