Michael Morris
First Post
The clerics that serve the gods outlined in the previous section can vary quite a bit, not to mention the clerics that serve the deities of other races which will be detailed with those races later in this book.
Background: Many clerics are the second and third born sons and daughters of the nobility. As primogeniture is the primary scheme of inheritance, these individuals have little to gain in remaining with their families and can become a financial burden to the smaller houses. As a result, many of them are given over to the various temples at a very young age. Also, many of the good aligned temples run orphanages and will train orphans with talent to further their cause (and even some of the evil aligned temples have been known to do this).
[h2]Variant Rules for All Human Clerics[/h2]
Unless otherwise noted the following rules apply to all human clerics in the Dusk setting.
Turn Undead, Rebuke Undead: Since Dusk doesn’t have good or evil as alignments, the cleric’s ability to turn or rebuke undead is determined by the court of his patron deity:
[h2]Variant: Friars[/h2]
Friars are wandering priests who live off the generosity of the people. If moved to fight to defend the people they are as capable as any cleric. Friars most frequently serve court Aurnon.
[h3]Class Features[/h3]
Friars have all the standard cleric abilities except as noted below.
Armor: Friars aren’t trained in the use of medium and heavy armors nor do they train in the use of shields.
Spellcasting: A friar learns and casts spells as a normal bard, with a few exceptions. First, and most significantly, the character doesn’t use the cleric list at all. Instead he uses spells of the white type at their base level and spells of the blue or green type at their base level +1.
Domain Spells: A friar picks three domains instead of two. All three domains must belong to the clerics patron deity (or an ally of that deity). New domains are given in Appendix 1 of this book.
Spontaneous Casting: Friars always spontaneously cast cure spells.
Turn Undead: Friars turn undead a number of times equal to 5 + their charisma modifier, not 3 as normal.
[h2]Variant: Cabalists[/h2]
Cabalists are the dangerous servants of evil powers. They seek to corrupt and overthrow society if chaotic, or enslave and tyrannize the people if lawful, but their aims are always of the foulest sort. Cabalists are typically found in the service of Court Damosi and Court Shadrea, or in the service of evil deities like Sadier. In most respects the cabalist is the evil inverse of the friar above.
[h3]Class Features [/h3]
Cabalists have all the standard cleric abilities except as noted below.
Armor: Cabalists aren’t trained in the use of medium and heavy armors nor do they train in the use of shields.
Spellcasting: A cabalist learns and casts spells as a normal cleric, with a few exceptions. First, and most significantly, the character doesn’t use the cleric list at all. Instead he uses spells of the black type at their base level and spells of the blue or red type at their base level +1.
Domain Spells: A cabalist picks three domains instead of two. All three domains must belong to the clerics patron deity (or an ally of that deity). New domains are given in Appendix 1 of this book.
Spontaneous Casting: Cabalists always spontaneously cast inflict spells.
Turn Undead: Cabalists rebuke or command undead a number of times equal to 5 + their charisma modifier, not 3 as normal.
Background: Many clerics are the second and third born sons and daughters of the nobility. As primogeniture is the primary scheme of inheritance, these individuals have little to gain in remaining with their families and can become a financial burden to the smaller houses. As a result, many of them are given over to the various temples at a very young age. Also, many of the good aligned temples run orphanages and will train orphans with talent to further their cause (and even some of the evil aligned temples have been known to do this).
[h2]Variant Rules for All Human Clerics[/h2]
Unless otherwise noted the following rules apply to all human clerics in the Dusk setting.
Turn Undead, Rebuke Undead: Since Dusk doesn’t have good or evil as alignments, the cleric’s ability to turn or rebuke undead is determined by the court of his patron deity:
- Court Aurnon’s Clerics must have a Valrean alignment. They turn undead and spontaneously cast cure spells.
- Court Rizaldi’s Clerics must have a Balcridian Alignment. They turn air and water elementals and spontaneously cast cure spells.
- Court Damosi’s Clerics must have a Shunian alignment. They turn fire and earth elementals and spontaneously cast inflict spells.
- Court Shadrea’s Clerics must have a Sodrean alignment. They command or rebuke undead and spontaneously cast inflict spells.
[h2]Variant: Friars[/h2]
Friars are wandering priests who live off the generosity of the people. If moved to fight to defend the people they are as capable as any cleric. Friars most frequently serve court Aurnon.
[h3]Class Features[/h3]
Friars have all the standard cleric abilities except as noted below.
Armor: Friars aren’t trained in the use of medium and heavy armors nor do they train in the use of shields.
Spellcasting: A friar learns and casts spells as a normal bard, with a few exceptions. First, and most significantly, the character doesn’t use the cleric list at all. Instead he uses spells of the white type at their base level and spells of the blue or green type at their base level +1.
Domain Spells: A friar picks three domains instead of two. All three domains must belong to the clerics patron deity (or an ally of that deity). New domains are given in Appendix 1 of this book.
Spontaneous Casting: Friars always spontaneously cast cure spells.
Turn Undead: Friars turn undead a number of times equal to 5 + their charisma modifier, not 3 as normal.
[h2]Variant: Cabalists[/h2]
Cabalists are the dangerous servants of evil powers. They seek to corrupt and overthrow society if chaotic, or enslave and tyrannize the people if lawful, but their aims are always of the foulest sort. Cabalists are typically found in the service of Court Damosi and Court Shadrea, or in the service of evil deities like Sadier. In most respects the cabalist is the evil inverse of the friar above.
[h3]Class Features [/h3]
Cabalists have all the standard cleric abilities except as noted below.
Armor: Cabalists aren’t trained in the use of medium and heavy armors nor do they train in the use of shields.
Spellcasting: A cabalist learns and casts spells as a normal cleric, with a few exceptions. First, and most significantly, the character doesn’t use the cleric list at all. Instead he uses spells of the black type at their base level and spells of the blue or red type at their base level +1.
Domain Spells: A cabalist picks three domains instead of two. All three domains must belong to the clerics patron deity (or an ally of that deity). New domains are given in Appendix 1 of this book.
Spontaneous Casting: Cabalists always spontaneously cast inflict spells.
Turn Undead: Cabalists rebuke or command undead a number of times equal to 5 + their charisma modifier, not 3 as normal.
