Religion

[Ledzopolis]

So my group of gamers just landed on an island with a temple society on it. Anyone know of a list of religious rankings? i.e. High priest, acolyte etc. I'm kind of going with a Grecian theme but I have no idea what kind of titles I should use.

Maybe I could go with the old Roman Catholic titles but I don't know what those are either, what do you guys use?

Also! What kind of ranks should I give to the local army? I know its kind of anal but I want my players to remember certain people by their rank as well as their names.



(Anyone else getting long loading times on these pages?)

[Hal]

If it's a temple based society, what if the military and religious order are combined? The highest ranking military members also happen to be the leaders in the temple.

This allows you to combine religious titles and military ranks to create a disciplinary structure with more differentiation.

[Ethdred]

So my group of gamers just landed on an island with a temple society on it. Anyone know of a list of religious rankings? i.e. High priest, acolyte etc. I'm kind of going with a Grecian theme but I have no idea what kind of titles I should use.

Maybe I could go with the old Roman Catholic titles but I don't know what those are either, what do you guys use?

Also! What kind of ranks should I give to the local army? I know its kind of anal but I want my players to remember certain people by their rank as well as their names.



(Anyone else getting long loading times on these pages?)

Yeah, times are a bit slow - I thought that was my work connection

Wikipedia has lots of good stuff on this. Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_ranks - this includes some ancient ranks which could serve as religious ranks (your players are unlikely to notice the difference). You might also do some research on ranks and titles in Freemasonry, as they can get quite exotic at times. I think most religions don't have many ranks as such. In earlier editions of D&D each level of each class had a name (so you didn't have to use your level IC) - I've not got my books, but the cleric list included things like Adept and Vicar. Vicegerent is a word/title I've always liked.

Good one for trying to make the effort on this. My players tend to be pretty rubbish at remembering names and stuff, but if it works with your lot then it could be a really good extra dimension.

[Ledzopolis]

Thank you for the link.


For more specifics they're worshipers of Pelor. And there is no military on the island, I meant the military on the mainland. On the Island its the temple and a bunch of small fishing villages.

[bosssmiley]

So my group of gamers just landed on an island with a temple society on it. Anyone know of a list of religious rankings? i.e. High priest, acolyte etc. I'm kind of going with a Grecian theme but I have no idea what kind of titles I should use.

Odd situation there. Apart from the priesthood at (IIRC) Delphi the ancient Greeks had no permanent priestly caste. Anyone could make the sacrifices to the gods. 'Priests' were largely temple functionaries who cleaned up the mess and kept the roof tiles on.

That said a simple hierarchy like: neophyte > acolyte > presbyter > hierophant > hierarch might work (source)

Maybe I could go with the old Roman Catholic titles but I don't know what those are either

IIRC they go: Minor orders (lectors, exorcists, subdeacons) > Priest > Bishop > Archbishop > Pope

Also! What kind of ranks should I give to the local army? I know its kind of anal but I want my players to remember certain people by their rank as well as their names.

As for military rank, that's really dependent on cultural norms. There's often a lot of crossover with social rank in pre-modern societies where armed men = political power. I think we'd need to know more about the society the army comes from before I could help meaningfully.

[Raum]

So my group of gamers just landed on an island with a temple society on it. Anyone know of a list of religious rankings? i.e. High priest, acolyte etc. I'm kind of going with a Grecian theme but I have no idea what kind of titles I should use.

Some of these may help.

Maybe I could go with the old Roman Catholic titles but I don't know what those are either, what do you guys use?

Here's a list.

Also! What kind of ranks should I give to the local army? I know its kind of anal but I want my players to remember certain people by their rank as well as their names.

One easy method is to name the rank by the number of soldiers under it's command. Think Roman Centurion. Translate the numbers to Greek if you want it less obvious. :)

[Ledzopolis]

As for military rank, that's really dependent on cultural norms. There's often a lot of crossover with social rank in pre-modern societies where armed men = political power. I think we'd need to know more about the society the army comes from before I could help meaningfully.

Well this empire I've created is kind of messy. There is a king who also made his brother a "king" but more of just a local ruler over a small peninsula to get him out of his hair. Under the king there is a senate. The senators keep watch over their provinces but ultimately report to the king. The military is a knighthood, there is a main General and captain of the knights. The knights get all sorts of privileges, but the main benefit is a battalion. I'm not sure after that. There are military forts on the borders that don't have an official leadership yet, not that I've named anyway. And the knights aren't stationed anywhere specifically so I don't know if they're stable enough for real military rank.

[Thane of Fife]

Here's a nice listing of general Western-style religious ranks.

Here's one focusing on Shinto ranks.

Monastic Ranks.

One of those might be of use.

[RTGoodman]

I think one of the 4E Forgotten Realms books (either the Player's Guide or Campaign Guide) has a whole-page table that lists names for Clerics or other servants of various gods. If you could get a copy of that (or even just skim through it at a bookstore), you could use it for some inspiration.

[Ellisande]

Well this empire I've created is kind of messy. There is a king who also made his brother a "king" but more of just a local ruler over a small peninsula to get him out of his hair....

This, to me, gives one answer to the question about creating a proper hierarchy: don't bother. Assign names and titles on an ad-hoc basis. Someone powerful in the Church? Make him a bishop. Someone else not so powerful, but thinks overmuch of himself or has powerful friends? He can be a bishop too, or an archbishop. Or he could style himself Duke, or even Duke-Reverend, even if such a rank wouldn't exist in a more formalized or regimented system. It may confuse your players at times, but it'll be easier on you, and probably more authentic to a premodern political system.

As far as names for such ranks go, I might look at the ranks within the various Caliphates--they, like your empire, were societies in which religious and secular authorities had significant overlap. (This may, however, lend more of a middle-eastern feel than you're aiming for.)

[Dyvim Matt]

This, to me, gives one answer to the question about creating a proper hierarchy: don't bother.

That or, keep them simple. The characters may know of these titles since early childhood, but not the players. While they try to remember about those titles, an overly comlpex hierarchy will just keep them mixed up. I looked at some of the lists presented, especially for Catholic hierarchies, and while they are pretty accurate, you may want to simplify them a bit.