Voadam said:
How would you suggest portraying religious schisms and factions in a world where deities can talk directly to priests?
Given the nature of DnD gods, simply have the god give direct conflicting orders to his followers.
A NG god will have several method of dealing with things and he'll have several different sects of worshippers... CG, LG, and N.
This is the best way to show a schism.
An example From MMS:WE
The Church of the Neutral Good God
As with all things of the magical medieval period, religious organization does not adhere to neat definitions. Any and all combinations of organizational structure can apply to any and all levels of a religious institution’s organization. Take for example a religion worshipping a Neutral Good God. This established church has representation throughout the kingdom, being one of the religions of the three patron gods in the kingdom. Leading the religion on a kingdom-wide level is a council of twelve, who solidify doctrine, codify progression in the church, approve directly or indirectly all new priests, create policy on other religions and secular groups, and lead the entire religion with its infinite wisdom. For organization, the council divides the kingdom into twelve dioceses or divisions, based on geographic, political, and economic lines. Each diocese is run by one of the council, who ensures proper behavior and protocol in the daily dealings of the church.
The three dioceses run by lawful good leadership follow protocol to the best of their ability, abiding to the structure and moral vision of the religion. One of those lawful good diocese leaders is unofficially considered the leading council member because his diocese, containing the royal city, is the wealthiest and the seat of politics. The six neutral good council members follow the church’s law most of the time, but they always follow the spirit of the council’s law, which is there to ensure that good be done in all its fullness. The three dioceses run by chaotic good council members give their churches and clerics a fair amount of leeway, as long as any breach of church rules does not turn into scandal or ruin, at which point bribery may be an appropriate response.
The overall organization is generally centralized, in the sense that there is a defined doctrine, a set progression for the clergy within the religion, lesser churches that answer to a religious head, and a leading council that creates policy and issues mandates. The actual dioceses are decentralized in the sense that each diocese leader has the ability to run his diocese as he likes, within certain parameters. Within the lawful good run dioceses, centralized organization is more likely than decentralized, whereas lesser churches in chaotic good run dioceses have more leniencies from their diocese leader.
Though the church quickly brought unaffiliated churches worshipping the same god into the fold early on, some monastic orders that worship the same god remain independent of the church hierarchy. Feudal lords and the unified religions of the rival patron gods socially support these independent monastic orders in an attempt to curb the power of the church of the Neutral Good God. The council of twelve begins an ambitious program of founding new monastic orders, offering them prime pieces of land from the church’s land. They hope to entice the best priests of the independent monastic orders to begin an order of their own on better land. The council of twelve thinks that this plan is secure, since the newly-founded monastic orders have a feudal relationship with the mother church, even if the religious relationship falls apart.
The council creates a series of rigid rules for the new monasteries, ensuring their ties to the church. Serendipitously, the best land the council can offer is in the diocese of lawful good leadership, where the diocese leaders are best suited for making certain the monasteries abide by these rules.
The council of twelve’s plan attracts some of the best minds from the independent monastic orders. Over the course of two decades, the council of twelve manages to bring the independent orders into the fold of the church. The most prominent of the new orders is the Order of the Gull, named in admiration of that noble bird’s character.
Over several years, the order attracts many followers and eventually approaches the diocese leader for permission to found a daughter monastery. Given the order’s lawful good nature, the diocese leader speaks favorably to the council of twelve when deliberating the matter. The council agrees to the founding of a daughter monastery for the Order of the Gull, giving the monastic order a measure of well-earned freedom in the church. The Order of the Gull sends a dozen of its experienced priests with the founders of the daughter monastery and spreads the word of the Neutral Good God.
As the order grows in prominence and prestige, daughter monasteries spring up throughout the kingdom and even into neighboring kingdoms. After twenty years and forty-five new monasteries, the Order of the Gull runs into problems with the Council, which is now under neutral good leadership. The council tries to curb the growth and power of the order, because it has spread into non-lawful council members’ diocese. The order feels wronged. They consider their rapid growth a sign of their pre-eminence within the religion. After much deliberation, the order realizes their monarchical structure is the future of the church. They speak with the lawful good council members and convince them that a greater order in the church is the most effective way of spreading the religion of the Neutral Good God. After much discussion, the lawful good council members agree to split from the church, supported by the funds and prestige of the Order of the Gull. The Order of the Gull and the lawful good priests create an independent lawful good church of the Neutral Good God.
This schism sparks contention among the believers of the Church of the Neutral Good God. New tenets and subtle changes in doctrinal interpretation create confusion among the followers, and this leads to fighting. The “old guard” opposes additional doctrinal rules, claiming such measures fill coffers rather than souls. The “new guard” believes additional rites ensure more mindful piety and create followers who are more deserving of the Neutral Good God’s blessing. Regardless of the reasons, the conflict is purely about power: who decides what is the god’s will. Both sides believe they are better vessels for the Neutral Good God’s will, and are willing to engage in combat to defend their beliefs against those who “taint” the religion.
joe b.
