| Lesser clerics | Men-at-arms | Typical Inhabitatns | Territorial Development | Clerical doctrines |
| Taxes and growth | - | - | - | - |
| Dungeons & Dragons | Dragon magazine | 1st Edition AD&D | Classes | The Dragon #26 |
One area of the AD&D® game which
could use a bit of exposition is that concerning
the followers of high-level clerics.
Little solid information exists on the subject,
other than a brief reference
on page
20 of the Players Handbook and a
table on
page 16 of the Dungeon Masters Guide.
Once a cleric player character of 8th
level or above has constructed a temple or
other place of worship that meets the
requirements set down on page
20 of the
Players Handbook, he should automatically
attract a number of fanatically loyal
followers, consisting of three types:
lesser clerics,
men-at-arms, and
typical inhabitants.
The total number of each of these
three types attracted or received by the
cleric is a measure of that cleric's stature
and of his standing in the eyes of his deity.
This can be determined by the level of the
cleric in question and the results of various
die rolls.
Lesser clerics
It seems odd that a high-level cleric
does
not attract any lesser clerics when receiving
his followers. What party of player
characters has ever raided an evil temple
defended by only a single high-level cleric
and nothing else, save men-at-arms or
monsters? Most such temples that characters
sack are crawling with low-level clerics
and quite a few middle-level ones as
well. This deficiency is even more glaring
when one considers that a ranger lord can
attract several clerics (given the right-die
rolls) when he receives his followers.
Patriarchs and high priests need lesser
clerics to assist them in the day-to-day
running of their temples, and it is not
unreasonable to believe that their deities
would favor them with several followers
of this sort.
The following rules should prove useful
in determining the number of lesser clerics
received by a patriarch or high priest.
They are particularly helpful as the basis
for determining the clerical followers of
high-level NPC clerics. To determine the
highest level of any lesser clerics received
by a patriarch or high priest, simply divide
the number of levels possessed by the
patriarch or high priest by two, rounding
all fractions down. The only limit on this is
that the maximum level of any lesser cleric
attracted may never be higher than 7th,
since an 8th level cleric could establish
his own temple. Using this system, an 8th-level
patriarch would receive a 4th-level
cleric as his highest lesser cleric, while a
15th-level high priest would get a 7th-level
cleric.
Once the level of the highest-ranking
lesser cleric has been determined, the
patriarch or high priest also receives 1
cleric for every level between that of the
highest level cleric and 1st level. For
example, the 8th-level patriarch would
receive the 4th-level cleric, an 1 each of
3rd and 2nd level. The 15th-level high
priest would attract the 7th-level cleric
and 1 each of 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd
level. In addition, a patriarch or high
priest would also receive one 1st-level
cleric for every 3 levels he possesses,
with fractions rounded to the nearest
whole number. An 8th-level patriarch
would get three 1st-level clerics and a
15th-level high priest would recieve five
1st-level clerics.
Granting high-level clerics or a few lesser
clerics as followers will not unbalance The
Game to any extent. An 8th-level patriarch
would receive only 6 lesser cleics; the
highest of these would be 4th-level (the
highest-level cleric a Ranger Lord could
attract), and 1/2 of them would be mere
1st-level Acolytes. The 15th-level high
priest would receive 11 lesser clerics,
with a maximum of 7th level; slightly less
than 1/2 of these would 1st level, but
then a 15th-level high priest is a very
powerful character indeed. As stated earlier,
this method is especially useful as
the basis for determining lesser clerics for
high-level NPCs. If you desire such clerics
to be even more powerful, double the
number of 2nd- and 3rd- level clerics, and
give them one 1st-level cleric for every
2 levels they possess, rounding all fractions
up. The 15th level high priest would
then have a total of 16 lesser clerics:
1 each of 7th, 6th, 5th, and 4th level,
2 each of 3rd and 2nd level, and 8 of
1st level.
These lesser clerics are not given to the
patriarch or high priest so that he can
have a horde of clerics to follow him about
the countryside. PCs who
think they'll be able to strip their temples
bare and TAKE all their lesser clerics off to
beat up on their rivals will be sadly disappointed.
These lesser clerics are only
provided to assist the high-level cleric in
the operation and defense of his temple.
Still, if they were all confined to quarters,
there would be no advancement for any of
these clerics. To resolve this dilemma, I
propose that no more than 1/3 (round to
the nearest whole number) of all
the clerics, not counting the patriarch or
high priest, may be away from their temples
at the same Time. Additionally, if the
patriarch or high priest is away from the
temple, then the next 2 highest ranking
clerics must remain there. Under these
restrictions, the 8th-level patriarch could
be accompanied on an adventure by no
more than 2 (1/2 of 6) lesser clerics,
and the highest any of these could be is
2nd level. The 15th-level high priest with
11 lesser clerics could take 4 (1/3 of
11, rounded up) of them with him,
with the highest level being 5th.
This is a reasonable restriction. It takes a
lot of organization and effort to run a
successful temple, and most of these lesser
clerics will be required to serve various
functions within the temple hierarchy.
Even so, there will be times when the
patriarch or high priest will be called
away from the temple and he will require
lesser clerics to form part of his escort, if
for no other reason than to show his status.
Some of the lesser clerics might also
be sent on missions for the patriarch or high
priest, to help some stricken worshiper of
the temple, to assist a party of adventurers,
and so on. By limiting the number of
lesser clerics who can be away from the
temple at any one time, we still enable the
patriarch or high priest to aid the friends
and allies of his temple, but we also help
to insure that when the patriarch or high
priest returns from a banquet with a
neighboring lord, he won't come home to
a smoldering ruin littered with the bodies
of faithful servitors. Not that this can't
happen anyway; it's just a little more difficult
for temple raiders to accomplish it
with a gang of spell-using clerics trying to
prevent it.
Upkeep and suport of these lesser
clerics will depend entirely upon the DM's
will and the guidelines of the campaign
pantheons. Some lesser clerics will require
nothing more than bed and board, while
others will insist on full henchman's wages
or even more! How the patriarch or high
priest fulfills these obligations can be the
source of many interesting situations. If
the cleric is a high priest of 9th level or
higher, he may have established an ecclesiastical
state, and his lesser clerics' stipends
might be paid for out of tax revenues. An
8th-level patriarch might use the power to
determine which lesser clerics will be
allowed to leave the temple on adventures
to reward his lesser clerics. High-level
clerics of evil deities, especially chaotic evil
ones, had best pay extra close attention to
these matters. Although their lesser clerics
are supposed to be fanatically loyal toward
such patriarchs and high priests, it is their
nature to try to get ahead. If they feel
their master is in the way, they will not
hesitate to plot against him.
Men-at-arms
High-level clerics also attract
a number
of men-at-arms of various types. These
men-at-arms are all 0-level fighters with 4-
7 hit points. In addition to the men-at-arms
listed on the following table, the cleric also
receives the following additional fighter
types for each troop category (i.e., heavy
infantry, light cavalry, etc.).or troops.
1 sergeant for every 10 men-at-arms
1 lieutenant if there are 20 or more men-at-arms,
and,
1 captain if there are 40 or more men-at-arms.
Roll the proper dice for each of the
following troop types:
2-8 heavy cavalry
2-16 medium cavalry
4-32 light cavarly
4-32 archers or crossbowmen
6-48 heavy infantry
8-64 light infantry
Each die roll made to determine the
number of each troop type is modified as
follows:
+1 if the cleric is an NPC of 11th level or higher
+2 if the cleric is an NPC of 14th level or higher
+1 if the cleric serves a combatant deity (see below);
-1 if the cleric is a PC of 10th level or higher;
and
-1 if the cleric serves a noncombatant deity.
Only 2 modifiers, at most, will apply
to any cleric; one for level plus one for the
type of deity the cleric serves, when the
latter is applicable.
The positive modifiers for NPCs represent
additional men-at-arms acquired since
the cleric established his temple.
The negative modifier for playercharacter
clerics of 10th level or higher
represents the disfavor of those clerics?
deities. The primary function of all clerics
is to spread the worship of their respective
deities, and the best way of doing this
is to establish a place of worship dedicated
to the deity. Any cleric who continues to
neglect this duty by not constructing a
temple at 8th, or at the very latest 9th
level, is almost certain to arouse the displeasure
of his deity. Note that there is no
penalty for lesser clerics in this regard; a
deity will be only mildly displeased with a
high-level cleric, and does not expect one
of lower level to build a temple.
A combatant deity is one who has dominion
over war, battle, or combat, such
as Anhur, Ares,
Athena,
Chao Kung Ming,
Hachiman, Huan-Ti,
Huitzilopochtli,
Inanna,
Ishtar, Karttikeya,
Morrigan,
Nuada,
Sif, or Tobadzistsini
from DEITIES & DEMIGODS.
It is only natural that clerics of these deities
would attract more fighters than those
of most other deities. It should be noted
that those deities who have province over
archery were not included as combatant
deities, because archery could be used
solely for hunting or sport.
A noncombatant deity is one who has no
combatant classes -- i.e., fighter, paladin,
ranger, thief, assassin, or monk. Thieves
are combatants because they are trained
to backstab, but bards are not because a
deity does not have to have been a fighter
or a thief to be a bard. These deities are
few in number: Aphrodite, Hecate,
Kishijoten,
Kuan Yin, Lakshmi,
Tuonetar,
Tyche,
and Ushas. All of these deities are
female,
but they are not necessarily nonviolent or
even good. Simply, physical combat is
totally foreign to their being. Such deities
are less likely to attract as many fighters
as most other deities might.
These modifiers can have a tremendous
bearing on the number of men-at-arms
any cleric will receive. For instance, an
11th-level player character who is a cleric
of Aphrodite would have to deduct -2
from every troop die roll made. This
means that instead of receiving 2-8 heavy
cavalry, he would gain only 0-4 such
troops. On the other hand, a DM rolling
up the men-at-arms for an NPC who is a
15th-level high priest of Hachiman would
add +3 to each die roll and could receive
8-14 heavy cavalry.
Unlike fighters, who receive only one
captain and possibly a lieutenant when
they receive their men-at-arms, a cleric
could end up with a maximum of four
captains and five lieutenants! Granted, that
cleric would have to be at least an llthlevel
NPC who serves a combatant deity,
and even then the odds of this actually
happening would still be astronomical.
Still, this device allows a cleric to receive
the favor of his deity in the form of officers,
the degree of this favor being determined
by the outcome of the troop die
rolls.
The determination of arms and armor
for these men-at-arms and officers has
been left up to the DM, although captains
and lieutenants would have the standard
chances of having any magical arms or
armor. I am not overly fond of charts that
list arms and armor for troops without
any consideration of the circumstances in
which those troops will be placed. I prefer
to fit the arms and armor to the terrain
and climate in which the troops will have
to operate, and that cannot be done in this
article.
Soldiers, even those who serve clerics,
require payment for their services. The
cleric will have to feed and house his
officers and men-at-arms and pay them a
monthly wage, but this wage could be less
than the standard wage for each troop
type because of their dedication to the
cleric. Such ecclesiastical troops will always
display above-average loyalty and
their morale will be fanatical in the cause
of their clerical master. The cleric who
receives these men-at-arms is under no
restrictions in their deployment, as with
lesser clerics, but common sense will
dictate that a goodly number of them will
always be stationed to defend the cleric?s
temple.
Typical inhabitants
A large number of typical inhabitants
will also be attracted to the patriarch or
high priest upon the completion of his
place of worship. These people are 0-level
humans with hit points and combat abilities
as described on page 88 of the Dungeon
Masters Guide. Such typical
inhabitants will be the lesser servants of
the high-level cleric: cooks, maids, laborers,
field hands, and such. The actual
number of these people received is determined
by rolling 2d10 and multiplying the
result by 10, for a number between 20
and 200. The 2d10 die roll is modified as
follows:
+1 if the cleric is an NPC of 11th level or higher;
+2 if the cleric is an NPC of 14th level or higher;
-1 if the cleric is a player character of 10th level
or higher.
The rationale behind these modifiers is
the same as that for the men-at-arms.
Once the total number of typical inhabitants
attracted has been generated, they
will be divided into the following percentages:
laboring males 40%, active males
20%, laboring females 15%, active females
15%, sedentary males 5%, and sedentary
females 5%.
Using these percentages, a cleric who
received a total of 160 typical inhabitants
would get the following: 8 sedentary females,
8 sedentary males, 24 active females,
32 active males, 24 laboring
females, and 64 laboring males.
Between 75%-90% (5d4 +70) of the
attracted females will be married to one of
the attracted males. Each of these married
couples will have 0-3 (d4 - 1) children. It is
also suggested that a small number, say
10% or so, of these typical inhabitants
should have some specialized skills: carpenter,
leatherworker, or even blacksmith
or armorer. The exact number and types
of these individuals is left to the DM?s
discretion.
Typical inhabitants require no pay of
any sort from the cleric they serve, merely
quarters and upkeep. They serve the
cleric either from devotion or fear or a
combination of both. If the cleric has lands
of his own, an ecclesiastical state, a large
estate, or whatever, these typical inhabitants
will most likely be working there to
increase the wealth and power of the
cleric they serve. The loyalty of these
inhabitants, man, woman, and child, is
beyond question, and they will rally to the
defense of their patriarch or high priest
without hesitation. Whether they will be
of any real use in the defense is another
question entirely.
Territorial development
At 9th level, a cleric can establish a
religious holding, an ecclesiastical state
similar to a fighter lords freehold. To
accomplish this, the cleric must construct
a religious stronghold that fulfills the
requirements set down
on page 20 of the
Players Handbook and clear the surrounding
area of hostile creatures for a radius of
15-30 miles. Those PCs unable to clear
nice, neat circles around their holding
should clear away hostile creatures within
an 800-2800 square mile area. Once the
cleric has met these requirements, he
gains the right to collect taxes from everyone
living within the bounds of the religious
holding.
The 15-30 mile radius was chosen because
it is larger than the 10-20 mile radius
required for a magic-user, yet smaller
than the 20-50 mile radius required for a
fighter. Clerics will usually have more time
and resources to devote to territorial
development than magic-users, but their
temples still require a great deal of their
attention, and they won't have the same
amount of time that a fighter has to devote
to this purpose. The actual size of the
religious holding, within the parameters
set down, is totally up to the cleric in
question. Does he simply want enough
land to support his temple or does he plan
to become a power to be reckoned with in
the region? These are the sort of factors
which will determine the size of the religious
holding.
Clerical doctrines
Once a high priest has established the
basic size of his religious holding, he must
then decide upon the doctrine by which it
will be ruled. Clerics, as the foremost
representatives of their various religions,
are expected to live by and promote the
tenets of those religions, and thus do not
have the same freedom that other character
types have to rule as they wish. For the
sake of simplicity, I have whittled the
multitude of doctrines and dogmas down
to 3 basic types:
1. fundamentalist,
2. orthodox, and
3. reformationist.
Admittedly,
these are mere generalizations, yet they
will set the tone for life within each religious
holding. These doctrines will permeate
every level of the ecclesiastical state,
how its ruler views domestic and foreign
policies, taxes, population growth, etc.
The selection of a doctrine is a very
serious matter to which the cleric involved
should give a good deal of thought. Once
this decision is made, it can never be altered
without grievous consequences --
not necessarily from the cleric's deity, but
from the subjects who have lived under
one doctrine and might consider any
change as a betrayal of the deity by the
high priest. In some cases a cleric might
not even have a choice, as the deity he or
she worships may be so strongly associated
with one doctrine so as to preclude
the others. The list below identifies each
doctrine and its effects on various aspects
of the religious holding; "basic tax" and
"population growth modifier" are defined
in the section of text following this one.
Fundamentalist -- basic tax 11 sp; population growth
modifier -1
Orthodox -- basic tax 9 sp; no population growth
modifier
Reformationist -- basic tax 8 sp; population growth
modifier + 1
Fundamentalist clerics are those who
believe that there is only one correct way
of interpreting their religion: their way.
They generally have a very strict and
narrow view of things, and expect -- even
demand -- that all of their followers conform
to this viewpoint. Fundamentalists
feel that their followers should support
their religion with as much fervor, dedication,
and money as possible. They tend to
be somewhat xenophobic and are often
suspicious and mistrusting of those who
don't agree with their beliefs. Fundamentalist
states will not usually attract many
immigrants, accounted for by the negative
population growth modifier.
Fundamentalists are not necessarily bad
in themselves. Within the confines of such
a religious holding, all true believers can
live in prosperous peace and harmony.
The trouble lies with the non-believers
living in such a state, who may be persecuted,
openly encouraged to leave, or even
forcibly expelled. Because of their very
strict view of things, fundamentalist states
may also have less-than-cordial relations
with their neighbors, and may feel inclined
to convert them by force. On the
other hand, a fundamentalist holding
could be a rock of sanity in the middle of a
sea of chaos. It all depends on the pantheon
and the deity the fundamentalist
cleric worships. Examples of deities which
might have fundamentalist high priests are
Kuan Yin, Nike,
and Set.
Orthodox high priests are those who
don't want to make waves in the world.
They abide by the generally accepted view
of their religion and have no inclination
towards any extremism. If their deity
represents peace and order, they will be
peaceful and orderly; if their deity craves
death and destruction, they will be out
there causing death and destruction. They
place no undue constraints on the people
in their holdings, unless that is the focus
of their religion. Their relations with their
neighbors will be dictated by the same
rationale. Orthodox clerics represent the
vast majority of deities.
Reformationist clerics are those who
believe that the old ways are not always
the best and that there is always some
room for latitude in all matters. Such high
priests tend to be more liberal in their
dealings with their subjects and neighbors,
thus the lower tax rate and positive population
growth modifier. Reformationists
are not necessarily good in themselves, as
they may also feel the need to reform
their neighbors. Again, it really depends
on the cleric?s deity. A good example of
reformationists might be clerics of the
Norse gods, who are willing to put up with
almost anything from their worshipers,
except dealings with giants.
Taxes and growth
<taxes>
<population
growth>
The basic tax rate for each clerical doctrine
is subject to some alteration. At the
start of each new year, the high priest
must set the tax rate for that year, which
can be between 1 sp below and 1 sp above
the basic tax rate. This gives the cleric a
bit of leeway, so that he can react to any
number of situations which might arise.
However, it should be remembered that a
cleric serves his deity before any subjects
and in most cases, the welfare of the temple
takes precedence over the welfare of
the people. This doesn?t mean that a cleric
can gouge tax money out of his starving
peasants just to buy a new tapestry for his
temple, but it does mean that if the high
priest has to choose between spending
money to feed those starving peasants and
spending it on the salaries of the temple
guards, the peasants will starve.
Most "frontier" populations tend to
grow, since the natural birth rate outstrips
the death rate and people naturally
emigrate
to newly settled areas. Once you
have determined the total population of
the religious holding (necessary for tax
purposes), you will have the base number
from which you can determine population
growth. Population growth is determined
at the start of each new year. The basic
growth rate of the population of an ecclesiastical
state is 2%-5% (d4 + 1) annually.
This figure is modified by the clerical
doctrine of the religious holding and the
following terrain modifiers: + 1 if the
holding is in the mountains or on the coast
(healthy climates); and -1 if the holding is
in a marsh or desert (unhealthy climates).
Use of these modifiers results in an annual
population growth of 0%-7%, depending
on doctrine and terrain.
Example 1: A fundamentalist holding
with a population of 2,600 is located in a
forest. There is no terrain modifier,
but
since the holding has a fundamentalist
doctrine, there is a negative modifier of -
1. Since d4 + 1 is used to determine population
growth, this -1 will result in a
straight d4 die roll. The die is rolled and
comes up a 3, meaning a population
growth of 3%, or 78 new inhabitants,
which represent either new babies, immigrants,
or both.
Example 2: An orthodox religious holding
with a population of 1,700 is located in
a marsh. There is no modifier for
doctrine,
but the -1 modifier for terrain will
once more result in a straight d4 roll. This
time the result was 2, meaning a population
growth of 2%, or 34 new inhabitants.
Example 3: A reformationist holding
with a population of 3,500 is located on
the coast of a large ocean. Both the clerical
doctrine and the terrain grant modifiers of
+1, so the final result is d4 + 3. The die is
rolled and comes up 3 again, but this time
+ 3 is added to make 6, meaning a population
growth of 6%, or 210 new inhabitants.
After population growth has been determined,
the high priest must then figure
out how many of these new inhabitants
are potential men-at-arms -- either boys
who have come of military age and joined
the priest?s guards or fighters who have
been attracted to the religious holding.
From 10%-20% of all new inhabitants can
be men-at-arms. This is determined as
follows: 10% for a cleric who serves a
noncombatant deity, 15% for most other
clerics, and 20% for a cleric who serves a
combatant deity. Under no circumstances
may these new men-at-arms total more
than 25% of the current total of the high
priest?s men-at-arms. This means that if a
high priest had 120 men-at-arms, no more
than 30 new ones could be added. Any
excess is treated as typical inhabitants. It is
up to the DM to decide which troops these
new men-at-arms will be. However, if
there are 10 or more such men-at-arms,
the DM should attempt to apportion them
among the various military arms: infantry,
cavalry, and missile troops.
Finally, a cleric?s temple should be allowed
to grow along with the rest of his
holding. At the start of each new year,
when determining population growth, the
high priest must also determine whether
or not any of the temple?s lesser servants
have proven themselves worthy enough to
become 1st-level clerics. There is a straight
50% chance that 1-2 new 1st-level clerics
can be added each year. This gives the
high priest a good shot at increasing the
number of his lesser clerics every year.
Clerics should be as diverse as the deities
they worship. Use of these rules can
help make them so. They also put the
deities worshiped by clerics in a position
to have a substantial effect upon the progress
of their clerics. The clerics of peaceloving
deities will now be more
constrained to walk the same path as their
gods because they will have fewer troops,
a situation which is only right and proper.
Clerics of the gods of war may now be
endowed with the power to wage war, to a
limited degree, as they can now end up
with more men-at-arms than any lord can
receive.