Political scheming for the good guys?

[Jon_Dahl]

First of all, I like the setup, but isn't conservation an inherently lawful tendency and revision an inherently chaotic one?

You have a point, but in this case they LG sect want their faith to become stricter and more organized so it would better serve their views. Lawful by RAW indicates "honoring tradition" so I understand it's a bit awkward that such guys would like to change a functioning system. But like ComradeGnull said, they don't believe that they are chancing anything but instead returning to their roots. That was a very good point.

Is the Pope elected from a field of Cardinals by his peers? If so, how do the Cardinals fit into this schism? Is it like the historical chism within the Catholic Church, when there were actually two Popes? are the Cardinals divided between the two sides?

He wants the have elections and all the high-priests would have the right to vote. Basically he already has certain majority of all the votes.

If, on the other hand, such a hierarchy is not universal, visiting individual churches to convert them to his cause makes a lot more sense.

Yes, I think the best way is to visit the temples and talk personally with the high priests.

[/quote]In either case, you want to look to politicians for your inspiration. When consolidating power among other political figures, he'll want to cut deals, posture, and undermine his fellows to whatever extent a politician of his alignment would be inclined to do so.

If consolidating power among the churches, he is more likely to want to strike a populist stance and grandstand.

Being Lawful Good, he will no doubt fully intend to keep any promise he makes, if at all possible, but don't discount even a lawful good character's ability to rationalize when faced with difficult decisions.[/QUOTE]

I have already made a popular figure, especially since he killed one of the PCs who had turned into evil and tried to destroy the capital. I think public pressure could eventually break the resistance of the uncooperative high priest.

Lots of good points so far, I'm taking notes here.

 

[Janx]

How do the PCs figure in any of this?

What's their interaction with the church?

What's their ranking/reputation/standing that they would have any influence in these matters?

 

[Jon_Dahl]

[MENTION=8835]Janx[/MENTION]

The PCs are influental heroes and the Pelorian faith is the dominant faith of the region. The PCs may let the chips fall where they may, but on the other hand they may wish to have some saying in the matter. Both the "Pope" and NG sect are quite willing to have local heroes supporting them (more or less openly), even if they are not of the same faith (both wish convert the PCs in the process). Both sects feel that they need all the help they can get so the PCs have the freedom to help whomever they wish. They could also try to undermine both sects so that some other religion would become stronger.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Find out more on Pelar and saw this on Pelor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scriptures

• In the Sun Father's Hand is a controversial text accepted at present by only a handful of Pelorian temples. It was written about 476 CY by a woman named Tephos. Tephos was not a priest, but she believed herself to be Pelor's chosen representative on Oerth. Somehow she performed miracles, including curing an entire village of plague, before writing about her beliefs and vanishing in front of her disciples in a flash of golden light. Tephos taught that all property should be held communally, that society should return to a more "natural" state like that assumed to exist before the spread of civilization, and that clerics were unnecessary; Pelor could intervene directly instead. Most branches of the Pelorian faith consider Tephos to be gifted but delusional.
  
• The Light of Pelor is the most common Pelorian holy book, beginning with Pelor's creation of the sun and telling of how Pelor instructed the first mortals. Some turned against his teachings, thus creating evil, and this evil spirit has waxed and waned over time. Some versions portray Pelor as the sun (Liga) itself, rather than its creator, and tell of Pelor's attempts to win back those who have strayed from his light. The Light of Pelor only has minor variations in it, and all are considered canonical, despite these small discrepancies. The book is often enchanted to glow with a soft solar radiance when it's closed, and some versions are gilded.

That first one has a interesting hook to it. Also, the stuff on the Raven Queen is interesting.

 

[Grumpy RPG Reviews]

I've been rewatching the HBO series Rome recently, and it has some nice examples of how bribery works.

That is a great show and I highly recommend it to anyone running any kind of game with a long story.

I also live in Eastern Europe and the split between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Church plays an interesting roll in history. As such, rather than getting all the church of Palor, a geographical region might split off and the LG portion would not have the logistical ability to stamp out the heretics.

 

[haakon1]

Stuff about threats and bribery don't make sense to me.

Lawful Good:
-- Pelor annointed me to lead us. I speak for Pelor on Earth. His will be done.

-- You disagree? Well, it's not for us to question Pelor's will. He said I hold the Keys to his Kingdom, and that my views on theological matters are infallible. It's not about me, it's about Pelor. I only speak for him.

-- You say I don't speak for Pelor, and it's about my ambition? You see, without a rational argument for his position, the High Priest resorts to ad hominem attacks. Let us pray for him, to grow his wisdom and see that the matters of Pelor are greater than our petty mortal squabbles.

-- Let us pray on this. Oh mighty Pelor, show everyone who venerates you the light of your wisdom. If the course of unifying your church is not you will, show us a sign. Huh, no sign -- like I said, I'm infallible on theological matters.

-- There's a practical question too, my dear High Priest. Under unified leadership, the Church of Pelor can allocate resources to the highest benefit of all. For example, that threat on the frontier -- by gathering paladins from across the land, we can eliminate it before it grows worse. And the plague over there, imagine if we shipped in a dozen clerics who can cure disease -- we could stop its spread. Only in unity is there strength.

-- The sect of Pholtus waxes strong. Pelor's light must oppose that of Pholtus, and to do so, we must be united.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

Monologue.

Great stuff! Almost all of this will be translated and going straight to my game! Thank you sir!

 

[fba827]

What can the LG Head Priest Offer to the NG Churches....

What are the selling points... that's the main question..

Some brainstorming (not all great ideas but may spark something better)
* can they offer funding support? (perhaps from the "better off" city temples)
* can they offer man power support? (perhaps in the form of missionaries that can add their location to their route)
* can they offer access to holy items that are kept in the better guarded city temple (maybe those holy items can come through the smaller temples "on tour" once a year... not religious holidays since the main church would want it then, but on 'off days')
* can talk about some historical tale related to small churches that fall (be it through neglect, or take over, or lack of something, etc) without the support of the main church because 'only the strength of community can increase the light of pelor' (or some other dogma-filtered saying that emphasizes unity)

What does the LG church get out of it? (NOT that they would tell these points, but it would help give you a tone from which to work): they can then be more influential in how rites and ceremonies are performed (thus maintaining tradition rather than allowing local customs to influence how things are done); they can access cash flow if needed; they get a better eye/ear out in the community by having the locals have more dialogue with the main church; they maintain the head priest's power and authority by having other churches join their umbrella; having a large unified church shows more force of presence to the community/flock thus providing more influence and numbers (rather than unconnected flock)