Design Challenge
The visionary is an oddity of a character. First, there is no explicit evidence in most of the show that any kind of supernatural creature(s) exist. The very end give you certain assurances, but for most of the show, people with faith can never confirm the source of their piety, which I think makes them all that much more compelling character in the story, but it does be the question of how “supernatural” the playbook should be.
My take was the most important thing about the visionary was to be able to make prophesies and have them come together in some way, wish I why I stole the touchstone’s move “Visionary”. I saw this in the show that religious figures Elosha, Giaus (later), 6, and sometimes Laura.
Visionaries played so far
In 33 Ralph played a follower of the Lords of Kobol, who was more committed to his people than to the gods. He was a leader who gave hope and eventually lead the mutiny on the ship. He never did anything that was overtly supernatural. He never revealed as a cylon, but that was because all of the Cylon playbooks had already been taken.
In Damascus Falls Dale played a mysterious girl who believed in the “The Trial, The Payment”. She was always there when least expected and an enigma to the leaders (president and commander) but she had the answers they needed and single handedly saved the entire cast and Colonial One. While they were curious about her at the start of the game, she was deemed indispensable for her insight by the end. Shona (his Visionary) used the move “Leap of Faith” several times and was explicit that she saw things other people didn’t.
In Damascus Falls Michael played Adon, a believer in the One True God. He worked very hard to be trusted by the Commander and the President before taking the advancement to reveal as the Cylon. His final message wasn’t to hurt the the humans but to save the president (he was trapped under a crate on a ship that was going to blow up) in exchange for the president spreading his word of the One True God. Adon was a messiah character, similar to Leoben, who was just fine with suffering to try and bring the truth to humans. Adon, because of revealing as a Cylon and having inhuman strength as well as powerful portents was pretty high up there in the supernatural scale.
In Galactica Beyond Thunderdome David played “The Solat”, a follower of the Lords of Kobol who took a very hedonistic view of the Greek gods and encouraged his followers to live to the fullest in the small time they had left. Which meant, drugs, sex and violence. The Solat was seen by many as more of a drug dealer than a religious figure, which he encouraged by speaking more of what people needed than of their soul, or of the gods. The Solat began having visions during the game, and acting on those led to some pretty horrific acts, but it was also easy to imagine that those visions came from the Chamalla root (a hallucinogenic) that was ever present in the game. The Solat was decidedly human (not a Cylon) but didn’t have particular issue with the pilot Apex, when she revealed.
Tally:
Lords of Kobol: 2
One True God: 1
Other: 1
Faith
The visionary is the only character based on faith. I’m looking forward to writing the 6 and the 2 Cylon Playbooks to even that out some.
To see the visionary in action, check out the Core Playbooks, page 25-26.
