I was thinking of making an Initiate of Ranald for a "wise, clever rogue" type.

Would it make more sense to start as a thief/smuggler/thug/agent/whatever and then transition into the Initiate career, so I don't have to "leave" the Priest track to get the other abilities?

Just wondering what the board thinks.

Depends a bit on how strict to fluff your table is (initiates needing long periods of indoctrination etc.).

Either approach works and can be narrated, e.g., you had a questionable background and become Initiative of Ranald, then at some point focus a bit on developing that background with transition to a new career. At my table, we don't regard a wizard or priest transitioning to a narratively compatible career as necessarily turning away from order or faith.

Also, the Cult of Ranald isn't really know for their strictures or for their lofty Temples. So of all the priest paths out there it seems to me that Ranald would be more about getting out there in the world and "doing" rather than studying dusty old tomes of dogma and ritual.

From a game mechanic point of view you're going to be spending a lot of advances to play catch up if you move from a rogue sort of class into an Initiate class. You'll have to pay advancement points to acquire a lot of Action Cards that you would begin with if you started the character as an Initiate.

So you would probably be better off starting as an Initiate of Ranald. Complete that career, and move into one that is a bit more rogueish/thiefish. Have fun with skullduggery and stealth, maybe jump back over to the Disciple career after a while, then go "adventuring" again.

This way you'll get the best of both worlds...

I would start as an initiate and use the skill exchange allowed by Sign's of Faith (if you don't own it, check out the zealots article in Liber Fanatica #7 as it has the same chart). Initiates start out with a slight disadvantage anyways.

Also, you don't have to think of him as just for thieves/beggars/sneakers. Go for the Luck aspect. Everyone appreciates luck

jh

Excellent suggestions, all!

I didn't understand what you meant about spending so many advances if I transitioned into the initiate career--until I re-read the starting priest section again.

Followup question--are there any 2nd edition books that have any more fluff for Ranald?

Sigmar's Heirs is a really solid book from 2nd edition. Signs of Faith has a pretty good write-up though, so Sigmar's Heirs isn't going to be 100% info you haven't already seen.

random.brown said:

For any religious information pertaining to the Empire, look for a copy of the Tome of Salvation for 2nd edition - it was the edition's big book of religion, and one of the best books produced during 2nd.