Fertility Domain [PEACH]

[Lord Iames Osari]

Edit - [glow=red,2,300]Edition 3.0 of this domain is on page 3.[/glow]

I don't know if there's something like this out there already, but...

Fertility Domain
Granted Power: You are immune to mundane disease. This is a supernatural ability.
1) Conceive/Contraceive: Guarantees conception or contraception for 1 hour/level after cast.
2) Easy Birth: Grants +10/level on Heal and Profession (midwifery) checks made during childbirth.
3) Protection from Disease: Grants protection from mundane diseases.
4) Brave New World: One woman magically conceives without having intercourse.
5) Bestow Fertility: Makes one subject fertile.
6) Transfer Pregnancy: Transfers a developing fetus from one female subject to another.
7) Protection from Disease, Greater: As protection from disease, but protects against supernatural diseases as well.
8) Induce Twins: Causes identical twins to develop.
9) Miraculous Birth: Magically removes a baby from the mother in dangerous childbirthing situations.

I'll put up the spells themselves later, once I've figured them all out myself, though anyone who wants to help out is welcome to. But I think this is enough to begin with.

[Hario]

ummm does that mean that you can be constantly fertilized for as long as the spell is on them? pfft easy way to kill someone, cast the first spell then... well you get the idea... lots of it.... ;D and they should constantly be getting more and more... go for a marathon if you must...

[Peregrine]

I think greater contagion is very out of place in a domain that's so heavily into anti-disease spells and powers. I'm not sure miraculous birth will be worth a 9th-level spell, and whether or not you bump it down, a lower-level spell that aids in childbirth would be good too.

[knightsaline]

fertility isn't just babies, it's also making sure crops grow. maybe some plant based spells wouldn't be amiss. i can imagine the village wise-woman having this domain, curing all those who need it, sitting with the soon to be dead, keeping them company and helping birth the livestock.

do the spells only work on player races, or can they work on anything that give birth? you seem to have forgotten to include that. is there a spell that can change the targets gender. why? pre doom brigade draconians. read the book to find out why

also, i have never read in a handbook that PCs can have children. i'd love to see a rule that governs that. then we could actually see some templates like "the autistic template" imagine what an autistic spellcaster would be like!

P.S. I'm autistic myself and I would love to play an autistic PC

[Lord Iames Osari]

ummm does that mean that you can be constantly fertilized for as long as the spell is on them? pfft easy way to kill someone, cast the first spell then... well you get the idea... lots of it.... ;D and they should constantly be getting more and more... go for a marathon if you must...

Which spell? Conceive/Contraceive or Bestow Infertility/Restore Fertility?

Conceive/Contraceive only guarantees that a pregnancy will or will not occur (depending on the version you pick) if you do It ;) within the next hour/level.

Bestow Infertility/Restore Fertility, on the other hand, merely changes whether or not you are capable of having children.

@ Peregrine: Yes, I know. I just put that in because I couldn't think of a decent 7th level spell that fit the theme. If you can come up with something better, PM me.

@ knightsaline: Actually, there's the Plant domain for dealing with plants and stuff. The spells will work on pretty much anything, I think. I'll get back to you when I write up the spells. ;D

[Thomas]

First off, yeah, fertility deities' usually had to do both with the fertility of people and animals, and the fertility of plants and crops.

Second, that's not a fertility domain - that's an anti-STD domain. You have 3 spells that have to do with fertility, and 5 that have to do with diseases (after removing the contagion spell, which fit like a square peg in a round hole).

[Lord Iames Osari]

First off, yeah, fertility deities' usually had to do both with the fertility of people and animals, and the fertility of plants and crops.

Second, that's not a fertility domain - that's an anti-STD domain. You have 3 spells that have to do with fertility, and 5 that have to do with diseases (after removing the contagion spell, which fit like a square peg in a round hole).

What, and STDs aren't a fertility issue?

I was trying to make the domain a bit more useful to PCs, and I figured that putting in major disease protection-ness would be a good way to do that, though the mass versions are a bit unnecessary, I suppose, and if anyone came up with anything better, they'd be first to go, now that I've gotten rid of greater contagion.

Also, the deity I had in mind while developing this is the goddess of, among other things, prostitutes. STD prevention is gonna be high on the list of important things to do.

[Thomas]

You'll want to switch the name and theme of the domain, maybe. I don't see prostitutes having a lot to do with fertility. Maybe name the domain Promiscuity or something?

A Fertility domain ought to be about easing birth and conception, restoring fertility, and helping crops.

Removing fertility ought to be in an evil domain (Barren?) of some sort.

[knightsaline]

Also, the deity I had in mind while developing this is the goddess of, among other things, prostitutes.

interesting concept. i'd play a cleric if this goddess existed. maybe you should develop (in a seperate post) the goddess of prostitutes. although, drop the word "prostitutes" and replace with "ladies/gentlemen of negotionable affection" or, for the less refined "liftskirts/ droppants". they didn't have the word "prostitute" in fantasy times. most people use words that wouldn't be around in the time era

even liftskirts need someone to pray to

[Chaos]

interesting concept. i'd play a cleric if this goddess existed. maybe you should develop (in a seperate post) the goddess of prostitutes. although, drop the word "prostitutes" and replace with "ladies/gentlemen of negotionable affection" or, for the less refined "liftskirts/ droppants". they didn't have the word "prostitute" in fantasy times. most people use words that wouldn't be around in the time era

even liftskirts need someone to pray to

"Ladies/Gentlemen of negotiable affection"... I like that term.

We could, euphemistically, call the domain the Affection Domain.


Or, if we want to get off that angle, since all those spells are also useful for normal people, call it the Family Domain.

[Peregrine]

interesting concept. i'd play a cleric if this goddess existed. maybe you should develop (in a seperate post) the goddess of prostitutes. although, drop the word "prostitutes" and replace with "ladies/gentlemen of negotionable affection" or, for the less refined "liftskirts/ droppants". they didn't have the word "prostitute" in fantasy times. most people use words that wouldn't be around in the time era

even liftskirts need someone to pray to

You might want to check your information. 'Prostitute' comes from the Latin prostituta, so even if the English didn't exist in medieval times the Latin would have been known. "Ladies of negotiable affection" sounds like a very modern euphemism of the ironic sort. "Liftskirt" or similar words crop up in a lot of fantasy novels, and so would be fair for a fantasy game, but I've never heard of one in actual use. "Whore", "harlot", "bawd", "tart" and the like would almost definitely have been used, however.

[knightsaline]

the term "ladies of negotible affection" comes from discworld. they even have a guild, although, they seem more like escorts than true whores.

i apologise for my lack of research on the term "prostitute". it just doesn't seem to fit into a fantasy setting.

[Thomas]

Incidentally, if you intend to have a deity of either fertility or (especially) of prostitutes or of prositution, you may want to check out the Book of Erotic Fantasy, especially for spells. Contrary to popular outcry (by, it seems to me, people who haven't read the book), it's quite tasteful. The paragraphs of erotic fiction used to illustrate some concepts are tasteful, and the pictures are about as much pornography as the ones used in D&D and RuneQuest books in the 70s and 80s.

And prostitute is just fine as a word (especially considering it is, and sounds like, borrowed Latin). Or do you actually speak Middle English or Old English while playing? The characters don't speak English anyway - they're speaking Common. ::) Nevermind that there is no such period or age as "fantasy times"...

[Lord Iames Osari]

You'll want to switch the name and theme of the domain, maybe. I don't see prostitutes having a lot to do with fertility. Maybe name the domain Promiscuity or something?

A Fertility domain ought to be about easing birth and conception, restoring fertility, and helping crops.

The Prostitute Goddess isn't going to be the only one with the domain; it's also associated with another, more traditional fertility goddess.

The goal of this Fertility Domain is to ease birth and conception and restore fertility. For plant-related issues, there's the Plant domain. Why can't people understand this?

And there is a need for more birth-related spells in the domain. I admit it. I'm just having trouble coming up with spell concepts.

And I think I will try to check out the Book of Erotic Fantasy, if I can find a copy.

[Tengu]

1) Conceive/Contraceive: Guarantees conception or contraception for 1 hour/level after cast.
3) Gender Change: You change the gender of one target for 1 minute per level. The target is confused for 1d4 rounds after changing.
5) Bestow Fertility: Makes one subject fertile.
7) Gender Change, True: As gender change, but permanent.

I think that these powers (maybe with the exception of Bestow Fertility) should allow a saving throw if used on an unwilling target.

[VampWyrm]

First off, cool idea. :D

One of the lower-level spells could be "Ease Birth" that could add +30 to heal checks for childbirth. (and ease the pain?)

(see discussion of childbirth here: http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb...3161263;start= )

A higher-level spell could be "Induce Twins" - similar to a Clone spell, but only works on a baby still inside it's mother.

There could also be another one (mid-level?) "Immaculate Conception" that would impregnate a female without needing a male "participant". ;)


Also, I don't really understand why gender change spells would be in this domain..? Seems more like something for a Mischief, Sexuality, or possibly Surgery domain.

For plant-related issues, there's the Plant domain. Why can't people understand this?

Well, we're discussing making a domain specifically for Fertility, (which applies to anything that reproduces sexually) so it seems to make sense to include plant/animal fertility as well as human(oid)s... I understand that plants and animals have their own domains, but this is a specific aspect of both plants and animals that are probably not addressed within those domains.

To me, I also would picture a Midwife priestess having this domain and attending to birthings (people and animals) and helping crops grow...

Given that, you might include something like Plant Growth or Enlarge... (insert sexual reference joke here)

Oh, and I agree that unwilling targets (INCLUDING Bestow Fertility) should get saves.

[Telonius]

I seem to remember that Sune in Forgotten Realms has a "Pleasure" domain. Can't remember what it does, but you might want to look into it for some of this goddess's other domains.

[Lord Iames Osari]

First off, cool idea. :D

One of the lower-level spells could be "Ease Birth" that could add +30 to heal checks for childbirth. (and ease the pain?)

(see discussion of childbirth here: http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb...3161263;start= )

A higher-level spell could be "Induce Twins" - similar to a Clone spell, but only works on a baby still inside it's mother.

There could also be another one (mid-level?) "Immaculate Conception" that would impregnate a female without needing a male "participant". ;)


Also, I don't really understand why gender change spells would be in this domain..? Seems more like something for a Mischief, Sexuality, or possibly Surgery domain.

Well, we're discussing making a domain specifically for Fertility, (which applies to anything that reproduces sexually) so it seems to make sense to include plant/animal fertility as well as human(oid)s... I understand that plants and animals have their own domains, but this is a specific aspect of both plants and animals that are probably not addressed within those domains.

To me, I also would picture a Midwife priestess having this domain and attending to birthings (people and animals) and helping crops grow...

Given that, you might include something like Plant Growth or Enlarge... (insert sexual reference joke here)

Oh, and I agree that unwilling targets (INCLUDING Bestow Fertility) should get saves.

Easy Birth - :)

Induce Twins - :-/

Immaculate Conception - Like the concept (kind of an artificial insemination thing), but needs a name change, methinks. Crazy religious nuts already don't like us, let's not provoke them any further.

As for the midwife priestess - yes, she would do those things.

[Thomas]

I seem to remember that Sune in Forgotten Realms has a "Pleasure" domain. Can't remember what it does, but you might want to look into it for some of this goddess's other domains.

She has the Pleasure domain if you've got the Book of Exalted Deeds. The Pleasure domain is not described in the PGtF (nor are its spells), and not mentioned in Faiths and Pantheons.

Oh, and "immaculate conception" doesn't have anything to do with a woman becoming pregnant without a father. The dogma of immaculate conception is about Mary's birth, not Jesus'. It's a Catholic idea that says Mary was not tainted by the original sin when she was born. ::)

(And I'm not even Christian...)

[kailin]

One complaint before anything else: What is with this profession (midwifery)?! When has that ever come up . . . how often have you wanted a bonus to that skill? As has been said in the other inexplicable thread about houserules for birth, in routine births the mother does all the work, with the midwife there to catch the baby and deal with any complications. If anything, your first level spell should remove any mundane complications related to the birth (ie, put the baby in the proper position, untangle the unbilical cord from around its neck, etc). No numerical bonus or anything, just alleviates mundane problems to allow for a normal birth.

Anyway, on to my real criticism: Judging by this list, prostitutes have only two concerns:
1) Easy birth/birth control
2) STDs
I think that's not giving enough credit, or character, to a diety whose entire portfolio is the concerned with the ladies of negotiable affection.

I actually liked your earlier "Change Gender" spell (though normally I think it's a good idea to avoid that kind of thing in a game) because at least it gives the domain and diety some personality. The spell -- which as a limited polymorph should be at least 4th level -- shows the diety is someone you do not want to cross. How about other spells that would be flavorful as well as useful to NPCs and PCs alike?

There's no one saying there can't be some self-defense spells in there -- after all, prostitutes spend a lot of their time in compromised, potentially dangerous situations. How about a contingent alarm spell that blares loudly and maybe even stuns people when you're attacked. That could be a 2nd-level or higher.

What about spells to make them more alluring or successful? Illusions, enchantments, Eagle's splendor, bonuses to diplomacy, bluff, or sense motive? These are all easily applicable to prostitution and yet broadly usable enough that they could become an important part of the campaign. As it is, the whole domain seems like a lopsided, NPC flavor domain whose philosophy doesn't quite cohere.

[Lord Iames Osari]

I should clarify that prostitution is not the Fortuna's sole concern. As you might guess, she is also associated with luck. And the moon, and the ocean, and chaosness (She has ADD. No, seriously. It's part of this curse thing that another goddess put on her...).

Anyway, the revised Fertility domain, with spell entries.

Fertility Domain, [glow=red,2,300]v. 2.0[/glow]
Deities: Fortuna, Maia (both from my homebrew)
Granted Power: You are immune to all mundane disease. At 5th level, you become immune to supernatural disease as well.
Spells
1 Conceive/Contraceive: Guarantees conception or contraception for 1 hour after cast.
2 Ease Birth: +10/level to Heal checks, infant is in the proper position.
3 Protection from Disease: Grants temporary immunity to mundane disease.
4 Bestow/Remove Potency: Makes one subject sexually potent or impotent.
5 Bestow/Remove Fertility: Makes one subject fertile or infertile.
6 Miraculous Birth: Magically removes a baby from the mother during labor.
7 Protection from Disease, Greater: As protection from disease, but protects against supernatural disease as well.
8 Brave New World: One woman magically conceives without having intercourse.
9 Transfer Pregnancy: Transfers a developing fetus from one woman to another.

Bestow/Remove Fertility
Transmutation
Level: Fertility 5
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Target: 1 creature within range
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

If you picked bestow fertility, target creature becomes fertile; that is, able to father or bear children. If you picked remove fertility, target creature becomes infertile; that is, unable to father or bear children. Bestow/remove fertility counters and dispels itself.

Bestow/Remove Potency
Transmutation
Level: Fertility 4
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Target: 1 creature within range
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

If you picked bestow potency, target creature becomes sexually potent. If you picked remove potency, target creature becomes sexually impotent. Bestow/remove potency counters and dispels itself.

Brave New World
Conjuration
Level: Fertility 8
Components: V, S, M, DF
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Touch
Target: 1 woman of childbearing age touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

One woman of childbearing age whom you touch conceives a child. You must specify the gender of the child during the casting of this spell.
Material component: A few drops of fresh semen.

Conceive/Contraceive
Conjuration
Level: Fertility 1
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

For 1 hour/level after the casting of this spell, if the subject engages in sexual intercourse, one of two effects will take place, depending on the version of the spell you chose:
Conceive: The target becomes pregnant, or
Contraceive: The target does not become pregnant.
This spell is absolutely foolproof while it remains in effect.

Ease Birth
Transmutation
Level: Fertility 2
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Self and Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Target: Self and 1 unborn infant within range
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell grants you a +10/level sacred bonus on Heal checks and shifts the infant to a proper position for being born.

Miraculous Birth
Conjuration
Level: Fertility 6
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Target: 1 woman in labor and 1 infant being born within range
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

The infant is removed from the mother, the umbilical cord cut and tied, the infant cleaned, wrapped in blankets or other cloth, and deposited in the caster's arms. Both the mother and the infant are healthy.

Protection from Disease
Abjuration
Level: Fertility 3
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Creature touched
Duration: 10 minutes/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

The target is immune to mundane disease for the duration of this spell.

Protection from Disease, Greater
Abjuration
Level: Fertility 7

As protection from disease, except that the spell grants immunity to supernatural disease in addition to mundane disease, and as noted above.

Transfer Pregnancy
Transmutation
Level: Fertility 9
Components: V, S, DF
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./level)
Target: 2 women of childbearing age of the same race within range, one of whom is pregnant
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fort negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

When you cast this spell, the pregnant target ceases to be pregnant, and the other target becomes pregnant with the same child. The newly target is at the same stage of pregnancgy as the target who was originally pregnant.

[kailin]

Again, my critique of this domain is that it only cares about birth, with a minor emphasis on disease prevention, and there is more to fertility than that. A goddess with no attention span seems like she would have an eclectic spell list instead of one that relentlessly sticks to these narrow themes.

Try looking up ancient fertility customs to give you ideas for both flavor and additional themes/effects that fall under the umbrella of fertility. How about mixing love or lust into the equation, too, a la Midsummer Night's Dream?

The umbrella of fertility . . . hmm, now there's a weird magic item if I ever heard of one.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Again, my critique of this domain is that it only cares about birth, with a minor emphasis on disease prevention, and there is more to fertility than that. A goddess with no attention span seems like she would have an eclectic spell list instead of one that relentlessly sticks to these narrow themes.

Try looking up ancient fertility customs to give you ideas for both flavor and additional themes/effects that fall under the umbrella of fertility. How about mixing love or lust into the equation, too, a la Midsummer Night's Dream?

The umbrella of fertility . . . hmm, now there's a weird magic item if I ever heard of one.

If you must know, here is a list of all the domains available to clerics of Fortuna in my homebrew. Domains that appear in the Spell Compendium are marked (C), those from the Eberron Campaign Setting (E), and from Complete Divine (D). Unmarked domains are from the PH.

• Chaos,
• Charm (C,E),
• Envy (C),
• Fertility (this thread),
• Luck,
• Lust (C),
• Madness (C,D),
• Moon (C),
• Ocean (C),
• Passion (E),
• Pride (C),
• Trickery,
• Water.

OK? >:( This domain is about the fertility/sexuality of non-plant living things, got it? And it's not the only domain Fortuna's got! There ARE options for those of her priesthood (such as it is) who want to focus more on the passion, or the charm, or the ocean, or the madness, or the mischief, or the lust, or the moon, or whatever! >:( >:( >:(

And if you're looking for a more traditional, plants-included, fertility goddess, worship Maia and take the Plant and Fertility domains!

Oh, and about the "narrow focus" of a domain for a goddess with no attention span, I would remind you that "narrow focus" is the entire point of having domains.

*deep breath* Ok. Sorry I snapped, but I feel like I've been trying to please everyone and I'm not getting anything but criticism.

[knightsaline]

the reason why i said that the fertility domain should have a spell to change a targets gender is because of what the draconians in the dragonlance setting had to go through in order to have children. for those who dont want to read or play anything from the dragonlance setting, this is why.
draconians are all male (pre doom brigade). they were created in order to fight the dark queens wars (and to seriously annoy good dragons). any that fell could not be replaced. the dracos were basically finite. being able to change a (willing) targets gender would allow a dying race a chance to come back from extinction. thats a good act, if i ever saw one, giving a dying race a chance to come back from extinction.

make any spell that takes away fertility not work if used on an unwilling target. fertility is not something that should be taken away unwillingly. if you really want to make it so that you can take away fertility, make the DC really high or make it something like this;

modifiers
target is unwilling +5

[Tengu]

What's so bad about that? There are spells that take the target's life on a failed safe. From those two, I'd rather become infertile.

[kailin]

*deep breath* Ok. Sorry I snapped, but I feel like I've been trying to please everyone and I'm not getting anything but criticism.

That's 'cause you said PEACH, which means Please Evaluate And Criticize Honestly, and some of us here seem to think the domain needs work, perhaps because of its unusually narrow scope. You don't want to hear that? OK.

[SpiderBrigade]

That's 'cause you said PEACH, which means Please Evaluate And Criticize Honestly, and some of us here seem to think the domain needs work, perhaps because of its unusually narrow scope. You don't want to hear that? OK.

Well, to be fair, the domain doesn't have an 'unusually narrow scope.' Take a look at, say, the Healing domain. I agree with the original poster that the way you would build a more all-encompasing fertility godess is by giving her more than one domain, not by broadening the domains.

What it boils down to is one or two people basically saying "well, traditional fertility gods handled both human reproduction and crop growth. So you have to include plant spells." The OP has repeatedly explained that, well, that's not what he's trying to build. At which point what needs to happen is for people to ask more questions about what he is trying to create...not repeat that ancient fertility cults were about more than babies. It ceases to be helpful.

[Lord Iames Osari]

That's 'cause you said PEACH, which means Please Evaluate And Criticize Honestly, and some of us here seem to think the domain needs work, perhaps because of its unusually narrow scope. You don't want to hear that? OK.

And I did apologize. If you want it official, here you are:

I, Lord Iames, hereby apologize to kailin for snapping and being all pissy.

So what say we drop the acid in our tones and get on with making this domain a nutritious part of this complete and balanced breakfast... I mean game system. ;D

[awalton87]

I'm just trying to figure out how many of those spells would actually be useful in a PC-based situation... I mean, transferring someone's fetus is a great distraction, but really?

[knightsaline]

while we are on the subject of fertility, are there even any rules on how to get PCs pregnant? i think some sort of grapple check is in order (the male can elect to take 1 on the check). it was hinted at in the comic. i would make both parties fatuiged after the act.