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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fusangite" data-source="post: 2873314" data-attributes="member: 7240">Can you give me an example? In ancient Judea, the offices were fused, of course. In polytheistic systems, there simply is not enough power concentrated in a single cult to pull this off. In Orthodox Christianity, there were rare episodes that usually abruptly ended with a smackdown of the Patriarch (e.g. Photius, Nikon). In the Islamic world, this was not really the way the Sultan-Caliph balance worked either, though I am decidedly less familiar with this history and am happy to be corrected. Ultimately, though, D&D worlds are polytheistic and that's what we're talking about. In such a model, I cannot imagine how one cult could simultaneously grab all that civil authority while simultaneously gaining dominance over all others. I think the role you are talking about is that of a mandarin, not a high priest. Councilors, mandarins and other members of court might carry out these tasks on behalf of a king, sure. But I would caution that the way D&D appears to work makes it hard to sustain a bureaucratic despotism along the lines of imperial China, Byzantium, Russia, etc. precisely because in a contest between sound administration and a lot of fireballs, the sound administrator is not very well-advantaged. Remember, also that a Profession (Mandarin) skill cannot substitute for charisma-based skills and feats. The fact that your orders have a better track record can only adjust the DC against which the aspiring despot paladin needs to roll.Sorry but I do not buy your theory. Furnish me with some real world examples or some sound sociological theory backing this up.</blockquote>

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