Giegue
2012-03-30, 09:17 AM
The Priest
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s308/devilwannabe/19_221016_liap.jpg
The heavy armored cleric leading the faithful into the fray is a site all to familiar to many in the material plane. However, while the martial crusaders are many times the iconic servants of the gods, the deities also employ other servants with a less warlike bent. For every fighting cleric there is a priest, spreading his deity's will with spell and sermon instead of the hammer and mace. Charismatic, faithful and learned, the Priests act as healers, church leaders and even vile necromancers, using their powerful divine magic and unique supernatural powers to pass judgement upon enemies of his faith and protect, heal and bolster his allies. If the Cleric is the soldier of his faith, the Priest is it's mage, using their powers to further the understanding of the divine and lead the faithful across the land.
Adventures: The Priest's reasons for adventuring is as varied as the religions of the material plane. All Priests, no matter what their alignment however, adventure in the name of their deity or ideal. As leaders and scholars of the faith, Priests often adventure to spread their doctrine and convert others to the worship of their deity or ideal. Some Priests, particularly those who follow ideals as appose to deities, however, may be more self-serving, adventuring to gain personal power, wealth or glory much like others who take up the adventurer's call.
Alignment: Priests can be of any alignment and are not predisposed to good, law, chaos or evil. However, if a priest worships a deity they must be within one step of their deity on each axis.
Religion: Religion is a central facet of a Priest's life. They live in their faith, breath in their faith and drown themselves in the embrace of their faith. A Priest's religion is generally going to be the most important part of their life unless they follow an ideal. However, even priests who follow an ideal take their spiritualism seriously and exhibit their own form of faith not tied to any major religion.
Background: The Priest can come from all walks of life, all backgrounds and all races. No matter what their station in the world, however, a Priest must feel deeply the calling of faith and the pull of a deity or ideal. Most priests, however, work for formal churches and religious groups, so it is rare that they come form savage societies which prefer the path of the tribal shaman to the priest.
Races: Any race that worships or holds some form of ideals in a state of reverence or high esteem can have Priests. However, most Priests tend to come from "civilized" races such as humans since most members of "savage" species who have a spiritual bent tend to take up shamanic traditions instead of the arts of the priest, though members of such races traveling to the civilized world and becoming priests is not unheard of.
Other Classes: The classes Priests like to associated with most depend highly on the Priest's religion and alignment. Priests of good alignments and faiths enjoy the company of any heroic characters of any stripe, but especially the Paladins, who's martial might and strong defenses offset the Priest's own fragile nature. Evil Priests prefer to align themselves with Assassins Blackguards, Dread Necromancers, Ur-Priests, evil Wizards and other paragons of wickedness who see eye to eye with their own worldview. No matter what alignment, however, a priest who follows a faith will not tolerate people of enemy faiths, especially Paladins, Clerics and other Priests of churches that stand against their own.
Role: The Priest can take on many rolls in a party due to the variety of spells and abilities he possesses. All Priests can preform the usual buffing and healing functions of a cleric due to access to the cleric list, and some Priests can be above average healers depending on what special abilities they choose. However, unlike the cleric, the priest is not a class made for melee combat. With some of his important class features only able to be used while the priest is in robes, low HD , BAB and two low saves, the priest is not one for the front lines. However, the priest can contribute to melee damage through his summoned creatures and especially undead minions; evil priests make powerful and potent necromancers.
However, despite his frail nature, the Priest can deal quite a lot of damage from a range via some of his class features and the right spells, and he can also aid in battlefield control with careful spell selection though he will lack the battlefield control options of a wizard. The Priest, with his excellent skill list and high amount of skill points can also preform both the "party face" and "monster identifier" roll, his skill list focused mainly on knowledge skills and skills useful in social interaction.
Abilities: Charisma is by far the most important ability score to the Priest. The power of a priest's spells, what spells he can cast, and many of his class features and skills are dependent on his charisma score. Charisma also allows the priest to be a better leader of his faith, inspiring his flock with rousing sermons and a forceful personality. Wisdom is also of high importance to a priest since it determines the bonus spells he receives and brings him closer to his deity and the spiritual world. A priest can benefit greatly from a good intelligence score due to the many knowledge skills he possesses and a high constitution and dexterity score can increase his survivability and aid his ranged attacks.
Class Features
Hit Dice: d4
Proficiencies: The Priest is proficient with the club, dagger, sling, light crossbow, heavy crossbow,and quarterstaff. He is not proficient with any kind of armor or shields.
Starting Age: As Cleric
Starting Gold: As Wizard
Class Skills: Concentration(Con), Decipher Script(Int), Diplomacy(Cha), Heal(Wis), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(All skills taken individually)(Int), Preform(Oratory)(Cha), Profession(Wis), Sense Motive(Wis), Speak Language(Int), Spellcraft(Int)
Skill Points Per-Level: 6+ Int Modifier(x 4 at first level)
The Priest
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th| 9th
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Prayerbook, Turn/Rebuke Undead, Domain, Aura, Sacred Spellcraft|3|2
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|---|4|3|-
3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Sacred Talent|4|3|2|-
4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Divine Judgement 1/Encounter|4|4|3|-|-
5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|---|4|4|3|2|-|-
6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Divine Judgement 2/Encounter|4|4|4|3|-|-|-|-
7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Sacred Talent|4|5|4|3|2|-|-|-
8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Domain|4|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-|-
9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|---|4|5|5|4|3|2|-|-|-|-
10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Divine Judgement 3/Encounter|4|5|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-
11th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Sacred Talent|4|5|5|5|4|3|2|-|-|-
12th|
+6/+1|
+4|
+4|
+8|Greater Divine Judgement 1/day|4|5|5|5|4|4|3|-|-|-
13th|
+6/+1|
+4|
+4|
+8|---|4|5|5|5|5|4|3|2|-|-
14th|
+7/+2|
+4|
+4|
+9|Divine Judgement 4/Encounter|4|5|5|5|5|4|4|3|-|-
15th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+9|Greater Sacred Talent|4|5|5|5|5|5|4|3|2|-
16th|
+8/+3|
+5|
+5|
+10|Domain|4|5|5|5|5|5|4|4|3|-
17th|
+8/+3|
+5|
+5|
+10|---|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|4|3|2
18th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|Greater Divine Judgement 2/day|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|4|4|3
19th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|Greater Sacred Talent|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|5|4|4
20th|
+10/+5|
+6|
+6|
+12|---|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|5|5|5[/table]
Spellcasting: The Priest casts divine spells drawn primarily from the cleric spell list. To cast a spell, the Priest must have a Charisma score at least equal to 10 + that spell's level. The save DCs for a Priest's spells are equal to 10+ the spell's level + the priest's Cha modifier. The priest receives bonus spells for having a high wisdom score in the same manner as a cleric.
Prayerbook: The Priest is unlike the cleric in that he can, much like an archivist or wizard cast and learn spells from written sources. The priest starts play with a prayerbook and has the ability to learn spells from the cleric spell list as well as any cleric domain spell list, even cleric domains to which he has no access, so long as he possesses the spell in written form. The Priest begins play with all 0-level cleric spells, plus a number of 1st level spells of his choice drawn from the cleric spell list and/or any cleric domain list equal to his 2+ his Cha modifier in his prayerbook. He also starts play with all domain spells from the domains he has access to in his prayerbook.
The priest's prayerbook functions like the wizard's spell book except that he can only learn spells found on the cleric spell list and/or any cleric domain spell lists. A Priest learns spells from written sources in the exact same way a Wizard learns his own spells. To prepare the spells in his prayerbook the priest must study his prayerbook and choose which spells from it he wants to prepare before he enters his meditation and prayer. Once he meditates any spells he chose to prepare from his prayerbook are prepared in his spell slots for that day. Spells in the Priest's prayerbook have much stricter somatic components and as a result any spells prepared from a priest's prayerbook cannot be cast while the priest is wearing any kind of armor. Each time the Priest gains a new character level he chose 3 spells from the cleric spell list and/or any cleric domain spell list of a spell level he can cast and adds them to his prayerbook
Turn/Rebuke Undead (Su): Like their more militant cleric peers the Priest can channel positive or negative energy to influence undead. At 1st level, the Priest gains the ability to Turn or Rebuke undead as a cleric of his class level a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Cha modifier. Whether the Priest turns or rebukes undead is dependent on their alignment. If a priest is of a good alignment, he turns undead. If a priest is of an evil alignment, he instead rebukes them. If the priest he is neutral he may choose whether he turns or rebukes undead but once this choice is made it cannot be changed.
Domain: The Priest gains access to a single cleric domain of his choice at 1st level. He gains access to both the granted power and spells of that domain, but does not gain domain spell slots. Instead, he adds the spells of those domains of the spell levels he is able to cast to his prayerbook, and he may prepare and cast them like any other spells he possesses in his prayerbook. If the priest has a deity, this domain must be a domain his deity grants. If the priest follows an ideal he may choose any domain he wishes so long as it is in in accordance with the ideal he follows.(So a priest of an ideal with an evil bent could not take the good domain, for example.) At levels 8 and 16, the Priest gains an additional domain, including it's domain power and spells. All additional domain spells gained of the levels the Priest can cast are added automatically to his prayerbook, and when he gains access to a new spell level he adds all domain spells of that spell level to his prayerbook.
Aura: The Priest radiates a strong aura of his alignment in the same exact manner as a cleric, using his priest levels in place of cleric levels.
Sacred Spellcraft: The Priest's innate connection to the divine allows him to better understand the nature of the divine spells he casts. The Priest treats Charisma as the governing ability score for the spellcraft skill for the purpose of learning spells instead of intelligence. He still treats intelligence as the governing ability score for all other uses of the skill, however.
Sacred Talent: At levels 3, 7 and 11 the Priest gains one Sacred Talent, chosen from those listed below. Some sacred talents have prerequisites that must be met before they can be chosen by the Priest.
Sacred Talents
Profane Preacher
Prerequisites: Must be of an Evil Alignment.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [evil] descriptor. In addition, all [evil] spells the Priest casts, including spells that gain the [evil] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs. This bonus does not stack with any other bonuese the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the sacred shepard, anarchic acolyte or axiomatic adept sacred talents
Sacred Shepard
Prerequisites: Must be of a Good Alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [good] descriptor. In addition, all [good] spells the priest casts, including spells that gain the [good] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs. This bonus does not stack with any other bonuses the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the profane preacher, anarchic acolyte or axiomatic adept sacred talents
Anarchic Acolyte
Prerequisites: Must be of a Chaotic Alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [chaotic] descriptor. In addition, all [chaotic] spells the priest casts, including spells that gain the [chaotic] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs. This bonus does not stack with any other bonuses the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the profane preacher, sacred shepard, or axiomatic adept sacred talents
Axiomatic Adept
Prerequisites: Must be of a Lawful Alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [lawful] descriptor. In addition, all [lawful] spells the priest casts, including spells that gain the [lawful] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs.This bonus does not stack with any other bonuses the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the profane preacher, sacred shepard, or anarchic acolyte sacred talents
White Necromancy
Prerequisites: Must be of a good alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent is able to cast the spell "Animate Dead" as a [good] descriptor spell that animates corpses as a special kind of deathless skeletons or zombies. They are in all ways identical to normal skeletons or zombies except that they healed by positive energy and harmed by negative energy.
They also are treated as deathless for all purposes(such as determining if they are effected by certain spells, feats ect....) instead of undead, but gain the benefits(except negative energy healing) associated with undead type instead of those associated with the deathless type. They have the [good] descriptor and have a neutral good alignment. In addition, any deathless the priest who takes this sacred talent animates or creates is created with a +4 enhancement bonus to strength and 2 extra hit points per hit-die it possesses.
Priestly Charisma
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: The Priest who chooses this sacred talent gains a bonus to all charisma-based skill checks equal to 1/5th his caster level, to a minimum of +1.
Lore of the Faithful
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: You gain an ability identical to the bardic knowledge class feature, using your priest class levels in place of bard levels.
Priest's Blessing
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent can, as a standard action, gives all allies within 30ft of him a bonus to all attack rolls damage rolls and saves equal to 1/5th his caster level level, to a minimum of +1, for three rounds. This ability can be used once per-encounter.
Armor of Faith
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent gain the ability to expend one use of their turn or rebuke undead ability to give themselves a +4 armor bonus to AC for a duration of 1 hour/caster level that cannot be bypassed by incorporeal creatures. The priest can still cast spells prepared from their prayerbook while they receive this bonus. At level 5, this bonus changes to +6 and remains at +6 for all levels after.
Positive Energy Infusion
Prerequisites: Must be 7th level or higher and of a non-evil alignment.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent gains the ability to give one ally within 60ft. of him fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for three rounds as a standard action. This ability can also be used on an undead creature within 60ft of the priest, making that undead creature take positive energy damage equal to the priest's charisma modifier for three rounds instead. The Priest may use this ability once per-encounter.
Negative Energy Infusion
Prerequisites: Must be 7th level or higher and of a non-good alignment.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent gains the ability to make one enemy within 60 ft of him take negative energy damage equal to his charisma modifier for three rounds as a standard action. This ability can also be used on an undead creature within 60ft of the priest, giving that undead creature fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for three rounds instead. The Priest may use this power once-per encounter.
Priest's Companion
Prerequisites: The Priest must be 7th level or higher
Benefit: The Priest gains an animal companion as a druid 4 levels lower then her priest level. That animal companion has either the celestial creature or fiendish creature template, depending on whether the priest turns or rebukes undead. If he turns undead, it has the celestial creature template. If he rebukes undead, it has the fiendish creature template.
Wings of Faith
Prerequisites: Must be 7th level or higher
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent can, as a standard action, grow a pair of wings from their back that gives them a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. These wings can be dismissed as a free action. These wings can only be maintained for a duration of one minute per-priest level per-day divided however the priest chooses for that day. The appearance of these wings is solely up to the priest, though they commonly take the form of angel wings, demon wings or wings made of divine energy.
Scholar of Undeath
Prerequisites: Must be at least 11th level or higher and of a non-good alignment.
Benefit: The amount of Undead the priest who takes this sacred talent can control with the spell Animate Dead changes from 4HD Per Caster level to 4HD + the Priest's intelligence modifier per caster level. In addition, the priest gains a bonus equal to his charisma modifier to all Knowledge (Religion) checks he makes that relate to undead creatures.
Ranged Healing
Prerequisites: Must be at least 11th level or higher and of a non-evil alignment.
Benefit: A Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any "cure" or "heal" spell as a ranged touch attack against a target within 60ft of himself instead of it's normal distance.
Congregation
Prerequisites: Must be at least 11th level or higher.
Benefit: You gain a cohort and followers as if you possessed the leadership feat. These followers and your cohort must all be of classes that have access to divine spells(such as the Paladin or Cleric class) and must be of your alignment and are fanatically loyal to you. They otherwise follow all the rules outlined in the entry for the leadership feat.
Divine Judgement (Su): As the Priest grows in power he learns how to bring down the judgement of his deity down upon his enemies. As a standard action the Priest can make a ranged touch attack against a foe within 25ft of him. He adds his charisma modifier to the attack roll of this touch attack. If the attack succeeds, he deals 1d4 damage for each priest level he has, plus + 1 extra point of damage per priest class level to that target. He may use this ability once per-encounter at 4th level, twice per-encounter at 6th level, three times per-encounter at 10th level and 4 times per-encounter at 14th level.
Greater Divine Judgement (Su): At 12th level, the Priest gains the ability to declare one use of his divine judgement power a "Greater Divine Judgement" once per-day. If he does this he may extend the target range of his ranged touch attack to 30ft and if succeeds on the ranged touch attack, then he may make each creature within a 25ft spread centered on the initial target of the ranged touch attack make a will save against a DC of 10+ 1/2 the Priest's class level + the Priest's cha-modifier. If they fail their saves, they take an amount of damage equal to that which the target of the initial ranged touch attack took. If they make their save, the damage is halved. The Priest gains the ability to do this twice per-day at 18th level.
Greater Sacred Talent: At levels 15 and 19, the Priest gains one Greater Sacred Talent from the list below. Some Greater Sacred Talents have prerequisites that must be met before they can be taken.
Greater Sacred Talents
Through the Will of God
Prerequisite: N/A
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, once per-day, cast a spell without fulfilling any of it's components. The spell requires no verbal, somatic or material components, and even spells with expensive spell foci or material components can be cast in this manner. The spells Miracle, Limited Wish and Wish cannot be cast with this ability.
Imbue with Negative Energy
Prerequisites: Must have the Negative Energy Infusion sacred talent.
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, as a swift action, designate a single target to be imbue with negative energy. The next time the the target takes damage, it is dealt an additional 1d6 negative energy damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has. This power can also be used on an undead creature, however, instead of being dealt extra damage that undead creature instead heal 1d6 damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has when it is damaged. This ability cannot be stacked for extra damage or healing.
Imbue with Positive Energy
Prerequisites: Must have the Positive Energy Infusion sacred talent.
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, as a swift action, designate a single ally to be imbue with positive energy. The next time that ally takes damage, it heals 1d6 damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has. This power can also instead target an undead creature. If used in this manner that undead creature takes 1d6 damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has the next time an ally deals damage to it. This ability cannot be stacked for extra damage or healing.
Patriarch
Prerequisites: Must have the Congregation sacred talent
Benefit: You have become a figure of massive importance in your faith and as a result have gained an even larger flock of followers. You add half your priest level to your effective character level for determining your effective leadership score for your Congregation sacred talent. In addition, you gain a bonus on all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against members of your faith(If you follow an ideal instead of a religion this bonus applies to those whom share your alignment instead.) equal to 1/5th your priest level. This bonus stacks with any and all other bonuses you possesses to the Diplomacy and Intimidate skills.
Hand of Life and Death
Prerequisites: Must be at least 19th level
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent can, once per-day, use one of the following abilities:
- The Priest may target one dead ally within 30ft. That ally is resurrected as if he was brought back to life by the effects of a True Resurrection spell. That ally gains a sacred or profane bonus to one ability score of his or her choice equal to the Priest's charisma modifier for four rounds.
-The Priest may force one target within 30ft to make a fort save against a DC of 10 + 1/2 the Priest's class level + the Priest's charisma modifier. If they fail their save, they die. If they make their save they take 2d6 constitution damage, or 10d6 damage if they are immune to constitution damage.
Negative Energy Circle
Prerequisites: Must have the Imbue with Negative Energy greater sacred talent.
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, once per day, create a 40ft radius spread at a range of 25ft +5ft per every 2 caster levels he possesses. Within that spread, every living creature takes an amount of negative energy damage equal to his charisma modifier for four rounds and every undead creature gains fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for those same four rounds.
Positive Energy Circle
Prerequisites: Must have the Imbue with Positive Energy greater sacred talent.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, once per day, create a 40ft radius spread at a range of 25ft+5ft per every 2 caster levels he possesses. Within that spread, every ally gains fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for four rounds and every undead creature takes positive energy damage equal to his charisma modifier for those same four rounds.
(IMPORTANT NOTES: While D&D does have the cloistered cleric I always thought that even that was not enough to satisfy the need for a "spellcaster priest" to the cleric's "martial priest." Thus, I created this, a robe-wearing, spellcasting-focused priest class that is meant to be a tier 1 caster and way to play archetypes such as the "white mage" and robed necro-cultist. This class, however, is a WIP and as a result it is probally a bit OP and unbalanced. That's, however, where I want your help. I want your aid in making this a concept that works and is balanced as a Tier 1-Tier 2 caster. Any help would be appreciated. Also, please, no grammar/syntax/formatting criticism. I am worried more about mechanics then how this looks or sounds. Thank you. Also, I credit all of you here on the playground who made your own "priest" type classes for giving me ideas and inspiration for this class.)
http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s308/devilwannabe/19_221016_liap.jpg
The heavy armored cleric leading the faithful into the fray is a site all to familiar to many in the material plane. However, while the martial crusaders are many times the iconic servants of the gods, the deities also employ other servants with a less warlike bent. For every fighting cleric there is a priest, spreading his deity's will with spell and sermon instead of the hammer and mace. Charismatic, faithful and learned, the Priests act as healers, church leaders and even vile necromancers, using their powerful divine magic and unique supernatural powers to pass judgement upon enemies of his faith and protect, heal and bolster his allies. If the Cleric is the soldier of his faith, the Priest is it's mage, using their powers to further the understanding of the divine and lead the faithful across the land.
Adventures: The Priest's reasons for adventuring is as varied as the religions of the material plane. All Priests, no matter what their alignment however, adventure in the name of their deity or ideal. As leaders and scholars of the faith, Priests often adventure to spread their doctrine and convert others to the worship of their deity or ideal. Some Priests, particularly those who follow ideals as appose to deities, however, may be more self-serving, adventuring to gain personal power, wealth or glory much like others who take up the adventurer's call.
Alignment: Priests can be of any alignment and are not predisposed to good, law, chaos or evil. However, if a priest worships a deity they must be within one step of their deity on each axis.
Religion: Religion is a central facet of a Priest's life. They live in their faith, breath in their faith and drown themselves in the embrace of their faith. A Priest's religion is generally going to be the most important part of their life unless they follow an ideal. However, even priests who follow an ideal take their spiritualism seriously and exhibit their own form of faith not tied to any major religion.
Background: The Priest can come from all walks of life, all backgrounds and all races. No matter what their station in the world, however, a Priest must feel deeply the calling of faith and the pull of a deity or ideal. Most priests, however, work for formal churches and religious groups, so it is rare that they come form savage societies which prefer the path of the tribal shaman to the priest.
Races: Any race that worships or holds some form of ideals in a state of reverence or high esteem can have Priests. However, most Priests tend to come from "civilized" races such as humans since most members of "savage" species who have a spiritual bent tend to take up shamanic traditions instead of the arts of the priest, though members of such races traveling to the civilized world and becoming priests is not unheard of.
Other Classes: The classes Priests like to associated with most depend highly on the Priest's religion and alignment. Priests of good alignments and faiths enjoy the company of any heroic characters of any stripe, but especially the Paladins, who's martial might and strong defenses offset the Priest's own fragile nature. Evil Priests prefer to align themselves with Assassins Blackguards, Dread Necromancers, Ur-Priests, evil Wizards and other paragons of wickedness who see eye to eye with their own worldview. No matter what alignment, however, a priest who follows a faith will not tolerate people of enemy faiths, especially Paladins, Clerics and other Priests of churches that stand against their own.
Role: The Priest can take on many rolls in a party due to the variety of spells and abilities he possesses. All Priests can preform the usual buffing and healing functions of a cleric due to access to the cleric list, and some Priests can be above average healers depending on what special abilities they choose. However, unlike the cleric, the priest is not a class made for melee combat. With some of his important class features only able to be used while the priest is in robes, low HD , BAB and two low saves, the priest is not one for the front lines. However, the priest can contribute to melee damage through his summoned creatures and especially undead minions; evil priests make powerful and potent necromancers.
However, despite his frail nature, the Priest can deal quite a lot of damage from a range via some of his class features and the right spells, and he can also aid in battlefield control with careful spell selection though he will lack the battlefield control options of a wizard. The Priest, with his excellent skill list and high amount of skill points can also preform both the "party face" and "monster identifier" roll, his skill list focused mainly on knowledge skills and skills useful in social interaction.
Abilities: Charisma is by far the most important ability score to the Priest. The power of a priest's spells, what spells he can cast, and many of his class features and skills are dependent on his charisma score. Charisma also allows the priest to be a better leader of his faith, inspiring his flock with rousing sermons and a forceful personality. Wisdom is also of high importance to a priest since it determines the bonus spells he receives and brings him closer to his deity and the spiritual world. A priest can benefit greatly from a good intelligence score due to the many knowledge skills he possesses and a high constitution and dexterity score can increase his survivability and aid his ranged attacks.
Class Features
Hit Dice: d4
Proficiencies: The Priest is proficient with the club, dagger, sling, light crossbow, heavy crossbow,and quarterstaff. He is not proficient with any kind of armor or shields.
Starting Age: As Cleric
Starting Gold: As Wizard
Class Skills: Concentration(Con), Decipher Script(Int), Diplomacy(Cha), Heal(Wis), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(All skills taken individually)(Int), Preform(Oratory)(Cha), Profession(Wis), Sense Motive(Wis), Speak Language(Int), Spellcraft(Int)
Skill Points Per-Level: 6+ Int Modifier(x 4 at first level)
The Priest
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th| 9th
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|Prayerbook, Turn/Rebuke Undead, Domain, Aura, Sacred Spellcraft|3|2
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|---|4|3|-
3rd|
+1|
+1|
+1|
+3|Sacred Talent|4|3|2|-
4th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|Divine Judgement 1/Encounter|4|4|3|-|-
5th|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+4|---|4|4|3|2|-|-
6th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Divine Judgement 2/Encounter|4|4|4|3|-|-|-|-
7th|
+3|
+2|
+2|
+5|Sacred Talent|4|5|4|3|2|-|-|-
8th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+6|Domain|4|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-|-
9th|
+4|
+3|
+3|
+6|---|4|5|5|4|3|2|-|-|-|-
10th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Divine Judgement 3/Encounter|4|5|5|4|4|3|-|-|-|-
11th|
+5|
+3|
+3|
+7|Sacred Talent|4|5|5|5|4|3|2|-|-|-
12th|
+6/+1|
+4|
+4|
+8|Greater Divine Judgement 1/day|4|5|5|5|4|4|3|-|-|-
13th|
+6/+1|
+4|
+4|
+8|---|4|5|5|5|5|4|3|2|-|-
14th|
+7/+2|
+4|
+4|
+9|Divine Judgement 4/Encounter|4|5|5|5|5|4|4|3|-|-
15th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+5|
+9|Greater Sacred Talent|4|5|5|5|5|5|4|3|2|-
16th|
+8/+3|
+5|
+5|
+10|Domain|4|5|5|5|5|5|4|4|3|-
17th|
+8/+3|
+5|
+5|
+10|---|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|4|3|2
18th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|Greater Divine Judgement 2/day|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|4|4|3
19th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+6|
+11|Greater Sacred Talent|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|5|4|4
20th|
+10/+5|
+6|
+6|
+12|---|4|5|5|5|5|5|5|5|5|5[/table]
Spellcasting: The Priest casts divine spells drawn primarily from the cleric spell list. To cast a spell, the Priest must have a Charisma score at least equal to 10 + that spell's level. The save DCs for a Priest's spells are equal to 10+ the spell's level + the priest's Cha modifier. The priest receives bonus spells for having a high wisdom score in the same manner as a cleric.
Prayerbook: The Priest is unlike the cleric in that he can, much like an archivist or wizard cast and learn spells from written sources. The priest starts play with a prayerbook and has the ability to learn spells from the cleric spell list as well as any cleric domain spell list, even cleric domains to which he has no access, so long as he possesses the spell in written form. The Priest begins play with all 0-level cleric spells, plus a number of 1st level spells of his choice drawn from the cleric spell list and/or any cleric domain list equal to his 2+ his Cha modifier in his prayerbook. He also starts play with all domain spells from the domains he has access to in his prayerbook.
The priest's prayerbook functions like the wizard's spell book except that he can only learn spells found on the cleric spell list and/or any cleric domain spell lists. A Priest learns spells from written sources in the exact same way a Wizard learns his own spells. To prepare the spells in his prayerbook the priest must study his prayerbook and choose which spells from it he wants to prepare before he enters his meditation and prayer. Once he meditates any spells he chose to prepare from his prayerbook are prepared in his spell slots for that day. Spells in the Priest's prayerbook have much stricter somatic components and as a result any spells prepared from a priest's prayerbook cannot be cast while the priest is wearing any kind of armor. Each time the Priest gains a new character level he chose 3 spells from the cleric spell list and/or any cleric domain spell list of a spell level he can cast and adds them to his prayerbook
Turn/Rebuke Undead (Su): Like their more militant cleric peers the Priest can channel positive or negative energy to influence undead. At 1st level, the Priest gains the ability to Turn or Rebuke undead as a cleric of his class level a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Cha modifier. Whether the Priest turns or rebukes undead is dependent on their alignment. If a priest is of a good alignment, he turns undead. If a priest is of an evil alignment, he instead rebukes them. If the priest he is neutral he may choose whether he turns or rebukes undead but once this choice is made it cannot be changed.
Domain: The Priest gains access to a single cleric domain of his choice at 1st level. He gains access to both the granted power and spells of that domain, but does not gain domain spell slots. Instead, he adds the spells of those domains of the spell levels he is able to cast to his prayerbook, and he may prepare and cast them like any other spells he possesses in his prayerbook. If the priest has a deity, this domain must be a domain his deity grants. If the priest follows an ideal he may choose any domain he wishes so long as it is in in accordance with the ideal he follows.(So a priest of an ideal with an evil bent could not take the good domain, for example.) At levels 8 and 16, the Priest gains an additional domain, including it's domain power and spells. All additional domain spells gained of the levels the Priest can cast are added automatically to his prayerbook, and when he gains access to a new spell level he adds all domain spells of that spell level to his prayerbook.
Aura: The Priest radiates a strong aura of his alignment in the same exact manner as a cleric, using his priest levels in place of cleric levels.
Sacred Spellcraft: The Priest's innate connection to the divine allows him to better understand the nature of the divine spells he casts. The Priest treats Charisma as the governing ability score for the spellcraft skill for the purpose of learning spells instead of intelligence. He still treats intelligence as the governing ability score for all other uses of the skill, however.
Sacred Talent: At levels 3, 7 and 11 the Priest gains one Sacred Talent, chosen from those listed below. Some sacred talents have prerequisites that must be met before they can be chosen by the Priest.
Sacred Talents
Profane Preacher
Prerequisites: Must be of an Evil Alignment.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [evil] descriptor. In addition, all [evil] spells the Priest casts, including spells that gain the [evil] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs. This bonus does not stack with any other bonuese the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the sacred shepard, anarchic acolyte or axiomatic adept sacred talents
Sacred Shepard
Prerequisites: Must be of a Good Alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [good] descriptor. In addition, all [good] spells the priest casts, including spells that gain the [good] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs. This bonus does not stack with any other bonuses the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the profane preacher, anarchic acolyte or axiomatic adept sacred talents
Anarchic Acolyte
Prerequisites: Must be of a Chaotic Alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [chaotic] descriptor. In addition, all [chaotic] spells the priest casts, including spells that gain the [chaotic] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs. This bonus does not stack with any other bonuses the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the profane preacher, sacred shepard, or axiomatic adept sacred talents
Axiomatic Adept
Prerequisites: Must be of a Lawful Alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any spell he prepares that has a save DC as a spell with the [lawful] descriptor. In addition, all [lawful] spells the priest casts, including spells that gain the [lawful] descriptor from this ability, gain a +2 bonus to their save DCs.This bonus does not stack with any other bonuses the priest may gain to spell DCs(such as from the spell focus feat). If the priest takes this talent, he cannot take the profane preacher, sacred shepard, or anarchic acolyte sacred talents
White Necromancy
Prerequisites: Must be of a good alignment
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent is able to cast the spell "Animate Dead" as a [good] descriptor spell that animates corpses as a special kind of deathless skeletons or zombies. They are in all ways identical to normal skeletons or zombies except that they healed by positive energy and harmed by negative energy.
They also are treated as deathless for all purposes(such as determining if they are effected by certain spells, feats ect....) instead of undead, but gain the benefits(except negative energy healing) associated with undead type instead of those associated with the deathless type. They have the [good] descriptor and have a neutral good alignment. In addition, any deathless the priest who takes this sacred talent animates or creates is created with a +4 enhancement bonus to strength and 2 extra hit points per hit-die it possesses.
Priestly Charisma
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: The Priest who chooses this sacred talent gains a bonus to all charisma-based skill checks equal to 1/5th his caster level, to a minimum of +1.
Lore of the Faithful
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: You gain an ability identical to the bardic knowledge class feature, using your priest class levels in place of bard levels.
Priest's Blessing
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent can, as a standard action, gives all allies within 30ft of him a bonus to all attack rolls damage rolls and saves equal to 1/5th his caster level level, to a minimum of +1, for three rounds. This ability can be used once per-encounter.
Armor of Faith
Prerequisites: N/A
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent gain the ability to expend one use of their turn or rebuke undead ability to give themselves a +4 armor bonus to AC for a duration of 1 hour/caster level that cannot be bypassed by incorporeal creatures. The priest can still cast spells prepared from their prayerbook while they receive this bonus. At level 5, this bonus changes to +6 and remains at +6 for all levels after.
Positive Energy Infusion
Prerequisites: Must be 7th level or higher and of a non-evil alignment.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent gains the ability to give one ally within 60ft. of him fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for three rounds as a standard action. This ability can also be used on an undead creature within 60ft of the priest, making that undead creature take positive energy damage equal to the priest's charisma modifier for three rounds instead. The Priest may use this ability once per-encounter.
Negative Energy Infusion
Prerequisites: Must be 7th level or higher and of a non-good alignment.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent gains the ability to make one enemy within 60 ft of him take negative energy damage equal to his charisma modifier for three rounds as a standard action. This ability can also be used on an undead creature within 60ft of the priest, giving that undead creature fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for three rounds instead. The Priest may use this power once-per encounter.
Priest's Companion
Prerequisites: The Priest must be 7th level or higher
Benefit: The Priest gains an animal companion as a druid 4 levels lower then her priest level. That animal companion has either the celestial creature or fiendish creature template, depending on whether the priest turns or rebukes undead. If he turns undead, it has the celestial creature template. If he rebukes undead, it has the fiendish creature template.
Wings of Faith
Prerequisites: Must be 7th level or higher
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent can, as a standard action, grow a pair of wings from their back that gives them a fly speed of 60 feet with average maneuverability. These wings can be dismissed as a free action. These wings can only be maintained for a duration of one minute per-priest level per-day divided however the priest chooses for that day. The appearance of these wings is solely up to the priest, though they commonly take the form of angel wings, demon wings or wings made of divine energy.
Scholar of Undeath
Prerequisites: Must be at least 11th level or higher and of a non-good alignment.
Benefit: The amount of Undead the priest who takes this sacred talent can control with the spell Animate Dead changes from 4HD Per Caster level to 4HD + the Priest's intelligence modifier per caster level. In addition, the priest gains a bonus equal to his charisma modifier to all Knowledge (Religion) checks he makes that relate to undead creatures.
Ranged Healing
Prerequisites: Must be at least 11th level or higher and of a non-evil alignment.
Benefit: A Priest who takes this sacred talent may cast any "cure" or "heal" spell as a ranged touch attack against a target within 60ft of himself instead of it's normal distance.
Congregation
Prerequisites: Must be at least 11th level or higher.
Benefit: You gain a cohort and followers as if you possessed the leadership feat. These followers and your cohort must all be of classes that have access to divine spells(such as the Paladin or Cleric class) and must be of your alignment and are fanatically loyal to you. They otherwise follow all the rules outlined in the entry for the leadership feat.
Divine Judgement (Su): As the Priest grows in power he learns how to bring down the judgement of his deity down upon his enemies. As a standard action the Priest can make a ranged touch attack against a foe within 25ft of him. He adds his charisma modifier to the attack roll of this touch attack. If the attack succeeds, he deals 1d4 damage for each priest level he has, plus + 1 extra point of damage per priest class level to that target. He may use this ability once per-encounter at 4th level, twice per-encounter at 6th level, three times per-encounter at 10th level and 4 times per-encounter at 14th level.
Greater Divine Judgement (Su): At 12th level, the Priest gains the ability to declare one use of his divine judgement power a "Greater Divine Judgement" once per-day. If he does this he may extend the target range of his ranged touch attack to 30ft and if succeeds on the ranged touch attack, then he may make each creature within a 25ft spread centered on the initial target of the ranged touch attack make a will save against a DC of 10+ 1/2 the Priest's class level + the Priest's cha-modifier. If they fail their saves, they take an amount of damage equal to that which the target of the initial ranged touch attack took. If they make their save, the damage is halved. The Priest gains the ability to do this twice per-day at 18th level.
Greater Sacred Talent: At levels 15 and 19, the Priest gains one Greater Sacred Talent from the list below. Some Greater Sacred Talents have prerequisites that must be met before they can be taken.
Greater Sacred Talents
Through the Will of God
Prerequisite: N/A
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, once per-day, cast a spell without fulfilling any of it's components. The spell requires no verbal, somatic or material components, and even spells with expensive spell foci or material components can be cast in this manner. The spells Miracle, Limited Wish and Wish cannot be cast with this ability.
Imbue with Negative Energy
Prerequisites: Must have the Negative Energy Infusion sacred talent.
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, as a swift action, designate a single target to be imbue with negative energy. The next time the the target takes damage, it is dealt an additional 1d6 negative energy damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has. This power can also be used on an undead creature, however, instead of being dealt extra damage that undead creature instead heal 1d6 damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has when it is damaged. This ability cannot be stacked for extra damage or healing.
Imbue with Positive Energy
Prerequisites: Must have the Positive Energy Infusion sacred talent.
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, as a swift action, designate a single ally to be imbue with positive energy. The next time that ally takes damage, it heals 1d6 damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has. This power can also instead target an undead creature. If used in this manner that undead creature takes 1d6 damage for every 3 caster levels the priest has the next time an ally deals damage to it. This ability cannot be stacked for extra damage or healing.
Patriarch
Prerequisites: Must have the Congregation sacred talent
Benefit: You have become a figure of massive importance in your faith and as a result have gained an even larger flock of followers. You add half your priest level to your effective character level for determining your effective leadership score for your Congregation sacred talent. In addition, you gain a bonus on all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against members of your faith(If you follow an ideal instead of a religion this bonus applies to those whom share your alignment instead.) equal to 1/5th your priest level. This bonus stacks with any and all other bonuses you possesses to the Diplomacy and Intimidate skills.
Hand of Life and Death
Prerequisites: Must be at least 19th level
Benefit: The Priest who takes this sacred talent can, once per-day, use one of the following abilities:
- The Priest may target one dead ally within 30ft. That ally is resurrected as if he was brought back to life by the effects of a True Resurrection spell. That ally gains a sacred or profane bonus to one ability score of his or her choice equal to the Priest's charisma modifier for four rounds.
-The Priest may force one target within 30ft to make a fort save against a DC of 10 + 1/2 the Priest's class level + the Priest's charisma modifier. If they fail their save, they die. If they make their save they take 2d6 constitution damage, or 10d6 damage if they are immune to constitution damage.
Negative Energy Circle
Prerequisites: Must have the Imbue with Negative Energy greater sacred talent.
Benefits: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, once per day, create a 40ft radius spread at a range of 25ft +5ft per every 2 caster levels he possesses. Within that spread, every living creature takes an amount of negative energy damage equal to his charisma modifier for four rounds and every undead creature gains fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for those same four rounds.
Positive Energy Circle
Prerequisites: Must have the Imbue with Positive Energy greater sacred talent.
Benefit: The Priest who takes this greater sacred talent can, once per day, create a 40ft radius spread at a range of 25ft+5ft per every 2 caster levels he possesses. Within that spread, every ally gains fast healing equal to his charisma modifier for four rounds and every undead creature takes positive energy damage equal to his charisma modifier for those same four rounds.
(IMPORTANT NOTES: While D&D does have the cloistered cleric I always thought that even that was not enough to satisfy the need for a "spellcaster priest" to the cleric's "martial priest." Thus, I created this, a robe-wearing, spellcasting-focused priest class that is meant to be a tier 1 caster and way to play archetypes such as the "white mage" and robed necro-cultist. This class, however, is a WIP and as a result it is probally a bit OP and unbalanced. That's, however, where I want your help. I want your aid in making this a concept that works and is balanced as a Tier 1-Tier 2 caster. Any help would be appreciated. Also, please, no grammar/syntax/formatting criticism. I am worried more about mechanics then how this looks or sounds. Thank you. Also, I credit all of you here on the playground who made your own "priest" type classes for giving me ideas and inspiration for this class.)