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Tag Archives: Gods

New Spell – Divine / Infernal Pact

July 21, 2012 11:42 pm / 1 Comment / Chris

New Spell – Divine / Infernal Pact

Cleric and/or Magic User

Level: 1
Casting Time: 1 Day
Duration: Special

Casting this spell contacts a being from another plane, planet or dimension. For clerics, this can be a saint, bodhisattva, demigod, angel, devil… For magic users, the otherworldly being can be a demon, elemental, efreet, primordial chaos god, alien, etc.

The caster then bargains with the being for more power. If the caster is willing to pay the price, then in addition to his normal spells, he gets extra spell slots which can are replinished daily with specific spells granted from this being. It is even possible for clerics to gain magic user spells and vice versa, provided the GM allows it. If this spell is found on a scroll, any character class can do this.

The duration of the pact and the price to be paid varies by player, campaign and GM. For a few extra healing spells, for example, Apollo might require a weekly sacrifice of 10GP’s worth of honey for every 10 HP healed that week. For a fireball spell, Baal might require the sacrifice of a third-level or higher cleric of Ishtar. Or the GM might plant an adventure hook in Mithra’s demand that the Minotaur of Lundimium be smuggled to Crete. St. Michael might want a hospital to be protected during a siege. Whatever the price, the GM should make sure it seems a bit more than the player would like.

Once a pact is over, it’s over and considered satisfied. If obligations are fulfilled to the exact letter if not spirit (that is, if there is trickery that technically works) a lawful supernatural being will consider the matter closed (but not forget). A chaotic or neutral being would likely seek vengeance. Failure is considered the same as breaking a deal and some sort of retribution will be sought.

In order to make this pact, the character must learn the true name of the supernatural being. As you adventure, you will encounter the temples, libraries, statues and churches. You should make notes.  The more information you have about the being, the better your chance of finding its true name. To attempt to learn the true name, you must make chant a daylong ceremony.

To determine your chance of success, roll d% under your score as as calculated below:

Base Percentage = 10%

If you know the being’s life story or important legends: +5%

If the being is related to or in the same pantheon as one you worship or apprentice to or are related to:  +10%

You have at least one holy text: +10%

You have a personal item or relic of the being: +20%

You have at least one graven image or realistic likeness: +10%

You have consulted a library or sage regarding this being and spent at least 1000gp in research: +10%

For your level: +1%

For your wisdom bonus: +1% over 12

If you succeed, you have the name of that god and have contacted it. Most gods will not be happy to be contacted, but here’s your chance. Make the best of it. If you fail, you can never learn the true name of that deity, even if they whispered it in your ear. Sorry.

So there you have it. I’ve worked this over and over in drafts and this seems to be the most reasonable option. Other options had clerics using this method to demand spells of different gods, but gave them way too man spell slots. And I thought magic users contacting the divine and infernal as Stephen Strange might, would be cool.

Thoughts?

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Posted in: house rules, legacy D&D, rules, spells / Tagged: cleric, demons, gods, magic user, spells

The Prophet: An Option for LotFP and B/X Clerics

July 11, 2012 9:51 am / Leave a Comment / Chris

When a cleric is the first of his faith, what would his relationship with his deity be like? This option gives the cleric charm-like powers of conversion and awards XP for building shrines and temples. This is a revision of an earlier post on optional clerical abilities. You can add these two abilities to specific clerics in your campaign or to all of them (if you wanted to have a campaign with strong competition amongst faiths).

Mithras and the Bull: This fresco from the mithraeum at Marino, Italy (third century) shows the tauroctony and the celestial lining of Mithras’ cape.

The Prophet

You were the first to dine with the Sun on midsummer’s day. As you feasted together on the sacrificial bull, the Sun Father gave you the mysteries of communing with the planets though sacred feasting. He initiated you as the first Friend of the Sun and commanded you to spread the mysteries to foreign lands, forsaking your home for now, but to return someday as a conqueror. Father Sun granted you the Voice that lets you perform miracles. 

As a prophet, you are the lone cleric of your faith. You must spread the word as quickly as possible ensure your deity is worshipped in the event you die while adventuring. You can convert others with your powerful oratory, which works similarly to a mage’s charm spell. These converts will become the basis of your congregation when you are ready to establish your own stronghold or abbey. Until you reach name level, you are rewarded with experience points for building smaller shrines and places of worship. Gamewise, this should function similarly to the magical research a mage performs between adventures.

Converting the Unenlightened

You are gifted with the ability to convert others to your fledgling faith through powerful oratory. Although strictly non-magical, your power of persuasion functions exactly as the charm spells magic users employ. Wisdom and Charisma bonuses both apply to your attempts to convert others.

Converting a single person is possible at level 1, converting a monster comes at level 4. Mass Conversion of people is possible at level 6 and mass converting monsters begins at level 9. Converts’ spiritual allegiance is to the god or philosophy you represent and you are the focus of this new faith. This is mechanically simialr to a magic user’s charm spell, so read about your edition’s version of that spell to understand how it works. If a saving throw is successful, you will no longer hold the convert in a charm-like influence. You will still be respected and revered, unless the convert make a 20+ on his saving throw, in which case your faith has lost the convert completely.

Building Shrines

You also get XP from building shrines and small chapels, exactly as magical research works for magic users. Discuss your planned shrine with your GM. Describe the shrine, its purpose, miraculous properties, the artwork and craftsmanship you want, etc. The GM will then assign the cost and time necessary to create this shrine, as well as the reward you will receive. Be aware that if your shrine is desecrated within one year of dedication, you will lose the XP gained immediately and might even fall in level. So it is important to factor in the costs of upkeep and protection, or to hide the shrine well from unbelievers.

If you and the GM can establish an equivalent magical item (if your game has standardized magic items) then it would be easy to establish the XP reward as that which you would get for obtaining it via combat or its coin value if you were to buy it locally.

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Posted in: character class, legacy D&D / Tagged: clerics, gods, rethinking

Defining Faiths in Fantasy Campaigns

June 5, 2012 9:06 am / 6 Comments / Chris

Intro

I’d like to ask for feedback on a template I’ve made for describing religions for fantasy RPGs. This is not a statblock for gods or their avatars, but a way of fleshing out and differentiating the various faiths in your campaign. If you at least partially fill out this template for all the faiths available at the start of a campaign, your cleric can make an informed choice. If you are more collaborative in your campaign development, leave some fields blank and fill them in as the opportunity arises in play. Or you could allow the cleric PC to collaborate in creating the faith.

A list of suggested domains and purviews is at the bottom of this post. It’s taken from my Random God generator (which I’ll be revising soon).

There are some attributes rated from 1 to 20. These help define the organization itself. Is it well organized? Does it tolerate other faiths? Are there many scriptures? There are some notes below and a sample I filled out follows that.

Please let me know if this is unclear, too much work or how I might streamline the explanations.

 

Faith Template

Here is the template as a word file

faith_template

Domain and Purview Notes

These are taken from my Random God Generator. Domain is more general and purview is more specific. Pathfinder GM should write in the terms Portfolio and Domain, respectively.

Attributes of the faith are measured on a scale of 1-20.

Strictness

How strict is the church? How lenient? How many rules and practices are there? With 20 being an Orthodox Jew and 1 being “Can’t we all get along?”

Jealousy

How well does the church tolerate worship of other gods? How much emphasis is put on conversion? With 20 being total intolerant monotheism, and 1 being “all paths lead to one place.”

Revelations

How much has been “revealed” and how much do they generally consider the god’s work to influence lives? With 20 being many epics, testaments, scriptures, commentaries and sutras and 1 being “Crom sleeps. That is all.”

Organization

How organized is the faith’s hierarchy? With 20 being the Catholic Church and 1 being a bunch of loosely acquainted meditators in the woods.

Popularity

This stat that can be used to determine randomly whether there is a congregation in a given community. As the GM, you should determine on a scale of 1-20 how popular the faith is in the nation or region where the party is currently. This also lets the cleric PC know where his church is in the pecking order. A well-prepared GM will think ahead whether this faith is popular in neighboring areas as well. When coming up with this number, consider whether it is a minority faith, whether it belongs to a minority race or culture and what level of religious tolerance the local leaders display.

To randomly check whether a community has a congregation, add the number of digits in the area’s population to the faith’s popularity for that locale. Apply any gut modifiers you think should apply and then roll a d20. A roll under the target number means there is a congregation. It might in in hiding, of course, but it should be there.

Example: The Cult of Torusk has a popularity of 5 in the Principality of Argylle. A cleric of Torusk wants to find a shrine so he can perform an absolution and perhaps find a friendly face. The party has just entered Old Bosk, a city of 12,500. The GM asks the cleric for the popularity number (5) and adds 5 more for the five digits in the population number. He also decides that Old Bosk used to be far more tolerant than now, and it’s slightly more likely there’s a shrine to Torusk than in the surrounding countryside based on that (+2). So 5+5+2 is 12. The cleric rolls 1d20 and gets a 7. The GM says there’s a shrine, but that it will take some urban exploration to find it.

Example Faith Profiles

I’ve used as an example a few locations in the northern part of a campaign setting. The Church of the Aesir is the dominant and national church of Nordland. But it has not gotten a lot of traction in neighboring countries.

Example 2

Domains and Purviews

List of Domains and Purviews
Roll d100 Domain Purview
1 Household Play
2 Household Fertility/Harvest/Babies
3 Household Health/Disease
4 Household Hunt
5 Household Hearth
6 Household Doors/Household Safety
7 Household Baking
8 Household Wine/Beer
9 Household Sewing/Weaving
10 Household Wealth
11 Household Household Item
12 Household Food (particular)
13 Household Important Commodity
14 Household Male Virility
15 Household Bridges/Gates/Crossing/Crossroads
16 Household Fidelity/Adultery
17 Household Animal Husbandry
18 Household Gossip/Reputation
19 Household Books/Scrolls
20 Household Important Domestic Animal/Insect
21 Human Endeavors Invention
22 Human Endeavors War
23 Human Endeavors Indulgence
24 Human Endeavors Theft/Kidnapping
25 Human Endeavors Travel/Hospitality to Strangers
26 Human Endeavors Sailing
27 Human Endeavors Building
28 Human Endeavors Exploration/Adventure
29 Human Endeavors Cannibalism
30 Human Endeavors Honor/Justice/Vengeance
31 Human Endeavors Trade/Commerce/Unexpected Windfalls
32 Human Endeavors Slavery/Freedom
33 Human Endeavors Learning/Ignorance
34 Human Endeavors Hiding
35 Human Endeavors Art/Poetry
36 Human Endeavors Healing
37 Human Endeavors Protector of Our People
38 Human Endeavors Mining
39 Human Endeavors Sport
40 Human Endeavors Gambling
41 Nature Animal
42 Nature Mountains
43 Nature Night
44 Nature Oceans
45 Nature Season (1d4: Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter)
46 Nature Plants/Woods
47 Nature Predominant Local Climate/Weather Type
48 Nature Fresh Waters
49 Nature Natural Disasters
50 Nature Thunder / Storms /Monsoon Season
51 Nature Death/Destruction
52 Nature Sun
53 Nature Moon
54 Nature Planet/Stars
55 Nature Air
56 Nature Fire
57 Nature Earth
58 Nature Water (all)
59 Nature Natural Beauty
60 Nature Decay (and rebirth)
61 Personal King/Pharoah/Emperor
62 Personal Queen/Empress
63 Personal Consort
64 Personal Parent of (roll again)
65 Personal Child
66 Personal Aescetic/Hermit
67 Personal Bastard
68 Personal Hero
69 Personal Villain
70 Personal Monster
71 Personal Traitorous Advisor
72 Personal Criminal
73 Personal Folk Hero
74 Personal Wise man/Wizard
75 Personal Brother/Sister
76 Personal Twins
77 Personal General
78 Personal Physician
79 Personal Martyr
80 Personal Roll Twice
81 Spirit Wisdom
82 Spirit Compassion
83 Spirit Tricks
84 Spirit Protection from Spirits
85 Spirit Miracles
86 Spirit Afterlife
87 Spirit Pre-life
88 Spirit Karma
89 Spirit Undead
90 Spirit Laughter
91 Spirit Song
92 Spirit Love/Sex
93 Spirit Destiny/Fate
94 Spirit Dreams
95 Spirit Fear/Bravery
96 Spirit Greed/Generosity
97 Spirit Jealousy/Equanimity
98 Spirit Hate/Love (non-romantic)
99 Spirit Abstinance/Indulgence
100 Spirit Bardo (Trial grounds between lifetimes)

 

 

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Posted in: legacy D&D, Organization / Tagged: campaign background, clerics, gods, religion

Random God Generator

May 23, 2012 11:53 am / 13 Comments / Chris

This last post in the Bring It series of reader requests comes from Twitter (my handle = @creepingdoom). [update: I got a request in the comments yesterday, so this is penultimate. I will take a short break from reader requests to get some ideas out of my system then we’ll get back to reader requests.]

All right, Daniel (may I call you Daniel?). I hope this is useful to you.

Random God Generator for Fantasy Campaigns

(also makes saints, bodhisattvas & demigods)

Nature of Being

First, if you haven’t decided what this being is, roll for nature

Roll 1d8 Nature of Being
1 Saint
2 Avatar
3 Demigod
4 Reincarnated Emanation/Bodhisattva
5 Local Diety/Spirit
6 Titan/Being/Alien
7 Omnipotent/Omniscient
8 Personified Concept (no strictness or jealousy)

Domain

Then, you can either skip ahead to roll the Deity’s purview or you can roll here for a domain.

Roll 1d10 Deity’s Domain
1 Household
2 Household + roll again
3 Human Endeavors
4 Human Endeavers + roll again
5 Nature
6 Nature + roll again
7 Personal
8 Personal + roll again
9 Spirit
10 Spirit + roll again

Deities in the personal domain are or were living beings who either were gods/demigods/avatars or they became them after death, coronation, etc. They might not have a particular purview or they might develop one after generations of worship.

Purview

Roll d100 for a totally random purview in any domain or if you already have a domain chosen, roll 1d20 and consult columns 2 and 3. Note that some purviews are opposite sides of a coin. You can choose, flip a coin or make the same god responsible for both sides of the coin (one might pray to the goddess of slavery for freedom, for example).

Roll d100 Domain Roll 1d5 for Domain then 1d20 for Purview Purview
1 Household 1 Play
2 Household 2 Fertility/Harvest/Babies
3 Household 3 Health/Disease
4 Household 4 Hunt
5 Household 5 Hearth
6 Household 6 Doors/Household Safety
7 Household 7 Baking
8 Household 8 Wine/Beer
9 Household 9 Sewing/Weaving
10 Household 10 Wealth
11 Household 11 Household Item
12 Household 12 Food (particular)
13 Household 13 Important Commodity
14 Household 14 Male Virility
15 Household 15 Bridges/Gates/Crossing/Crossroads
16 Household 16 Fidelity/Adultery
17 Household 17 Animal Husbandry
18 Household 18 Gossip/Reputation
19 Household 19 Books/Scrolls
20 Household 20 Important Domestic Animal/Insect
21 Human Endeavors 1 Invention
22 Human Endeavors 2 War
23 Human Endeavors 3 Indulgence
24 Human Endeavors 4 Theft/Kidnapping
25 Human Endeavors 5 Travel/Hospitality to Strangers
26 Human Endeavors 6 Sailing
27 Human Endeavors 7 Building
28 Human Endeavors 8 Exploration/Adventure
29 Human Endeavors 9 Cannibalism
30 Human Endeavors 10 Honor/Justice/Vengeance
31 Human Endeavors 11 Trade/Commerce/Unexpected Windfalls
32 Human Endeavors 12 Slavery/Freedom
33 Human Endeavors 13 Learning/Ignorance
34 Human Endeavors 14 Hiding
35 Human Endeavors 15 Art/Poetry
36 Human Endeavors 16 Healing
37 Human Endeavors 17 Protector of Our People
38 Human Endeavors 18 Mining
39 Human Endeavors 19 Sport
40 Human Endeavors 20 Gambling
41 Nature 1 Animal
42 Nature 2 Mountains
43 Nature 3 Night
44 Nature 4 Oceans
45 Nature 5 Season (1d4: Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter)
46 Nature 6 Plants/Woods
47 Nature 7 Predominant Local Climate/Weather Type
48 Nature 8 Fresh Waters
49 Nature 9 Natural Disasters
50 Nature 10 Thunder / Storms /Monsoon Season
51 Nature 11 Death/Destruction
52 Nature 12 Sun
53 Nature 13 Moon
54 Nature 14 Planet/Stars
55 Nature 15 Air
56 Nature 16 Fire
57 Nature 17 Earth
58 Nature 18 Water (all)
59 Nature 19 Natural Beauty
60 Nature 20 Decay (and rebirth)
61 Personal 1 King/Pharoah/Emperor
62 Personal 2 Queen/Empress
63 Personal 3 Consort
64 Personal 4 Parent of (roll again)
65 Personal 5 Child
66 Personal 6 Aescetic/Hermit
67 Personal 7 Bastard
68 Personal 8 Hero
69 Personal 9 Villain
70 Personal 10 Monster
71 Personal 11 Traitorous Advisor
72 Personal 12 Criminal
73 Personal 13 Folk Hero
74 Personal 14 Wise man/Wizard
75 Personal 15 Brother/Sister
76 Personal 16 Twins
77 Personal 17 General
78 Personal 18 Physician
79 Personal 19 Martyr
80 Personal 20 Roll Twice
81 Spirit 1 Wisdom
82 Spirit 2 Compassion
83 Spirit 3 Tricks
84 Spirit 4 Protection from Spirits
85 Spirit 5 Miracles
86 Spirit 6 Afterlife
87 Spirit 7 Pre-life
88 Spirit 8 Karma
89 Spirit 9 Undead
90 Spirit 10 Laughter
91 Spirit 11 Song
92 Spirit 12 Love/Sex
93 Spirit 13 Destiny/Fate
94 Spirit 14 Dreams
95 Spirit 15 Fear/Bravery
96 Spirit 16 Greed/Generosity
97 Spirit 17 Jealousy/Equanimity
98 Spirit 18 Hate/Love (non-romantic)
99 Spirit 19 Abstinance/Indulgence
100 Spirit 20 Bardo (Trial grounds between lifetimes)

Form

Roll 1d8 for appearance (if applicable). If you roll twice, combine the two (animal headed human, panther made of swords, whatever).

Roll 1d8 Form
1 Human
2 Humanoid /Demihuman / Unusual Human
3 Animal
4 Object from Nature
5 Natural Process (wind, fire, etc.)
6 Man-made Object
7 Monster
8 Roll Twice

Symbol

Roll 1d8 for a symbol. If you roll twice, there are more than one (cross and fish, tree and wheel, fire and winged man, etc.). Or combine those as well.

Roll 1d8 Symbol
1 Weapon
2 Tool/Household Object
3 Animal
4 Manmade Symbol/Letter
5 Natural Object
6 Monster
7 Body Part
8 Roll Twice

Colors

Every team needs a color or two. Roll 1d10.

Roll 1d10 Color(s)
1 Red
2 Orange
3 Yellow
4 Green
5 Blue
6 Indigo
7 Violet
8 Black
9 White
10 Roll Twice: Mix or Pattern

Offerings

This is what you have to bring to appease/propitiate the deity. Obviously roll again if the result doesn’t fit your campaign.

Roll 1d10 Offerings
1 Animal Sacrifice
2 Plants
3 Humans
4 Money
5 Work
6 Art
7 Goods/Commodities
8 Food/Water/Drink
9 Fasting/Deprivation
10 Help Others

Other Aspects

Roll 1d10 to determine other aspects of that deity on a scale of 1 to 10.

Strictness 1 = Forgiving 10 = Unforgiving
Jealousy 1 = No Proselytizing 10 = Convert the World
Opacity 1 = No Revelations 10 = Many Scriptures
Posse 1 = Random Lone believers 10 = Ecclesiatical Hierarchy

There you have it. As always, these tables are meant to inspire and you should feel free to pick and choose, ignore rolls or entire tables if you already have some ideas where you care going with this.

Any ideas for additions? Post them below.

Still reading? You must love Tables or Clerics!

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Posted in: content, legacy D&D / Tagged: bring it, clerics, gods, tables

Ten Temples

March 19, 2012 10:02 am / 4 Comments / Chris

John on December 26, 2011 at 6:43 pm said:

If we’re allowed to make more than one request, I find myself in need of a bunch of weird-ass temples for the city I’m building. Ten of them, say. But only if you run out of suggestions; I wouldn’t want to be prioritised over someone who hasn’t made a request yet.

Temple of the Swarm

Billions of insects, centipedes, spiders and other crawling creatures carpet a large pit in the center of this temple. Supplicants make a donation and are given one of the insects, which they may take home, set free or even burn to make a wish. Worshippers may also sacrifice themselves to the swarm in order to purify bad deeds, end personal suffering or show devotion.

Temple of Boros

Worshippers are dropped into random points in this large, multi-storied maze. Those who make it out must have been blessed by the gods. Others are likely dead at the hands of monsters, traps and other men and women who have found a way to live there.

Temple of Dedication (Cult of Owrox)

Families who make deals with the cult of Owrox sometimes offer lifetime servitude of children or grandchildren in exchange for the release of souls the god has captured. In order to ensure a contract is honored, these young slaves are sent here to commune with the captive souls of their ancestors. There are over a hundred small alcoves throughout the temple where crystal balls can be ‘attuned’ to a specific soul. For most, merely speaking with the departed is enough to scare them into being faithful. Some of the kinder imprisoned souls manage to establish warm relations with their living kin. Others browbeat their descendants. In all cases, the servant must touch the crystal ball and ‘feel’ the helplessness and doom the captured spirit feels. This is the existence the contract breaker faces if the terms are not fulfilled. This is why Owrox has few defectors.

Temple of Batrubis

This temple is home to a 50 foot giant, who sits on a throne. Because he has magical talents that can be performed at will, and because he’s, well, a fifty foot giant who says he’s a god, he is worshipped as a living deity. Believers take great pride in the fact that their god, unlike others, can be seen and worshipped in person.

Temple of the Golden Bliss

A thousand monastics have found paradise here. They sit surrounding a golden ball of light and experience life in a perfect place. Their bodily functions slow to almost nothing, so that they may sit for days at a time. In their minds, this prayer/meditation takes them to a place of perfection. Corpses of those who die in this state are carried out by acolytes who hope to take their place someday. Unknown to the cult: The ball of light is an elemental from a positive energy plane. It has mass ESP and can cast flawless telepathic illusions. It feeds on the misdirected spiritual energy in its presence.

The Temple of Graves

The graves in this temple are smashed icons, idols and other religious artifacts. The acolytes here accept these for any reason whatsoever. Some are brought by those who have lost faith. Others are captured in foreign lands and are brought here by returning travelers and soldiers who want to dispose of the objects but fear supernatural reprisals. Some of the smashed artifacts are still quite valuable and possibly quite cursed. While presented to outsiders as a service, this temple is run by mages, who, being chaotic, seek to reduce the influence of gods in the world.

The Sunken Temple

The Sea God does not send major storms or red tides to the Island of Siros so long as his temple is packed with worshippers. When an earthquake sent part of the island into the sea a thousand years past, the temple was submerged. The local priesthood realized the only way to end a decade of storms that followed was to fill the temple with worshippers. Lots were drawn and the chosen drowned. Using a number of submerged air tents and caves, divers were able to chain these chosen to the pews. As these bodies decay, they must be replaced. When the supply of criminals and unwary travelers runs out, lots are chosen. Tritons and Merfolk sometimes interfere with this temple. What right have land creatures to even imagine a sea god?

Secret Temple of Yuchen-Domma

The fake temple is upstairs. It is dedicated to an obscure, harmless and minor goddess from some foreign land. The real temple is hidden below and is dedicated to Yuchen-Domma, goddess of the dirge. Members of her inner circle have quarters here.

In a cavernous inner chamber, followers and captives of her cult are wander about listlessly, singing a section of her dirge of hopelessness. This dirge functions as a protection from chaos and protection from good spell for all followers in the temple. It also delivers -5% HP per round (five percent of maximum HP, rounding up) to anyone in the chamber or areas immediately around it who is not also singing the dirge and has not plugged their ears (which only halves the effect). Anyone hearing it for more than a round will be able to join without knowing the words or the melody (no one knows the meaning). Clerics and paladins who join in will offend their patron deities greatly and must undergo a quest immediately after leaving the temple or face the wrath of their god. Mages and chaotic characters who join in will lose the ability to speak in 1-3 days (The DM should determine an appropriate cure). Elves vaguely recognize the tune but cannot remember where they might have heard it before.

Vantu’s Prison

The priests of the Confidence of Alaf have for aeons held poor Vantu prisoner. The pitiable god was captured by Alaf, companion to a great hero in epic days past. Alaf is not a god, but he, and through the ages his confidants, tortured Vantu until he granted divine powers and spells to the order.

Vantu appears as a frail, incoherent man shackled to a wall (or on rack or other torture device) in an obscure torture chamber in the basement of the temple. The temple above resembles a museum more than a temple. Tapestries, paintings and performances recount the Epic of Eidivir, inflating the role of Alaf, of course.

Cathedral of Crom’s Slumber (Eastern)

Here the Great Dreamer of the Eastern Order of the Holy Rest slumbers, stirring only every few days to eat and drink. In her sleep, she communes with the previous great sleepers who have passed to the underworld. She acts as the conduit for communication between the church and the underworld, relaying blessings, spells and status reports on events that might disturb Crom and wake him (and cause all nations and people to battle until hardly a man walks under the sun).

It is essential that no one make noise here. The floors and walls are covered with rugs and tapestries. The priests take vows of whispering and refrain from even casting silence spells   except in emergencies. If adventurers find their way in and make noise, wear boots, etc., the priests will do everything in their power to silence them first, then kill them if necessary (They are lawful neutral).

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Posted in: campaign window dressing, content, legacy D&D / Tagged: bring it, clerics, gods, temples

Clerics Who Weaken the Gods Part 1

May 18, 2011 4:46 pm / 2 Comments / Chris

Tolhoth was originally a tribal god, but became a god of war as his tribe conquered its neighbors and founded a nation. Quite apart from the struggles of his worshippers, he waged war in the realm of the jealous gods, a dimension of unending strife between many gods.

As his earthly following grew, his own victories diminished in glory and reward, eventually leading to a string of stalemates and eventually defeats. He descended to the earth and consulted the Great Oracle of Pellan, whose vision extended throughout all dimensions. She told him that as he was victorious on earth, he would suffer defeat in the sky.

Tolhoth appeared as a fiery giant towering over the tops of mountains, destroying every person and every temple in every city of village where he was venerated. Nothing remained of the nation that had worshipped him, and the neighbors swarmed in to take possession of anything of value that remained.

Speaking his name became taboo, lest it be mistaken for a prayer and invite his wrath.

On occasion someone is born with a connection to Tolhoth. Although they don’t know the name of the great being they are connected to, they can feel his might and they are, for all intents, clerics. They might found their own cult or they might keep what they know to themselves.

In either case, they draw power away from Tolhoth, who no longer bothers to look upon the earth. He is too drawn into his cosmic wars to feel even the slightest sensation. Should he somehow learn of these clerics, he would undoubtedly find some way to destroy them, either in person or by proxy.

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Posted in: content, legacy D&D / Tagged: gods, religion, reverse clerics

Healing the Undead : Post 100

March 11, 2011 11:19 pm / 1 Comment / Chris

Clerical healing should recompose the body of the decayed undead. Skeletons, zombies, ghouls, wights, mummies, liches all take damage from cure light wounds, cure serious wounds and heal.  Higher-level undead such as liches would get a saving throw against healing. Mummies too, if you think that’s reasonable. I don’t count vampires in this at all, but you can if you want.

If an undead is healed an amount equal to its HP, the body is completely recomposed and the spirit is briefly recalled to the body in order to die again. If it helps the adventure or mood, the dearly unparted might have time to say something brief on the way back out.

I can think of one way this might be useful. One of my favorite deities posted here is Owrox, who abducts souls for ransom. If a magic user were to animate a body, then a cleric heal it back, the soul would be recalled briefly. If if could be directed to its proper destination somehow, that would allow escape from Owrox or some similar demon. And it just might work. Once.

The enmity of a soul-stealer would be a tremendous burden for anyone who tried such a thing. And of course how would you ever find a cleric and a mage in the same party of people? Someone would have to be awfully rich to do such a thing…

Note: I have no idea if this is already in place in more recent editions. If so, well it wouldn’t be the first time. I’m playing in my first game of post 1e D&D in a few weeks, in a Pathfinder mini-campaign.

Also, this is post 100.

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Posted in: house rules, legacy D&D, monsters / Tagged: gods, magic, spells, undead

Freelance Clerics

January 21, 2011 12:02 am / 4 Comments / Chris

I already mentioned before that I think in LotFP, all clerics should be lawful.

I am also thinking that there is an interesting way to turn the patron deity/cleric relationship on its head. Suppose the gods were these patterns, these memes or urges that seek to impose a specific vision of law on the universe. All of those gods would be in a pitched war against chaos and arcane magic.

But suppose further that, at least in some cultures, a cleric is not the priest of a particular god or even a pantheon of gods. Suppose the cleric enters a trance state nightly and communes with the various gods she has in her spiritual rolodex. She can get healing spells from a healing god, protection spells from a god of protection and maybe sticks to snakes from a snake god. And when she is introduced to a new, more powerful god, she gets a higher level spell or a new spell.

In this relationship, there is no loyalty. I’m the cleric, I can channel your energy onto this plane, giving you a fleeting moment of existence and a slightly better toehold on this plane. If you have a problem with how I am using it, I can easily find another god.

This isn’t to say there isn’t some loyalty or even complete belief and loyalty in the gods. Paladins could be the true believers in this scenario (although I’ve never liked them).  Up to you to play with it.

On my map, which is just a doodle at this point, there’s a country where magic use and lycanthropy are more common than anywhere else. I think here, the clerics freelance in this manner.

And if I am reinventing the wheel and there’s been patron-less clerics since 3e, please let me know in the comments below.

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Posted in: campaign window dressing, house rules, legacy D&D / Tagged: clerics, gods, lotfp wf rpg

Clerics are Lawful Part 2

January 3, 2011 4:56 pm / 1 Comment / Chris
Kosh

Yesterday I decided that it makes all the sense in the world to make all clerics’ alignment lawful, provided you are playing in an old school sword and sorcery campaign where Law and Chaos are the important axis of conflict. I think this makes even more sense if you are playing LotFP Weird Fantasy, where all magic users and elves are aligned with chaos.

Mages and elves tap into chaos to get power and further their own ends, but clerics are ‘given’ power and must stay within certain boundaries in order to get that power. The gods are order manifest in various forms. They might be considered agents of a common source, inhabitants of a Plane of Law or anthropomorphic templates of competing laws. Even a god of luck or a god that seems fickle or destructive is lawful.

Law is mind. Chaos is mindless.

Kosh

"Yes"

Where does that leave druids? Good question! They are on the side of nature, which is neutral because it is made up of the two and is caught up in the struggle. A druid gets her power from hugging trees and cutting holly branches.

In the setting I am creating, the world is in a time period where the power has tilted away from chaos and is moving back toward the middle. The gods will be getting their power back and renewing ancient feuds, requiring artifacts found in old ruins and secret places. Great orders of knights and clerics will begin rooting out the agents of chaos, dispelling their miracles. Sorcerers and madmen will look for portals through which to summon chaos, the stuff of power. Druids will hope to protect the world and maintain the balance. The elves will fight for survival, questing for long lost elven magic, which was far superior to the human spells they’ve had to learn. Halflings will try to take control of the land from tall men and dwarves will hide below, hoping to avoid the whole damn showdown.

But that’s all big picture malarky. Adventurers? They’re hoping there’s some coin in it.

Everyone is excused from the rest of the post, but if you are interested in using some of the gods I’ve posted before, I listed them below as I checked for a chaotic god.

Adu and Adu-Nunna: Struggling to take over or free the world of suffering. Lawful (evil/good)

Owrox: Soul ransomer, devil. Lawful (evil)

No-God: Doesn’t exist, but the only follower believes in order without gods, so lawful (neutral).

The Six Gods of Slorrs: Ok, rolling randomly to see which deity you serve today might seem chaotic. But they each have their own rule and punishment for wayward clerics so they are each lawful (varies). Wow, I reread this one and pity any PC cleric who picks the Six!

Pallas is her own high priestess, so that sort of bootstrapping go-getter would be lawful (neutral).

The Church of the Aesir and the orthodox Odinites are lawful (varies).

Yuchen-Domma is lawful evil in the extreme. She works to bring the world under the spell of her dirge.

Poor, tortured Vantus grants spells under duress, but the clerics who have him captive are definitely lawful evil.

The Order of the Holy Rest (Crom) are lawful quiet.

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Posted in: house rules, legacy D&D, spells / Tagged: alignment, chaos, clerics, gods, house rules, law, lotfp wf rpg

All Clerics are Lawful

January 2, 2011 3:14 pm / 5 Comments / Chris

I started compiling a list of house rules and ideas for running a game just as soon as I finish school this spring. The ruleset will be LotFP Weird Fantasy, either boxed set or the upcoming grindhouse edition, but I could put forth this argument for any sword and sorcery, law vs. chaos campaign.

In LotFP, magic users (and elves) draw their magic from the forces of chaos. They are tapping into a power source to make reality not-as-it-should-be. They are using chaos to cheat reality.

I’d go further for my game and all clerics must be lawful (keeping in mind this doesn’t mean ‘good’). Why?

A cleric has aligned himself with a god or religious axiom that in most cases is seeking to grow and copy itself onto reality, making all of reality bend to the will of that god or belief set. Any cleric (or god, if they do actually independently exist in your setting)  would believe that his or her way is the right way, the way it should be. All other ways should be either destroyed, subjugated or exist only according to the terms set forth by a cleric’s god. There are no exceptions and this is no compromise.

This is the sort of will that is needed to become a cleric, with the power to cast spells, heal, etc. Anyone can be a priest, monk or mere believer. To be a cleric, it’s all or nothing on behalf of your religion.

That sounds lawful to me.

Notice I didn’t say all gods have to be lawful. Where would be without the gods of chaos? Perhaps. A god of chaos, it could be argued, can have lawful clerics because the every whim of that god is as good as law to that cleric.

But if we approach alignment not from a personal belief system and look at it as taking a side in a great cosmic struggle between two forces (which is how LotFP approaches it), then probably not. A chaotic god would not have clerics. She might have priests, mages, sorcerers  and shamans in her employ. She might be able to teach new arcane spells to her followers through ritual, she might even grant boons to her servants that function as spells, but she wouldn’t have clerics.

A recent post by James Raggi hints that the grindhouse edition of LotFP will be tweaked to put the cleric and the mage more at odds with one another, which is something I have been moving towards in this blog over the last year. It will take some work to make sure the two classes can work together in a single party.

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Posted in: legacy D&D, Uncategorized / Tagged: alignment, chaos, clerics, gods, house rules, law, lotfp wf rpg

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