I'm not touching the geeks versus the Catholic Church argument with a ten foot pole. However, I thought I'd respond briefly to this question:
>Which raises some interesting
> questions about who *does* support that starting Devotee? The
economic
> basis must be rather like firms sponsoring apprentices through
college -
> no use now, but once you've got them trained, they'll pay you back.
In my campaign, initially the players were supported by their (relatively wealthy) kin at Eyrfelstead (a prosperous stead). They spent their time herding and farming and cattlestealing. At first only the "holy cowboy" was a devotee. Later, the poet and godtalker became a devotee of Orlanth Thunderous. He sought support from the tribal king and from various chiefs. Another became a devotee of Kev the Visionary and sought support from the Clearwine Earth Temple and from the tribal leaders. And so on.
Then again, I didn't let anyone start as a devotee. As a result, folk tend to be pretty well balanced by the time they are ready to dedicate themselves to the gods.
Jeff
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