Clergy as Constabulary

[Wulf Ratbane]

Had a random thought on the drive into work today.

Why don't more cities use 1st level clerics instead of 1st level fighters as their town watch?

They're not quite as adept with weapons, but they have a good selection of useful spells handy, and the ability to heal would go a long way to keeping the peace. They can break up fights and save lives.

Seems like a natural fit for some deities. Cuthbert, Heironeous, Helm, and many other gods of Good and Justice. I can easily envision these guys setting up "missionaries" in small towns, where one mid-level cleric and a handful of acolytes could serve the needs of the entire town.

I think it would be harder to justify in a larger city, unless you're talking about a world where magic is very common. Could you have an entire city where even the lowest level beat-cop is a 1st level cleric of Cuthbert?


Wulf

 

[Churchill]

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition

Going by the guidelines in the DMG, it would be difficult to justify a town that employed that many clerics as full-time guards.

In the campaign I'm currently running I whipped up a metropolis (36,000+ people) using the wonderful Jamis Buck generator. The results from that give me 365 full-time guards, but only 76 clerics (and 220 adepts).

If you wanted to, you could say that all of those clerics were followers of the same religion, but that seems to stretch the boundaries of logic for me. Even adding in the adepts, you don't have enough manpower to fill all the constabulary job openings.

Still, it's an interesting idea, and I can see no reason why there couldn't be one cleric per guard patrol unit (and a wizard or sorcerer to boot - sleep would be a very nice crowd control spell).

And, hey, the city could impress compliance from spellcasters by having it be part of a local tax. ("Why, yes, we welcom priests and mages with open arms in our fair city. You just need to put in 8 hours of community service each week.")

 

[alsih2o]

churchhill is right about you AVERAGE town, but i think this might be a great idea for a town with heavy religious populations or a "vatican" type town, maybe even a capital.

i am always amazed at how everyone seems to wuote variant rules all the time except when it comes to city makeup...no offense yto anyone intended..it's just that it seems that cities would vary far off the norm in many situations.

 

[Darraketh]

I use clerics this way as part of a theocratic citystate in which the guilds control the craftsmen but the church controls the markets. So basically they keep order in the markets. However there is a traditional military presence for defence of the citystate.

 

[Voadam]

While they would be a fine choice utility-wise, how many divinely magically powered individuals are available for hire as city watch? I would think it would be a lot easier to get non magical warriors, rogues (excellent inspectors) or thugs (from T&T) as general city watch.

 

[Desdichado]

I think guard units ought to have chaplains. It's not likely in most settings that there's enough holy men to do the job, though. That's what the warrior class is all about.

 

[alsih2o]

While they would be a fine choice utility-wise, how many divinely magically powered individuals are available for hire as city watch?

i would think those with a divine calling would be much more likely to volunteer...

which brings up an interesting vigilante storyline

 

[OaxacanWarrior]

I think that having clerics as your town watch would be very feasible in a very religious city or a theocracy. It would make sense for the church or deity in question would want to control the entire city and that's a good way to do it. Think of the Vatican like previously mentioned. I like the idea and actually plan on implementing it in at least one city in my campaign world.

 

[radferth]

Greyhawk watch clerics

IFRC, the leader of the watch in the City of Greyhawk is high level priestess of Pelor. Not many others are part of the watch though. Follower of St. Cuthbert and Tritheron are noted as carrying out there own watch/vigilate groups, but prefer not to work for the city.

I would think that in a threocracy, clerics would be quite commonly in some police function. (Think of a campaign location based on a medieval/fantasy version of Taliban controled Afghanistan, where the average Talib is a 1st level cleric.)

It all depends on the relation of the various popular religions to the government.

 

[Psion]

Actually, in my campaign, in the nations of the west and south, followers of the goddess of justice assist and bolster the local constibulary, especially when it comes to matters where the magic would be of assistance (such as zone of truth, et al.)