Cleric Merit Badges

[GoldEdition4242]

Hello all. My LG Cleric of Helm is of a branch of the church which has it's new clerics earn merit badges. Level 1
Does anyone have ideas of names for bages? Serious is good, but hilarious is better.
Many thanks.

[Sparky McDibben]

Badge of Charity (donated 1,000 gp to a public service).
Badge of the Wild (survived 30 days in the wilderness without weapons or armor).
Badge of Zeal (defeated a champion of an evil god in either combat or debate)
Badge of the Tower (hold land)
Badge of the Temple (found a temple)
Badge of the Favoured Soul (successfully used divine intervention)

[PhantomSoul]

Pillaging Forgotten Realms Fandom for ideas (dunno whether you're modelling any of it on existing lore or orders, but it's a good starting point even if not!):

Badge of the eternal sentry: You protected someone in need of your help for an extended period of time.
Badge of unflinching duty: You served your order despite great personal inconvenience or sacrifice.
Badge of the father: Forgive and assist a child who has transgressed
Badge of divine allegiance: When a god allied with Helm or superior to him in the divine hierarchy requested your assistance for something not going against Helm's interests, you performed your duty without reserve.
Badge of the returned: Through the power of Helm, you have been returned to life.
Badge of preceptor: You trained a guard, escort or other protector who has been recognised for exceptional duty.
Badge of vigilance: (I forget what this was for haha... I closed the tab that inspired it...)
Badge of the watcher: You have saved the lives of soldiers who otherwise would have died within the scope of their duty.
Badge of Shieldhall: You sheltered the faithful in their time of need.

Badge of the hand: You've lost a hand (but not in punishment). This badge is permanently attached to a metal gauntlet that goes where the hand is missing.

Badge of sundered abhorrence: You've destroyed undead creatures.
Badge of sundered injustice: You've destroyed illithids.

Badge of the everwatching: You successfully went without sleep during a long training exercise spanning multiple days


Given the consistent theme of hierarchy, the badges could also serve as an indication of rank or there could be a parallel series that indicates rank. If there's the Threefold God aspect, that could also be played on (and/or be a good source of intra-faith disagreements).

[Jervis]

Hello all. My LG Cleric of Helm is of a branch of the church which has it's new clerics earn merit badges. Level 1
Does anyone have ideas of names for bages? Serious is good, but hilarious is better.
Many thanks.

Fireside girls cleric order is something i’m stealing for my next game. Off the top of my head.

Hammer Time: Hit an enemy with spiritual weapon 30 times
Glorious!: Cast dawn
God commands that you hit harder: Concentrate on bless for its full duration during combat
Meat Grinder: Cast Spirit Guardians

[NecessaryWeevil]

Hello all. My LG Cleric of Helm is of a branch of the church which has it's new clerics earn merit badges. Level 1



Some of these suggestions are pretty unlikely for Level 1 characters.

[PhantomSoul]

Some of these suggestions are pretty unlikely for Level 1 characters.


Yeah, I'm definitely assuming the badges don't only exist for level 1 even if some might be done at that point! (So in-world it's stuff you accumulate throughout your career.)

[GoldEdition4242]

True...a variety of badges from 1 to Epic would be ideal.
Such as:
I'm Helping!: Your Guidance spell is the turning point of an attack.
Nerd Alert: You give willy (preferably wet) to an AncientEvil Dragon.

[Veldrenor]

Badge of Unconditional Humility and Fervor: This badge depicts the face of a badger. Once you receive this badge you may speak its name, but not the method by which you acquired it. This badge is awarded to those who refuse to accept a merit badge, as doing good in honor of Helm should be its own reward.

[Brawnspear]

So, from what I recall from Scouts, merit badges were side projects (some required) that had a pretty involved list of requirements. Not sure if that's changed recently, but what I'm seeing here are a lot of suggestions that sound more like "Achievements" from a video game.
Example!
Traditional Divine Magic Merit Badge
Requirements

Cast four first level cleric spells that have verbal, somatic and material components in the traditional manner

Identify the spell components of 4 first level Cleric Spells
Find naturally occurring instances of Material Components for all 4 spells
Research 3 different historical forms for each of the spells' Somatic Components
Research 3 different elder language variants for each of the spells' Verbal Components


Perform 3 different Ritual Ceremonies for a congregation of no less than 20 members
Compare and Contrast the 4 spells chosen from Requirement 1

Using personally harvested components
Using store purchased or reliquary requisitioned components
Utilizing a spell focus in place of components


Research how the worshippers of 3 different gods perform the same 4 spells from Requirement 1


Then there could be other "fun" Merit Badges like

Underwater Divination
Censer Care
Sacrament Husbandry
First Aid
Turning
Demon Identification
Arquebus
Crossbow
Sling
Stake Crafting
Water Blessing



So on and so forth

[Polyphemus]

One set of merit badges that could be reasonably attainable by a low-level cleric would be ones based on attempting to spread Helm's teachings to the unwashed masses.
For extra silliness, they could also have titles that serve as pro tips, like


Badge of the Often Ignored (For attempting any street preaching at all)
Badge of the Explanatory Pamphlet (for handing out Helmite reading material)
Badge of Checking the Nearest Trash Receptacle (making sure that reading material wasn't immediately thrown away)
Badge of Maintained Eye Contact (Have a conversation with a would-be convert lasting more than 30 seconds, with engaged eye contact the entire time)
Badge of the Shepherd (Getting someone to agree to attend a Helmite religious meeting)
Badge of the TRUE Shepherd (Actually seeing that someone at the Helmite religious meeting)


Though the suggested badges based on knowing spell components or successfully identifying fiends and signs of their corruption are also great (and probably more practical, given the actual career of your average D&D Cleric) ideas as well!

EDIT: The Badge of the Shepherd would have a shepherd on it. The Badge of the TRUE Shepherd would have a shepherd, and some sheep on it.

[JNAProductions]

I'm Helping!: Your Guidance spell is the turning point of an attack..

Nitpick: Guidance applies to ability checks. Not attack rolls.

That being said, I like this thread. Is fun!