Post/Author/DateTime	Post
chrisros 05-23-05, 09:58 AM	Greetings, all! We all know that there is rampant corruption within the various “good” churches in Khorvaire, particularly some of the particularly “good” churches in Sharn. I have a PC cleric of the Silver Flame in my Sharn-based campaign, and I want to rub him up against some church corruption and see if I can’t make some sparks. The problem is, while this sounds good in principle, I’m not sure what “corruption” in a church might look like. I’m looking for thoughts and suggestions about what kinds of activities “church corruption” might entail, or what kind of evidence of church corruption might be generated by these activities. Basically, I’m looking for a way to involve church corruption in the campaign, and I think if I can get some good ideas about what that might entail it will be easy to weave it in to the plots I’ve got running. Thanks, Chrisros
Euangelion 05-23-05, 10:49 AM	Well, start off by reading the Dragonshards articles on the Church of the Silver Flame, particularly the second one. www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ebds/20041122a (http://) Basically, you have the priest who uses evil means to try to achieve good, the priest who is more concerned about power and prestige than about the mission, and the priest corrupted by an outside source of evil (such as the voice of the fiend bound of Flamekeep). Now, as one who has witnessed first hand church corruption in real life, I would be happy to give you a couple of basic (even cliche) examples. The templar Bixtar (I know, dumb name!) has served on the front lines of the struggle against evil for a decade. At first an idealistic young man, he has seen comrade after comrade fall at his side, yet somehow he survives each time. Despite his best efforts, he has grown attached to the three young templars who are investigating the strange disappearance of an entire village in western Breland with him. A clue indicates that the group is being set up for an ambush by the Dark Pack. They capture a young goblin who reluctantly informs them where the Pack will strike. Afterwards, Bixtar informs the others that he will return the goblin to his tribe, but along the way he stops. "Too many have fallen to you and your kind. I will not allow those under my care to be betrayed by you!" and murders the goblin. Returning to the others, Bixtar says only that the goblin is where he belongs. Flamebearer Voira has served as the rector of her temple for 28 years. A pillar of the community in which the temple sits, her reputation is beyond reproach. But behind the walls of the temple and the door of her office, a much different Voira than the benevolent priest that everyone knows about holds sway. The truth is that it has been a long time since templars issued forth from her temple to do good around Khorvaire. It has been a long time since friars were sponsored by her temple to bring the light to the dark places of the world. Voira has becomed accustomed to the pomp and circumstance of her position, and while the treasury is flush and the temple itself boasts the finest accoutraments, the spiritual flame of the congregation is as cold as a tomb. When a dedicated young priest is assigned to her temple, some within the congregation remember their purpose, and they realize how far the congregation has fallen. But since Voira is the temple, any criticism of it is a criticism of her, and she does not abide such insolence. Quietly the young priest's reputation is assaulted. Given assignments beyond the skill expected of such an inexperienced priest, he nevertheless does well, which futher infuriates Voira. Headless of the political ramifications, the young priest continues to challenge the congregation to rediscover their purpose and to use the great resources they have at their command to make a difference in the world. But Voira, as always, has the last word. Challenging the priest to put his words into action, she dares him to lead the first expedition in years from the temple. But disaster strikes. The Dark Six temple they assault is stronger than they were told, and none survive. When Voira blames the young priest for the disaster, his name is quickly forgotten by most, and Voira's grip on the temple and community remains secure.
Taurren 05-23-05, 01:46 PM	Euangelion, those are both great examples. IMHO, the key to using corruption as a story event is that it should come as a surprise to the players. It cant be obvious and easy to discover and needs to take place over time. Perhaps you can allow the "corrupt" church official to become a patron to the party, rewarding them for their courageous acts and befriending them. Then allow some voices of dissent to be heard, only to be silenced quickly by an unknown hand. Keeping the players guessing as to the ultimate "enemy" is a good way to make uncovering the corruption all the more memorable.
Logos 05-23-05, 04:42 PM	Think Emporerer palpitine, he's about as currupt as one can get if you want a star wars example.Also the Hutts are another great example of the powers of curruption.
Gurv 05-23-05, 05:05 PM	Euangelion and I have discussed corruption amongst the Silver Flame before, and one thing we agreed on was that the corruption must be kept at a lower level than the holiness. It rarely comes as a surprise to a player that the Church of the Silver Flame is corrupt if the DM portrays it as a corrupt Church. The thing to remember is that the corrupt members of the Church rarely consider themselves to be so. They think that their actions, even when distasteful, are the proper course of action. "It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it" is the kind of thing you would hear from a corrupt templar's mouth. The best kind of corruption is the kind that is mixed with the best intentions. Having ranking members of the Church be greedy, or mislead by things like racial predjudice, is fine. But that kind of corruption is easily dealt with once it is discovered (ok, maybe not easily...), and won't last for more than an adventure or two. For longer lasting corruption to hold sway, it must be more destructive to purge the corruption than it is to deal with it, and it must make you question whether it is corrupt or not to begin with.
Euangelion 05-23-05, 08:58 PM	Another thing to consider, and something that was mentioned in the original post, is that corruption is not limited to just the CotSF, it's that the corruption within the CotSF is particularly painful because of its higher standards and level of commitment in general. Keep in mind that it was the CotSF that largely forced worship of the D6 underground, not their counterparts in the SH. Amongst the SH, corruption is actually more prevelant, if you want to call it corruption. For example, a SF templar driven by greed is corrupt, but a Kol Korran cleric driven by the desire to gain wealth might be considered to be much less corrupt because that's what Kol Korran is all about. Still, a corrupt Boldrei priest could cause many problems in a community, and a corrupt Dol Arrah cleric could also be a serious problem.
Radkres 05-23-05, 10:09 PM	Then there is always the old saying my faith right or wrong but my faith. This has lead many good people down a dark path. Churches do have and maintain black operations units or sects. Holy inquisition anyone.
smrtgmp 05-24-05, 12:54 AM	hmmm...inspration for corruption in the church...where to look, where to look? Did you try the news? ;)
Thramzorean 05-25-05, 01:48 AM	A good hook here might be having some innocent very correct church of flame lower level NPC being lead astray by the known corrupt individuals in the church as provided in the Sharn source book. So that the PCs are being told to things, or hired, or have encounters, which turn out to be morally wrong, but the instigator, at the first instance, is in fact innocent and fully believes what he/she is doing is correct. The best hooks are the old ones and the conflict of percieved right and wrong when following orders in a lawful church is a solid staple. If it's done well the PCs could actually follow along right up to the point of suddenly finding they need to start looking for an atonement themselves before they realize anything is up :angelhide
jnosh 05-25-05, 02:37 AM	Well, I had an idea of a cleric who hears the other voice of the flame. The demon voice tells him that a great evil has been born and will be the end of the silver flame if he lives. In actuality the boy will grow up to be a great leader in the church. A good cleric finds out but is slain by the cleric who heard the voice. The pcs find the cleric as he is dying in a back alley and he tells them its up to them to stop the rogue cleric.
Setherial 05-25-05, 06:31 AM	Religion is and has always been used as a means to gain power and/or wealth. dig into the middle ages for inspiration : - a local priest is extorting the people of his town, demanding they sacrifice their wordly possessions to the church and in doing so embrace the true faith in their god. Meanwhile he is getting rich. - a priest starts accusing everyone who gets in his way of demon worshipping and he has everyone frightened and paranoid. His plans lead to overthrowing the current gouvernment of the town, eventually have the people believe the major is behind the cult they have been fighting and take his place of power. - a high priest of the flame is still obsessed with his hatred for lycans, he manages to convince the church to start a campaign to ride 200 templars into Droaam to stop the evil that is building up there. These men however will ride to their deaths all because of an old mans personal hatred.
Ohtar Turinson 05-25-05, 08:06 AM	Look at the Popes in the Renaissance.