Eldritch Disciple Ur-priest

[Seak]

I've seen a bit of building done around combining these prestige classes, but I'm unsure how to get past the obvious barrier. Eldritch disciple requires the character to worship a god, while Ur-priest requires that they've forsaken the gods. Is there a work around that doesn't require DM intervention?

[Zaq]

I don’t have my books open, but can an Ur-Priest worship a dead god?

[death390]

as the eldritch disciple, believe in yourself as you attempt to rise to godhood stealing power from the gods.

[Seak]

I don’t have my books open, but can an Ur-Priest worship a dead god?


as the eldritch disciple, believe in yourself as you attempt to rise to godhood stealing power from the gods.

Nice catches, that'll do. It does say under adaptations that both of these scenarios can apply to ur-priests.

[A.A.King]

Well, technically, only the Eldritch Disciple has a God related prerequisted. Eldritsch Disicple clearly states that you must worship a Chaotic or Evil Deity but Ur-Priest has no such qualification. Ur-Priest merely states you cannot have the ability to cast divine spells. While maybe a bit of a cop-out, you could worship someone like Vecna and just say "I worship the ideas of Vecna, one of which is that power must come from yourself, so while I pray to Vecna I do not expect nor want him to grant me spells, I simply steal those spells from the other gods!" Or you could just pick an evil god of choice and don't bother with an explanation, because Ur-Priest has no rule-requirements stating you can't be a believer.

If you want to make it work while also properly explaining it, their is an Adaption bit right before the requirements which states "This prestige class is written to describe characters who steal divine power from the gods and use it themselves. It’s also a good choice, however, for ex-clerics of gods who’ve somehow lost their connection to their deity (because the deity died, disappeared, or faded from existence because he had too few worshipers)." so you can worship a dead god and thematically qualify for both prestige classes.

You could maybe even worship a false god. The adaption mentioned ex-clerics of gods who've somehow lost their connection to their deity. Imagine an ex-cleric of Pelor who gets consumed by his own hatred to the point that Pelor severes their bond and the cleric loses his spellcasting (and as such qualifies for Ur-Priest). The cleric however still believes in Pelor, but no longer in the 'false' Pelor that the Church preaches, no, he believes in the real Pelor: The Burning Hate. Such a character could claim to still worship a God, an Evil one at that, but because it's not a real god but a distortion of a real god he doesn't gain divine spells from his worship, hence qualifying him for Ur-Priest.

EDIT: Got Ninjad about the dead god thing, shouldn't type so much.

[Andezzar]

Is there a work around that doesn't require DM intervention?Strict adherence to the RAW is enough:

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
[...]
Special: Ability to turn or rebuke undead, must worship a chaotic or evil deity.


To qualify to become an ur-priest, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any evil.
Base Save Bonus: Fort +3, Will +3.
Skills: Bluff 6 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks.
Feats: Iron Will, Spell Focus (evil).
Special: The character must have no ability to cast divine spells. If such spellcasting ability was previously possessed (as with an ex-cleric), that ability is forever forsaken. The character must be trained by another ur-priest.
Emphasis mine. There isn't actually a requirement for the Ur-Priest not to worship a deity, he just must not be able cast divine spells. Additionally both requirements are only checked when you enter the class. So there is nothing preventing you from starting to worship a deity before taking the first level of the Eldritch Disciple. You might have to write an interesting story how this Damascus moment came about.


as the eldritch disciple, believe in yourself as you attempt to rise to godhood stealing power from the gods.It's the Ur-Priest that steals powers from the god.