Forgotten Realms Clerics and their Holy Garb

[Wids]

Does anyone else remember an old Forgotten Realms supplement from way back in yon days of yore (circa AD&D, as I recall), which had a whole bunch of pictures on the typical priestly and ceremonial garments for the clerics of various deities? The pictures looked like these:

Someone was kind enough to host the entire list of pics at this site. It's in Portuguese, so you may need to run it through Google Language Tools. But at least the names of the gods are (for the most part) recognizable.

I never picked up that supplement, but I remember thumbing through it at a game shop back in St. Louis. The copy I read was in English, of course. Does anyone here remember which book that was?

This material may be canon, but I don't see it as being particularly binding, particularly in the case of Chaotic deities. All the same, I just think it's neat. Despite the limitations of the Neverwinter Nights clothing options, I gave my Loviatar cleric on FRC an outfit similar to the one up there, and Serrica has a new "official-style" cleric vestment too. It seemed like a good idea to me.

I imagine that the paladins, druids, rangers and monks serving various deities could gussy themselves up with some similar outfits (and some aesthetic semblance of religious solidarity), too.

So what book was that, anyway?

[minion]

i'm afraid i was still playing red-box (and blue, etc, etc) D&D through much of AD&D's reign, and didn't start playing FR till after 3rd was released, so i have no clue what specific sourcebook that was, but thanks for putting it up, those are very cool. i'll agree they're not all perfectly appropriate (why would a cleric of Mask advertise he was a cleric of Mask to any and all, anyway... ) but all very cool nonetheless. if nothing else, any/all of these can be considered "vestments appropriate to official ceremonies of the faithful."

got to say, Nobanion's is a pretty cool concept (and Loviatar's is... err... well, let's just say "aesthetically" pleasing *cough*).

[Wids]

Apr 7, 2011 1:11:04 GMT -5 minion said:

i'm afraid i was still playing red-box (and blue, etc, etc) D&D through much of AD&D's reign, and didn't start playing FR till after 3rd was released, so i have no clue what specific sourcebook that was, but thanks for putting it up, those are very cool.

You're welcome. ;D

Apr 7, 2011 1:11:04 GMT -5 minion said:

i'll agree they're not all perfectly appropriate (why would a cleric of Mask advertise he was a cleric of Mask to any and all, anyway... )

I like the Mask cleric. She's all cute and colorful and carnival-like!

But you could ask the same thing about Cyric's clerics: considering that these two gods are all about deception, why would they wear these garments and identify themselves? I can think of two possible reasons:

1) Because deceit works both ways; when you're a thief in a crowd of thieves, you need to lend your fellows that extra assurance that you're not a wolf in the fold. These garments would probably be worn during massed ceremonies, if only to better assure your fellow priests of Cyric or Mask that you're on their team, like a more tangible way of throwing up "gang signs" (so to speak). The ranking clergies don't hand those costumes out to people who haven't earned them, after all. Granted, clerics of Mask or Cyric would be fools to trust each other out-of-hand, but they trust vengeful infiltrators, town watchmen and the clerics of enemy gods a whole world less.

2) Just for those rare public appearances where it's in the temple's interests to represent themselves on some official capacity. "Our town is under siege by orcs and minotaurs, two tribes who aren't known for working together! There's only one network of sneaks and spies who can ferret out the mastermind behind these attacks. We need a cleric of Mask!" "You rang, Your Excellence?" "Hmmm...yes, you do look like a cleric of Mask. Very well...I presume that you have already taken your secret temple's wages from our treasury, so here is what we need from you...."

Apr 7, 2011 1:11:04 GMT -5 minion said:

but all very cool nonetheless. if nothing else, any/all of these can be considered "vestments appropriate to official ceremonies of the faithful."

Truly.

Of course, not every evil god's clerics need to hide from the public view and can wear their identifying priestly garb openly. Clerics of Malar can be seen walking down the street in various remote villages in the North, clerics of Umberlee keep public temples in otherwise Lawful and/or Good locales like Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate (such is the sway they hold over local folk), and a Helmite who slips into Zhentil Keep and attacks a Banite or a Loviatan is going to find every Zhent in line of sight drawing steel on him. Evil societies demand evil gods, and sometimes good societies recognize the importance of a certain evil deity and permit limited reverence--or even open reverence--to that deity as well. Whatever the local Tyr priests may say about it, few would disagree that the otherwise law-abiding Loviatans make excellent torturers and interrogators for the Town Watch....

Apr 7, 2011 1:11:04 GMT -5 minion said:

got to say, Nobanion's is a pretty cool concept (and Loviatar's is... err... well, let's just say "aesthetically" pleasing *cough*).

Let me know when you click that link and check out the Cleric of Bast/Sharess.

Nobanion's cleric there is interesting. Everything about the guy screams "Chaotic"--from the half-nakedness to the body paint to the fur mantle and necklace of teeth, yet Nobanion the Lion King is Lawful Good. I guess you can't always judge gods by their clerics' choices of ceremonial wear. It's what's inside that counts, right?

[minion]

Whatever the local Tyr priests may say about it, few would disagree that the otherwise law-abiding Loviatans make excellent torturers and interrogators for the Town Watch...

i can agree with most of the rest of what you said, but... while i'm sure a reasonable Tyrran priest would accept and even agree that they would make excellent torturers (and presumably therefore interrogators), said priest/s of the LG god of paladins/justice/righteousness/etc would also be quick to make sure the watch doesn't use torture in its interrogations (lest they be accused of hypocrisy by the faithful and, of course, lose their spellcasting and other priestly powers). *cough, cough*

now then... where's that linky... yeah... other than the cat, that one's nice too. where did i put that catnip...

**edit to make bold lettering work... *sighs at self*

[Wids]

Yeah, man. Those civilized conflicts between Lawful Good folks and Lawful Evil folks are always interesting. With Chaotic, you pretty much just walk up to the other guy and bash his or her skull inside-out. But those Lawful folks in Lawful areas have to play by the rules; you don't want to get brought before the magistrate on an unjustifiable murder charge, right? Tyr's clerics and Loviatar's clerics have a disagreement, and the next thing you know, there are efforts at diplomacy and politicking, calling in favors, dragging each other before the magistrate in a series of courtroom skirmishes, scheming and maneuvering and hands-off back-alley poisonings and frame jobs and all the shadow battles that come with that....

Lawful vs. Lawful is always good for a thinking man's game. And if you really want to watch some legal eagles angle and maneuver around each other, just set up some misunderstanding or irreconcilable difference in church doctrine and send two Lawful Good factions at each other's throats (who can hardly take three steps without violating their alignment in such a situation). Or just set two Lawful Evil factions head-to-head if you really want to watch some dirty tactics. >;]

[minion]

mmm... religious chess w/real bishops and knights, hehe.

[Wids]

Welcome back, Minion! ;D

[minion]

i wouldn't say i'm "back," as i still don't have much time or opportunity (even when i might have the time) to play or even do more here than check in and make the occasional unnecessary remark. *shrug* but thanks for noticing.

[Wids]

I was just looking at the Sharess cleric again (the man, not the Bast/Sharess woman) and thinking how he looks like he just did a dashing leap from the cover of a romance novel. I wonder if there's a minimum Charisma you have to have to get into Sharess' priesthood.

...kind of like I wonder if you have to have a minimum income level or noble rank to join Siamorphe's clergy. When you're the Demigod of Royalty and Nobility, I imagine that any old beggar off the street just won't ever be good enough to put on your priesthood's robes and lollygag with kings and dukes and archbishops.

But hey...your beggar can always join Mask's priesthood and rub shoulders with princes and barons in a completely different way, right? ;D