Orderly player characters in practice?

From: parental_unit_2 <parental_unit_2_at_...>
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 15:12:03 -0000

I switched to HeroQuest from Runequest recently, and am trying to get my head around saintly orders. Player characters in such orders seem to be severely handicapped compared to characters using other types of magic.

In particular, player characters who are orderlies but not liturgists will be unable to re-consecrate their talismans mid-week or while away from the territory of their orders. If they are liturgists of their orders (an option which means devoting 30% or their time and hero points to the order), they will still be out of luck if they fail in contests to re-consecrate their talismans.

I understand there are good cultural reasons for narrator characters to join churches and orders, but that doesn't mean it makes sense for player characters. Am I missing something? Is there some workaround that makes it more practical for player characters to belong to an order? Or in practice do most simply choose wizardry schools, animism, or theism?

Rob