Shattered Kingdoms

No, it isn't required for people to join a religion. In fact if a shaman joined a religion, he or she would lose his powers.

Religions are divided between good, neutral, and evil gods. Type "help pantheon" to see your options. Some lightie religions would accept a neutral person (Aludra or Zavijah perhaps) while I guess others would probably not (Dulrik, Alshain) but it depends on the current characters. All neutral religions are likely to accept anyone from any alignment. Darkie religions are probably more likely to invest neutral characters, but I bet a few (Dabi, for instance) would only accept evil characters. There are IC books and references, plus you can ask characters about their religions for more information.

Ain is a god who has two denominations, good (Balance/Scale) and evil (Order/Eye). They are treated as two separate religions and receive different symbols. The only neutral alignment that either denomination would accept is dogmatic, and you could choose whether you want to follow Balance or Order.

Druids and Harlequins are two cabals that have the least amount of alignment restrictions, if any. Otherwise, cabals are broken down into dark (Crucible, Midnight Council - which would accept dogmatic characters) and light (Hammer, Fist - which has accepted dogmatic characters but it is very rare).

There are also tribunals which are a little different than cabals. No special skills, but you can order law NPCs and protect the city. These aren't too alignment restrictive, but different leaders will have different rules. You can join the Black Hand of the Aghelian wastelands, the Talons of Zhenshi, the Peacekeepers of Taslamar, or the Guardians of Ayamao, but you must be a citizen of the nation in order to be in its tribunal.

Midnight Council in the Empire is unique because it functions as both a tribunal and a cabal. You can order NPCs AND receive special spells.

So a neutral character (if not dogmatic) would have no chance in joining four of the six cabals?

An anarchist or unscrupulous character would not normally be accepted into the Hammer of Light, as the Hammer is made up (traditionally) of over-zealous individuals who want to go around killing evil. The Fist would not normally accept such a character because they would be seen as too chaotic and unable to adhere to their strict guidelines (they are stoic monks, traditionally). Other cabals that would traditionally reject such an alignment would be the Crucible of Shadows and perhaps the Midnight Council as they are just looking for a different type of character.

That is not to say that there are no examples of such a character joining any of these cabals. There certainly are examples. It really depends on the quality of roleplay you bring and the make up of the current leadership of each cabal.

I wouldn't say that you are flat out restricted based on your alignment from joining a cabal. It just wouldn't be considered traditional.

That's a generally accurate statement. Hammer and Crucible are strictly dark or light aura, even dogmatics aren't allowed I don't think. The only greys I could see being allowed into the Fist would be dogmatic, and even then that seems pretty far-fetched. The MC probably has the most leeway, but as for greys, you're only going to see unscrupulous and dogmatic greys in there, not anarchists unless there just wasn't anyone to know alignment you before you were inducted or you happened to have a very liberal leader to induct you.

Also, a neutral character would be able to join the tribunals - esp. the Talons, Guardians, Peacekeepers with ease. I'm not sure about the Black Hand, but I bet they'd let someone join if they were the right fit.

This is an interesting thread.

This depends on the intersections of the visions of the faction leaders and immortal contacts for those tribunals. The latter can and has overriden the former in some cases, and precedents do evolve.