I suddenly feel uncertain about meanings of "powers" in PHB...

[Astralia123]

Hello playground. I've recently been studying AD&D 2nd rule books, and somehow feel confused about the meanings of some words.


Priests must pray to obtain spells, as they are requesting
their abilities from some greater power, be it their deity or
some intermediary agent of this power. The conditions for
praying are identical to those needed for the wizard’s studying. Clearly then, it behooves the priest to maintain himself
in good standing with this power, through word and deed.

Like this, I'm sure those capitalized "Powers" refer to deities, but do non-capitalized one have same meanings? Are they all deities, or does this phrase include some non-deity beings that grant priest spells?


Uhh, I know it might be silly but I could think of few places to ask this...

[LibraryOgre]

Power (meaning deity, or less frequently, force or philosophy) can be capitalized or uncapitalized; it is simply the source of a priest's abilities, including spells and granted powers. It became especially common after Planescape was released, since some factions there don't recognize deities as deities, but do recognize them as powers.

[Khedrac]

Additionally rulers of layers (e.g. demontanaari princes etc) also were classed as powers in the Manual of the Planes so it actually makes it more viable for them to grant spells without being deities.

[Astralia123]

Thanks for the help but I encounter another confusion now...


Elf in MM has a damage of 1-10...without "with weapon" in columns.
I don’t know if it is a typo, as elf usually use longbow and longsword, and they are 1d8 weapons for medium (depending on which type of arrow is used).

So it is bare-hand damage? WTF (pardon me)? It doesn't say elves are all martial artists as long as I see?

[Lord Torath]

Huh. I've never noticed that before. I always just use weapon damage for humanoids, with possible bonuses for strength, specialization, or special gear. I've no idea where it came from, but I'd just ignore it. I suppose they could all be equipped with 2-handed swords, but I tend to doubt it.

[Astralia123]

I think I should just give up thinking over on it...but hey if you think over it, it might be potentially quite dramatic?

PCs (disarming the last surviving elf): "Ha! You've got no weapons now! Surrender!"

[veti]

The 3e rulebooks are written with precision, with glossaries and definitions and Terms of Art all over the place. They are intentionally designed to leave no room whatsoever for human interpretation, which is why 3e is a game that consists almost entirely of loopholes, exploits and cheese.

The AD&D rulebooks are written with a vagueness and imprecision that absolutely requires you as DM to interpret and house-rule your socks off. It's one of the nice things about it.

I wouldn't expect the word "powers" to mean the same thing in every context, even when it seems to be talking about the same general topic.

[Mutazoia]

Thanks for the help but I encounter another confusion now...


Elf in MM has a damage of 1-10...without "with weapon" in columns.
I don’t know if it is a typo, as elf usually use longbow and longsword, and they are 1d8 weapons for medium (depending on which type of arrow is used).

So it is bare-hand damage? WTF (pardon me)? It doesn't say elves are all martial artists as long as I see?

It is assumed that random elves will be using long bows or long swords, and will have a damage bonus (basically it's racial stereo-typing...all elves have magic weapons, right?) unless the DM gives them a different weapon. Basically, it's just a way to make a random encounter/fight with a group of angry elves a little tougher than a fight with a standard PC elf.

[Toofey]

Thanks for the help but I encounter another confusion now...


Elf in MM has a damage of 1-10...without "with weapon" in columns.
I don’t know if it is a typo, as elf usually use longbow and longsword, and they are 1d8 weapons for medium (depending on which type of arrow is used).

So it is bare-hand damage? WTF (pardon me)? It doesn't say elves are all martial artists as long as I see?

I'm not sure where the additional plus 1 is, but if you just extended the Player's handbook rules Elves get a +1 with their primary weapons (long and short swords and bows) So maybe it's a mix of counting these bonuses and the good old TSR quality editing at work here.