City Builder 09 - Religious Places

By Michael J. VBy Michael J. VBy Michael J. VBy Michael J. VBy Michael J. Varhola, Jim Clunie,arhola, Jim Clunie,arhola, Jim Clunie,arhola, Jim Clunie,arhola, Jim Clunie,

and the Skirmisher Game Development Groupand the Skirmisher Game Development Groupand the Skirmisher Game Development Groupand the Skirmisher Game Development Groupand the Skirmisher Game Development Group

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City Builder VCity Builder VCity Builder VCity Builder VCity Builder Volume 9:olume 9:olume 9:olume 9:olume 9:




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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblanceof its contents to actual people, organizations, places,or events is purely coincidental.

First publication:First publication:First publication:First publication:First publication: October 2008; SKP E 0827.Cover Images:Cover Images:Cover Images:Cover Images:Cover Images: Front, The Priestess, by John William

Godward (1895). Back, The Temple of Vesta, Rome, byJohann Zahnd (1854-1834).

VVVVViewing This Bookiewing This Bookiewing This Bookiewing This Bookiewing This BookThis book has been designed to be asuser-friendly as possible from both theperspectives of printing out for use inhard copy and viewing on a comput-er screen. It has been laid out like atraditional print book with the ideathat each even-numbered page com-plements the odd-numbered page thatit should face (e.g., the illustration ofthe rural monastery on page 9 is setup to face and illustrate the Monastery/Convent entry on page 8).

With the above in mind, the optimalway to view and enjoy this book wouldbe to print it out and organize it in abinder so that the pages are arrangedas described above. This is by nomeans necessary, however, for usingand fully benefiting from City BuilderVolume 9: Religious Places and its con-tents.

City Builder VCity Builder VCity Builder VCity Builder VCity Builder Volume 9:olume 9:olume 9:olume 9:olume 9:


TTTTTable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contentsable of Contents

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction 44444About This Series..............................................................................................................................................4Using This Book................................................................................................................................................5

Cemetery/GraveyardCemetery/GraveyardCemetery/GraveyardCemetery/GraveyardCemetery/Graveyard 66666

Monastery/ConventMonastery/ConventMonastery/ConventMonastery/ConventMonastery/Convent 88888Monastery Floorplan........................................................................................................................................10

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TTTTTempleempleempleempleemple 1414141414Temple Floorplans........................................................................................................................................17

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IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

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SSSSSome of the most immersive, varied, and interesting places in many role-playing game settings are thosedevoted to the mythical deities and fantastic moral codes to which player characters might variously befanatically devoted or zealously opposed. Religious establishments within a campaign setting can provide

many specific game benefits as well, such as the opportunity to deal with serious ailments, injuries, spiritualdistress, curses, or even, in some settings, untimely death; interaction with the leaders of religious sects in thesetting, many of whom also wield considerable temporal authority; and advice from knowledgeable charactersor extraplanar sources about dilemmas that characters face with regard to religion and the supernatural entitiesthat form the elements of its mythoi.

Several sorts of religious place — including shrines,temples, monasteries and convents, and cemeteries andgraveyards — are described in this volume of the CityBuilder series. Other religious places that charactersmight encounter or visit include hermits’ dwellings,tombs, oracles’ fanes, initiation chambers, procession-al and pilgrimage routes, places of sacrifice, seminar-ies, charity offices, miracle sites, sacred wells, statues,monuments, and wonders, and even legendary loca-tions like purported gates to the underworld or otherplanes of existence.

Religious places often stand at the heart of commu-nities of believers and consequently vary in complexi-ty and richness according to the size, history, ethos,and membership of their associated congregations. Forexample, a mature and well-organized religious groupmight be able to build a major fane at a holy site or as anewly founded settlement in the countryside or wil-derness with resources provided by the central trea-sury of the faith, but a less prosperous sect will havefewer options. Religious structures — being generallywell-built, associated with an institution more long-lived than mortals or their mundane enterprises, oftenprotected by feelings of respect during periods of dep-redation by bandits and invaders, and potentially ableto be reused for the purposes of a different faith — of-ten remain intact after the peoples who first raised themhave long since passed away.

Structures intended for religious purposes tend un-der ideal conditions to use the best and most perma-nent materials available to the faithful, most often stoneor perhaps brick. Early structures of a new faith or com-munity, of course, or the religious buildings of barbariclands, might instead be constructed of sturdy timber orother readily available materials. Specific types of reli-gious places might also make use of existing cavernsor chambers tunneled into the ground — perhaps toconnect to natural underground sites that are venerat-ed as holy, or for climatic, security, liturgical, or eco-

nomic reasons. Such buildings are often designedaround the focus of worship or religious feeling forwhich they exist, with apartments for clergy and otherancillary areas secondary elements at best.

High, soaring central spaces lit from above, perhapsthrough multi-colored stained glass or from concealedlight sources, with an eye toward uplifting or impress-ing onlookers with a sense of otherworldly glories, aretypical of the places of worship for many faiths. Suchchambers may have one or more levels of galleries,and incidentally provide some of the greatest structur-al challenges that a culture’s architectural traditionsmay face.

Typical contents of religious places include imagesand symbols of the gods honored there; depictions ofepisodes from the religion’s history, hagiography, ormythology (all of which might be intertwined and in-distinguishable); sacred fonts, candles, lamps, and in-cense burners; vessels and implements for ceremonialpractices such as sacrifices, ritual meals, or anointingof favored congregants; robes and costumes; mechani-cal contrivances for special effects (such as a statuethat appears to move and speak); musical instruments;scriptures and other books; offering-boxes and coffers;and mundane tools for maintenance, cleaning, and oth-er specific needs (e.g., excavation in a graveyard).

With regard to security, for many holy sites, religiousawe and respect are adequate to provide a potent dis-couragement to thieves and looters, and in some set-tings these expectations of godly wrath are well-justi-fied by divine magic laid permanently upon the sitethrough its consecration. Sturdy soldier-priests adeptat battle, fanatical bands of devotees, or dedicated holywarriors of great skill are also often present at suchsites. Those who desecrate religious sites must reck-on, too, with the widely accepted view that crimesagainst religion are worse than other sorts and deserv-ing of more extreme methods of investigation and pun-ishment.

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In light of the above, many religious groups securetheir buildings with no more than the sorts of simplelocks that an ordinary residence might use at night.The ethos of the religion also might dictate that the siteremain open to all. Religions that are less humane andmore secretive, however, or which regard the inviola-bility of certain religious places as a law transcendingconcern for human welfare, might surround the forbid-den areas of their fanes with all manner of deathtrapsand guardian monsters (and it is just such areas, ofcourse that might serve as some of the most difficultand memorable challeges for adventurers).

About This SeriesAbout This SeriesAbout This SeriesAbout This SeriesAbout This SeriesThis is the ninth volume in a series of 11 books de-signed not just to provide Game Masters with concreteinformation about how to create places essential to theirown role-playing campaigns, but also to inspire themto develop ones that are believable, colorful, and excit-ing for their players’ characters to visit.

City Builder Volume 9: Religious Places looks at plac-es where characters can visit to fulfill various spiritualneeds, meet with the people associated with them, ortry to commune with deities or their agents. Places ofthis sort described here include Cemeteries and Grave-yards, Monasteries and Convents, Shrines, and Tem-ples.

While it is a generic resource not keyed to a particu-lar system of rules, City Builder Volume 9: ReligiousPlaces has also been written so as to be fully compati-ble with the various Skirmisher Publishing LLC d20publications, including Experts v.3.5, Tests of Skill, andWarriors.

Using This BookUsing This BookUsing This BookUsing This BookUsing This BookEach section in this book contains a description of theplace to which it is devoted. It includes such things asthe kinds of communities in which the place might befound, the kinds of leaders, proprietors, and staff asso-ciated with it, and the sorts of goods, services, or otherthings that characters might visit the place to obtain.

Following the description are one or more adven-ture hooks that are designed to describe interactionsbeyond the normal operations of the place that mightconcern player characters and turn any particular oneinto a venue for adventure.

CemeterCemeterCemeterCemeterCemetery/Graveyardy/Graveyardy/Graveyardy/Graveyardy/Graveyard

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CCCCCemeteries and graveyards are places where theremains of dead people are interred (and aretechnically differentiated by the presence of a

place of worship in the latter and a lack of one in theformer). Famous cemeteries of note include Père-Lachaise in Paris, Forest Lawn in Los Angeles, andSwan Point in Providence, Rhode Island.

Customary methods of laying the dead to rest varywidely amongst various cultures and religions, and mayalso be influenced by such things as the circumstanc-es of death or the wishes of an individual. Beyond burialof a body — possibly with grave goods and tomb-mark-ers and sometimes with the later removal of the bonesto an ossuary — various peoples might also dictate thata dead person ought to be burned, preserved for dis-play, given to the sea, or exposed for consumption bywild creatures (e.g., birds, rats).

Perhaps equal to or even more important than thedisposition of mortal remains themselves are gravemarkers that honor the dead and allow surviving kin— or expected descendants in future ages — a place tovisit and remember the lives of the deceased. Those ofmodest means might have graves marked by low stonesor mass-produced busts of popular gods (or nothing atall for the most indigent), the middle class generallytends toward markers and statuary as impressive asthey can afford, while the true aristocracy and oldwealthy families of a community favor tombs or vaultsas large as small buildings. Royal tombs might be ofalmost any size and extravagance, comprising manyof the architectural wonders of a particular age. Peoplelost at sea or buried far from their homelands may alsomerit a memorial stone in their home communities,and larger memorials, often in the form of walls or cen-otaphs, are sometimes employed to list the names ofgroups whose headstones have been shifted or lost overthe ages or who met a common fate (e.g., those whodied in a great disaster or war, the victims of a particu-larly terrible shipwreck).

A burial place is often also equipped with one ormore funerary chapels, as well as ancillary structureslike toolsheds and perhaps even dwellings for custodi-ans. Workshops for embalmers or stonecutters, shopsfor vendors of flowers or grave-ornaments, or carriage-houses for hearses and their draft animals might alsobe located on the premises or conveniently nearby.

An individual burial ground might be attached to amajor church that claims preeminent right to inter its

worshippers there. Most communities generally expect,however, that dead people who have no place of theirown faith to rest can also be laid to rest in the localgraveyard, barring a lack of material resources or trans-gressions so dire that they are actually denied ordinaryburial. Separate burial places used variously just forindigents or transients, often known as “potters fields,”are thus often located on public or granted land at theedge of communities.

As facilities serving a broad constituency, cemeter-ies in a large town or city might instead be adminis-tered by the civic government, or by a council of repre-sentatives of different religions, sects, or congregationsthat divides the allotment of space and responsibilityfor maintenance in each place among the religiousbodies that it represents. Potters fields in particular areespecially likely to be administered by secular com-munity officials.

Once interred, bodies are vulnerable to desecrationor defilement by causes as diverse as disrespectful be-havior, vandalism, scavenging animals, cannibalisticundead or people, or depraved beings like necroman-cers who seek to commune with the spirits of the deador animate their remains. To prevent such abuses, thekeepers of cemeteries generally rely on such measuresas walls, fences, and regular inspection by attendants;ceremonial protections such as funeral rites or whichdedicate burial places as holy ground; and possiblyeven various sorts of magical protection. When suchmeasures are not adequate to prevent serious problems(e.g., infestations of undead beings who terrorize a com-munity as much as anything by their resemblance toonce-living loved ones), religious and community lead-ers will generally respond in ways dictated by tradi-tion and ritual (e.g., burning necromancers, de-animat-ing bodies in special religious ceremonies, contractingadventurers to dispose of them).

Adventure HookAdventure HookAdventure HookAdventure HookAdventure Hook* A wealthy and influential but infamously cruel manhas died — perhaps the PCs had something to do withbringing it about — and the party must help convey hisbody with proper respect to his family’s ancestral bury-ing-ground and see him interred with appropriate hon-ors in order to be absolutely sure that his spirit willdepart quietly and not haunt the countryside, doingfurther evil.

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MonasterMonasterMonasterMonasterMonastery/Conventy/Conventy/Conventy/Conventy/Convent

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MMMMMonasteries are places where monks, nuns,or other people set apart for a religious pur-pose live and work. Monasteries are among

the most restrictive sorts of religious communities andrequire their members to live on the premises, workand worship together collectively, and follow specificrules that are more severe than those applying to com-mon worshippers of a deity. A religious community ofthis sort that exclusively admits women might be calleda convent or nunnery. Other sorts of religious commu-nities have varying aims but tend to be somewhat morelenient than monasteries or to not require their mem-bers to share every aspect of their daily lives.

Depictions of monasteries in literature and film in-clude those in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose,Ellis Peters’ “Brother Cadfael” mysteries, and in Mat-thew Lewis’ classic Gothic novel The Monk.

Characters who are not themselves monks, priests,or holy warriors sometimes need to visit monasteriesin their roles as centers of learning and crafts, to speakwith particular people who have taken holy vows, or tofind lodgings in an otherwise isolated area. It is alsopossible that one or more characters may need to seeksanctuary from assault or persecution in a monastery—provided, of course, that the characters can convincethe monks that they deserve the protection of their fa-cility.

Many religions might operate monasteries or equiv-alent establishments, provided that the religion is suf-ficiently wealthy, politically favored, and organized —both in doctrine and practice — to support memberswho devote their time exclusively to the service of theirdeity. Monasteries are less likely to prosper among cul-tures where the struggle for survival exceeds tolerancefor, or interest in, abstract philosophies, or which rec-ognize overriding social bonds that conflict with thenecessary vows of devotion that a monk must make toa religious order (e.g., clans, totems).

Because monasteries are as far as possible self-suffi-cient and separate from the society that surrounds them,they can usually exist equally well either in the coun-tryside or within a town or city. In the latter case, amonastery often plays a major role in civic affairs de-spite the restrictions on contact that apply to the monks,providing vital services such as schooling or healing,or even acting as the feudal guardian of several villag-es or towns.

A monastery is usually a compact arrangement of

well-built permanent structures, typically of brick,stone, or excavated from rock, sufficient to serve thedaily needs of all of its members without the need toleave the premises. Such a complex generally has aminimum number of entryways, each handy to thequarters of an appropriate senior monk who can ob-serve and intercept visitors as they enter or novicemonks as they leave. These features lend themselveseasily to defense, even if the monastery is not deliber-ately fortified. Many monasteries are built with securi-ty in mind, however, especially if established in unset-tled wildlands or during periods of political turmoil orthreat to the religion in question.

As a religious institution, the largest building anddominant component of a monastery complex is typi-cally a temple or prayer-hall. The living facilities of amonastery are sometimes attached to one side of thissanctuary, and often around one or more courtyards orcloisters (quadrangles of roofed walkways facing ontocentral open areas) and include a dining hall (refecto-ry), formal meeting hall (chapterhouse), common room,sleeping quarters (dormitories or individual cells), andthe abbot’s or abbess’ chambers. Ancillary structures,usually toward the periphery of the complex, often in-clude quarters for guests of different types, an infirma-ry, schools, gardens, workshops, stables, and pens forfarm or working animals.

Backgrounds of monks vary widely and the person-ality and motivations of those who join a particular re-ligious order vary with the ethos and aims that the com-munity promotes — for example, characters who wouldjoin a military order such as the Knights Templar aremuch different than those who follow a doctrine of deepcontemplation and universal compassion like Zen Bud-dhism. Generally, however, those monks who join outof true devotion to their religion live alongside manyothers who enter a monastery to escape, hide from, oratone for events in their former lives (and, in the caseof a convent, often unsuitable romances or betrothals);to remove the burden of their support from their fami-lies; or even to infiltrate and steal secrets — whetherfor their own advancement or on behalf of others.

Daily activities of monks depend on the specificneeds and rules of their order, but usually include manysessions of organized prayer, lessons, meditation, com-mon meals, chores, manual labor, and perhaps pursuitof some vocation. Many of the latter sorts of activitiesare with an eye to providing for the monastery, both by

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producing necessities for use within the communityand by making items to sell outside of it. Beyond thegrade of novice, this often still allows a good deal oftime for monks to pursue individual interests and hob-bies, to learn and practice many different crafts, and tomeditate on the mysteries of their religion. Unfortu-nately, if the personal inclinations of some monks areat odds with the prevailing dictates of their religion,they usually also have much time to misbehave and todevelop and promote heterodox or rebellious opinions.

Adventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure Hooks* Characters might visit a monastery to speak with —or to investigate the sudden death of — a former ad-

venturer turned monk, who in his former career dealtwith threats that have reared their heads again to trou-ble the characters.

* Novices in a monastery, questioned over an outbreakof hedonistic and disobedient behavior, claim they arebeset by devilish beings interrupting their prayers andurging them toward all sorts of wicked deeds. The playercharacters must search for the origin of this curse (ifnot merely in the imaginations of those seeking to es-cape discipline) — and may find that some of the oldermonks have through their actions laid this consecratedplace open to the assault of supernatural evil (e.g., bypracticing black magic, by selling off and replacing withcounterfeits some of its holy relics).

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Sample Monastery FloorplanSample Monastery FloorplanSample Monastery FloorplanSample Monastery FloorplanSample Monastery FloorplanShown here is a floorplan of a Buddhist monasteryin Peikthano, in central Burma. It was built betweenthe 1st and 5th centuries A.D. of large, baked bricks,and was about 115 feet long and 41 feet wide.

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SSSSShrines are places of worship where lay worshippers can variously offer prayers, make minor sac-rifices, and perform other ceremonies on a daily

basis, on particular occasions, or for specific purposes.They are the simplest, smallest, and most numerous ofreligious constructions, ranging through a great varietyof forms from isolated effigies to small chapels, anddedicated to innumerable local variants of well-knowndeities, otherwise-unknown minor gods, or even forcustomary acts of worship the original object of whichis lost to the ages.

Role-playing encounters and visits to shrines sacredto deities that the player characters acknowledge canprovide both concrete in-game benefits to the party (e.g.,through magic invoked by any priests who attend theshrine, from blessings placed upon the shrine by thegods to which they are devoted) and a deeper experi-ence of the characters’ relationship with the spiritualbeliefs of the game setting.

Shrines can exist almost anywhere, depending onthe deities to whom they are dedicated and the pur-pose for which they were consecrated, including with-in or attached to private homes, places of business,public buildings, other religious establishments (whetherdedicated to an aspect of the same, or a different butrelated deity), at the side of a public street or road, or atan appropriate site in natural surroundings, as well asin settlements of every kind and rural or even wilder-ness areas. Almost every deity that attracts any sort ofdirect personal worship will have shrines of one sort oranother, and only the home territories of entirely athe-istic races lack them.

The basis of a shrine is generally an image repre-senting the object of worship, such as a statuette orpictorial panel in paint or mosaic, sometimes with ac-companying decorations or significant items; a smallshelter or niche protecting the likeness; and a clearedspace in front for offerings, such as candles, flowers,and small sacrifices of sorts pleasing to the deity. Achapel is a slightly larger affair consisting of a separatechamber or stand-alone building, or a recessed bay ina larger temple, where a group of worshippers can gath-er, usually with a slightly more elaborate centerpiece.

Shrines dedicated to special purposes include wed-ding or funeral chapels in locations appropriate to suchoccasions; civic shrines at the historic centers of townshonoring the founding deities or demigods of the set-tlement; and chapels of the beasts in the wilderness or

at places where people bring many animals for partic-ular purposes, such as stockyards or veterinary spe-cialists’ offices, set aside in the hope that animals mightalso benefit from the presence of those gods or aspectsthat watch over such lesser creatures.

Shrines often exist alone on city streets or in thecountryside, or within ordinary buildings, for the useof any passersby who may happen upon them, and assuch few of them have any specific security precau-tions. Occasionally, a shrine of special virtue might havean individual hermit-priest or holy warrior under a spe-cial vow — or even a more unusual creature — dwell-ing nearby to maintain and protect it, or a curse of di-vine origin might be known to befall those who dam-age the shrine or steal its offerings. Defilers might alsobe subject to retribution from locals angered by thosepresuming to profane their deities.

Adventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure Hooks* Player characters might come across a strange shrineon their travels in some wild out-of-the-way place,guarded by a menacing and violent individual whochallenges them to combat or some other form of con-test. The encounter is more than it seems, potentiallygranting the characters a divine blessing or the use of amagic item if they overcome the guardian by honor-able combat, but ending the encounter in some eeriefashion that promises dire consequences to follow ifthey show cowardice or attempt to win through treachery.

* Whether in hopes of receiving divine favor or in thanksfor having obtained it, it might be incumbent upon aplayer character to undertake construction of a shrine.Challenges associated with such a venture might in-clude selecting a suitable location, building the struc-ture to a suitable standard, and perhaps consecratingit with the acquisition of some appropriate relic.

* A shrine that is neglected or defiled might harbor acurse or attract the attentions of appropriate monsters(e.g., undead, disturbed spirits). Specifics of such man-ifestations vary by the region where they arise, the reli-gion with which they are associated, and the particu-lars of what has led to the disuse of the shrine in ques-tion. Rectifying such a situtation by the proper means,however, and restoring a shrine to its proper state iscertainly an appropriate task for an adventuring party.

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TTTTTempleempleempleempleemple

TTTTTemples are generally grand and sumptuous reli-gious structures or complexes that have been builtto glorify the gods to which they are consecrated

and are used as sites of devotion for large numbers ofthe faithful. Such a place usually indicates the pres-ence of a particular community or region’s leading re-ligion and serves as a major center of its worship. Atemple almost always guarantees the presence of a highpriest or an even more exalted ecclesiast capable ofperforming the highest functions of the religion in ques-tion and of granting the highest blessings it is able tobestow.

Adventurers often visit temples in the hopes ofachieving such ends as removing particularly nasty andintractable curses they have incurred in their exploitsor raising slain companions from the dead. Charactersmight also attempt to avail themselves of the abilitiesof temple priests, who can often divine the will andknowledge of their gods; conduct ceremonies such asweddings, funerals, baptisms, rites of passage, ordina-tions, and exorcisms; give advice on moral dilemmasor upon the mysteries of life, death, the planes, andthe gods; or provide blessed items such as holy wateror even holy relics or weapons dedicated to the pur-poses of the religion that can repel or destroy varioussorts of enemies, especially those of an undead or de-monic nature.

Raiding evilly-inclined or enemy temples is anotheractivity common to particularly skilled and bold ad-venturers, since such places often store much in theway of wealth, secrets, and sometimes supernaturalcreatures allied with (or bound in isolation by) the faith.Once the occupants of a temple have been driven outand removed from influence in the local area, it is notuncommon for clerics allied to the attackers to rededi-cate the site, even the same structures, to a new patrondeity in order to consolidate their hold on a well-recog-nized religious center.

A temple may exist inside a city, in which case itwill certainly occupy a prominent location close to —or even eclipsing or dominating — the principal build-ings of the municipal government; on its own at a par-ticularly spectacular or holy site in the countryside; orassociated with an even more important special-pur-pose sanctuary, such as one housing a major oracle. Inany case, the temple is likely to be the focal building ofa complex of related uses serving the same religion(and perhaps related deities, aspects, or saints), such

as residences, offices, lesser chapels, treasuries, work-shops, and meeting halls.

The central feature of a temple is its sanctum, oradytum — a sacred chamber the form of which is laiddown by long tradition, holding some physical objectsymbolizing the presence of a god, such as an idol(whether gloriously carved by a master artisan or anancient and mysterious object) or an inscription of thedeity’s sacred laws. Entry to the interior of such a placeis sometimes forbidden or even hidden from view tooutsiders or laity, and reserved for ordained priests toperform solemn ceremonies on behalf of the congregation.

After purifying themselves with required abstinenc-es, ablutions, and prayers, lay worshippers generallygather in a large basilica, prayer hall, or public court— often at the steps leading up to the entryway of thetemple — where they participate in mass worship be-fore a high altar and in some traditions receive theirshare of animal sacrifices. Visitors or laity who wish tomeet with one of the priests or to take part in ceremo-nies in one of the other chapels usually enter through apublic court or a reception area without intruding onthe main temple itself.

Wealthy worshippers like nobles, rulers, or richguildsmen — particularly those who seek or have re-ceived special favor from the deity a temple represents— often endow such places of veneration with offer-ings like costly vessels and ornaments, statuary, furni-ture, or even entire extra chapels or expansions to theoriginal temple, such as annexes, courts, halls, or sculp-ture walks. People of more modest means might alsocontribute to temples by placing offerings, such as coinsor simple pieces of jewelry of prescribed form, intooffering-boxes or by casting them into sacred pools,providing such places with immense riches for theirtreasuries and special projects.

The chief official of a temple might be an ordainedmember holding significant rank in the hierarchy ofhis religion, such as a high priest, or might hold a sep-arate but equally high-status position created solely tooversee the temple, such as a provost or keeper of theshrine. Below this hierarch, generally a number of ex-perienced priests (a group sometimes known as a chap-ter) serve a temple, as well as numerous trainees, aco-lytes, attendants, musicians, temple-servants, laborers,guards, and agents, who play various roles in elabo-rate ceremonies or support the place’s material andsecurity needs.

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Adventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure HooksAdventure Hooks* Although the gods quarrel amongst themselves, it isperilous for their mortal followers to assume licensefrom this to disrespect deities of foreign cities and lands.Abusing the temples and priests even of enemies canlead to dire curses and divine retribution. Player char-acters who have damaged or looted a fane to a foreigndeity might have to undertake an extended pilgrimageto one of the god’s temples, make large reparations andsacrifices, perform special favors to serve the divinebeing’s interests — or even do all of these — to avertthe ill-luck and troubles laid upon them by the deity.

* The architect in charge of building a new temple to aparticular deity is grievously behind schedule and hasbeen unable to obtain a slab of special marble requiredfor the altar. If this stone is not obtained by the newmoon, it cannot be consecrated in time for inclusion inthe temple and its completion and opening will be undera pall. He is thus willing to pay a hefty sum to anyadventurers who can find, quarry, and bring to him asuitable slab of the stone in time — but nothing forthose who fail to meet the deadline! (This adventurehook is based on one of the adventures presented inthe Skirmisher Publishing LLC d20 supplement Testsof Skill.)

Sample Temple FloorplansSample Temple FloorplansSample Temple FloorplansSample Temple FloorplansSample Temple FloorplansShown here are floorplans from three different historic temple-building traditions (not shown to scale inrelation to each other). At top is a plan of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, built of marble in the 5th centuryB.C., dedicated to the goddess Athena, and about100 feet wide and 230 feet long. Bottom left is aplan of the Gothic cathedral in Salisbury, England,built during the 13th century A.D., some 200 feetwide at its transept crossing, 500 feet long, and404 feet high, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.Bottom right is a plan of the Temple of Edfu inKarnak, Egypt, built of sandstone from the 3rd tothe 1st centuries B.C., approximately 260 feet long,120 feet long, and 120 feet high, and dedicated tothe god Horus (and depicted in the image on page 14).

SKP E 0827SKP E 0827SKP E 0827SKP E 0827SKP E 0827 $1.99$1.99$1.99$1.99$1.99wwwwwwwwwwwwwww.skir.skir.skir.skir.skirmishermishermishermishermisher.com.com.com.com.com

CCCCCity Builder Vity Builder Vity Builder Vity Builder Vity Builder Volume olume olume olume olume 99999: : : : : RRRRReligiouseligiouseligiouseligiouseligious Places Places Places Places Places is the is the is the is the is the ninninninninninth of 11 complementarth of 11 complementarth of 11 complementarth of 11 complementarth of 11 complementary booksy booksy booksy booksy booksdesigned to help guide Game Masters through the process of designed to help guide Game Masters through the process of designed to help guide Game Masters through the process of designed to help guide Game Masters through the process of designed to help guide Game Masters through the process of creatingcreatingcreatingcreatingcreatingexciting and compelling urban areas and exciting and compelling urban areas and exciting and compelling urban areas and exciting and compelling urban areas and exciting and compelling urban areas and places places places places places within them for theirwithin them for theirwithin them for theirwithin them for theirwithin them for their

campaigns. It is campaigns. It is campaigns. It is campaigns. It is campaigns. It is a universal resource that is a universal resource that is a universal resource that is a universal resource that is a universal resource that is not specific not specific not specific not specific not specific to any specific to any specific to any specific to any specific to any specific gamegamegamegamegamesystem system system system system and is and is and is and is and is designed designed designed designed designed to be compatible to be compatible to be compatible to be compatible to be compatible with the needs of almost any ancient,with the needs of almost any ancient,with the needs of almost any ancient,with the needs of almost any ancient,with the needs of almost any ancient,Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, or fantasy milieu.Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, or fantasy milieu.Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, or fantasy milieu.Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, or fantasy milieu.Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, or fantasy milieu. Its contents include:Its contents include:Its contents include:Its contents include:Its contents include:

* An Introduction that describes* An Introduction that describes* An Introduction that describes* An Introduction that describes* An Introduction that describesthe series and how to use thethe series and how to use thethe series and how to use thethe series and how to use thethe series and how to use thematerial in this volume;material in this volume;material in this volume;material in this volume;material in this volume;

* Sections devoted* Sections devoted* Sections devoted* Sections devoted* Sections devotedto Cemeteries,to Cemeteries,to Cemeteries,to Cemeteries,to Cemeteries,Monasteries,Monasteries,Monasteries,Monasteries,Monasteries, Shrines, and Shrines, and Shrines, and Shrines, and Shrines, and

T T T T Temples.emples.emples.emples.emples.

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City Builder 09 - Religious Places