Churches

As much as many rulers and politicians might wish otherwise, the government is rarely the most powerful social force in the city. Religion moves and guides people with greater force and effi cacy than any law, for in the eyes of the believer, no monarch, no governor, no magistrate is above the gods themselves.

Churches wield an enormous amount of power in many cities, though how effectively depends on both the church itself and the government that ostensibly rules it. A strong or despotic government might keep local churches small and weak; similarly, some churches are not inclined to interfere in political affairs. On the other hand, some churches dominate the government, either openly in a theocratic culture, or by manipulating it from behind the scenes. Most cities find a happy medium, with the government handling legal issues and the churches leading the community on social ones, but in less harmonious cities, political and even overt physical conflict might erupt between the two. In this context, the term “church” does not refer to a specific house of worship or similar structure; such a place is, in D&D terms, a temple, a cathedral, or a shrine, depending on size and build. A church is a religious institution, a sociopolitical body in its own right. For instance, the Church of Pelor in a given city likely encompasses all the local temples and priests of Pelor.