Roleplaying Priests & Cultists

Roleplaying Priests and Cultists

People always seem to want to believe in something and the priest is there to make sure the people believe in something that will help him personally. The priest is a scholar who has, through the force of his personality, accumulated a measure of wealth and social stability, becoming a faux noble, granting himself the title of High Priest, using the resources of his ‘religion’ for his wealth and taking advantage of the privileges accorded to him by an unsuspecting population. He is a master of charismatic rhetoric, using trickery, showmanship and patter to fake miracles or otherwise persuade the masses to obey him. He presents his new religion as a revelation the world has been awaiting with anxious breath. He may even write ‘ancient’ texts that offer prophecies he or his chosen god/person is the fulfilment for. He may take existing texts and take prophecies out of context to prove his case, claiming multiple layers of meaning for prophecies already shown to have come to pass before his time. Many cults are based around a person, claiming the person is the living avatar, the son or chosen of an existing deity. Some of these cults, such as the cults of Tarim or Bori, eventually achieve legitimacy. Other cults are based around specific practises; sex cults are examples of this sort of cult. They tend to be small. Still others are based around an object, often linking with a pre-existing religion of an established deity. These cults claim to possess the hand of a saint or the shroud of a god or other such holy relic.

Many priests form religious colonies, areas cut off from the world as much as possible because of the belief that the world is less enlightened than the priest and his followers. These areas are as self-sufficient as possible. These colonies often prescribe a code of dress for their members based on the priest’s ideas of the right way to live. Heads may be shaved or hair may be grown long. The rules may vary by sex. For example, in Robert Jordan’s Conan the Unconquered, the Cult of Doom led by Jhandar required men to be bald and women to never cut their hair. Women or men may have to cover their bodies entirely or be constantly nude. Some may require certain colours to be worn to indicate rank in the society while others emphasise a society without stratification, so everyone dresses the same. Most of these societies are xenophobic and all are stricter than the surrounding society from whom the followers are drawn in some way or another.

The Power of Leadership

The value of the Leadership feat to priests and scholars cannot be overstated. The ability to gather absolutely loyal followers and cohorts is immensely valuable. They are valuable in many ways. If the followers have at least one rank in Perform (ritual), the scholar can perform a Power Ritual (see Conan the Roleplaying Game). They can quickly become an army of defenders, the unshakable core of a crusade. Priests can create armies of sages, lay priests, manuscript keepers, accountants, astrologers and the like to boost his own influence in temples and cities, giving him influence and power no spell could easily replicate.

The Importance of Reputation

A scholar’s Reputation is important. While not as concrete a possession as it is for a noble, it is still vital for the character. If a scholar is known and recognised, he may be able to avoid actually casting a spell to get things done. The Hyborian Age is not the standard fantasy milieu where wizards are a dime a dozen and are treated without prejudice or fear. Sorcerers are fearsome people in the Hyborian Age, the ogres around which dozens of tales are spun. Without a high Reputation, for example, a scholar will not be sought out by the Black Ring for inclusion in their august order. Few sorcerous covens and groups accept applicants; those groups actively seek out those they wish to have among them. The only way to be sought out is to maintain a high Reputation. One does not want to have to boast of his accomplishments. It is far better if commoners already fear the scholar before he even arrives. Scholars also do not like to do public displays, or ‘tests,’ to prove they are sorcerers. Again, it is better for the scholar if those approaching him already believe in his powers.

Many of the wizards and sorcerers contained within Howard’s Conan stories are obsessed with their own rankings and reputations. From a game standpoint, most sorcerers (but not all, lest they become predictable) will strive to enhance their reputations. Often, this means leaving survivors to tell the tale or some other proof of their power. Peer reputation, of course, is better than general knowledge, but a sorcerer will take whatever he is given and work with that. Sorcerers, especially those who belong to sorcerous societies, will often work to demolish a rival sorcerer’s reputation.