I probably should have posted this sooner, but I didn't have the DCCRPG versions of the clerics and their duties finished until a couple of days ago. Now that my test game is in full gear, I thought I should take the time to post the write-ups for the clerics of Ormazd, Elyr, and Gorhan. These all existed prior to the DCCRPG, but I've modified them to the new format.
***
Ormazd the sun God L-G
The Sun God is one of the oldest of the Gods and was being worshiped by the Sphinx and Naga races long before the arrival of the Dragon Kings. His worshipers can be found everywhere that the Sun shines, but the center and cradle of the church of Ormazd is within the vast southern deserts. The Sun God is locked into an eternal struggle against his Twin Brother Ahriman, the Lord of Darkness.
You can always recognize a cleric of the Phoenix Lord, during the day they sparkle & have no shadow. At night they radiate light based on level. The minions of Ahriman are easy to distinguish due to their lack of pulse and the fact that they are still moving about. Any folk who use, study, or sell such knowledge are also considered minions of Ahirman, but are usually given a chance to repent of their evil. Additionally the clerics of Ormazd are charged with clearing away the shadows, literally, figuratively, intellectually, and spiritually. To that end they have been given several powers.
- All clerics of Ormazd are granted a nimbus of light radius = 10ft/ level. Its brightness is equal to 1 torch per level, though there is no harm or penalty to gaze upon the cleric. At 2nd level the cleric may impose a -1 penalty / level upon all who gaze upon them; willpower save vs. DC= 8+cleric level to overcome this radiance. This penalty applies to anyone attempting an action that requires looking at the cleric. At 3rd level the light counts as actual sunlight for all purposes. At 4th level they gain the ability to provide warmth when it's cold, or shelter folks from the suns harshness. At 5th level they gain the ability to gather their auras into a bolt that may be hurled at a foe. They get +5 to hit, and the bolt does 5d4 damage. This power may be invoked up to 1x / level/ day; for 1 round (starting when the bolt is thrown) the cleric has no aura of light and thus no benefits for others.
- Sun Phase Magic: the ebb and flow of the sun over the course of the seasons has an effect upon clerics of Ormazd. Their power is at its zenith on the Summer Solstice (July 14) and at its lowest ebb on the Winter Solstice (Winterheart 28). The progression is as follows:
· January 2, to February 14 clerics of the Sun God are at -1 to their caster level.
· From the festival of Kindle Hope (Feb 15) to the end of Spring on May 21 there is no adjustment to the caster level
· From Beltane (May 22) to July 12 the clerics gain +1 to effective caster level
· On the day before and after the Summer solstice (July 13, & 15) the clerics gain +2 to effective caster level
· On the day of the Summer Solstice the cleric gains +3 to effective caster level
· On July 16 the clerics effective caster level returns to +1 and stays that way until the end of August (28)
· September 1st is the festival of Harvest bless and makes the start of Autumn, the clerics caster level is normal until the 7th of December.
· The 8th of December is the first day of Winter and the cleric applies a -1 to caster level until the 26th of Winterheart.
· On the day before and after the Winter Solstice (Winterheart 27 & January 1st) the clerics of the Phoenix Lord have a -2 to caster level
· On the day of the Winter Solstice, the Cleric is -3 to caster level.
3. Clerics of Ormazd may add their Luck bonus (if positive) to all attacks and damage to undead
as well as turn and turn results.
4. Clerics of Ormazd always know what time of day it is in relation to where the sun is (dawn,
noon, dusk)
Ormazd is married to Shul Goddess of the Moon, but the vigilance against the Great Enemy requires that they spend most of their time circling opposite to each another. Shul gathers the radiance of her husband and reflects it into the night to harass the minions of Ahriman. Only on the days of the solar eclipses (2) are they allowed to meet. Known as “the time of the lovers,” Clerics of Ormazd are often asked to perform weddings on these auspicious days. The Sun & Moon have 2 children Gorhan the Valiant, & Delvyr the Explorer. The clergy of Ormazd has no authority over the clerics of Gorhan or Delvyr, but can usually expect mutual aid when asked.
Holy Days: the first day of each new season, the solstices & equinoxes, and the days of the 2 yearly solar eclipses.
Favored Weapon: Morning Star
Knowledge base: they have studied: the rituals & history of their order; the Minions of Ariman and how they might be overcome, Prophecies of Áereth two in particular:
Gorhan the Valiant- the Helmed Vengeance [L-G]- The Valiant One, He who fights first is the patron God of those who fight against the lawless & corrupt; he also acts as executioner when required by his wife Justica. Gorhan doesn’t bother to heal anyone who hasn’t proven themselves to be honorable, brave, or innocent. Usually this means that the recipient of the healing has just survived a battle, or are the peasants caught on the battlefield. Those who are killed in combat are His to judge. If the soul is found honorable, or innocent then they are granted a pleasant after-life; if judged corrupt, then the soul is obliterated. The clerics of Gorhan are divided amongst two sects; one that is male only and one that is open to all stouthearted folk who hear the Valiant Lords call to battle. The clerics of the male only sect are paired off with clerics of the female only sect of Justica’s clergy. They live their whole lives within the Temples of Law and function as the Imperial Judicial system. The open order is generally known as the Ordo Militantis they spend levels 1-3 as battlefield troops or helping the Clerics of Thormyr with securing the Empire from harm. In this capacity they are mostly responsible for; escorting members of the wandering order of Justica, hunting the undead, & as bounty hunters serving Sentence on those who have fled Justica’s merciful decrees. All clerics of Gorhan radiate a zone of courage = 10ft / level that grants +1/ level on saves verses fear. Preferred weapon is the Longsword.
Duties of the clergy:
The Ordo Militantis is exactly what it sounds like… When acting within the borders of the Empire, they are basically the national guard. They show up in force when the clerics of Thormyr are out matched. The Ordo Militantis are the ones who show up to deal with local incursions of Orcs or Goblins that are too large for the local militia, but too small to bother mustering an army, or any other such situations. Kinda like a combination of bounty hunters, S.W.A.T., and the Fire Department… D&D style.
One of the duties of the clerics of Gorhan is to hear the petitions of those seeking justice. Anyone may approach them and ask for the cleric to hear their petition for justice. If traveling alone, the cleric of Gorhan decides whether to send the case to a cleric of Justica, or they can offer to engage in trial by combat with a champion for the opposing council. In the case of petty crimes, the intimidation factor of having to face a cleric of Gorhan in combat is usually enough to get the guilty party to confess.
Clerics of the Ordo Militantis are charged with subduing the evil and the wicked for trial. If the targets give up willing they may be brought to the courts for judgment, but if the targets resist… well… that means they have opted for trial by combat. Because the battlefield is the purview of Gorhan and he has the power to decide justice there. Clerics of Gorhan have a reputation for being a little over-zealous sometimes in their persecution of Evil, so the people of the Empire treat them with respect.
The Clergy of Gorhan Are not really all that keen on festivals and such, but they do honor the parents of their deity on the solar eclipses and on the equinoxes.
Elyr- Goddess of Healing [C-N (g)]- She believes that life should be sustained at all costs & is worth any risk. She is also one of two Gods who can remove Corruptions (makes you invaluable to wizards). Clerics of Elyr function as the doctors of this society. Low levels (1-3) clerics wander the world bringing aid to those in need, during this time they tend to develop specialty skills. At 4th level they decide whether to stop wandering and live out their lives in the hospital/temples, or continue their wandering ministrations: this choice is permanent.
Elyr is an ardent pacifist, but has a particular hatred for demons, devils, & aberrations and grants her clerics powers and abilities to deal with these creatures. Elyr’s hatred for these creatures is rooted in the story of her creation. Elyr was the last of the Gods born prior to the creation of Áereth. As the Gods were fleeing into the refuge of the Dreaming realm provided by Oae, the Great Enemy stretched out its talons and nearly killed Ildavir as she was stepping into the portal. The chunks of flesh and blood that fell to the ground in side the Dreaming became the newborn Goddess of Healing. She grew to maturity within the Dreaming, and so her POV on the universe is idealistic and a touch naïve. The trauma of her beginnings is the foundation of her philosophy of preserving life at all costs. All clerics of Elyr are limited to weapons that do no more than 1d4 damage and are not allowed to kill unless fighting aberrations, demons, devils, undead, etc. They are free to paralyze, maim, or cripple an opponent in the defense of others.
Elyr feels that even evil creatures have a right to exist, Evil is as much a part of the designs of the Gods as the concept of Good. Her clerics will even heal them, but along with that healing comes a compulsion to run away and re-evaluate their lives {evil creatures roll willpower save Vs DC= cleric PER bonus+ Level+ number of points of damage healed, or they flee the scene to rethink their lives. Said evil creature may eventually return to their evil ways; but that is their choice, and the clerics of Elyr can only strive to heal and defend the weak and the vulnerable from those who would do them harm. This belief was very influential in helping the Goddess Justica formulate her theory of the redemption of evil.
Knowledge base: clerics of Elyr know all there is to know the history of their order, and are experts at comparative physiology and the healing arts. They know a little about animals as well -3 on healing checks, and if they were a healer prior to entering service the cleric gains +2 on all healing check rolls from the extra training and experience. These clerics also know the science of alchemy, but only with respect to the healing arts… no bomb making, etc.
Clerics of Elyr study old tomes of lore to better recognize their extra planer enemies:
Devils are fairly easy to recognize unless they are possessing someone. Their natural skin tones of red and orange, horns, and lawyer like demeanor are classic hallmarks of a devil. However, devils rarely manifest upon the material plain, choosing instead to possess a normal creature. The clerics of Elyr may identify possessed creatures with a healing check (INT bonus+ cleric level) but the DC will vary by situation. A cleric of Elyr can use their lay on hands ability to exorcise the devils from a possessed creature. A result of 1 die / 3HD of the devil is needed to exorcise the devil from the possessed creature. Should a cleric of Elyr encounter a devil, they are free to use as much violence as the can to destroy its physical form. The cleric of Elyr’s most powerful defense Vs devils is that they can use their turn undead ability against devils.
Demons are easy to spot most of the time, their chaotic nature lends itself to odd physiognomies; like tentacles and tri-partite symmetries; or normal features misplaced, rearranged, swapped for animal parts, etc. They don’t usually bother with possession, their motives are as alien as their physiology. A cleric of Elyr is likewise free of constraints upon the use of force as with devils, but they gain +1/ cleric level to hit, & +1d4/ cleric level to damage when fighting demons. If the cleric knows the demons name or gains access to the info on the summoning ritual, they may attempt to banish the demon back to its plain of origin by rolling 1d20+PER bonus+ level Vs DC= 5+the number of HD of the demon. Success sends the thing spiraling back into the abyss.
Aberrations are the hardest to determine, as they may not always manifest outward signs to advertise their presence and are sometimes confused with demons. Almost all aberrations derive from wizard experiments whether upon natural creatures to create creatures with more heads then normal, to hybrid animal/elemental monstrosities, or upon the wizard directly. In this latter case, the wizard has either succumbed to patron taints or voluntary corruptions from adopting powers/traits from their familiars. A wizard who has accumulated 4+ involuntary corruptions also counts as an aberration. Dealing with Aberrations is difficult. First they must be identified, and that takes a healing check (1d20+INT bonus +level) Vs DC= 20 - the number of corruptions and taints. The hardest part is determining if the wizard or creature can be saved. If the wizard is sane then they can decide they are done with their evil ways and abandon their evil patrons, then the cleric of Elyr will use lay on hands to remove 1 taint or corruption /2 dice of the result. If the wizards oath be false and they return to their evil ways, then the taints and corruptions return instantly.
Presence of Elyr: They radiate a zone of purity with R= 10ft / level that grants all within it range +1 / level of cleric bonus to saves. Furthermore, this aura allows a cleric of Elyr to help those who have already failed saves Vs diseases, unless that failure occurred within the Presence of Elyr. In other words, if someone fails a save while they are within an aura of purity, they can’t then leave the aura and get a new save when they return. This aspect of the ability is for situations for when the cleric walks into a village and a lot of folks are already ill.
Duties of the clergy:
After taking their vows, the Clerics of Elyr never cut their hair again. You can always tell the rank of a cleric of Elyr by the length to their braids and the gray in their hair.
Any healing that the cleric does for the party is subject to the -1 penalty per application (game balance) but when clerics of Elyr are traveling, they may not deny care to any one who asks it of them and they must stop in every town and village to ask if anyone needs healing. In these cases the cleric may heal 5+their stamina bonus people for every -1 of penalty to their cleric abilities to represent the strain of channeling so much healing energy.
Holy Days: Elyr is more interested in healing people than organizing worship for specific events, but in general the first day of Spring and the festival of Kindle hope mark the return of life to the world after winters dreariness and death. During the festival, or wherever they may be, they must spend an hour/level in ritual observance of the returning life force contemplating the nature of life, how the cleric has helped others & planning how they will maximize there efforts for the coming year.
No comments:
Post a Comment