Priest Personalities (CPrH)

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No two priests are alike in their goals, desires, quirks, and prejudices. It doesn't matter if they belong to the same priest-class, have the same Priest Kit, are at the same experience level and have rolled the same hit points...  they're going to be different people.
Below are descriptions of several common type of priest characters. All of these personalities are drawn from priest character stereotypes common to the movies and fiction. Novice role-players should read through these descriptions and, if they wish, adopt one of these personality types for their priest characters or at least let these descriptions inspire them to work out the details of their characters' personalities. Experienced role-players, to whom the creation of personalities is second nature, should skip on to "Priest Adventures."  
==The Crusader==
The Crusader is a priest with a mission. What that mission is, is up to the player and the DM; he may wish to convert the heathens, to restore a temple to its original glory, to clean up a corrupt priesthood, to crush the enemies of his faith, to destroy a powerful clan, or to gain special rights or privileges for (or merely a lifting of bad or prejudicial laws from) his people.
This is not such a bad thing when the Crusader's goals correspond to the goals of the adventuring party. That's easy to sustain for a multi-episode adventure. But when the other player-character heroes' attention turns to some other matter or enemy, the Crusader is less willing to go along. He may continue on with them for a time, but his attention always turns back to his personal crusade.
The Crusader is best suited to lawful alignments (lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil). He tends to be humorless, but certainly doesn't have to be stupid.
In combat situations, the Crusader is a straightforward fighter, all according to the limitations of his priestly class. But if the enemy is related to his Crusade, he'll become the fiercest and most energetic of fighters, sometimes taking dangerous risks and going all-out to rid himself of this most personal enemies.
In role-playing situations, he doesn't have to be a boring idiot who talks about nothing but his quest. He can have other goals and interests, too. But the further away he is from his personal crusade, and the less he is able to promote his goals, the more of his attention they will take up in his mind.
==The Earnest Novice==
This priest is a young fellow who has newly achieved his priestly rank. (Yes, all first-level priests are appropriate for this personality... but not all of them have to take it. Other first-level priests can be a little more sophisticated or world-wise than this fellow.)
The Earnest Novice is naive. He's easily tricked by smooth, polished liars. He is pure in his beliefs, especially those related to his priestly order. He serves as an inspiration for others; no matter how battered he is by life, he seems always just to stand back up and keep on going.
This character is best suited to the range of good alignments (lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good).
In combat situations, this character is prone to be a bit simple. He has very primitive combat tactics, such as "run at the enemy and hit him," or "stand where you are and shoot him;" such things as flanking maneuvers, feints, false retreats, and other military maneuvers are beyond his comprehension.
In role-playing situations, this character expresses cheerful optimism and, usually, a lack of understanding about the way the "real world" (that is, the campaign world) works. It doesn't occur to him to slip a waiter a bribe to get better service: That would be monstrously unfair and unprofessional! The ideas that a colleague might be corrupt, that a judge might render a decision based on how he felt that morning, that a beautiful young lady might not be absolutely virtuous are all alien to him. He'll accept them when his nose is rubbed in them...  but they'll never occur to him naturally.
Most players who take this personality eventually abandon it; it's nearly impossible to play a character as remaining entirely innocent of the world through adventure after adventure. See "Changing Personality Types" below for more on this.
==The Hypocrite==
This priest is a smooth talker and an advocate of all the goals of his priesthood and all the virtuous behaviors there are. But, deep down, he doesn't believe in them. He's fooled his superiors in the priestly order, he's probably fooled his adventuring companions, he's certainly fooled his flock...  but he himself knows the truth.
This is a pretty villainous personality type; when a hypocrite priest isn't a villain, he's merely weak-willed. Either way, such characters are rare among player-character heroes. And they never get away with it forever.
Here are some examples of this character's typical behavior:
He generously gifts coins to city beggars and earns their praise. But on the side, out of sight, he trafficks in stolen goods, perhaps including objects stolen from temples of his order, and uses the respect accorded to priests to smuggle his stolen goods through city gates and inspection lines.
When a beautiful young member of the flock comes tearfully to him with problems, he arranges to see her privately to counsel her. Alone with the troubled young lady, he will seduce her, then abandon her, blackmailing her with the besmirching of her reputation to keep his own reputation clean. And should she, in her grief, decide to commit suicide, he'll be the most anguished of mourners at her funeral (perhaps he will officiate)...  and then begin to work on the young lady's better-looking friends the same way.
When sinners come to him after doing evil, they'll always find absolution...  for a hefty price in gold pieces. Such sinners are almost always repeat offenders, and so they are also repeat spenders.
Obviously, this sort of personality is best-suited to non-player characters. But it is always an option for, and can be a challenge to, player-characters as well.
The Hypocrite is limited to lawful neutral, lawful evil, true neutral, and neutral evil character alignments.
In combat situations, the Hypocrite will tend to behave like the priest he's supposed to be. If he can find reason to get out of the way of combat, he will: For instance, if an ally is injured, the Hypocrite will drop behind the lines to heal or doctor him. The Hypocrite is also prone to directing the actions of his teammates in such a way that they take all the risks. If one of them is killed or injured, of course, he will appear to agonize over it.
In role-playing situations, the Hypocrite will be the smoothest and most concerned character around. However, his player will need to communicate, in private consultation with the DM or through secret notes, the Hypocrite's true motives and plans.
Eventually the other characters will catch on, and ultimately they will expose or even kill him. It's up to the player then to decide what the Hypocrite will do (assuming he survives): He could change his name and start over again elsewhere, or pretend to reform and become a little more sophisticated in his tactics, or he could even reform and change personality types.
==The Motivator==
This character is like a grown-up version of the Earnest Novice. He knows what the world is all about, but he intends to do his temple's business and see to it that his god's goals are met, with no complaints and no back-talk. He's a combination of cheerleader and drill sergeant. He leads by example, and he usually leads. He gets to know the minds of his companions and plays upon their own goals and desires to get his accomplished. This doesn't make him a villain like the Hypocrite; he probably intends this to be to everyone's benefit.
Like the Crusader, he performs best when he's headed in the direction of his personal goal; unlike the Crusader, he doesn't have just one goal that dominates his life, and can add the other player-characters' goals to their own. (But if he does take on someone else's goal, you can be sure that he'll be unceasing and maybe unbearable in trying to motivate that character toward that goal. He won't let the other character abandon the goal. He jut never gives up.)
This character is suited to any alignment. Obviously, if he's lawful good, his goals will be the goals of his god and his society; if he's chaotic evil, his goals will be his own, and very destructive ones, too.
In combat situations, the Motivator charges into the thick of things and tries to whip up his allies into a combat frenzy. He gravitates to the center of the skirmish line, and if he's fit for it will try to take on the biggest and baddest opponents.
In role-playing situations, he'll be a vigorous font of advice and helpfulness. He tends to be abrupt of speech and firmly set in his opinions (i.e., stubborn), but he's usually a good friend to have around.
==The Philosopher==
This character tries to fit each of his adventures and encounters into the grand scheme of the meaning of life. He's not a very exciting personality, being more thoughtful and reserved than the dynamic Motivator or energetic Earnest Novice. He often adopts a "Let's wait and see what happens" or "Maybe it was meant to be" attitude. He seldom initiates combat or aggression, but this doesn't make him a pacifist; once he gets into combat, he can be as formidable an opponent as any priest of his class.
The Philosopher is best suited to lawful and neutral alignments (lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral good, true neutral, neutral evil).
In combat situations, the Philosopher will often hang back for a round or so to gauge the situation and analyze things. In doing so, he may see something the other characters have missed (more enemies creeping out of a secret panel, an exit tunnel that would allow them to escape, or the stealthy motions of an enemy thief creeping around behind one of the heroes). But he won't hesitate long, particularly when it could mean life or death to his friends.
In role-playing situations, he tends to be very analytical, choosing his words carefully, thinking all the while.
==The Politician==
This is an ambitious priest. He wants to have political power within the community, within the temple, or both. This doesn't mean he's bad; he may be acquiring power because he believes he can wield it better than others and make the world a better place. But he goes out of his way to gather favors, advise powerful people (and to do so well!), to acquire treasure so that he can build great temples and influence the masses, etc.
The Politician has a weakness, though. Regardless of his motivations, he sometimes blinds himself to the truth so that he can continue acquiring power and influence. If two cities or countries are on the verge of war, and that war would benefit him and his power base, he might advocate that war be declared, and blind himself to the suffering this will cause among the people who have to do the fighting. If a woman comes to him with the classic dilemma where she is being told by her family to marry one man when she loves another, the Politician will first consider the influence he might gain from these respective matches first, and considers the lovers' and families' feelings second. He may not even realize this... but his advice will always be tinged with self-interest.
This is also a challenging role to play, especially if the character really is good at heart and is just concealing from himself the harm of his course of action. Eventually, the DM should confront him with the results of his selfishness: Perhaps one of his plans or pieces of advice results in tragedy, and the accusations of the PCs or NPCs who see through his motives convince him that he's been on the wrong path. When this happens, the Politician might wish to change to another personality type. On the other hand, sometimes the Politician is never caught at it, or never admits his culpability to himself, and just continues rising up the ladder of power and influence.
The Politician is best suited to lawful and neutral alignments (lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral good, true neutral, neutral evil). If he's Good, he'll probably eventually understand the damage he has done and can do. If he's Neutral, he won't go out of his way to harm people, but will not be truly touched by it when harm does occur. If he's Evil, this harm is merely another benefit of the job.
In combat situations, the Politician is like any other priest of his specific priest-class. However, if there's an important person around to impress, he may fight more vigorously or risk himself to save that person.
In role-playing situations, the Politician is continually ferreting out rumors and news, analyzing information, learning the personalities of important people, and looking at all situations and adventures in terms of the power and prestige they can bring him.
==The Proselytizer==
This priest's primary motivation involves converting worshippers of other gods to worship of his god. Nothing else matters. If someone is not according due to his god, that someone is going to experience a religious conversion attempt. (This doesn't mean that the Proselytizer necessarily believes his god to be the only god. In a land where many gods are worshipped, this is an uncommon belief. But if he finds someone who worships several gods but excludes his deity, the Proselytizer goes on the job.)
Proselytizers can be of any alignment, but most are dutiful priests of good alignment (lawful good, neutral good, and chaotic good).
In combat situations, the Proselytizer acts as any other adventurer. He might be more gullible when it comes to an enemy who pretends interest in his deity and professes a desire to be converted, but this will only occasionally take place in the campaign. (The enemy would have to know him and his motivations pretty well to make this attempt.)
But in role-playing situations, the Proselytizer talks about little other than his god, his temple, and his personal adventures in service to his god and his temple. He can be quite insufferable at times, in fact.
Ultimately, his adventures may convince him that there are other things to life than the ongoing conversion of non-believers; at this time, his player may choose for the character to take on a new, different personality. But even then, the character is likely to remain a bit more interested in religious conversions than other examples of his new personality are.
==The Sage Counselor==
This priest is primarily interested in acquiring wisdom and passing it on. He likes to help people. And since he's a priest, people often come to him with their troubles; he's always willing to advise them. (Depending on his experience and personal wisdom, he could be quite good at it, too.)
This personality is best suited to lawful good and neutral good alignments. (A chaotic good priest could also try to be a sage counselor, but his advice is likely to be more dramatic and less well-reasoned than that of the other alignments.)
In combat situations, the Sage Counselor is likely to try to persuade the enemy to surrender, to run away, or just to be reasonable. This doesn't mean that he's stupid, though. Confronted with danger, he can hit just as hard and defend himself and his friends just as fiercely.
In role-playing situations, the Sage Counselor goes out of his way to help people; if he sees a sad face and has some time available to him, he'll gravitate to the stricken person, kindly ask if he can help, and end up wrapped again in some other person's troubles. Incidentally, this is a great way to get the character involved on new adventures: The DM need merely run a tearful NPC past the priest, and another adventure is on its way.
==Changing Personality Types==
Sometimes, as mentioned above, it becomes necessary for a player to re-think his character's personality. Perhaps the character has outgrown that personality. (The Earnest Novice must eventually grow up, for instance.) Perhaps dramatic events have forced the character to re-think his goals and attitudes. (This often happens to the Crusader and the Politician.)
Since these Personality Types are not part of an official rule or game mechanic, the player can change them as he chooses. He shouldn't change his character's personality just because he's bored with it, though: Events in the campaign should be the factors which influence this change. Here are some ways it can come about.
The Crusader might achieve his life-long goal, or lead one party too many into death and disaster and realize that all he's doing is hurting people. In this case, he could become embittered and turn into a Hypocrite, playing on his good reputation, or could tone his approach down and become a Motivator, or could achieve a measure of wisdom and become a Sage Counselor.
The Earnest Novice could wise up and realize that the world is a more complicated and unfathomable place than he thought. If he becomes disillusioned by this, he could turn into a Hypocrite. If he simply matures a bit, he'd be a Motivator. If he acquires a specific goal, he could become a Crusader, Politician or Proselytizer. And if he simply acquires a bit of wisdom or perspective, he could become a Philosopher or Sage Counselor.
The Hypocrite could change his personality if he is confronted by the harm he causes and cares at all about it. (If he doesn't care, he won't change.) If he does change, he's likely to become a Crusader (trying to expose and eliminate other Hypocrites), a Politician (so he can gain enough power to weed Hypocrites out of his order), or even a Sage Counselor (who can possibly anticipate the tactics of other charismatic users). 
The Motivator could run out of energy; after too many years of battering himself against the brick wall of an uncaring world, he might tire out. In this case, he's likely to become a more sedate Philosopher or Sage Counselor. He could conceivably become embittered and become a Hypocrite.
The Philosopher isn't likely to change. His personality comes with maturity, not before it. If he does change, it will probably be because he's grown tired of being dull and undramatic, and he's likely to become a Motivator, one anxious for adventure, combat and life in general.
The Politician will probably change only if he perceives that he's doing more than good (and if he minds that). In this case, he'll probably shy away from real responsibility in the future and become a Philosopher.
The Proselytizer is likely to realize that he is not serving his god best simply by converting others to that god's worship. He's likely then to become a Crusader, so that he can avidly pursue one of his god's specific goals; a Motivator, so that he can bring energy to other priests of his order; or a Politician, so that he can improve the stature of his god's worship through reorganization of the priesthood.
The Sage Counselor, like the Philosopher, isn't likely to change; this is a personality that is acquired with experience.
==All Sense and No Brains==
And now we're faced with one of the commonest questions about clerics and druids: How do you role-play a character who has a high Wisdom score and a low Intelligence score? How do you play all sense and no brains within an AD&D® game campaign?
Intelligence deals more with reasoning power, calculating ability, and memory retention. Wisdom deals with common sense, understanding of human nature, and judgement.
So when you're role-playing a character with a low Intelligence and a high Wisdom, try to break down the situations they face into the elements which the character's Intelligence and Wisdom would analyze.
: Example: The characters have come to a rickety bridge which spans a gorge. They need to cross the gorge, but the bridge looks dangerous. Should they cross?
: The character's Intelligence will evaluate the bridge's chances of holding up while they cross over. The character will look at the state of the wood, ropes, nails, how much and where it sags, where it's rotted through, and so on, and then will try to calculate the answer to this question: Will the bridge hold up if the characters cross over? If the character thinks it will, then his reply, regardless of the group's current situation and time available, is Yes: They should cross. If the character thinks it won't, then his reply will be No: They shouldn't.
: The character's Wisdom will compare the risk to their need and situation. The risk is that the bridge will collapse and kill someone, perhaps a party member dear to everyone. What is their current situation? If the party has little time and is being pursued by a superior enemy force, then the risk is necessary, more or less regardless of what the Intelligence thinks of the bridge's chances; the character will say Yes, they must try to cross now. If the party has a good deal of time, then the risk is not necessary; regardless of how safe the Intelligence thinks the bridge is, Wisdom says not to risk it. A human life is not worth it. 
This is the kind of decision-making process the character can undertake if he wishes to role-play a high-Wisdom, low-Intelligence character in a campaign...  and obviously it can lead to great arguments between them and their high-Intelligence, low-Wisdom counterparts.