How Many and How Strong Are They?

As a general rule of thumb, the priest should receive anywhere from 10 to 100 experience levels worth of followers, with the average being around 30. The DM should decide how many levels of followers show up rather than having the priest-character roll a die.

These followers can all be of the same level, or can be of different experience levels. Zero-experience characters (i.e., normal men and women) count as 0-level characters. No follower can be of higher level than three levels below the priest (thus, an 8th-level priest cannot have a follower higher than 5th level).

Here are some examples of arrangements of followers that different types of priests can have. With each arrangement, we're presuming 30 levels' worth of followers.

The priest-leader of a militant order could have 24 first-level fighters, one second-level fighter, and two second-level priests.

The priest-leader dedicated to the common man could have 56 normal men and women, and two first-level priests.

The priest-leader who is part of a bureaucratic hierarchy could have five fifth-level priests and five first-level priests.

The priest-leader of a temple which is supposed to guide, protect, and teach a community could have one fifth-level priest, one second-level priest, three first-level priests, ten first-level warriors, two second-level warriors, and sixteen normal men and women.

The DM can assign even more esoteric followers to a priest. The priest of a woods-god might have nymphs and centaurs among his followers, in which case the HD of the monster corresponds to its level (a 2HD monster corresponds to a second-level character, while a 2d6+2HD monster corresponds to a third-level character).

All these followers constitute priests, warriors, and workers (the normal men and women) belonging to or assigned to the priest's temple or church. Their entire job is serving the temple or church; they are housed, fed, and sometimes paid by the temple or church. They aren't the "flock" or whatever you choose to call the populace of the area the priest is supposed to serve.

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