Finances of the PC's Temple

We mentioned tithes and donations above, and there's always a temptation to provide some sort of lengthy and involved money-management scheme for the campaign, so that the DM can keep track of every copper piece that flows through the temple coffers.

But that doesn't contribute to the spirit of adventure that AD&D® game campaigns are supposed to promote. So we're going to provide you with a much simpler system for keeping up with a temple's tithes and donations.

The First Temple Assignment

When the priest character is first assigned a temple or church, the DM decides, entirely arbitrarily, whether the faithful who attend that temple contribute enough for the priest to lead a mean, average, or comfortable existence.

"Mean" indicates that he gets barely enough to eat and cannot afford repairs or salaries for servants; "Average" means that he and one subordinate get an ample diet and can afford one servant; "Comfortable" means that the temple can house more than just its one or two priests (it can, for example, house one or two horses per priest) and can afford two or more servants per priest.

Then, the DM decides whether or not this economic condition is one that will change with the priest's management. If the local population isn't contributing as much as it could, the new priest might be able to inspire them to a better performance. If the last priest was a very charismatic leader, then perhaps the new priest will start out with a Comfortable or Average existence but then see it start to slip away.

Then, from time to time, the DM can confront the priest with situations which can affect his standing.

Example: An unpopular man seeks sanctuary in the priest's church; if the priest denies sanctuary, he'll be more popular with the locals, but will not have done his priestly duty; if he provides sanctuary, he'll have done his duty, but will see contributions slip or dry up altogether.

Example: A young man of the area asks the priest's advice on a difficult problem: Should he marry the girl of his choice, and alienate his father, or acquiesce to his father's arranged marriage, and wed the wealthy girl he does not love? If the priest answers one or the other, it has no effect on his standing in the community. But if he can suggest and implement a plan which will allow the youth to marry his love, keep his father's affection, and not alienate the family of the spurned girl, the priest's standing will be improved, and so will the economics of his temple.

Later Assignments

As the priest is given larger and more important postings and assignments, the DM should assign him to temples which are always compromises for him. The DM decides how many men and women these temples have on their staffs, what the standard of living is for the temple-dwellers (usually modest, though not uncomfortable, etc.). And these temples simply do not receive enough from tithes and donations normally to live up to all his expectations, much less to build up a large treasury of available coins.

Example: If the priest dreams of having a body of soldiers decked out in full plate and riding trained warhorses, what he has is a squadron of foot soldiers in chain.

Example: If the priest wants to live a luxurious existence, with expensive furnishings and many servants and a hedonistic lifestyle, what he gets is dull stone walls, used furnishings, and one scruffy servant (or none).

In all situations like this, the priest must either:

(1) Re-structure the temple's budget, which results in shortages elsewhere in the temple's existence (taking from the kitchen to pay the armory results in poorer food and worse cooking; taking from the armory to redecorate makes for brighter and less-defensible temples; taking from the repair fund to improve the kitchen makes for better meals and buildings which start to fall apart; etc.);

(2) Finance the changes from his adventuring treasures (which means that the priest will find it hard to save up a "retirement fund" of any consequence); or

(3) Tap into the monies which are supposed to be sent on to the higher ranks of the faith (which will work for a time, perhaps a very long time, but will eventually result in a temple investigation . . . which is very bad for the faith as a whole, as it causes disillusionment among the populace when the true facts emerge).

Notes on Economics

By presenting temple economics as choices of lifestyle ethics, rather than numbers on a column-sheet, the DM encourages role-playing within his campaign and doesn't have to devote a lot of time to keeping track of silver pieces.

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