Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Pogroms

Pogroms are attacks perpetrated against religious congregations or temples that are not part of the accepted social culture - defined as any religious group not represented among the elite classes in local authority. Religious persecution may occur in any part of the world and may take many forms, so that pogroms may be carried out against pagan cults, the religions of foreigners, missions founded upon the fringes of animistic societies and schisms within the same religion.

Famous subjects of pogroms would include the Jews of Europe, the Cathars, Gnostics, both Sunnis and Sufis and Christian settlements in Africa and America, Protestants vs. Catholics and Christians vs. Presbyterians . . . but in effect any minority congregation may be targeted for its isolated beliefs. It should be noted that the more successful - and therefore visible - an outside religious congregation is, the greater the perceived threat and the more likely a pogrom will occur.

To be counted as visible, a religion contrary to the social culture must have its temple located in a hex group of IV or less. Otherwise, the temple is considered to exist on the fringes of the culture and therefore can be safely ignored. Congregations existing in hex groups of V, VI or VII need not roll to see if pogroms occur. However, should such a hex increase its number of inhabitants to where its infrastructure becomes a IV, then that temple and congregation would have to begin rolling the chance of a pogrom occurring each month.

This chance is quite low. The character overseeing the local temple must roll against the % of potential worshippers within the local 2-mile hex. Note that the actual worshippers are not the measure, since it is a perceived threat, not an actual threat, that will initiate the pogrom. Note also that the participants in the pogrom will probably not be persons local to the congregation's hex - but rather, outsiders who have indirect ties to the locality (they may originate from any part of the political region - and may in fact be soldiers directed to commit the pogrom by the kingdom's elite).

If this percentage is rolled on a d100, the character then rolls 2d6. If a two results - snake eyes - then a pogrom results.

(Content for determination of pogrom form to be added later; this is a placeholder.  List should include arson, mass murder and forced migration - though the last does not fall technically under the definition of the word 'pogrom,' in game terms the word pogrom is being used to cover negative action being used against outsider religions)

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