In the previous column, I discussed characters with priestly authority, that is, the power to perform rituals that connect the gods and humans. In a divine magic setting, this is going to be the obvious default type of clergy. However, in a non-divine magic setting, there is another type of religious authority available, and that is ministers.

Ministers

Ministers do not derive their power from ritual, but from knowledge. Any religion that is based on a body of teaching (usually a sacred text) will have a clerical class that has immersed itself in that sacred teaching in order to give proper guidance to the faithful. Jewish rabbis or Protestant ministers are a common example of this type of clergy.

A minister's role in society is to interpret sacred knowledge for the individual lives and problems of believers. Their authority in the religious community comes from certification of their knowledge of the religion's teachings. They are officially qualified to authoritatively advise the people in their spiritual and moral life.

The types of worship services they preside over tend to be non-ritual. The focus of the services is prayer and discussion of the sacred teachings, so charisma is going to be much more important to their success then to the success of a priest. There may be rituals, but they would be seen in a more symbolic way than in a priestly religion. Also, the minister's authority to perform the ritual is based on their knowledge of that ritual, not on any religious power. If a rabbi blesses a kosher kitchen, it is because that rabbi is qualified to declare the kitchen kosher.

If a minister is part of a hierarchy, the hierarchy provides certification of their mastery of sacred teaching. This is the connection the hierarchy has to the individual minister. Obedience and respect is required in order to be a part of the community of authoritative interpreters. They could be rejected from the hierarchy because of inadequate knowledge, or because they interpret the sacred teaching in a way that disagrees with the hierarchy. If a minister is not a member of the hierarchy, then they may also be rejected by worshippers.

If a minister enters a community of believers and shows them knowledge and charisma, they will be sought out for advice. People will want to know how their faith's sacred teaching applies to the specific problems and struggles of their life. This puts the minister in a real position of power to influence the actions and choices of others.

In gaming terms, a minister does not necessarily need to be any kind of miracle-worker. Any character from a religious background with strong academic ability could be a minister. This would give them both power and responsibility: power because they would have authority to give moral guidance to believers, and responsibility because they would be a part of their religion's hierarchy, and subject to that hierarchy. In D20 terms, a professional minister would be an expert with a lot of "knowledge: religion".

Another take on ministers would be to actually give them divine magic, which would be based on their immersion in the sacred teaching. In this case, their religion would most probably have a sacred text that was believed to not only carry wisdom, but to have actual spiritual power. The minister's study of that text had actually given them access to some of its power. The text would be considered the direct word of their god, and would be in its original language. Pieces of the text would be the main religious talisman of the faithful. All of their uses of divine magic would be called forth by quoting or meditating on a specific relevant piece of text. Finally, in order to level up they would need to increase their knowledge of the text. This is just one alternative take on religious authority. Feel free to mix and match, just make sure your religion and its authority systems make sense.

If you are playing a clergyman, especially a clergyman in a hierarchy, the why of your authority should be an important part of character creation. What is your role in your religion? Do you perform ritual, do you instruct the faithful, do you do something else? Why do you have that role? Were you given power in a special ritual? Are you from a priestly family? Have you been certified as knowledgeable by your church? What is your connection to the hierarchy? What authority do they have over you? Creating a clerical character with a well thought out idea of religious authority will give you and the GM many potential story hooks.

Questions? Comments?