Talent/Spell of the Week: Priest

[Shostak]

This one-point IQ 9 talent represents the skills, knowledge, and recognition one has as an average member of the clergy for a given religious group (Theologian represents higher status). According to the talent description on ITL 38, the only interactions Priest has with game mechanics are limited to job rolls and vague suggestions for small, rare, and unreliable dice modifiers representing divine intervention. However, elsewhere, we are told that there is no chance to make an untalented Priest roll, and that priests might enjoy an occasional +1 reaction bonus among some groups.

Overall, Priest as described by RAW underwhelms, offering little for the precious talent point at character generation, or for the 500 XP to gain it later during the course of play. Nevertheless, I have chosen to take this talent twice since the Legacy Edition's release, and have enjoyed playing the memorable characters immensely by making Priest central to the entire concept for both characters and how they interacted with the game world.

Conversation Starters

• How often do you see Priest being taken by players in your games?
• Does religion play a large enough role in your game world to make Priest worthwhile?
• Do you buff up Priest by giving it more influence over TFT's mechanics?
• Do you require Priest for wizards?
  

[hcobb]

A church can make an interesting alternative to the Wizards' Guild.

Wizards who don't take either Priest or Streetwise (Some have both) tend to have very short careers in these settings.

[phiwum]

I'm still a newb when it comes to TFT, so Shostak's priest (whose brief life he summarized elsewhere) is my only PC Priest.

I don't know how much tangible in-game benefit he enjoyed, but I thought that he had interesting stories. He had a certain social cred (though Anthony played him as a kind of overly enthusiastic rube) and was a lot of fun. The less said about the Prootwaddle wedding, however, the better.

So I have to say that the Priest talent really just allows for good roleplaying opportunities if the church or temple is an explicit part of the setting. I had only halfway developed the Pagan temple but there were still some good (I think) storylines because of his choice of character.

Whether there should be more tangible benefits in-game is a good question. Only a player who's really interested in developing a character concept will choose Priest as it stands now. Those who are more interested in maximizing their stats, number of spells or useful talents will shun the priesthood. But I don't see many options for real benefits for a priest, aside (of course) from reaction roll modifiers unless one wants to make godly benefits an explicit part of the game. And personally, I prefer the gods to be a bit remote and to leave open the question of whether or not they actually meddle in the affairs of man.

I guess, in sum, I treat all the religions in Cidri with an agnostic touch. Let the churches squabble on whose Gods are real and whose aren't. The believers will be confident in their faith, but I ain't putting a thumb on the scale of this god or that or even in favor of all competing theistic realms.

And given that's how I like the world to be (that faith requires, you know, faith), it's hard to give priests any benefits other than the social kind.

[Shostak]

I'm not sure who--it might have been Joe Tippetts--who suggested that Priest might confer some benefits to the understanding of the undead, sort of like Naturalist. That alone could make it more attractive to the power gamer.

[phiwum]

Originally Posted by Shostak

I'm not sure who--it might have been Joe Tippetts--who suggested that Priest might confer some benefits to the understanding of the undead, sort of like Naturalist. That alone could make it more attractive to the power gamer.

Oh, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, that would be a reasonable way to give Priest a practical bonus.

By the way, Shostak, I do like this series of weekly posts. I loaded the page today wondering if I had to complain that this week's offering was late, but there it was.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by phiwum

By the way, Shostak, I do like this series of weekly posts. I loaded the page today wondering if I had to complain that this week's offering was late, but there it was.

Thanks! I can’t take credit for the idea, though—I nicked it from the GURPS forum.

[TippetsTX]

Originally Posted by Shostak

I'm not sure who--it might have been Joe Tippetts--who suggested that Priest might confer some benefits to the understanding of the undead, sort of like Naturalist. That alone could make it more attractive to the power gamer.

Actually, that was Henry's idea.
https://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?p=2431489

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by TippetsTX

Actually, that was Henry's idea.
https://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?p=2431489

Good idea, Henry!

[Nils_Lindeberg]

Originally Posted by phiwum

...
And given that's how I like the world to be (that faith requires, you know, faith), it's hard to give priests any benefits other than the social kind.

How you like the world to be aside, it is of course your personal taste so no complaints from me. But that said, historically, most religions have been much more quid pro quo. What you as a follower of a religion thought or did not think, did not matter much, it was more about what you did. What sacraments did you observe, what sacrifices did you perform, and so on. Faith is a rather new notion in Christianity. In medieval times Letters of Indulgence, getting absolution from the church in exchange for gifts, or Crusades and such were common practices. No one really cared what you actually believed in. Faith was separate from what you actually did for your religion or your god.

And with a mindset like that, in a fantasy world with magic, supernatural beings, wishes, and supernatural experiences in abundance, I am not sure a religion would flourish if it is vague and can't do much. It needs something more than the promise of an afterlife, impressive temples, and a honey-tongued clergy to compete. Not much will be needed, but something tangible and supernatural that other "miracle" workers can't provide.

[David Bofinger]

Originally Posted by Nils_Lindeberg

[...] in a fantasy world with magic, supernatural beings, wishes, and supernatural experiences in abundance, I am not sure a religion would flourish if it is vague and can't do much. It needs something more than the promise of an afterlife, impressive temples, and a honey-tongued clergy to compete. Not much will be needed, but something tangible and supernatural that other "miracle" workers can't provide.

(I deleted some qualifications from Nil's thoughts which may matter.)

It's not obvious to me that Cidri is very different to our world in this respect. We have great metal birds which fly through the air, we can talk to people on the other side of the world, etc. Yet many religions get along fine without much in the way of miracles.