As I mentioned in earlier posts, the people of the Great Kingdom belong to the Church of Radiance which is a universal, monolatrous religion centered around the worship of Ohm the Almighty. The Church also canonizes many saints, particularly martyrs, who are prayed to for assistance and guidance by followers.
Ohm is a Lawful and jealous god among several, but his powers are greater than any god the people of the Great Kingdom has ever encountered so they elected to worship him alone, while still acknowledging the existence of "lesser" gods. This insistence is one of the causes of strife within the alliance between man and demi-human. While the Great Kingdom does claim that their god is king of all others, the fact that they are able to accept the existence of other gods allows for alliances to be made with other cultures and races that follow different Lawful gods. Still, the clerics of the Great Kingdom are encouraged and commanded to spread the faith and convert as many people as possible.
The Church holds honesty, selflessness, fairness, obedience, compassion, justice, and keeping your promises as virtues. While most followers are human, they are (mostly) accepting and encouraging of nonhuman converts. They strive to do good and help their fellow brothers and sisters. Their holy symbol is a cross, often made of wood or precious metals. The cross symbolizes Ohm the Almighty and his outreaching arms that protect all of His followers.
Unless stated otherwise by the player, human characters are all assumed to be members of the Church. The Church of Radiance has a strict hierarchy and canonizes many saints, whom followers are expected to pray to for guidance and help. Player character clerics must choose (or create) a patron saint to dedicate themselves to. A saint might have a different holy symbol than the cross but a cross will always suffice. Each saint has at least one domain and can be invoked against certain things (such as plague, death, famine, etc) in times of need. Characters can also donate money, in addition to being a devout follower, to the Church in the name of their patron saint in order to gain a blessing (such as a +1 on saves vs death) from their patron saint. Characters are only allowed to have a single patron saint (and therefore only a single blessing) at a time and it should be rare for a character to change their patron saint, although they are allowed and encouraged to pray to any and all saints.
List of Saints & Blessing Rules:
In order for a character to receive a blessing, they must donate at least 10% of their level XP cost in gold coins, per month and follow the teachings of the Church.
St. Omes the Old, forced to take iocane powder, patron saint of elders and hermits, invoked against death, poison, and plague. (+1 to Saves vs Death Ray and Poison)
St. Zernmet the Pious, burned within a wicker man, patron saint of elves and magic users, invoked against magic wands, witchcraft, and heathens. (+1 to Saves vs Magic Wands)
St. Yorrana the Merciful, stoned to death, patron saint of dwarves, invoked against paralysis, turning to stone, cave-ins, and greed. (+1 to Saves vs Paralysis and Turn to Stone)
St. Arik the Bold, beheaded, patron saint of men-at-arms, justice, and bravery, invoked against dragon breath, cowardice, and impotency. (+1 to Saves vs Dragon Breath)
St. Erazell the Pure, killed by the iron maiden, patron saint of women, chastity, and the family invoked against rods, staves, spells, and demonic possession. (+1 to Saves vs Rods, Staves, and Spells)
St. Moldvay the Wise, burned at the stake, patron saint of clerics and children, invoked against the undead. (+1 to Turn Undead)
St. Zeb, exiled into the wilderness, patron saint of halflings, travelers, and reformed thieves, invoked against getting lost, banditry, and restlessness. (-1 to Lost Chance)
Other Gods
The various tribes and clans of humans and humanoids worship too many gods to count. If a player character wishes to be of a tribal ancestry, they are free to create their own god(s) as they desire.
The elves worship several celestial, musical, and nature based gods. The dwarves worship gods of mountains, smithing, gold, axes, and alcohol, etc. Halflings don't really have organized religions but will generally make offerings to whatever spirits are in the area. Again, player characters are free to design their own gods if they play a demi-human, but even a player-made god should fit thematically with the general domains already listed.
In the next post (hopefully), I'll have a way for characters to call upon their gods and goddesses in their time of need.
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