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ABDErpg - FOLLOWERS OF FAITH

A system for clerics, priests and monks for ABDE-Warhammer by Pete Nash & David Allan Finch.

Copyright (c) Peter Nash & David Allan Finch, All rights reserved.
Warhammer is a Trademark owned by Games Workshop and used with out permission.

Who qualifies for Priesthood?

A cleric of a faith is a person who has devoted their life and soul to a particular deity. A priest must act as an intermediary for their god in the god's sanctified holy places, and differs from a hero by the fact that they receive re-usable miracles. A hero on the other hand is granted gifts from a god in return for heroic acts, and can be of any profession, as long as they give lip service to the god. A priest could also be granted gifts too, but this is unusual.

A priest's task in his god's service can be quite varied. He may be given a specific job, or need to satisfy many tasks simultaneously. An example list of possible jobs could be...
    1. Collect as many worshippers to the god's faith as possible.
    2. Gather information about the real world and report it to the god
    3. Cast miracles to help the god's worshippers.
    4. Go on expeditions to satisfy the god's objectives in the world.
    5. Destroy enemy cults.
    6. Maintain and upkeep the holy place of the god.
    7. Lead religious services to worship the god.

With such a workload few priests ever get the chance to actively adventure. A priest takes a long time to train and they are too valuable to be given free reign. If a priest is seen away from his temple it is usually because they are on a specific quest given by their god. Normally the priesthood will either hire people to perform quests for them, or the god will send a favoured hero to complete a task.

How does somebody qualify for priesthood?

Anybody who has shown the willingness to follow a god may be eligible to become a priest. Once they have joined they have to give up whatever profession they originally held and can only practice the cult acknowledged skills. Membership skills are those most favoured by the cult, but other skills can still be learned as long as they uphold the spirit of the god's worship. I.e. practising juggling may be frowned upon by the priesthood of Solkan. (Some previously experienced initiates may find their unused physical skills atrophying with disuse.)

The priesthood generally prefers to enlist either the young, who have not yet been moulded, or people who have the skills which embody their god's attributes. Potential initiates must undergo an entrance exam which is can be passed if they have five required membership skills at a BCS level of 8+, or they can try to roll a success against the five skills. Those who fail are either asked to try again on the next holy day, or are killed/eaten/whatever according to the cults views.

Once accepted the new initiate is given the opportunity to learn new specific skills only available to that priesthood. Remember that the following skills are limited to a single god.

 Skill Name           Skill Difficulty  Skill Equation Base  Description
 Charisma (Dogma)     Hard              WIL+CHA+COM         
     The ability to convince people using the god's teachings.

 Lore (Theology)      Hard              WIT+WIL+MAG
     Knowledge of the ceremonies and practices of the god.

 Magic (Cast Miracle) Very Hard         WIL+CHA+MAG
     Calling on the god to cast a miracle.

The position to which the priest can rise is dependant upon the BCS levels in the main cult skills. The high priest of a temple will generally be the most experienced priest there. In chaos cults promotion may be due to more murderous techniques.

What is a miracle and how does a priest learn one?

A miracle is an act which appears magical. It is called for by the priest, but is powered by the god themselves. It differs from sorcery because a sorcerer must use his own magic points to power a spell, and eventually they will run out of power, taking weeks to recover. A priest however can cast many miracles each day.

Miracles are cast by rolling against the priests Cast Miracle skill. The more powerful the miracle called for, the more likely the priest is to fail. Once a priest has failed to summon forth a miracle they cannot cast any more until they sleep and pray for an hour at a shrine dedicated to their god. (Their mystical link has been strained and it requires rest to re-connect to their patron) Modifiers to casting can occur if the priest is inside of a location sanctified to their god, is in a state of sin, or has taken a critical wound etc. A priest can NEVER cast a miracle whilst present in the holy ground of another god.

 BCS Modifier Reason
  +5 Miracle cast on the god's holy day.
  +3 Upon holy ground sanctified to the god, in a large city temple.
  +2 As above, but in a small town temple.
  +1 As above, but at a shrine.
  -2 Lost 50% of total hit points.
  -3 Minor Sin. E.g. A priest of Solkan lying.
  -4 Lost 75% of total hit points
  -6 Major Sin. E.g. A priest of Solkan bargaining with chaos instead of destroying it.

To learn a miracle requires a weeks worth of study. A roll is made against the priests theology skill with a negative modifier equal to the difficulty of the miracle. If the priest fails then they can try again the following week. Once the research is successful the priest will know how to petition their god for the ability to cast the miracle.

At this point some cults may require a task or quest to be performed to complete the granting of knowledge on how to call the miracle. The task will be something appropriate to the miracle being learnt. The harder the miracle, the harder the task. For example a follower of Arianka might need to find a sanctified key hidden within the temple in order to gain the 'Find Object' miracle.

If the priest successfully completes their task, they may from then on cast the miracle with their Cast Miracle skill at a penalty of its difficulty.

Example:

Anthraxous, an evil follower of the chaos god Nurgle decides to learn the 'Burst Heart' miracle. He has a theology skill of 12 and a cast miracle skill of 15. The 'Burst Heart' miracle has a difficulty rating of 9 as it is such a powerful effect. Anthraxous spends a week researching in the cult's diabolical scrolls and makes a roll. He needs a 3 (12 skill - 9 difficulty) or less on a d20 to succeed, and somehow manages to figure out how to summon the power from Nurgle. He learns that he must squash the still beating heart of a sentient creature on Nurgle's alter with the sacred hammer. Soon enough he completes the ritual and is granted 'Burst Heart'. The next day he ambushes some goody, goody heroes and tries his new miracle on their leader. To succeed in calling for the power he needs a 6 (15 skill - 9 difficulty) or less on a d20. He fails and soon dies under the swing of a two handed sword...

General miracle guidelines

Any miracle which directly affects a sentient being either mentally or physically must have to overcome that being's magical resistance. There should be no miracle which can automatically affect anyone without a chance of resisting it.

A person can consciously allow a miracle to be cast on them, for example a healing spell. But when the subject of a miracle is unconscious they still resist. So casting a healing miracle on a comatose warrior would fail if the warrior made his resistance roll. All faiths will have the following two basic miracles.

Sanctify - Difficulty 0 - Duration special

This miracle allows the creation of an area of holy ground dedicated to the god. This miracle requires a ritual ceremony of at least 24 hours duration and a physical artefact sacred to the god's cult. The artefact is generally held within the alter or its equivalent. The sanctified ground will last as long as a worship is held on each holy day. Once created the sanctified ground will allow the recovery of miracles when a priest prays within it.

Worship - Difficulty 0 - Duration 1 hour

The caster creates a special link between the god and the worshippers present in the temple. Those worshippers who are not priests will feel spiritually closer to their god. The larger the congregation, the stronger the feeling of belonging and that the god is looking after you. As a rule of thumb, popular temples with large followings get a bigger bonus to casting miracles. The god themselves can also use this miracle to manifest an appearance in times of need, or send a message to their worshippers in response to prayers.

Why do some gods not have established priesthood's?

Some cults do not actually have active temples or shines per say. Arianka and Solkan are two examples of gods who have so few worshippers that only a few of their number can be supported as full time priests. If no money is given as donations to a temple, then it will have problems supporting full time staff. The priests eventually have to resort to outside work in order to live.

A priests ability to cast miracles depends on being near a location of a holy site to their god. So once a priest has to leave to find work, they find their miracles becoming weaker and cannot renew their holy power until they can worship at a shrine again. For this reason most of the followers of Arianka and Solkan, being wanderers, display little or no ability to cast miracles.

Chaos cultists show little skill in the roll of priesthood for another reason. The skills required to master miracles take a considerable time to learn. Most chaos creatures are either killed by their companions, or warped by chaos before they have time to learn. Some species such as skaven are too short lived to be bothered to learn. Instead the chaos gods grant hideous powers to those they choose as their champions, and warp them.

Why don't priests change their gods?

A priest may only gain power from a single god at a time. Once dedicated to a god it prevents a new spiritual link from being formed to the priest. If a priest starts to stray from the path set by their deity they become tainted with sin and could find that their miracles become harder to cast. For this reason some lawful priests will not even visit the temples of other lawful, but competitive gods in case of divine jealousy.

When a priest enters a cult they must learn the three special priestly skills specifically for that god. If a priest ever left to join a different faith then they'd have to learn the 'Dogma', 'Theology' and 'Cast Miracles' afresh for the new god. If the priest then decided to give up and return to his original god they would find that their 'Cast Miracle' skill had been reduced to zero. This is because the god has been severed from his follower by the new god.

A cult may not appreciate one of their priests leaving the cult. More vengeance orientated faiths will actively send out followers to find and destroy the traitor. Some deities can even manifest punishment miracles (curses) if the priest is ever found by his original master.

Whereas a priest can only be bound to a single god, heroes can be gifted by many. It is not unusual for strong hero's to be bribed with gifts from other gods, as they try to tempt the hero into following their own faith. Usually once the hero is very powerful the gods who contend for his favours do not dare remove their gifts in fear that they will alienate their tool...

Example cults.

The Cult Of Solkan

Cult Membership Skills

Artistic (Execution), Charisma (Intimidate), Combat (any weapon attack), Craft (Torture), Language (Read/Write? Human), Lore (Law), Lore (Chaos), Outdoor (Tracking), Thief (Interrogation), Thief (Shadowing).

Miracles

Witch Hunters In Black - Difficulty 0 - Duration instant

Every piece of leather and clothing worn by the caster turns immediately and irrevocably black. Metal is not affected.

Intensify Flames - Difficulty 0 - Duration 1 minute

Usually used to burn witches at the stake, this miracle will cause a fire started by the caster to consume whatever is burning within a single minute. The visual effect is of the flames taking a life of their own and travelling the around the burning object in a most unnatural way. They also change colour if the burning object was tainted with chaos. When the duration finishes all that is left is a pile of fine grey ash. The spell works just as well on buildings.

Amplify Speech - Difficulty 0 - Duration 5 minutes

The caster must place this miracle on a single person. It allows the smallest whisper to be amplified loud enough for a crowd to hear it. Most priests use it to enable the feeble confessions of those broken by torture to be heard. Although some more educational (sadistic) priests will cast it on the witches they burn so that their screams will be heard across entire towns.

Solkan's Voice - Difficulty 0 - Duration 5 minutes

Gives the users voice a tone of menace and command. The amount made on the Cast Miracle roll is added to the casters Dogma and Intimidate skills. The casters tongue will turn black during the miracle and they will have a tendency to spray saliva as they bark out their words.

Solkan's Nose - Difficulty 3 - Duration 24 hours

Allows the caster to track the scent of a chaos creature for a full day. The caster must know that the creature being tracked is chaotic before this spell can work, and must have a item or a location which has been tainted by them to initially identify the scent (i.e. site of a chaos ritual). The casters nose will exhale steam during the duration of the miracle.

Solkan's Ear - Difficulty 3 - Duration 5 minutes

Grants the ability to discern when a lie is being told in his presence. Duration is five minutes and will work on any voice he can hear. A liar can make a resistance roll at the start of the miracle to prevent it from working on them. The casters ears will twitch violently during the miracle.

Solkan's Touch - Difficulty 3 - Duration 5 minutes

Used during interrogation, the touch of the caster will cause agonising pain to a person being questioned. Each time a question is asked the victim must make a WIL saving throw to prevent themselves from screaming out the truth. If the victim does not try to resist and willingly tells the truth then no pain is experienced. The casters hands will burn with black flames during the miracle.

Solkan's Eye - Difficulty 6 - Duration instant

Allows the caster to see any trace of a chaos taint upon whoever he is looking at when the miracle is summoned. The object of the gaze is allowed a resistance roll to prevent the miracle from revealing anything. The casters eyes will briefly glow red during the miracle.

Wrath of Solkan - Difficulty 6 - Duration 5 minutes

The casters face becomes hidden with shadows, their physical size appears to swell and they become immensely angry. This automatically intimidates any person they confront. It also gives a plus five strength bonus to the user for the purposes of smashing doors and breaking other innocent objects. The caster must be wearing a black hat for this to work.

Flame of Purging - Difficulty 9 - Duration 5 minutes

The miracle produces a magical fire which only burns chaos. When first called the black flame will rest in the casters hand ready to be touched to a chaotic target. If used in combat this will require a brawling or similar skill. If the target is not chaotic the flame will extinguish. The flame will burn for six rounds on the target object, starting with 1d6 damage on the first round and increasing by one dice for each subsequent round. Armour does not protect. The target is allowed a resistance roll to avoid ignition. If, whilst burning, the target travels within a metre of another eligible chaotic target then a burst of flame will jump to this new victim. The target does not have to be a living being, it can be an inanimate object too. If the Flame of Purging comes into contact with a piece of warpstone then there'll be an immediate explosion of 21d6 damage, which is reduced by one dice per metre away from the source.

The Cult Of Ulric

Cult Membership Skills

Charisma (Charm with Animals), Combat (any one handed weapon attack), Combat (any two handed weapon attack), Combat (any unarmed attack), Combat (any thrown weapon attack), Craft (Armoury), Craft (Weapon Smith), Doctor (First Aid), Lore (Battles), Outdoor (Survival)

Miracles

Note - Any beneficial miracle which indicates it can be cast on another person who is not the priest themselves, must be a follower of Ulric.

Befriend Wolves - Difficulty 0 - Duration 24 hours

The recipient of the miracle will be automatically accepted by any wolf they meet. The recipient will develop a strong wolf odour during the miracle.

Summon Wolves - Difficulty 0 - Duration special

The caster will let out a wailing howl which will summon any wolves within a 10 mile radius. It will take up to an hour for the wolves to find the caster. The reaction of any arriving wolves will be hostile unless the caster can make a charm animal roll, or uses the Befriend Wolves miracle.

Ulric's Bravery - Difficulty 0 - Duration 1 hour

For the duration of the miracle the recipient will be immune to fear, whether magical or otherwise.

Long March - Difficulty 0 - Duration 24 hours

Any follower of Ulric who participates in this ritual gains the ability to force march for the duration of the miracle. Once it has expired, the recipients must rest for at least 6 hours or suffer a 50% reduction in skills for the next day.

Resist Cold - Difficulty 3 - Duration 24 hours

The recipient will take no harm from the effects of natural winter weather. Even in the most severe of blizzards no damage will be taken from the cold, in fact the recipient will not even feel cold! They can also breath normally in sub zero air and take no frostbite from touching cold items (including swimming). The beneficiary's body will be covered with fine silver hairs for the duration of the miracle.

Battle Frenzy - Difficulty 3 - Duration special

The recipient will be invigorated with Ulric's love of battle. They will receive a bonus dice of damage to their weapon skill, and they will take one dice less damage from any blows which hit them. Once fighting the subject of the miracle never needs to make a fear saving throw. To stop the frenzy the recipient is allowed to make a WIL saving throw once per round. If the roll fails they will continue, no matter what odds they face. The recipient's hair will stand on end (as if charged with static electricity) for the duration of the miracle. This miracle will stay inert for up to 24 hours. Once triggered the effects will last for a single battle.

Ulric's Breath - Difficulty 3 - Duration instant

The caster summons a icy cold wind filled with ice and snow, which blasts a single target. A resistance roll must be made or receive a number of dice damage equal to the level of success made under the casting BCS. The miracle suffers modifiers depending on the natural environment. The target is also rendered blind for one round after the damage is taken.

 BCS  Modifier Environment
  +5  Wind is gale force. 
  +3  Temperature is below -10 degrees centigrade
  +1  It is precipitating
  +0  Temperature is below 0 degrees centigrade.
  +0  Wind is strong
  -1  No precipitation.
  -3  No wind. 
  -5  Temperature above 10 degrees centigrade. 
 -10  Temperature above 20 degrees centigrade.

Skin of Wolf - Difficulty 6 - Duration 24 hours

The caster can assume the form of a giant wolf. They will gain the movement, endurance and strength of a warg of maximum statistics. The priest may attack in his wolf shape and use their best unarmed combat skill to represent the knockdown chance of success, and their best weapon skill to represent the bite. Damage is based on the wolf form. The caster must be wearing the skin of a wolf killed in Ulric's holy way to be able to cast this miracle. Please not that this is shape-shifting and not lycanthropy. The caster will not be immune to normal weapons in this form.

Beserkergang - Difficulty 6 - Duration special

As if the Battle Frenzy spell wasn't bad enough... The recipient will be go mad with anger and bloodlust. They will receive a bonus two dice of damage to their weapon skill, and they will take two dice less damage from any blows which hit them. They are immune to the debilitating effects of criticals and will fight to the end of a round, even if they technically died at the start of it. The warrior will also convert his defence score and add it to his attacking skill(they fight as an all out attack not deigning to protect themselves) Once fighting the subject of the miracle is immune to any mental spells, including illusions, domination, fear etc. The recipient is unable to stop fighting until all potential targets are dead or lying prone. They will continue, no matter what odds they face and unaware of friend or foe. The recipient's hair will stand on end (as if charged with static electricity) and they will scream for the duration of the miracle. This miracle will last for a single battle and at its conclusion the warrior will collapse from exhaustion.

Ulric's Doom - Difficulty 9 - Duration special

This miracle is unwelcome to most, but the followers of Ulric consider it a valid tool in fighting chaos. The miracle will summon winter in an area 100 miles across. The physical effects are temperatures of -10 degrees or worse, strong winds and continual snow. Anyone in the area who has no permanent shelter will die from exposure after a single day. Any relevant survival skill will offset this. All travel will be quartered due to snow drifts (unless they know how to ski) and anyone who attempts to remain outside of cover will accumulate frostbite damage at a rate of one dice per hour. For those who do not have the correct winter clothing double this. The miracle will last for a week, but this will be shortened during spring and autumn. It cannot be cast in summer.

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Last edited December 23, 2002 2:09 am by Andrew Martin (diff)
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