Cleric

## **Cleric (Wisdom)**

Upon the fields of battle, where good and evil struggle, their stride holy warriors dedicated to the service of a deity, their martial ability enhanced by divine dispensation. They obey the will of the gods, and influence others through faith in their deity’s tenets, actions on the field of battle, and by bringing justice or retribution to their foes.

           Clerics are warrior-priests. They are religious by nature and can be found in service to a pantheon of deities or eternally bound to serve only one. From their deity or deities, the cleric receives divine powers and act as conduits of the power of their deity upon the planes of men. Yet these powers come at the high cost in service, devotion and loyalty. A cleric’s divine connection to a deity is of supreme importance. This spiritual connection allows them to better understand the motives and will of their deity and to more capably and earnestly enact the deity’s desire.

           Deities can be of any ethos or morality: from good to evil, and from lawful to chaotic. All of the deities have priests and devotees who serve and worship them but the cleric is always of like mind and nature as the deity they worship. They never falter in carrying out their duties lest they face the most horrible of retribution and suffer the interminable revenge of an angered and betrayed power.

           Typically, a cleric wields the same weapon or type of weapon favored by the character’s deity or pantheon. They do this to better follow the precepts of and emulate their deity. Beyond these, clerics prefer to use those weapons that allow them a better chance to subdue and convert enemies instead of killing them outright. Through this they gain converts and servants to serve them and hence their deity. On the field of battle, where clerics spend much of their lives, they wear any armor necessary to see t hem through the day and on to victory.

           Clerics who generally act in ways opposed to their deity’s alignment and purposes, and who grossly violate the code of conduct expected by their deity, lost the use of all divine abilities and capacities for advancement, wandering alone and cursed until they atone for their wrongs.

### **Abilities**

**Spells:** A cleric casts divine spells. The spells available are listed on the cleric spell list. A cleric is limited to a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Clerics prepare spells each day through prayer to their deity or deities, followed by contemplation and study.

**Bonus Spells:** High wisdom indicates a greater divine connection. Clerics with high wisdom gain bonus spells. If they have a wisdom of 13-15 or higher, they receive an extra 1st level spell, 16-17 or higher they receive an extra 2nd level spell and 18-19 or higher an extra 3rd level spell. Bonus spells can only be acquired if the cleric is at a high enough level to cast them. Bonus spells are cumulative.

**Turn Undead (Wisdom):** A cleric has the ability to turn or even destroy undead monsters. To turn undead, a cleric must declare the attempt as an attack and then make a successful wisdom attribute check. The character must display a holy symbol toward the undead and utter a prayer, chant or other invocation of the character’s deity. Turn undead is considered a special attack and takes one round. Turn undead has a maximum range of 60 feet.

           Turning undead consists of channeling divine power. The ability to channel divine power is measured by the cleric’s own willpower. Accordingly, charisma, not wisdom, affects the number of undead creatures that are turned with a successful turn undead check. In most cases, the number of undead turned will be 1d12 plus the cleric’s charisma modifier. When a cleric is five or more levels higher than the undead being turned, the undead are instead destroyed.

           Evil clerics may, instead of turning undead, control them. An evil cleric must be at least five levels or higher than the hit dice of the undead sought to be controlled. Evil clerics can also turn paladins.

**Weapon Selection:** The cleric is only allowed to use certain weapons. They can, if they choose, pick a weapon off the list that is identical to the major weapon in use by the deity which they worship. If no single deity is worshipped and a pantheon is instead worshipped, weapon selection is limited to the pantheon’s major deities or the deity most closely associated with the activities the cleric intends to undertake.

#### **Cleric Quick Reference**

**Primary Attribute:** Wisdom

**Hit Die:** d8

**Alignment:** Any

**Weapons:** Weapon Selection, club, crowbill hammer, dagger, light or heavy flail, light hammer, light or heavy mace, morningstar, quarterstaff, war hammer.

**Armor:** Any

**Abilities:** Spells, Turn Undead

### **Compatibility**

1. Castles and Crusades Generic Cleric
2. d20/OSR System