# Piety If your campaign involves cultures where a religious dedication is part of daily life (such as some material regions like [[Celterra]] or [[Ividel]]), the Piety score may be used as a means of measuring a character’s devotion to that religion. The Piety ability is useful in any campaign that revolves around orders of priests, bishops, cardinals, clergymen, etc. who band together to worship a certain religious institution, figure, or deity. Piety measures not only a character’s devotion to a religion but also the character’s understanding of it. The Piety score can also reflect how others perceive a character’s piety. A character with a high Piety usually has a reputation for being pure, devote, faithful (or other qualities held highly by the devotee's religion), especially those who have high Piety scores themselves. Unlike fundamental abilities, Piety can’t be raised with normal ability score increases. Instead, you can be awarded increases to Piety—or receive reductions—based on a character’s actions. At the end of an adventure, if a character’s actions in the adventure reflected well or poorly on his or her understanding of the religion, they may gain an increase or suffer a decrease to their piety by 1. As with other ability scores, a character’s Piety can’t exceed 20 or fall below 1. ## Piety Checks Piety checks can be used in social situations, much as Wisdom or Charisma would, when a character’s understanding of a religion or belief system is the most defining factor in the way a social interaction will play out. You might also call for a Piety check when a character is in one of the following situations: - Being unsure how to act with grace or devotion - Surrendering to the will of your deity - Trying to determine another character’s Piety score - Trying to use the proper scriptures, mantras, etc. in a delicate social situation - Using his or her admirable or disgraceful status in a religious institution or hierarchy to influence someone else (with the same or contradicting beliefs) ## Piety Saves A Piety save comes into play when you want to determine whether a character might inadvertently do something disgraceful, sacrilegious or sinful. You might call for a Piety save in the following situations: - Avoiding an accidental breach of grace, faith, hope, or devotion - Resisting the urge to respond to church or temple orders or restrictions from those higher in a religious hierarchy - Recognizing when an enemy attempts to trick a character into a breach of piety or devotion