In my campaign, we had a recent PC death. This had led to one of my least experienced players to create a new PC. What he had decided on was a Dwarven Cleric Missionary. When he brought me the idea, I was a big fan, as I like to thread PC backstories into the campaign. However, I now find myself at a loss as to how to manifest encounters to provide him opportunities spread the news about his god in the short term. I have several large campaign spanning ideas on how his mission and his goals will play a role in the overall storyline. But, nothing for the immediate short term or on the smaller scale. I was wondering if you had any ideas.
- Part of this depends on what mode of mission this cleric will be in. Is he the soapbox-at-any-opportunity preacher? Perhaps he will go to the temple district, and if Moradin/whichever deity he is serving isn't there, will he contend with the local priests? Will he advertise the powers of his deity as a means of drawing followers?
- Will there be any correlation between missionary success and the favour of the deity?
- It is entirely plausible that he will come across small communities of dwarves without regular access to a temple, and being licensed to perform baptisms, weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, etc etc, he will be feted by such small disparate communities to tend to their religious needs while he is in town. This could also include using his religious authority to mediate religious/ethical disputes, e.g. "According to Testament X, women are not allowed to do Y, but Epistle A suggests women can do slightly related activity B. Which is right?"
I think of missionary work as doing good deeds in the name of your deity. Evangelizing is speaking about your deity. Proselytizing is converting people to your religion.
He could spend an hour each night in prayer and his Diety could speak with him and tell him of a town/settlement with a need and he could set off to fix/build/save it in the name of his Diety. Mini quest style. Someone above is right, missionary work is spreading the word of your God through deeds. Showing his qualities that way.
The spell ceremony is a great tool to start with. It can be cast as a ritual so that spell slots aren't used. It's in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. I'd talk with the player to see what they had in mind with the idea and see what aspects you'd like to explore with them.
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In my campaign, we had a recent PC death. This had led to one of my least experienced players to create a new PC. What he had decided on was a Dwarven Cleric Missionary. When he brought me the idea, I was a big fan, as I like to thread PC backstories into the campaign. However, I now find myself at a loss as to how to manifest encounters to provide him opportunities spread the news about his god in the short term. I have several large campaign spanning ideas on how his mission and his goals will play a role in the overall storyline. But, nothing for the immediate short term or on the smaller scale. I was wondering if you had any ideas.
Isn't missionary work mostly providing shoes, vaccines, and water filters to 3rd world countries and teaching them English and said religion?
Well, technically its spreading the word about your religion.
A few notes:
- Part of this depends on what mode of mission this cleric will be in. Is he the soapbox-at-any-opportunity preacher? Perhaps he will go to the temple district, and if Moradin/whichever deity he is serving isn't there, will he contend with the local priests? Will he advertise the powers of his deity as a means of drawing followers?
- Will there be any correlation between missionary success and the favour of the deity?
- It is entirely plausible that he will come across small communities of dwarves without regular access to a temple, and being licensed to perform baptisms, weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs, etc etc, he will be feted by such small disparate communities to tend to their religious needs while he is in town. This could also include using his religious authority to mediate religious/ethical disputes, e.g. "According to Testament X, women are not allowed to do Y, but Epistle A suggests women can do slightly related activity B. Which is right?"
I think of missionary work as doing good deeds in the name of your deity. Evangelizing is speaking about your deity. Proselytizing is converting people to your religion.
He could spend an hour each night in prayer and his Diety could speak with him and tell him of a town/settlement with a need and he could set off to fix/build/save it in the name of his Diety. Mini quest style. Someone above is right, missionary work is spreading the word of your God through deeds. Showing his qualities that way.
Thanks for the insight.
The spell ceremony is a great tool to start with. It can be cast as a ritual so that spell slots aren't used. It's in Xanathar's Guide to Everything. I'd talk with the player to see what they had in mind with the idea and see what aspects you'd like to explore with them.