I can't seem to come up with anything other than clerics, which I won't use because I don't want it to seem like I am trying to insert the RPG class into my story. Hello, I am designing a religion for a story that I'm working on, and I'm looking for ideas on what to call the individuals that are a part of this religious organization. One thing that is missing from a lot of fantasy is the feel of a religion and when and how it matters to the characters in their daily life and how it both reflects and shapes their thinking about some issues, at least. And of course, as Nyki pointed out, faiths evolve over time, so terminology can become 'fossilized' in a new context that bears little resemblance to historical roles.

A religion with an intense focus on relationships with the dead, or on an afterlife, would be different from one that is focused on healing, or the elements, or on some of the more mundane details of daily life. It might also be concerned with different things than an intensely patrifocal or patriarchal sect.Ī religion that is more rustic and less about pageantry might have different classifications than one that is more ornate and showy.

For instance, a matrifocal or matriarchal faith might have matriarchs and sisters of varying types. Then I'd probably think about how it is organized, what its primary tenets are, and what the hierarchy or power structure is. It makes it easier for readers to understand.īut it's a problem if your religion isn't meant to evoke any similarity to a real-world religion. If a religion is more akin to a different real-world or historical sect, it makes sense to borrow nomenclature from those sources. Fantasy writers who are shooting for a western/catholic vibe often lift names from the traditional hierarchy in Catholicism, and in religions derived from it. It's going to depend on the way you want your religion to 'feel' too.

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