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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Tzarevitch" data-source="post: 73453" data-attributes="member: 1792">The Birthright campaign I play in is the first time I noticed the power of the church actually factored into a game. The domain I rule (the Barony of Talinie) is a small to mid-size state, but it is also the seat of power of one of the top 3 churches on the continent (the Northern Imperial Temple) of which I am also the titular head (my character LG, Ran1/Pal1/Cleric13). Talinie itself is an absolute theocracy (it is illegal to worship another religion and most of the bureaucracy of state including the judiciary, tax colleciton etc. is handled by the church), but the same temple entends into the neighboring nations and across the (civilized part of the) northwestern part of the continent. The Birthright domain rules grant large churches a great deal of political power if they control a large percentage of worshipers within a nation. For example, if I choose I can agitate the people into open rebellion  against the ruling lord or I can bless the land and its people to increase their productivity (and increase tax revenues for the ruler and the church) thereby making the lord very happy. I can also call upon the church to smooth over the people's reaction to unpopular policies from the lord's government or I can choose to incite the people against him. The end result is that the nations where my church exists have granted us the right to have clergy tried in our own courts, and the church is largely free from taxation (at least free from taxation by weaker lords). (In Talinie of course the church is the ONLY courts and tithing is required by law.)The Birthright rules even factor in the dreaded power of Excommunication. (I haven't seen this used by any of the other temples yet because its effects are so dire.) When the church invokes the ritual of excommunication on  someone it effectively declares him an enemy of the faith. The ritual places a mark on the person that all priests of that god can see ( I can't remember if lay worshippers can see it too). All priests of the god will forevermore will react indifferently AT BEST to that person. More likely the priests will react in a hostile manner to that person.  If cast on a ruler, the effect is even more dire because it stirs the followers of the church into open rebellion against the lord AND his machinery of state. (If I remember correctly, the common people who follow the church will actually take up arms and form levies to oust the lor from power.) The greater percentage of that church's followers who live in the realm, the bigger the rebellion and the more likely the people oust him from power. (If the church is the sole game in town, the excommunicated ruler is as good as gone). Tzarevitch</blockquote>

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