23. The Clergy and the Factions

1. The clergy forms the dominant power structure in Rome. For charismatic individuals and gifted speakers it can be an easy to gain power, riches and Estates.

2. The clergy is made up of Factions. Each Faction has a command structure identical to every other Faction. However, the status associated with each Faction depends upon its prestige. The higher the status of a Faction, the higher the SL required to be accepted as a member of it. Although there are some restrictions upon which Faction a character may join, everyone is eligible to enter at least one Faction of the clergy.

Joining Factions

3. Attempting to join a Faction is a pre-monthly action. Any number of Factions may be applied to, so long as the applications are made in descending SL order, the applicant meets the minimum requirements according to the Admission and Modifiers Table and states the rank from the Requirements and Rewards Table which he hopes to obtain if his application is to be considered by the Bishop or acting Leader. If the Bishop is a PC, then he must decide whether or not to admit any applicant who meets the minimum requirements. If the Bishop is an NPC, then the application is rolled for on the acceptance table and may be influenced. There is a -1 modifier to that acceptance roll for every 2 prior rejections received that month. If rejected, a character may reapply the following month.

4. Except for Subdeacons acting as Leaders due to vacancies above them in the Leadership structure, all PC Seminarians and Subdeacons are considered to be in the 1st Chapter. Seminarians never Lead. The two most senior Deacons are in the 1st Chapter, the next two in the 2nd Chapter and the junior two in the 3rd Chapter.

5. Seminarians must do 2 weeks and Subdeacons 1 week of duties per month unless excused by their Chapter Leader. If requested, an NPC Chapter Leader will excuse a character for 1 week only on a roll of 5+ on 1d6 which may be influenced.

6. The only weekly activities which may be combined with such duties are Eloquence study at the Martial School of Eloquence or attendance at mass.

7. The highest rank which may be purchased upon joining a Faction is that of Deacon, provided such a vacancy exists. A character may not order that he joins a Faction only if he is granted a particular rank.

8. If there are more candidates than vacancies and the Bishop is an NPC, the position is awarded to the senior character. Thus between a PC and an NPC, or an existing Faction member and one who has just applied, in each case the former gets the post. If that does not resolve the award, the highest SL character gets the post. Failing that, the award will be decided by the roll of 1d6 by the GM for each applicant, the applicant with the highest roll being successful. If a character's application to join the Faction is approved by an NPC Bishop, but that applicant is not the senior character, then he joins that Faction but at the next available rank below that which he applied for.

9. If there are more candidates than vacancies and the Bishop is a PC, that PC must decide to whom he will award the post.

10. After a character has joined a Faction, he may only rise by one rank at a time.

11. The highest rank which may be gained by purchase, as opposed to promotion in the course of a Mission, is Canon.

12. A character may change Factions only twice in his career. The attempted change must be to purchase an equivalent position in a Faction of higher status. The character is not required to resign his previous position until his new application is accepted. If the PC's new position is one which requires him to own robes, he must replace them with new robes in accordance with his new Faction's designs.

13. Deacons require 1 set of robes. Priests and above require 3 sets of robes. Each set of robes costs 100 Ducats to purchase and, unless a character is on a Mission, 5 Ducats per month for upkeep.

14. Robes required for a new rank will automatically be purchased on promotion to or the purchase of the relevant rank if the character has sufficient funds. If the character lacks those funds, he will automatically take out a loan to meet the cost of the purchase. If the character is already so indebted that he cannot take out the necessary loan, he will be denied the new rank.

15. Senior clerics who fail to replace lost robes will incur an SP penalty akin to that for having no Court Companionship until the situation is rectified.

16. A character may only be promoted to the rank of Canon or above if he has held the preceding rank for at least 6 months.

17. There is no limit to the number of Subdeacons or Seminarians in a Faction. At the higher ranks, there are only 6 Deacons in a Faction; 2 Priests and 1 Canon, each responsible for a Parish and Leading a Chapter; and 1 Bishop, responsible for a Diocese and Leading the Faction. Seniority within a given rank is in order of responsibility, thus the Canon Leads the 1st Chapter, the most senior Priest Leads the 2nd Chapter and the junior Priest Leads the 3rd Chapter.

18. Leaders may be required to take on more significant responsibilities if there are vacancies above them in the Leadership structure due to promotions, others having been Humiliated or clerics holding Appointments which take them away from their Faction.

19. If a vacancy arises in a Faction, the vacancy will be created in the most junior position for the rank in that Faction as shown in the Faction Members table. If not otherwise filled by PCs, vacancies in Factions will be filled by NPCs at the end of each season and vacancies in Senior Clerical Appointments at the end of the turn during which they arise unless the Appointment is due to expire the following month.

20. In cases of promotion, PCs always take precedence over NPCs, although promotion is still dependent upon the promotion roll made each month when a character is on a Mission. If two PCs are up for the same promotion, the position is awarded to the senior character, with the junior character receiving an MID in lieu of promotion.

21. The following example should help to illustrate the Leadership structure within a Faction before and after a Mission:

Before the Mission, Subdeacon AB was on an acting assignment to the 3rd Chapter, due to the vacant Deacon's post above him.

During the Mission, Priest N2 and Deacons CC and N1 were all Humiliated.

As a consequence of their actions during the Mission, Bishop N6 was promoted to Archbishop, Deacon BB to Priest and Subdeacons AB and N3 to Deacons. When considering the promotions of AB and N3, AB is the senior Deacon since he is a PC whilst N3 is an NPC with an OA of 3.

Having completed the promotion rolls, all officers are effectively moved up the Leadership structure to cover any vacancies which have arisen. Hence the assignment of Subdeacons N6 and N2 to the 2nd and 3rd Chapters respectively.

22. The office of the Secretary to the Pope (the GM) posts a list of the Faction Members and Current Missions each month.

Senior Clerical Ranks

23. Archbishops and above have no overt Factional loyalties.

24. Each Archbishop is responsible for an Archbishopric. If an Archbishop wishes to go on a Mission, he may apply for a Coalition Leader's Appointment. If successful, he will lead a Coalition on the Mission. Without such a position, he may only go on a Mission if he serves with the Papal Scholars.

25. Each Patriarch is responsible for an Patriarchate. If an Patriarch wishes to go on a Mission, he may apply for the Assistant Delegation Leader's Appointment. If successful, he will join the Mission in that capacity. Without such a position, he may only go on a Mission if he serves with the Papal Scholars.

26. Each Cardinal is a member of the College of Cardinals and is thus responsible for the administration of the church. If a Cardinal wishes to go on a Mission, he may apply for the Delegation Leader's Appointment. If successful, he will lead the Mission. Without such a position, he may only go on a Mission if he serves with the Papal Scholars.

Missionary Factions

27. Missionary Factions are always included in each Mission. Civilians and Swiss Guards will be accepted as Seminarians, but their duties will be limited to research and they cannot be promoted within the Missionary Faction.

28. Junior members of the clergy, i.e. those of Bishop or below, who volunteer to serve with a Missionary Faction join at the same rank as they currently occupy in their own Faction, if such a position is available. If no vacancy exists at that rank, the character assumes the next available rank beneath his own.

29. The number of Missionary Factions changes to meet requirements. A volunteer serves in a random Missionary Faction unless one is specified in his orders. Leaders serving in a Missionary Faction are supplied with such robes as they require for that Faction.

30. Promotions are possible within a Missionary Faction for clerics but vacant slots are taken by NPCs. For a cleric, a promotion in a Missionary Faction will only result in a promotion within his own Faction if the latter Faction has a vacancy at the next rank above that held by the character, he meets all the usual criteria and his Missionary Faction rank is the same or higher than his rank in his own Faction at that time.

31. For a Swiss Guard, a successful promotion roll whilst serving with a Missionary Faction will only result in a promotion within the Swiss Guards if there exists a vacancy at the rank held above that held by the character and he meets all the usual criteria.

32. Civilians do not get promotion rolls.

33. A character serving with a Missionary Faction gets paid the higher salary of his regular pay or his Missionary Faction pay.

34. A character loses his rank in a Missionary Faction as soon as he returns to Rome or actively serves with another Faction. He does not lose his rank if he is captured.

Example: Marco is a Subdeacon in the Barberini. He spends a season as a volunteer with a Missionary Faction as a Subdeacon, as a result of which he is awarded a promotion. There is a vacant Deacon's position in the Missionary Faction but Marco does not have the required SL to be a Deacon in the Barberini. He is therefore promoted to Deacon in the Missionary Faction but receives no promotion in the Barberini. If he returns to Rome at the end of the season, he loses his Deacon's post in the Missionary Faction. Had he received both promotions before returning to Rome, he would have retained the promotion in the Barberini, but still lost the post in the Missionary Faction.

35. A Bishop of a Missionary Faction who is promoted to Archbishop remains in command of the Missionary Faction unless he later gains Leadership of a Coalition.

36. A member of a Missionary Faction who is caught Equivocating is immediately Humiliated, rather than being tried for Equivocating.

37. Missionary Factions do not have Advisers, nor are they accompanied by members of the Swiss Guards.

38. A character who is on a Mission must finish the season, even if he has met his requirement due to Disgrace or sentencing.

The Papal Scholars

39. The Papal Scholars Faction is a unique Missionary Faction charged with researching and preparing speeches upon obscure points of theology. Characters who go on a Mission may wish to join the Papal Scholars rather than a normal Missionary Faction.

40. To be accepted into the Papal Scholars, a character must meet certain requirements:

Characters may join the Papal Scholars as Seminarians only if they have a Maximum Reputation of 110 or more and an Eloquence of 9 or more.

Subdeacons and above may join the Papal Scholars only if they both meet the requirements for Seminarians in the Papal Scholars and have either been awarded a promotion during a Mission or have received an MID.

41. Leaders with an OA of 1 are not accepted into the Papal Scholars.

42. Since the Papal Scholars Faction is an elite unite, constantly in the field, there are always openings for qualified staff. Leaders of the rank of Priest and above, including Bishops and Senior Clerics, always command Chapters.

Factions Table

Admission and Modifiers Table

Requirements and Rewards Table