Musings On the Faith of Abadar

[Jmacq1]

I don't have the Adventure Path book that goes into detail on Abadar and his church, but a thought struck me as I was pondering Abadar and his faithful:

As a God of Nobility, would Paladins and Clerics of Abadar have to be from the Noble classes?

Would the higher ranks of his church hierarchy be reserved for those of noble blood or title (as I would imagine that Abadar himself would not discriminate between those who are noble through inheritance and those who were lawfully raised to the ranks of nobility)?

Would a Paladin of Abadar be required to be a "social climber" (in a lawful good sort of way, of course) if not already born into the nobility? If not, would they be expected to defer to those that were (assuming no chaotic or evil actions are involved)?

Or would it all depend on the particular sect/temple/locale in question?

[TheLoneCleric]

My Cleric was an engineer. (Took ranks in Craft) I see them as having different paths. The path that follows Nobility might be much like the Church of England handles the royal family. A arm of faith that supports the society at large. Officates events, and tracks royal lines.

Another faction could be focused on banking and commerce.

Mine was reasearch and city building. He was an architect who was a clerical version of DaVinci. Build and experiment.

[Jmacq1]

The idea that the Church of Abadar would have different branches for different aspects of the faith certainly makes sense, as I would imagine his faith is rigidly and thoroughly organized and hierarchical.

Hmm, I had presumed that Abadar's faith would have a "Grand High Priest" of some sort, but now that I think on it, with the "community" aspect it could well be that each "branch" would have a high priest and they work together in a committee/council to administer the faith as a whole.

[TheLoneCleric]

Yes. Imagine teirs of service. High Priests handling affairs of states, lower ranked clerical clerks supporting local business for donations, lay priests goinga round helping out in the field. Adventure Clerics might be part of a militant unit that also trains Paladins.