Religious Orders

The following is a brief description of how to create a religious order in FaerieMUD. Religious orders differ from religions in that they are covenant objects while religions are cultural covenants. They are based upon the oaths which their members are expected to uphold, much like guilds or magical colleges.

They differ from guilds in that their members are primarily magic users. They differ from magical colleges in the approach they take to preventing the dissipation of the magickal resources by OathBreaking. Mages try to avoid oath breakers (an oversimplification of their strategy, of course).

Members of religious orders (clerics, monks, nuns etc) try to convince those around them to keep their oaths. This may take the form of anything from friendly persuasion to diabolical punishment. (Never assume clerics have to be "good" according to some outside moral criteria.)

Function: The Oaths

Function is that aspect of the religious order which defines its purpose, its goals, and its guilding principles. It is embodied by a series of oaths.

Creating the Order's Function

Every religious order will be defined in part by a series of oaths. These oaths start out very simple: basic requirements needed to be welcome in their hostels or monasteries. They extend to the very profound: The most powerful orders will require extremely restrictive oaths which will be very difficult for members to hold to.

Not all members will necessarily have sworn the most difficult oaths. As each member works her way through the order, each higher level will require a more restrictive oath.

So, the first thing you need to do in creating a new order is to decide what the various oaths will be. Some guidelines are outlined here:

Oath of Visitation

The first oath should be very general and very easy to adhere to. Think of it as what you would expect visitors to the order's shrines or monasteries to do. General rules of politeness as they apply to the order's specific mission.

Friend's Oath

The second oath should be a little more restrictive. Think of it as what you would expect of the neighorbors and special friends of the order in order that they might retain their special status with the order. Anyone who fulfills these requirements would automatically be considered a good neighbor who supports the basic mission of the order (even though they may not have actually joined).

Oath of Initiation

The third oath is a fairly inflexible set of rules which all novices are required to swear (along with the first two oaths) in order to be allowed into the training programs of the order. While the restrictions are fairly inflexible, they are not too hard to maintain.

Membership Oath

The fourth oath should be more flexible, but more restrictive. Sworn by initiates as part of the process of moving to full membership in the order, it is the clearest statement of the main principles of the order.

Oath of Envoy

The fifth oath is very hard to maintain complete adherence to, given that it attempts to create a set of rules for most situations not specifically covered by the Membership Oath. Anyone who has sworn the Oath of Envoy is considered qualified to serve as the personal representative of the order in most affairs. Most orders are governed by those who have sworn such an oath (since few orders will ever reach the level required for the sixth oath).

The Intimate Oath

The sixth oath must be very hard to maintain full compliance with. It is rare that any order even creates an intimate oath because such an oath must fully and perfectly define the underlying principles on which the order is built. Few religious orders reach a level which requires the Intimate Oath

Order: Structure and Governance

Order is the aspect of a religious order which defines the roles of its members, its organizational structure, its leadership and how that leadership is chose, as well as its rules of conduct.

Creating the Order

Every religious order will be defined in part by its structure and system of governance. This system starts out very simple in the early years of the order's existence: a basic structure needed to make decisions for the order as a whole. They extend to the very sophisticated: The most powerful orders will require extremely complex decision-making apparatuses.

Not all subunits of an order will use the system of governance of the highest level. For instance, some orders may have a democratic process for choosing the head of the order, but require full obedience to a the leaders at the local level.

The Order is also where the stories which make up the history of the order reside. (See below)

So, one of the first things you need to do in creating a new order is to decide what the structure of governance will be. Who will decide what the order does and how it changes its policies? Some possible choices are outlined here:

Anarchy

An anarchy can only be used by a religious order which seldom has need for a decision-making aparatus.

Ad Hoc Rule

Ad hoc rule prevails in religious orders which sometimes need a temporary leader or representation.

Pure Autocracy

A pure autocracy occurs when a single individual decides to set up a new order and acts as de-facto leader until some further system of governance can be established.

True Hierarchy

A true hierarchy occurs when a single hierophant heads a religious order, appointing the members of all levels in the tree-structured organization. The hierophant can consult lower-level hierarchs for their advice on still-lower-level appointments, but he or she always has final say. The hierophant is the only member of the hierarchy who is elected under a true hierarchy, and only those on the next-lower level of the hierarchy are eligible to vote in these papal elections.

Institutional Democracy

An institutional democracy's structure is clearly defined as a structure of sub-institutions which are governed by a set of by-laws which allow voting in a variety of areas by all members of the order. Even the novitiate may have some limited powers to express their will by voting. Elected rectors may not change the by-laws without the support of the membership, according to a methodology defined in the by-laws.

Free Counsel Democracy

An order governed by a free counsel (rare indeed) attempts to have a pure a democracy as is possible. Elected representatives have very limited powers, and all major decisions must be taken by a full vote of all members.

Form: Liturgy and Monasteries

Form is the aspect of a religious order which defines its outward identity. It can also be thought of as the physical aspect of the order, especially as its liturgical requirements are manifest in various kinds of physical plant.

Creating the Form

Every religious order will be defined in part by its physical manifestations: liturgy and physical plant. These manifestions start out very simply in the early years of the order's existence: a basic shrine to serve as the focus of order activity. They grow to the very sophisticated: The most powerful orders will manifest physically in a wide variety of identities, liturgies and properties.

The liturgy will grow with the physical plant. Some possible choices are outlined here (note that the names of the physical buildings may not be used by a particular order):

Individual

At the most basic level, the identity of a religious order is carried only by its members because every member has witnessed the oaths sworn by every other member.

A Single Anchor

When the order has grown large enough that all members have not been witness to each others' oaths, a physical anchor for the religious order is needed. The anchor may be a password, a meeting-place, a uniform, a tattoo, or whatever.

If the order owns a single piece real property (a loci which is also an area), the traditional name for it is a "shrine," although each order can call them whatever they wish. A single shrine is the smallest physical manifestation of a religious order, requiring a single, simple liturgy.

A Church and Chapels

Once the religious order has grown large enough to distinguish between roles in its Identity, it will require more than one physical manifestion of its anchor.

After an order has developed to the point where it requires multiple shrines, one of the shrines may be selected as the focal area of the order. The traditional name for such a focal shrine is "church" in the Christian tradition. The liturgy at the smaller shrines will be more sophisticated, justifying calling each of them "chapels" rather than just "shrines." The church's liturgy will be more complex still, clearly differentiated from that found in the chapels.

Scattered Cathedrals

As the religious order spreads to fill its place of origin, distinct sub-units may arise, each requiring their own distinct anchor.

By the time another level of liturgy develops (generically known as "cathedral liturgy"), most of the communities in some cultural covenant (a political unit or a racially defined culture or something similar) will have an identity which is adapted to the needs of the cultural covenant itself. But that anchor may not have much meaning outside the bounds of that cultural covenant itself.

Widespread Monasteries

Once an order becomes spread beyond the bounds of the cultural covenant where it began, it must have indentities adapted to each area where it is found. Local monasteries will help develop individualized liturgies. But the imprint of the most prominent culture will still be felt everywhere the monasteries are founded.

Universal Basilicae

By the time the physical manifestations of the order spread evenly throughout all of FaerieMUD (which is, of course, very rare), the identities must be highly individualized and universally variant.

Statistics

Function Statistics

The primary part of the statistic of the covenant's Function is its Creed?. The secondary part is its Agenda?, which is a measure of the current activities and plans of the religious order as expressed by the upholding of members' oaths.

A Creed of 87-118 requires 85-116 members have taken the Oath of Visitation, 77-108 members have taken the Friends Oath, 69-100 have taken the Oath of Initiation, 51-82 have taken the Membership Oath, 33-63 have taken the Oath of the Envoy, and 1-31 have taken the Intimate Oath.

A Creed of 55-86 requires 53-84 members have taken the Oath of Visitation, 45-76 members have taken the Friends Oath, 37-68 have taken the Oath of Initiation, 19-50 have taken the Membership Oath, and 1-31 have taken the Oath of the Envoy.

A Creed of 37-54 requires 35-52 members have taken the Oath of Visitation, 27-44 members have taken the Friends Oath, 19-36 have taken the Oath of Initiation, and 1-18 have taken the Membership Oath.

A Creed of 19-36 requires 17-34 members have taken the Oath of Visitation, 9-26 members have taken the Friends Oath, and 1-18 have taken the Oath of Initiation.

A Creed of 11-18 requires 9-16 members have taken the Oath of Visitation, and 1-8 members have taken the Friends Oath; or a Creed of 3-10 requires 1-8 members have taken the Oath of Visitation.

(Not that these last two Creeds will produce anything which can really be said to be a religious order in the usual sense.)

Form Statistics

The primary part of the Form's statistic is its Identity. The secondary part of the statistic is its Assets? which represents the distinguishing physical assets which are considered owned or controlled by the religious order (buildings, areas, shrines, artifacts).

An Identity of 87-118 means the liturgy can support Universal Basilicae as described above.

An Identity of 55-86 means the liturgy can support Widespread Monasteries as described above.

An Identity of 37-54 means the liturgy can support Scattered Cathedrals as described above.

An Identity of 19-36 means the liturgy can support a Church and Chapels as described above.

An Identity of 11-18 means the liturgy can support a Single Shrine as described above.

And Identity of 3-10 means the liturgy can support a Single Anchor as described above.

Order Statistic

The primary part of the Order's statistic of the Order is its Governance?. The secondary part is its Authority? which represents the degree to which the leadership structure is heeded by the entire membership, accepting the roles specified by the leaders and following rules established by the leaders.

A Governance of 87-118 implies a Free Counsel.

A Governance of 55-86 implies an Institutional Democracy.

A Governance of 37-54 implies a True Hierarchy.

A Governance of 19-36 implies a Pure Autocracy.

A Governance of 11-18 implies Ad Hoc Rule.

A Governance of 3-10 implies Pure Anarchy.

Traits

How Values Derived from the Statistics Define the Religious Order

Traits for Religious Order objects are:

  • Unary traits:
    • informedness (Order)
      • defined as degree to which the order's history functionally informs its decision-making process
      • Character trait equivalent -- intelligence
    • substance (Form)
      • defined as the power of the connection between the order's relics and its stories
      • Character trait equivalent -- strength
    • incentive (Function)
      • defined as the capacity of the order's stories to impart the values of the covenant to its members
      • Character trait equivalent -- creativity
  • Binary traits:
    • iconology (Order over Form)
      • defined as the ability which the order has to create and define its own relics and their meaning
      • Character trait equivalent -- dexterity
    • aesthetics (Form over Function)
      • defined as the ability of the covenant to inspire quality as well as quantity of art and music
      • Character trait equivalent -- grace
    • relevance (Function over Order)
      • defined as the order's ability to meet the needs and concerns of its ordinary members
      • Character trait equivalent -- empathy
    • insight (Order over Function)
      • defined as the ability to add stories
      • Character trait equivalent -- perceptiveness
    • acquisitiveness (Form over Order)
      • defined as the ability to acquire wealth and physical objects
      • Character trait equivalent -- resilience
    • idealism (Function over Form)
      • defined as the degree to which the ideals of the covenant try to rule its form
      • Character trait equivalent -- glamour
  • Trinary traits:
    • orthodoxy (Order over Form over Function)
      • defined as resistance to change
      • Character trait equivalent -- willpower
    • affluence (Form over Function over Order)
      • defined as resistance to damage to the order due to the assets available in hard times
      • Character trait equivalent -- stamina
    • fidelity (Function over Order over Form)
      • defined as the resistance to the mundane which derives from members' faithfulness to the oaths of the order
      • Character trait equivalent -- magistry

Stories

How the "Mind" of the Order Thinks About Itself

The stories of the religious order influence how its members perceive the world. The same stories are also important for the AIs which control the NPCs who are members. Those same NPCs may react in some conversations by telling the stories if they think they are appropriate to the discussion.

See also Covenants, Oaths, Religious Order Template, and an example of a religious order.

— Scotus - 01 Mar 2001