The State Religion

For any culture, the DM will have to decide if there is a State Religion. The State Religion is the official faith of the nation, as sanctioned by the government.

Its priesthood will have the following rights: Right to church trial, right to coronation (though not necessarily the right to deny coronation to the chief candidate), right to demand tithes. If the culture is monotheistic, the State Religion will also have the right to separate offenders from the faith. The DM can assign other rights to the State Religion as he sees fit.

State Religions are not limited to big nations. Any independent city or city-state could have its own state religion. Thus, cities mere miles apart might have different state religions. This could cause trouble if both are monotheistic, or both belong to enemy priesthoods; on the other hand, the priesthoods could be neutral or friendly to one another, causing no such trouble.

However, a nation does not have to have a state religion. In fact, the most powerful faith in a nation will not necessarily be a state religion; it will just exert considerable influence.

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