Roleplaying Power

[Loonook]

Power is an attitude, not a bunch of loot or money. A powerful person expects to be listened to, catered to, and obeyed. A powerful cleric is not going to wait around for things to happen, he's going to make them happen.

I think you're confusing Power with Agency.

You can have an enormous reservoir of power, but by being part of a structured society your agency can diminish rapidly. Being a High Priest you probably have a lot of power over those who are about... But how much power can you act upon given your current agency? There are new laws, written and unwritten, that you must obey at any given time. Adventurers are bound to a social construct where they are pretty much free to do what they will (or what their specific sponsor allows them to do)... This cleric now has to act within a bureaucracy. And bureaucracy moves sloooow.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Samloyal23]

I think you're confusing Power with Agency.

You can have an enormous reservoir of power, but by being part of a structured society your agency can diminish rapidly. Being a High Priest you probably have a lot of power over those who are about... But how much power can you act upon given your current agency? There are new laws, written and unwritten, that you must obey at any given time. Adventurers are bound to a social construct where they are pretty much free to do what they will (or what their specific sponsor allows them to do)... This cleric now has to act within a bureaucracy. And bureaucracy moves sloooow.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

The time it takes to get things done has lots of variables, but the attitude is the same. A powerful person feels confident and entitled. Roleplay that...

 

[Rath the Brown]

For what it's worth, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Roleplaying-Forgotten-Supplement/dp/0786939109"]Power of Faerun[/ame] is all about playing 'powerful' characters (kings and nobility, military commanders, etc) and has an entire chapter devoted to being a spiritual leader. While there is a lot of setting-specific stuff, I'm sure it could be mined for many useful ideas regarding your issue.

 

[Shaghayegh]

Favours, contacts, and privileges better illustrate a character's real personal power better than any amount of treasure. When kings and imams defer to your judement, that is real power...

 

[Tomn]

Have the church invite him to be the head priest at a certain ceremony. Also, have them present him with Boots of the Unending Journey from the Magic Item Compendium. They are a relic of Farlaghn (but only cost 4000gp) and would be put to best use by a high level priest of Farlaghn. Finally, I don't think that giving him a house would be any good, since he's expected to be traveling a lot (god of travel), but maybe they could give him a really cool carriage/wagon? One with extradimensional storage space, or even an effect like a house inside the wagon (once again using extradimensional space). Neither item would be very unbalancing. Heck, both together wouldn't even be too bad. Also, I know that I would love getting this stuff as a cleric of a god of travel.

 

[Samloyal23]

A priest of Travel could definitely own property, it just would not be the typical type of estate that a noble would have. Instead, have him run a chain of public houses to help fellow travellers on their journeys. Also, to keep his church on the side of a local king, the crown could grant the temples of Fharlangn boons, such as being the only institution that can public houses above a certain capacity, or being the only ones able to sell spirits...

 

[Shaghayegh]

A priest of Travel could definitely own property, it just would not be the typical type of estate that a noble would have. Instead, have him run a chain of public houses to help fellow travellers on their journeys. Also, to keep his church on the side of a local king, the crown could grant the temples of Fharlangn boons, such as being the only institution that can public houses above a certain capacity, or being the only ones able to sell spirits...

Getting the king to create laws that make you money. THAT is power. Also, having the priest have possession that help his congregation and entire faith, not just him personally, shows he is becoming something of an institution in his own right...

 

[Iapetus]

Just pointing out that Fharlanghn is the god of the roads, if nothing else your high priest must travel the roads helping out travelers for the remainder of his life. Unless of course he he chooses to go back with his adventuring party and leave his high position. This can't be very exiting for the rest of his party.

 

[Shaghayegh]

Just pointing out that Fharlanghn is the god of the roads, if nothing else your high priest must travel the roads helping out travelers for the remainder of his life. Unless of course he he chooses to go back with his adventuring party and leave his high position. This can't be very exiting for the rest of his party.

Seriously? A life of non-stop travel, often to new, unknown locations, doesn't have enough built-in adventure seeds for you? He can be a caravan master, blaze trails through monster-infested wildernesses so new roads can be built, challenge villains that are blocking trade routes. The list of ideas is endless...

 

[Iapetus]

point being that among other things, Fharlanghn only ever has small churches (and their always on the side of a road), reason being that he holds others above himself and a large church for him does not further his goals. Maybe have them build a road through a forest swarming with creatures, at least this would aid his cause.