The Core book lets you create an hierophant, what is his exact rank within the ministorum? Is he a free agent? (like missionaries in RT).
The Core book lets you create an hierophant, what is his exact rank within the ministorum? Is he a free agent? (like missionaries in RT).
The Hierophant Role isn't actually tied to an Ecclesiarchal rank; it just means you're a devout person whose natural inclinations lead you to being someone who can preach and be a bulwark against the unclean (and deal some damage, given the Offense aptitude).
Thus, the Hierophant could be a member of the Ecclesiarchy, or just a devout person. They could have been a chaplain in the Imperial Guard, a lay-brother, a fanatical convert. Any and all options are there.
Edited by MijRai
If you hear someone use the word, in game, it should denote a very high-ranking Priest, but yeah, at character creation, it's more just a theme description, especially as a Hierophant would be attached to a specific church group, or some such, in a specific place, like the head of a sector diocese, while a servant of an Inquisitor must be mobile, go where the threats are, and possibly do so clandestinely. Your church man might have held a great rank, or a small one, before becoming a Throne Agent, but that's their title, now, and their responsibility. Having pull with the Ecclesiarchy, of course, doesn't hurt.
Indeed. It doesn't necessarily correspond to a rank - it's just "person who's naturally inspiring". An Imperial Guard Hierophant could just as easily be an officer yelling commands for the 'Inspire' use of Command.
For formal rank, discuss with GM.
I'd say "whatever rank corresponds to the other PCs' social rank" - so if you've got underhive scum and ex-guardsmen, a local preacher. If colonels and noble-born, a deacon's chaplain or a senior figure from the local Curia (Ecclesiarchal Civil Service).