Characters with a religious bent might want to spend downtime in service to a temple or shrine, either by attending rites or by proselytizing in the community. Someone who undertakes this activity has a chance of winning the favour of the temple’s leaders.
Resources. Performing religious service requires access to, and often attendance at, a temple whose beliefs and ethos align with the character’s. If such a place is available, the activity takes one day of effort but generally does not involve gold expenditure.
Preparation. No preparations are needed for this activity.
Resolution. After providing a day’s service, you choose to make either an Intelligence (Religion) check or a Charisma (Persuasion) check. The result determines the benefits of service, as shown on the Religious Favour table.
Religious Favour
| Check Total | Result |
|:---:|:---:|
| 1-10 | No favour. Your efforts fail to make a lasting impression. |
| 11-15 | You earn 1 favour. |
| 16-20 | You earn 2 favour. |
| 21+ | You earn 3 favour. |
Favour, in broad terms, represents a religious organization’s willingness to promise you future assistance from a representative of the temple. Different types of assistance rendered will have different favour costs.
Favour can be expended to ask the temple for help in dealing with a specific problem, for general political or social support, or to reduce the cost of cleric spellcasting by 50 percent. A favour could also take the form of a deity’s intervention, such as an omen, a vision, or a minor miracle provided at a key moment. This latter sort of favour is expended by the DM, who also determines its nature.
Favour earned need not be expended immediately, but only so much can be stored up. A character can have a maximum amount of favour equal to 5 times their Charisma modifier or Wisdom modifier (whichever is higher).
Complications. Temples can be labyrinths of political and social scheming. Even the best-intentioned sect can fall prone to rivalries. A character who serves a temple risks becoming embroiled in such struggles. Spending a tenday or more in religious service may result in complications related to your increasingly close association with your religious organization.
Player note
Ask your friendly DM for a favour tracker card to log favour earned for your service to a religious organization.