Shepherd

Community Leaders, Priests, and the Voices the People Follow

← Back to Mortals

Who They Are

Shepherds are the people communities organize themselves around — through formal religious authority, elected leadership, neighborhood advocacy, or the informal gravity of someone everyone simply trusts. In a city of 80,000 people who've lived inside walls for a century, someone who can speak for the community and be believed is one of the most powerful people in any room, and they often use that power in ways official structures can't track. Shepherds come from every background and tradition; what they share is genuine trust, which in a city shaped by the God-Machine's Consensus and the Veil is a force that operates outside the usual channels of power.

Starting Attribute Priority

Category	Priority	Starting Points
Social	Primary	7 points + Profession +1 Charisma
Mental	Secondary	5 points
Physical	Tertiary	3 points

Profession Bonuses

Attribute Bonus	+1 Charisma
Skill Bonus	+1 Leadership
Free Background	1 dot Allies (Community Members)
Profession Points (5)	Recommended: 2 community gathering space, 2 community network (3 named members who assist), 1 formal standing (recognized leader, licensed clergy, elected representative)

Suggested Starting Abilities

Talents	Leadership 1 (+1 Profession = 2), Empathy 2, Expression 2, Subterfuge 1, Intimidation 1
Skills	Etiquette 2, Performance 1, Counseling 1
Knowledges	Politics 2, Academics 1, Occult 1

Profession Strength & Challenge

Strength: The Voice the People Hear	Challenge: The Weight of Their Trust
Once per session, call on the community for a specific collective action — a neighborhood watch, a crisis response, a unified voice. Scale grows with reputation.	Trust is a responsibility that never switches off. A Shepherd caught lying to or exploiting their community loses that relationship and must rebuild from zero.

Roleplaying the Shepherd

Shepherds are among the most politically significant Mundane Professions because they control something no supernatural faction can manufacture: genuine human community trust. Every faction has reasons to cultivate, manage, or at minimum not antagonize a Shepherd who commands real loyalty — which puts pressure on the character to decide, repeatedly, what that trust is worth and what they will and won't do with it.

Quick Reference

Attribute Bonus	+1 Charisma
Skill Bonus	+1 Leadership
Free Background	Allies (Community Members) 1
Profession Strength	The Voice the People Hear
Profession Challenge	The Weight of Their Trust

See also: Mortals overview · Character Creation Guide