How many temples in a community?

[JamesDJarvis]

Some folks arn't really underating how many people you can fit in a space. Sure we fight in a game with 5' wide spaces but you can seat 16 people in a 10' x 10' space (or just make them stand), probably more if you squeeze them in.

 

[mythusmage]

Yes. But public secrets were a big part of the social order of most polytheistic societies. "Don't ask/Don't tell," was a powerful cohesive social principle that dominated most societies right up to the Renaissance. BUt that's the only thing in your post with which I disagree.

Still, they knew about it. Didn't know what all went on in the cult, but they knew about it.

"They're Banites. We don't bother them, and they keep the thieves out of our hair."

 

[Conaill]

Well, a typical village in the champion country of England (the area where open-field agriculture was practised) had about 1,000 to 2,000 population and one church.

Yeah, I grew up in a small (~2000) village in Belgium, and we had one church. I think that's more or less the standard unless there are a number of competing religions (e.g. the various flavors of protestantism in the US). The neighboring villages seemed to fit the same pattern.

Our church could easily fit a couple hundred people, especially with people standing in the back. 100 people don't actually take up that much space if you seat them close together.

I woudl recommend to turn the question around: how many clerics and adepts are there in the village? That'll determine how many major temples there are, and which faiths only have a lowly adept or even a lay person performing the rites...

 

[ssampier]

Don't forget in some cultures churches or temples were used for multiple, public functions. In my campaign, the large temple is also home to branch of the local government. Seperation of church and state is a foreign notion IMC. Another culture may have the local military housed or trained in the temple of the war god.

 

[wingsandsword]

Well, a typical village in the champion country of England (the area where open-field agriculture was practised) had about 1,000 to 2,000 population and one church.

That's also with only having one religion, a centrally controlled one at that.

In a society with various competing belief systems (like the polytheism of the typical D&D world or the myriad denominations in the US), especially where you have faiths that do not have overarching heirarchies and central authorities (like most Chaotic religions), you can have a lot more centers of worship.

Also, if one specific belief system does not enjoy special sanctioning or privledges from the rulers, then variety is much more likely.

 

[haakon1]

I grew up in a small town of 4000 souls in New York State -- the other examples here are Bible Belt or Europe, I think, and NY is somewhere closer to the D&D norm. That is, it's not a state religion, one-church per town set up like most of Europe traditionally was, and it's not an American Bible Belt, no hierarchy, every-family-has-its-own-flavor of Protestantism situation.

So far as I can remember, we had four religious establishments in town:
- The Community Church. "Non-denominational" Protestant, which more or less meant Episcopal, I think, but was open to any Christian. Image a temple of Pelor that also welcomes worshippers of any good god in the same pantheon -- St. Cuthbertines replacing Lutherans, perhaps, and Heironeous replacing Presbyterians, etc. A modern building, in the center of town, next to the public elementary school, the only restaurant, the little grocery store, the library, Conant Hall, and the nursery -- our one export business.
- Conant Hall. A tiny little church in the heart of town. It was replaced by the bigger building of the Community Church, and bought by the town. It was used for meetings of the historical society (replace for D&D with the militia) and for elections (town hall meetings of the populace to deal with the goblin threat!).
- The old, old colonial era Congregational Church. This church was a little more hard corps Puritanical in its services, and had been there since before the Revolution. It was out in the middle of the woods. This is the parallel to ancient druidic center, perhaps a shrine to Obad-Hai ("The Old Faith").
- A tiny Buddhist temple started by a few converts in somebody's house out in the woods. These guys were a little infamous when I was in high school, among other things for banging gongs at dawn on Saturdays, which annoyed the neighbors. They got an injunction, but the Buddhists sued and won a lot of money -- which used to restore some of the historical buildings in town, including Conant Hall. Replace this misunderstood group with an evil cult in your village -- rumored about, out in the woods, annoying the neighbors, but the town is powerless to stop them, because of some higher authority or fear of them. And some folks think they are nice.

So my "typical village" might have:
- 1 mainline temple of a major good god
- 1 druidic/neutral shrine, or other minor good shrine
- possibly another historical or currently not used as a church building
- a secret cult in the woods, which most people know about and whisper about.

 

[StupidSmurf]

Well, anyone who runs Forgotten Realms know how many religions there are to choose from!

Here's how I approach it:

Does the town have one particular trade that dominates?
Examples:
Farmers - Chauntea
Fisherman- Umberlee
Caravans/Merchantiles- Waukeen
Military Outpost/Frontier Town- Tempus or Helm
Tradesmen- Gond

Do any other races make up a noticeable percentage of the town's population?
If so, then a temple devoted to that pantheon (dwarf, elf, etc) may not be out of the question.

Are there woods/wild nature areas nearby?
If so, perhaps there's a Druid grove within an hour or two walk of the town.

What's the town's history?
My little town of Fellwood was heavily influenced by a party of Lathanderites, and one of them went on to found a church in the town.

And of course, there's always the roadside shrine or two...

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Many ancient temples, for instance, also served as houses of prostitution.

Don't forget in some cultures churches or temples were used for multiple, public functions. In my campaign, the large temple is also home to branch of the local government. Seperation of church and state is a foreign notion IMC. Another culture may have the local military housed or trained in the temple of the war god.

 

[mythusmage]

Something to Consider

The ancient temples would be more equivalent to a cathedral or basilica. Our churches would be more like shrines. A good example of an ancient temple would be Herod's Second Temple at Jerusalem in the 1st century AD.

Another thing to consider is what the faith or cult allows. Is only one temple allowed, or a number. Does the faith allow for multiple shrines, or any shrines at all. Shintoism allows for shrines most anywhere you go. Pre-rabbinnical Judaism had none. That is, the more formal the religion the more apt it is to have temples. Combine that with a limited geographic range for the faith, and you get few temples. A less formal faith will tend to have shrines instead, and more places of worship and devotion the more spread out adherents are.

For Instance

Torm: One main temple with a number of secondary temples and a few shrines.

Chauntea: No temples per se. Numerous shrines established in field and forest wherever the goddess manifested in some manner, or where her presence is felt most clearly. Most shrines would be temporary affairs to observe the passing of seasons, planting and harvest, marriages, baptisms, and funerals.

Most FR cults would likely fall between those two extremes.

Hope this helps.

 

[ssampier]

Many ancient temples, for instance, also served as houses of prostitution.

I didn't know that. Were they fairly common and operated in the open or was more of a underground/secret operation?