kgauck
11-11-2003, 06:12 AM
Most priests in an organization (a holding, a realm, a specific temple) are going to perform one or more basic functions. Large organizations will tend to have specialists, smaller organizations will have generalists who perform several or even all of the functions.
The functions include Administration, Recruitment, Spiritual, Political, and Strategic duties.
Administration: The cleric has duties which maintain the operations of the temple. He may specialize in record keeping, communication between temples, holdings, or realms, he may supervise others, directing and motivating them, or preserving sacred relics, he may collect, store, or distribute money or other resources, and he may also train and educate other clerics or specialists.
Recruitment: The cleric has duties to enlarge the number of the faithful and its allies. Her purpose will generally fall into three kinds: evangelizing new worshipers, recruiting new specialists or clerics, or cultivating allies. Evangelism will generally involve living amongst prospective converts, teaching openly or organizing meetings, and being useful to the community. Some clerics are tasked to recruit specialists or clerical candidates. Specialists could be master masons, alchemists, assassins, or what have you. Clerical candidates will be people who match the values and temprement of the clergy and currently either devout or searching spiritually. Some clerics are assigned to cultivate allies. These allies might be members of the church or members of allied faiths. Occasionally they may be members of neutral faiths. Allies would be influential people who could lend the support of other kinds of holdings or organizations.
Spiritual: Some clerics are assigned duties in the spiritual realm. They may teach to the lay community, preaching the will of the diety in temple, or holding meetings. They may lend support to members of the faithful who face challenege, whether as confessor to the duke, chaplain to a company of soldiers, or mentor to a wayward priest. These duties include teaching, guiding, ritual, and mystical protection. A cleric might preach in temple, advise the local count, perform marriages or burials, as well as bless the farms, sanctify the burial grounds, summon rain, and protect against the encroachment of the Shadow.
Political: Some clerics defend the organization's political interests, making sure that law claims are not levied against them, that their temple is accorded the prestige it deserves in state cerimonies, accumulating favors, and selling the favor of the temple at the dearest price. Such priests are social, mixing in the courts of other rulers, attending functions to both represent their organization and advance its interests.
Strategic: Some clerics plan for the future by examining both the needs of the organization and the opportunities that exist or can be created. Such priests will consider the benifits of alliances with different temples, factions, or rulers. They will often plan the means to achieve their goals.
Once you know what a priest does in the organization, its easier to assign his skills and goals as a character. A Prelate of the Ivory Seal in the WIT who is in charge of new initiates might be Recruitment/Spiritual, and have a different design that the Grand Judge of Avanil who is Administrative/Political.
Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com
The functions include Administration, Recruitment, Spiritual, Political, and Strategic duties.
Administration: The cleric has duties which maintain the operations of the temple. He may specialize in record keeping, communication between temples, holdings, or realms, he may supervise others, directing and motivating them, or preserving sacred relics, he may collect, store, or distribute money or other resources, and he may also train and educate other clerics or specialists.
Recruitment: The cleric has duties to enlarge the number of the faithful and its allies. Her purpose will generally fall into three kinds: evangelizing new worshipers, recruiting new specialists or clerics, or cultivating allies. Evangelism will generally involve living amongst prospective converts, teaching openly or organizing meetings, and being useful to the community. Some clerics are tasked to recruit specialists or clerical candidates. Specialists could be master masons, alchemists, assassins, or what have you. Clerical candidates will be people who match the values and temprement of the clergy and currently either devout or searching spiritually. Some clerics are assigned to cultivate allies. These allies might be members of the church or members of allied faiths. Occasionally they may be members of neutral faiths. Allies would be influential people who could lend the support of other kinds of holdings or organizations.
Spiritual: Some clerics are assigned duties in the spiritual realm. They may teach to the lay community, preaching the will of the diety in temple, or holding meetings. They may lend support to members of the faithful who face challenege, whether as confessor to the duke, chaplain to a company of soldiers, or mentor to a wayward priest. These duties include teaching, guiding, ritual, and mystical protection. A cleric might preach in temple, advise the local count, perform marriages or burials, as well as bless the farms, sanctify the burial grounds, summon rain, and protect against the encroachment of the Shadow.
Political: Some clerics defend the organization's political interests, making sure that law claims are not levied against them, that their temple is accorded the prestige it deserves in state cerimonies, accumulating favors, and selling the favor of the temple at the dearest price. Such priests are social, mixing in the courts of other rulers, attending functions to both represent their organization and advance its interests.
Strategic: Some clerics plan for the future by examining both the needs of the organization and the opportunities that exist or can be created. Such priests will consider the benifits of alliances with different temples, factions, or rulers. They will often plan the means to achieve their goals.
Once you know what a priest does in the organization, its easier to assign his skills and goals as a character. A Prelate of the Ivory Seal in the WIT who is in charge of new initiates might be Recruitment/Spiritual, and have a different design that the Grand Judge of Avanil who is Administrative/Political.
Kenneth Gauck
kgauck@mchsi.com