Starting Profession: Priest

[Snowedunder]

A quick question.

If one of my players choses priest as his starting profession - should it not follow that the character should automatically start as a cult member also?
Therfore meaning he should potentially start with some divine magic?

The core rules make no mention of this in character creation.

I'm an old RQ deluxe edition player but really enjoying the revamp and all the new material, think mongoose have done a great job and a lot of the OGL 3rd party material is very strong.

 

[Kravell]

A quick question.

If one of my players choses priest as his starting profession - should it not follow that the character should automatically start as a cult member also?
Therfore meaning he should potentially start with some divine magic?

The core rules make no mention of this in character creation.

I'm an old RQ deluxe edition player but really enjoying the revamp and all the new material, think mongoose have done a great job and a lot of the OGL 3rd party material is very strong.

I'm brand new to RuneQuest but I can give an example. In Glorantha, a player can start out learning sorcery by being a God Learner and using rules from the Player's Guide to Glorantha.

I'd assume if you want priests to start out with divine magic you could do the same. It might eat into their starting silver, but I don't see why you couldn't allow it.

Being a lay member in a cult is cheap (1-10 silvers) so they could easily start out as a member.

 

[Halfbat]

It doesn't state it, but I'd say it's up to the GM whether or not he can announce that the player has already satisfied the requirements to become an initiate and so able to get any Divine Magic limited to initiates. Acolyte level? Hmm... depends on how you want the campaign to go.

 

[Snowedunder]

Thanks for the replies - I agree it should be down to the GM.

Just trying to get the logic right in my head. How could a player start as a priest but not be in a cult let alone of lower rank than initiate.

To me being a priest would imply holding some rank in the cult.

 

[Kravell]

Thanks for the replies - I agree it should be down to the GM.

Just trying to get the logic right in my head. How could a player start as a priest but not be in a cult let alone of lower rank than initiate.

To me being a priest would imply holding some rank in the cult.

I suppose a priest in RuneQuest could be like a college student studying Theology. The student doesn't necessarily have to be a member of any church to take classes and be highly knowledgable about religions. Only if he later graduates and wants to get a job in his field would he need to join a religious body.

 

[Rurik]

I would let any player start as an initiate of one of their cultures predominate cults in Glorantha (assuming they are theist). A starting character is unlikely to meet the requirements for a Priest, but such a background could used for someone devoted to becoming a priest.

Any starting spells would have to be paid for out of their initail money is what I would do (or just give a fixed amount - 1 or 2 points of divine magic).

 

[CharlieMonster]

Thanks for the replies - I agree it should be down to the GM.

Just trying to get the logic right in my head. How could a player start as a priest but not be in a cult let alone of lower rank than initiate.

To me being a priest would imply holding some rank in the cult.

I think it is basically a hangover from RQ3 where the profession was considered the parental profession, with the skills and so forth being passed down to the PC as he grows up. In RQ3 pretty much everyone in a Theist culture started the game as an initiate. In MRQ as a GM I have changed the name of the profession to "Cultist" and assumed Lay-Membership at the minimum and allow the PC to be an initiate if they qualify.

 

[weasel_fierce]

As per the Companion, a priest can swap his generic theology skill for a specific theology skill, which is the requirement for divine magic, so I'd say a definate yes

 

[sidkfjjteidlkkf]

I guess it depends it depends on how you to run your game? Seems that would be a house rule. In my game, they start as Initiates with the intentention of becoming a priest.

More often than not, they change thier minds. Remember, there is ALOT of responsibilty to the church and it coherents.