Church
The church or chapel is a recurring element in the Dragon Quest series. Every main-series game since Dragon Quest II has had churches, and many spinoff games feature them as well.
Churches are devoted to various religions depending on the game, but usually profess the worship of a particular creator deity such as Rubiss or the Goddess.
Churches are most commonly serviced by a pastor, but may also be found under the care of nuns, Zenithians or others.
Churches provide several important services to players:
- Confession: The pastor will record all of the Hero's deeds; this functions as the game's save system, replacing the previous password-based systems. The player will begin at the church they last saved at when they resume play.
- Resurrection: Resurrect party members who have fallen in battle, reviving them with a small amount of HP (usually 1/8th of their max, or simply 1 HP).
- Exorcism: Remove curse status effect from an afflicted party member.
- Purification: Remove poison status effect from an afflicted party member.
- Divination: States the number of Experience Points the party members must gain in order to reach their next levels of experience.
All services except for confession and divination require a donation to the church, which escalates as characters level up.