Re: Initiates vs Devotees

From: Mark Galeotti <hia15_at_...>
Date: Sun, 24 Sep 2000 11:58:51 -0000


David Dunham asked:

> Do more people play initiates or devotees (assuming you're running a
> theistic culture)?

and

> (Optional essay question: does your narrator do anything to portray
> the additional time and resource requirement of a devotee?)

I think in his reply Wulf hit on an important point - that often mainstream in-play activities count as cult duties, and therefore the devotee requirements are as much as anything available to the Narrator to bring players whose characters try to operate too far outside their religious roles back into line.

In the game in which I am a PC, we have three active characters, all Devotees. The Orlanth Adventurous is busy being adventurous on behalf of the king and establishing himself as a weaponthane but also regularly makes a point of noting his observance with appropriate duties (and woe betide the village visited with no shrine to Orlanth!). Of course on one level the Adventurous angle could be considered a cop-out, as it pretty much requires him both to spend time building up his status as a thane (stead, herd, followers) because that it showing respect for tradition and also to do Adventurish things, not least because the tribe is pretty well represented with other, more senior Orlanthi priests. However, it does give the Narrator (Simon Bray, take a bow!) a trump card to induce him to take on whatever missions he is assigned by the king - Orlanth expects it!

The Yinkin devotee, by contrast, acts as much as anything else as a representation (avatar, if you use the term in its broadest rather than game-specific sense) of his god. No messing around preaching for him - when he's not out hunting (admittedly, *usually* for the tribe), he's seducing the wives of Swordvale (there was also that Hag, but we'd better draw a veil over that sorry incident) or curled up in front of the fire, fast asleep (or in shadow cat form, on a rafter). Ultimately, though, when Orlanth needed him, Yinkin was always there, and so too the character acts as a troubleshooter in times of need. It's a delicious portrayal of a mini-Yinkin!

My Issaries devotee is also an initiate of Grohonka, the tribal goose totem from my home clan in distant Far Point (the Kolatiri). Again, to a large extent my 'worship' involves doing Issaries-ish things: campaigning for a permanent booth in the village market place, trying to establish trade links with the Ducks of the Upland Marsh, heading a trade misson to Runegate to sell excess grain and trying to get the best profit for the clan. The additional initiate responsibility is not so much in terms of time, but it carries with it burdens like not being able to harm any durulz. Also, it means that - although there are no Secrets to be learned or the like - I also spend Hero Points raising my Venerate Grohonka alongside my Devotee of Issaries. In minimaxing terms, this is a waste, but it reflects the fact that, while primarly a priest of Issaries, I have also established a relationship with Grohonka.

After all, in a pretty marginal, agrarian culture like the Orlanthi, most priestly roles will be active in support of the community. Thunder Brothers guard, raid and train the fyrd; Odaylans hunt; Barntar's priests help work the fields; Issaries trade; etc. Even a Lhankor Mhy Lawspeaker, unless the chief's adviser, is probably involved in settling feuds, teaching the young, etc, rather than poring over books. The idea of a cloistered clergy outside daily life is pretty alien to the Orlanthi. The upside of this means that players and Narrator need not feel that their characters have 'dead time', instead, devotees must operate within their cult's role within the Storm Tribe. This is a very good thing: yet another way of grounding the characters in their society and a realistic hook to allow Narrators to feed PCs plots.

Honk!

Mark



Mark Galeotti

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