In the legends, there are stories of how people (usually Channeling users) invoke the power of God. The teurgist studies these scriptures, divines their meaning, and repeats those actions, trying to create as similar an environment as possible to that which went before. The idea is to trigger the same release of divine power, replicating the miracle.
Many teurgists work their magic with the deepest devotion. They strive to recreate miracles in order to bolster the faith and make the power of their god manifest in the world. But some couldn't care less about devotion, and merely see teurgy as a path to power.
Channeling sorcerers are almost always violently opposed to teurgists. In worlds where both exist, the later tend to be priests of established churches, as laymen attempting this are hunted down and persecuted. Crusading prophet channelers often claim to represent the true will of the divine and become iconoclasts trying to raze the work of the teurgist hierarchy.
Examples and References
Most DnD clerics, Rune Quest divine magic, Il pendolo di Focault by Umberto Ecco.
Limitations
Hocus Pocus
Teurgists invoke divine power through ritual actions and using ritual props and holy symbols. These props and actions might seem entirely arbitrary, but they have been carefully researched to give optimal results for each miracle. Researching the proper ritual for a particular miracle is best done beforehand.
Manifestation
Teurgists can only invoke miracles that are mentioned in the scriptures or are very closely related to the power of the god. This is quite an arbitrary limitation; it is hard for the GM to decide on the spur of the moment if a particular spell was mentioned in the scriptures of a fantasy religion. If in doubt, give it a 50% chance.
Common Schticks
- Law
- Summoning
Summonables
Angels and divine servitor spirits, preferably ones lacking much personality or motivation. Stronger spirits with a true contact with the divine may well spurn the advances of theurgists and be quite hostile.