A Link in the Great Chain: Clerics in the Religious Hierarchy

The Pope is deader than the OSR, and we're posting through it. For this year's conclave, here's a post about hierarchies in organised religion and how to make it gameable.

In fantasy role-playing games, we are likely to be presented with a pantheon of gods (even if the depiction of polytheism does not match how it has been practised historically, or indeed today). Dungeons and Dragons also has strong Christian underpinnings, even if it is not explicitly written. Taking what we have and running with it, the Cleric class should thus bear some resemblance to the clerics of real-world religions - that is, they are a member of a religious organisation with a hierarchy, in which they have a specific role and rank. Following a Christian template, this means that they should be ordained - otherwise, you are a lay preacher and explicitly not a member of the clergy.

Of course, playing a parish priest is not necessarily conducive to fun dungeon-crawling adventures, so they would likely have the role of an itinerant preacher, missionary, or perhaps inquisitor. This will usually imply that they have a relatively low rank within their hierarchy, lest they would have their own parish, or at least travel with an entourage of acolytes and other retainers (though of course, the other player characters could play the role of these).

Such a clergyman would likely have specific task, whether that be preaching to villages too small to have their own priest, converting people to the true faith, stamping out heresy, or aiding the local clergy. Low ranking clergy would also have to follow orders from higher ranking clergy if they are to maintain their position in the Church, however, successfully performing your tasks might lead you to rise in the ranks and reap the benefits. As a Spanish colleague told me, "you have never seen a skinny bishop."

Preliminaries: Magic

A base-level assumption of most fantasy role-playing games of this sort is that the gods are real, and Clerics derive their magic from them. How this connection manifests should also be decided in advance, though this needs not be open knowledge to the characters (or even the players, if they enjoy having mysteries).

Accepting that a Cleric's magic comes from their god(s), I see three main options (for the pedants in the audience, this is probably not exhaustive):

The magic comes entirely from the Cleric's personal connection with their deity - it is unaffected by their position in the Church hierarchy
The magic comes from the Cleric's personal connection with their deity, but an "ordination" is required to unlock it. However, as long as the connection to the deity is maintained, so is the magic.
The magic connection is mediated by the Church, thus the Cleric only has their power as long as their position in the Church is maintained.

These can make the Cleric's relationship with the power structure of their Church an interesting point of conflict in games: would you act against a corrupt bishop if you could be cast out and lose your magic?

Preliminaries: Church Structure

To properly situate the Cleric in their Church, it is necessary to define what kind of church this is. Depending on the structure of the Church(es) and pantheon(s), you can enable different kinds of play and faction conflicts. Again, a probably non-exhaustive list of options:

A monolithic monotheistic Church: modelled after a historical catholic church, there would be no shortage of in-fighting between different factions vying for influence and control, and possibly heretical splinter sects to hunt down (or support).
A monolithic polytheistic Church: a single organisation spanning worship of the whole pantheon, with individual Clerics specialised in specific deities. Ripe opportunities for followers of different gods to compete for influence in the Church. Allows a standard fantasy pantheon, while also letting all Clerics exist in the same hierarchy.
Competing polytheistic Churches: similar to option two, except there are multiple separate hierarchies. Allows for much more open hostilities between different Churches, and politicking inside each Church.
A multitude of single-god cults: each god has their own Church with its own hierarchy, means that, unless you choose to have one very dominant god, each individual cult will likely have much less power. You will be encountering other members of your Church less often, and it may come up less in play unless specifically chosen as a focus. However, it allows for very complex and malleable relationships between the different Churches.

This is the kind of worldbuilding decision to make in advance, which the players should know about, or perhaps even be involved in?

Clerical Ranks

The clerical Ranks within a Church come with benefits and responsibilities, and offer a great way for diegetic advancement. Performing well and doing favours for a Church will improve your standing, and a Cleric performing well in their duties might well earn a promotion. I provide here a list of suggested titles at various levels of the hierarchy. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church can act as a rich source of inspiration for clerical titles, and has indeed been used for the titles on this list (though their meanings are not necessarily related):

Rank 0:

Acolyte, Novice, or Initiate, trainee members of the lowest level. They hold no authority, and would usually not venture out except as retainers of a higher-ranked Cleric.

Rank 1:
Low-level Clerics, usually performing smaller tasks in the temple, or sent on smaller errands, not senior enough to warrant an entourage. Player characters would generally start at this level.

Lector, a reader, often tasked with reading rites in the temple, or searching out holy texts and artefacts.
Cantor, a chanter, often charged with leading prayer or song in a temple, or spreading the holy word to new congregations and those not served by a temple.
Exorcist, charged with driving out malicious spirits, or hunting down threats to the faithful.

Rank 2:
Mid-level Clerics, often in charge of their own temple or abbey, or in middle-managerial positions in larger temples. When travelling, they will often bring one or two acolytes for menial tasks and their training.

Deacon, performing mainly administrative and assistive tasks, managing archives and treasuries, or seeking out important artefacts or pieces of scripture.
Priest, performing mainly ritual duties and proselytising, priests form the backbone of the Church, leading temples or acting as missionaries.
Inquisitor, charged with finding and eliminating the enemies of the Church, both without and within.

Rank 3
High-level Clerics, often in charge of larger temples or supervising multiple regional temples with their own priests.

Archdeacons, in charge of major libraries or collections, leading efforts to protect or expand these, or research into divine matters, including major expeditions.
Prelate or Archpriest, are those in charge of leading major temples and govern the local priests, or heading a major missionary effort.
Nuncio, a chiefly diplomatic role, a clergyman serving as the representative of the Church at a royal court or other governing body, often serving their religious needs as well.

Rank 4
The highest-level Clerics under the Church head, supervising temples in large regions, overseeing branches of the Church, or occupying other Church governance roles.

Primate, the regional overseer of the largest subdivisions of the land covered by the Church.
Legate, the highest-level of diplomat, authorised to speak directly for the Church leadership.
Exarch, Clerics who lead major offices or departments of the Church. The Grand Inquisitor, the head of the security of the Church, is an example of an Exarch.

Rank 5
The leader(s) of the Church - either a single church head, or a ruling council. Possible titles include Hierarch, Patriarch/Matriarch, Pontiff, Archprimate

Rising to ranks 3 or higher would likely be associated with high-level political games, or domain play, as these are high-level titles with demanding responsibilities and significant authority.

Clerical Assignments

The Church will generally send Clerics on an an assignment, which might be general, or more specific. Depending on your game, a specific mission might provide a nice driving force, or an unwanted distraction from the main focus of the campaign.

Here is a selection of possible tasks the Church might give an itinerant Cleric:

Visit a series of remote villages to preach to the faithful and tend to their religious needs.
Visit a series of remote villages to convert the locals, bringing them into the Church.
Deliver a message to a Church official in another city or town.
Collect money donated to the Church from village and town temples and bring it back to the city.
Destroy a demon plaguing a remote village.
Find and recover a religious relic, artefact, or piece of scripture.

Of course, if the player characters were to rise to a higher rank in the Church, they might get similar tasks of greater magnitude or importance - if they rise high enough, they may even be able to set their own tasks for underlings to perform.

Clerical Benefits

Being a part of an organisation like the Church is not without its benefits, which are of course doled out according to rank. Initiates and Acolytes may be barely better off than scum off the streets, but at least they have a roof over their heads, and the promise of further benefits if they are diligent in their duties and finish their studies. Exarchs, on the other hand, have the wealth and influence of the Church at their disposal, and could live like high nobility, if they so choose.

Here is a list of suggested benefits for being a Cleric in a powerful Church, according to rank:

Rank 0
Room and board, a meagre stipend, and access to religious education, in exchange for performing menial tasks.
Rank 1
Room and board in any temple visited, and a salary decent enough to live a simple life. The Church will provide the basic tools and supplies needed to carry out your duties to it.
Rank 2
A decent home, and a salary to live a good and stable life, if not extravagant. In addition to the basic tools and supplies, the Church will provide a few trainees to assist.
Rank 3
Lodgings and salary as befitting the upper crust of society, similarly to low nobility or a wealthy merchant. You will also have a stable of lower ranked Clerics at your beck and call, and access to Church artefacts.
Rank 4
Access to the extravagant mansions and bottomless purses that come with being part of the absolute upper echelons of Church leadership. You can command your area of responsibility, and make your voice heard when the Church makes important decisions.
Rank 5
The absolute pinnacle of wealth and power, like a king.

Of course, there are also benefits like library access, and other Church officials being more likely to trust you, and the authority it brings to be a representative of a powerful organisation.

What goes unsaid here, is that all these benefits are reliant on the Cleric performing their duties as expected, as well as adhering to the doctrine of the Church. Failure to perform your duties may result in loss of privileges, and heresy could lead to expulsion, or worse!

Closing Words

I think a key to making the Cleric interesting is to make them distinctly a part of a religious organisation, rather than just a vaguely religion-flavoured support caster. I have done my best to lay out one way of doing this, which is heavily inspired by western religious institutions and practices. It would be interesting to see a take based on other cultures, but I am certainly not the person to do that. (I'm arguably not the person to do this either, but I feel less bad if I am insensitive to the Catholic Church, even in their period of mourning).

As always, I hope that this is interesting reading for someone, and I'd love to know if you do your own riffs on it!

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