Guidelines
Anyone contemplating a clerical role should consider the following:
1) You need to Research Your Role. You can't imagine the grief when we see those in faiths that supposedly value life and nature above all else riding their horse to death or taking a job chopping down trees because they're worth silver. Or supposedly honorable Laranians stealing or petitioning us about the poisoning/backstab/other ludicrously-dishonorable skill. *grin*
2) Expect to spend 1-2 game years as a 1st circle junior acolyte before seeing promotion to 2nd circle senior acolyte. Full priesthood generally follows a further 1-2 years later, sometimes longer if the character hasn't performed well in their role. In short its usually a 2-4 game year period before one is an actual ordained "priest of muckety-muck" *note that 1 game year is only 3 RL months*
3) You get out of the role what you put into it, could generally be said about any role in an RPG but is especially true for clerics as there is often little in the way of actual duties, chores, etc to do since there are very often so few fellow clerics to RP with and/or perform services or tasks at the request of. You really need to have the ability to seek out clergy-type things you can do with and for other characters whether part of your specific faith or not (this is also a decent way to gain converts, helping people is a remarkable tool)
4) You need to have something else to do or you'll go insane with boredom. Being a cleric is great but your character will NEED to have some other job or duty that doesn't conflict morally with their faith or politically with their church. Keep in mind that many churches discourage clerics from holding political or military rank elsewhere as it often produces conflicts of interest. If a non-conflicting duty or part-time job cannot be found as above then the character will need some sort of time-consuming hobbies they can make use of.
5) Need to be consistent over time. Interesting and engaging things happen here and there and its a struggle not to have your character run off to join up with whatever that scene is, so you can be part of what is going on. We all understand this as all staff members were/are players too. But, for a priest its especially dangerous because IF whatever they are running off to take part in is something that the church wouldn't approve of it could, and in some cases should, cost them their clerical position.
Clergy Minimum Prerequisites for Opening Circles
Below are some rough guides for joining a church, becoming an acolyte, and rising in station in a faith. These are not hard and fast rules, and vary widely from church to church and clergy member to clergy member.
Circle 0 - Non-clergy, lay worshipper. Simply ask to join the church as a follower. Clergy has the power to convert another to their faith, making them a lay worshipper.
Circle 1 - Acolyte: Must be Familiar in Church Rituals. Life long commitment to the church (you go and do what the church tells you), week long fast, give some form of tribute to the church, worth at least 1/3 of what you own/possess. (individual churches may require something extra, tattooing, blood oaths, an act performed in the Gods name, etc.)
Circle 2 - Deacon: Must be Adept in Church Rituals. A year as an acolyte worth of paying tithes to the church of at least 10% of your income, a week long fast, give some form of tribute to the church, worth at least 300 silver.*
Circle 3 - Priest: Must be a Master of Church Rituals. Two years as a deacon worth of paying tithes to the church of at least 15% of your income, a week long fast, give some form of tribute to the church, worth at least 1000 silver. Perform some act for your church that inspires faith in your God amongst the local populace.
Circles 4, 5 and 6 - High Priest, Bishop, and Archbishop: Must be a Master of Church Rituals. Requires many years of paying tithes to the church of at least 20% of your income, fastings, and tributes in the range of thousands of silver. (individual churches may require something extra, tattooing, blood oaths, an act performed in the Gods name, etc.) These levels will involve major RP with NPC's, politics, and deep devotion to a specific temple.
** NOTE ** Since most priests have no income the 10% marker can be assumed at least to be 10-12 silver per month, rising at the higher circles of responsibility and this money could be attained through donations from the public that the clergyman has gathered for the church.
Most Churches also thrive on Followers. If a clergyman brings in many converts for his church and spreads the faith in a dedicated and successful manner causing his church to thrive in the community, he might achieve a promotion simply for that and start off working for his next circle.
Converts to the church can be considered Acts in the Gods name, as this spreads the word and faith of that God, in faiths where converts are desired.
Churches thrive on money. It gets things done. If a clergyman can bring in twice or thrice his tithe or more, time restrictions might be reduced by months for circle advancement.
Churches tend to appreciate a dedicated and eager clergyman and will ensure they advance in the hierarchy.
The church of Siem is an exception to the circle advancement and likely would rely on 'time in' factors which would be much longer than regular clergy progression.
Rights of Clergy
Important: These are guidelines of social expectations, these are NOT laws. Those who choose not to incorporate such aspects into their role-play are not violating any laws, they are merely operating in ignorance of the game world's expectation of what is "socially acceptable"
The following applies only to clergy in "good standing" with their respective temple. (for the rules lawyers out there) For the purposes of simplicity, "clergy" is defined as those with "You have attained the Xth circle of " listed in their Score and who are recognized by the staff as having been initiated into the mysteries of their god.
"Good standing" is defined as maintaining regular contact, at least once every six months, with your church and dutifully handling assigned tasks of superiors. Obviously anyone who has been excommunicated is not in "good standing"
The Benefits
- Freedom from undue taxation and tariffs, forced military or civil service, or hard labor at the command of secular or independent authorities.
- The right of free passage in all realms where their church is recognized and freedom from curfews and excessive tolls.
- The right to grant sanctuary to any persons of legal faith in a holy place of their respective churches, and/or to sanctify an undisputed area as "holy ground" temporarily rendering it a sanctuary and within the sole jurisdiction of the church. Persons granted sanctuary in this manner may not be removed from the sanctuary without consent or the consent of the one granting sanctuary, to do so would be the crime of "Usurping Temple Privilege"
- Immunity from Prosecution by lesser secular authorities Clergymen shall not be touched or restrained in a hostile manner without their consent, consent of their religious superiors or a secular authority greater than their immediate superior.
- Clergy are traditionally immune from prosecution for misdemeanor or petty offenses.
- Clergy accused of felony or capital offenses may be detained until a proper canon authority is available to hear the case, at such time they are traditionally released to the judgment of that authority, sometimes with a pre-arranged sentencing recommendation.
- Clergy accused of state offenses such as treason, sedition, rebellion will typically remain in the custody of secular authorities until the Crown hands down sentence, at which time the church may petition for lenience.
Note - The above is guideline only and is open to interpretation via the role-play of characters involved, while one guardsman might choose to respectfully detain a clergymen until his/her canon superior is available, another guardsman having affiliation with that church may let the offender walk free and simply write a report about the incident, leaving superiors to conclude the affair.