I sent in this question yesterday concerning vampire clerics, as written in the Monster Manual, to Skip Williams. Got my reply just a few minutes ago, it seems, and I felt I should share it with you.
I'll quote this directly from the 'Monster Manual', since my questions focus specifically on this one sentence:
"Vampire clerics have access to the Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and Trickery domains." -- 'Monster Manual', p. 222
This one sentence is so ambiguous, in my mind, that I can't reconcile just how to rule on it as a DM. I'm working up a campaign, and I'd like to be able to do a vampire with the True Necromancer PrC from 'Tome & Blood'. However, here's the stumbling block: special requirement of the True Necromancer PrC to have access to the Death domain.
Now, assuming you create a vampire NPC with levels in cleric, wizard and true necromancer, how do you reconcile having access to the Death domain when the MM is unclear on how exactly vampire clerical domains work? Does the access to domains other than Chaos, Destruction, Evil and Trickery still exist (depending on alignment and chosen deity, if that must play a role in the decision), or do clerics who become vampires lose access to all clerical domains they possessed in life, alignment and deity notwithstanding, and those domains fully replaced by the ones listed in the MM?
Myself, I'd prefer the first option, seeing as how in at least one case (Thasmudyan, God of the Undead, AD&D Complete Book of Necromancers), there's a priesthood specifically focused on working towards becoming one of the undead. But that's just me. Thoughts?
His answer is as follows:
If you don't know who the vampire's deity is, Choose from the listed domains, If you know who the deity is, pick appropriate domains.
No, you do not automatically lose current domains an gain the listed ones (and you still only get two).
Skip Williams
I'll quote this directly from the 'Monster Manual', since my questions focus specifically on this one sentence:
"Vampire clerics have access to the Chaos, Destruction, Evil, and Trickery domains." -- 'Monster Manual', p. 222
This one sentence is so ambiguous, in my mind, that I can't reconcile just how to rule on it as a DM. I'm working up a campaign, and I'd like to be able to do a vampire with the True Necromancer PrC from 'Tome & Blood'. However, here's the stumbling block: special requirement of the True Necromancer PrC to have access to the Death domain.
Now, assuming you create a vampire NPC with levels in cleric, wizard and true necromancer, how do you reconcile having access to the Death domain when the MM is unclear on how exactly vampire clerical domains work? Does the access to domains other than Chaos, Destruction, Evil and Trickery still exist (depending on alignment and chosen deity, if that must play a role in the decision), or do clerics who become vampires lose access to all clerical domains they possessed in life, alignment and deity notwithstanding, and those domains fully replaced by the ones listed in the MM?
Myself, I'd prefer the first option, seeing as how in at least one case (Thasmudyan, God of the Undead, AD&D Complete Book of Necromancers), there's a priesthood specifically focused on working towards becoming one of the undead. But that's just me. Thoughts?
His answer is as follows:
If you don't know who the vampire's deity is, Choose from the listed domains, If you know who the deity is, pick appropriate domains.
No, you do not automatically lose current domains an gain the listed ones (and you still only get two).
Skip Williams
(at least if I understand it correctly). Isn't all that rare, actually.
