Churches and Temples

Most religions in Orden organize themselves into hierarchies and build temples or cathedrals, but some religions are little more than traditions handed down from shaman to shaman, or wise-woman to wise-daughter. Some religions are secret!

Because the gods are forbidden from acting directly upon the world, churches and temples in Orden are consecrated to saints, or heroes. There are no temples to Ord or churches of Cavall. Instead, there is the Church of Zarok the Law-Giver and the Church of Saint Llewellyn the Valiant. Everyone knows which god these heroes and saints serve, it's common knowledge. A human in Vasloria might call out to Cavall for aid in times of need but they know that, should Cavall choose to help, it will be by sending one of his saints.

The most popular saints and heroes can have several churches meaning distinct organizations—devoted to them, each with their own rituals. In Corwell, there is the Church of Saint Llewellyn the Valiant, but there is also the smaller Church of Saint Llewellyn the Charitable with only a few temples.

Usually, these churches recognize each other as expressing different, equally valid teachings of the same saint, but occasionally churches compete to see which among them is the "true" church. The saints don't discourage this, so they must, in some sense, approve.

There are churches dedicated to nature or knowledge or the sun, with no clear moral or ethical component to them. There are evil churches, churches devoted to dark saints and tyrant gods. But the saints and heroes listed here each have churches that, however esoteric their teachings (usually referred to as the "speech" or "words" of the saint or hero) expect their clergy to go forth into the world and perform good deeds—tend to the sick, ease pain, perform birth, death, and union rituals. These churches all have acolytes and abbots, censors and conduits. It is not so much that Grole the One-Handed was, in life, principally concerned with the spiritual wellbeing of his people, but rather that this is what people expect of churches. So, as a religion grows, it soon conforms to the expectations of the people such that even the church of Khorvath Who Slew A Thousand has conduits who heal the sick and tend to the souls of their people.

How To Use This Chapter

Draw Steel isn't about religion any more than it is about language or treasure, but understanding how religion works in a day-to-day sense can help make the game world feel more real. The people in Orden aren't any more religious than the people of Earth were in the premodern era. It is a factor in their lives, but not the only factor—and for some people, not a very important one.

Obviously, conduit and censor players can use this chapter to choose a saint, each saint's entry also lists which domains they represent. But each god also has a list of domains, so an enterprising player could just invent a new saint, hero, or herald choosing two domains from a god's list.

But any player might wonder, "Does my character follow the teachings of any saint or god?" Think about the people you know in the real world who wear religious or quasi-religious talismans every day. A symbol on a necklace, a sticker on their car, a tattoo. Normal people often carry religious talismans, your character in Draw Steel might not be particularly religious, but they might still carry a religious talisman just because it's a family tradition or to remind themselves of the religious instruction they received in church as a child.

We wrote a lot of words in this chapter because we wanted to give characters from all ancestries a few choices when it comes to saints and heroes. But your character can ignore all of this if you think religion isn't a big part of their life.