“The Pope has died. A new Pope, his hour come round at last, slouches towards the Chair of Saint Peter to be ensconced. In the meantime, WE BLOGGING.”

As the conclave gathers and sacred smoke prepares to rise, I’m answering a challenge from the Prismatic Wasteland blog to turn our eyes not to clerics the class, but clerics the institution — the veiled machinery of faith. Hierarchies. Vestments. Rituals older than empires. The power behind thrones and the weight of invisible crowns.

Too often in tabletop roleplaying games, the "cleric" is treated like a walking medkit. A healbot, smite machine, and holy grenade thrower. But let’s not forget: a cleric serves something greater, and that "greater" almost always involves ritual, structure, politics, and doctrine. And that’s where your world can get wonderfully weird.

I. THE CHAIR OF SAINT [REDACTED]:
Why Clerical Hierarchies Matter

Every divine order, cult, or holy conspiracy in your game should ask:

• Who decides what is sacred?

• Who gets to speak for the divine?

• Who guards the relics, writes sermons, and silences the heretics?

Because where there's power, there is succession — and that means also conflict.

A living hierarchy isn't just a ladder of titles — it's a network of rivalries, a machine of miracles, and often, a nest of secrets. Clerics don’t just cast spells — they represent forces, and sometimes, entrench them.

II. BENEATH THE ROBES:
Rituals, Relics, and Power

Want to make your religious hierarchy feel real? Layer it with:

• Rituals that take time: Not all blessings are instant. Want divine guidance? That’s three hours of chanting, a brass key, and a live goat.

• Relics with political gravity: The femur of Saint [REDACTED] isn’t just holy — it legitimizes whoever holds it as the [INSERT SPIFFY CLERICAL RANK NAME HERE].

• Rites of succession: Choosing a new pontiff, hierarch, or oracle isn’t a vote — it’s a magical conclave where prophetic dreams, divine signs, or apocalyptic visions play a role.

Need inspiration? Look to the real-world Conclave:

• Locked in.

• Cut off from the outside world.

• Sworn to secrecy.

• Bound by centuries-old ceremony.

Now imagine that, but in space. Or in the Underdark. Or in a ruined cathedral filled with ghostly echoes of the last ten failed pontiffs.

III. ECCLESIA MILITANT TO SACRED SCRIBES:
Structuring a Clerical Hierarchy

Not every pantheon needs a pyramid, but every divine institution needs structure, and structure means roles, responsibilities, and rivalries.

Here’s a modular clerical hierarchy you can adapt to nearly any fantasy religion:

Common Ranks in a Fantasy Religious Order:

Acolyte: Novices and apprentices. Often perform ritual labor and minor ceremonies.

Ordained Cleric: Fully inducted. Leads local congregations, heals, and performs standard rites.

Canon/Prelate: Oversees multiple clerics. May act as inquisitors, judges, or advisors.

Bishop/High Priest: Regional power. Controls temples, relics, and doctrinal interpretation.

Cardinal/Hierarch: Policy-makers. Elect new leaders, coordinate crusades, and preserve prophecy.

Pontiff/Divine Speaker: Chosen voice of the divine. Final arbiter of faith, law, and miracle.

You can modify these with a cultural or divine flavor. In a serpent cult, the ranks might be Fangs, Coils, and Scales. A machine-god religion might use Initiate, Programmer, Sysadmin, and Architect.

Power Structures and Splintering

Here are optional tensions you can weave in:

• Schisms: Two pontiffs, both divinely chosen. The world splits in allegiance.

• Monastic Orders: Independent but influential. They might hoard relics or secret texts.

• State-Church Conflict: The crown wants a puppet pontiff. The church resists. Civil war looms.

This structure can support adventure seeds, social intrigue, and major world events. Who's the real power behind the divine? What rank must a player attain to change doctrine or declare a holy war?

IV. THE CONCLAVE AS ADVENTURE HOOK

Your players enter a city on the brink: the High Priest is dead, and the conclave begins at midnight. Here are three ways to turn that into a session or campaign arc:

1. Assassins in the Cloister: Someone is killing cardinals before they can vote. The PCs are hired to protect (or eliminate) a specific faction.

2. Divine Deadlock: The conclave is cursed. Every vote ends in black smoke. The PCs must delve into ancient catacombs to retrieve the lost Sign of Choosing.

3. False Prophet: One candidate is channeling miracles... but from a source that isn’t divine. Do the players expose the truth, or get behind the heretic and remake the faith?

Let the rituals become the battleground. Let the doctrine spark war. Let the smoke rise, not from a chimney, but from a sanctum set aflame by doubt, ambition, and divine fire.

As we watch the real-world events unfold behind sealed doors and marble walls, let’s remember what clerics can be in our games: not just healers, but philosophers, reformers, rebels, martyrs, and monarchs in all but name.

The Pope may wear white, but your Hierophant of the Seraphic Lattice might wear black iron, have holy equations tattooed across their face, and speak only in mathematical tongues. That’s the beauty of fantasy.