A Note on Priest

[Jeff Dunnett]

A note on Priest. My gaming group has recently been discussing the
topic of priests. We were trying to figure out first whether or not
regular clerics existed. Secondly, if specialty priest had to be the
same alignment of their god, or could they be any alignment listed on
the list of allowed alignments in the BoP. The DM finaling decided to
make it that only blooded character could be specialty priest, kind of
like mages, and that you had to be the alignment of your god to be a
specialty priest. I was wondering what everyone thought about this.





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[Pieter A de Jong]

Jeff Dunnett wrote:
>
> A note on Priest. My gaming group has recently been discussing the
> topic of priests. We were trying to figure out first whether or not
> regular clerics existed. Secondly, if specialty priest had to be the
> same alignment of their god, or could they be any alignment listed on
> the list of allowed alignments in the BoP. The DM finaling decided to
> make it that only blooded character could be specialty priest, kind of
> like mages, and that you had to be the alignment of your god to be a
> specialty priest. I was wondering what everyone thought about this.
>
> __________________________________________________ _______

Well, your DM's ruling is certainly a big change from what I get out of
the Birthright boxed set. IMC I say that 1) only the speciality priests
presented in the back of the original birthright book exist (for humans
at least). ie No generic clerics. 2) A priest can be any of the
alignments listed as a acceptable in the BoP. 3) No bloodline is
required to be a priest.

Second I think you should seriously consider the implications of making
a bloodline a requirement for priest. It suggests that the humans had
no priestly magic before Diesmaar, completely undercutting one of the
main ideas about how the elves lost the initial elven-human war. Also,
it suggest even in present times the humans have no hope of matching
elven domains battle magic. It gives the elven domains an almost
unbeatable edge, as unblooded elves can be true mages, whereas no
unblooded human can wield battle magic (no, I don't think that magicians
should be allowed to use battle magic). Especially with the increased
numbers of spellcasters that immortality is going to result in.
- --

Pieter A de Jong
Graduate Mechanical Engineering Student
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

[Brenda L. Santer]

>A note on Priest. My gaming group has recently been discussing the
>topic of priests. We were trying to figure out first whether or not
>regular clerics existed. Secondly, if specialty priest had to be the
>same alignment of their god, or could they be any alignment listed on
>the list of allowed alignments in the BoP. The DM finaling decided to
>make it that only blooded character could be specialty priest, kind of
>like mages, and that you had to be the alignment of your god to be a
>specialty priest. I was wondering what everyone thought about this.
>
>
This I think is one of the areas that is laid out fairly well on the
Birthright books. The main rulebook states on page 11, that "every priest
character must choose one of the Cerilian Powers and abide by the allowed
weapons, armor and spheres of access granted to priests of that deity."
This seems to make it clear that the generic cleric does not exist in
Cerilia, only the specialty priest.

I see no reason to infer that a priest must be blooded, though those who
rise to the positions of power to control temple holdings and to cast
priest realm spells will of course need to be blooded.

The alignment question is answered in the BOP and the main rulebook. In
each deity's listing, there are 3 alignments listed. AL: is the alignment
of the deity himself/herself. WAL: is the range of alignments that the
worshippers must adhere to. Finally in the section under each deity's
preisthood, you will find a third alignment listing which gives the options
for priests of that deity.

So taking Laerme for example:
Laerme herself is Chaotic good
Her followers can be of any nonevil alignment
Her priests can be of any Good alignment.
Thus while her followers can be drawn from 6 alignments, her priests have
only 3 choices of alignment.

Hope this helps.


****************************************


Brenda Santer:

mailto:bsanter@home.com

ICQ:7059188
AIM: Laerme

****************************************

[DKEvermore@aol.co]

In a message dated 1/29/99 3:37:33 PM, knightoftherose98@yahoo.com writes:

>A note on Priest. My gaming group has recently been discussing the
>topic of priests. We were trying to figure out first whether or not
>regular clerics existed. Secondly, if specialty priest had to be the
>same alignment of their god, or could they be any alignment listed on
>the list of allowed alignments in the BoP. The DM finaling decided to
>make it that only blooded character could be specialty priest, kind of
>like mages, and that you had to be the alignment of your god to be a
>specialty priest. I was wondering what everyone thought about this.
>
I thought the BR rules were very clear on this. There are no general
clerics--all priests are specific to one particular god. And you have to
follow the alignment requirements to receive any spells (as well as whatever
strictures the gods want).

- -DKE

[Jeff Dunnett]

Thanks. I see your point. I agree how would this work before the
battle of desimaar, and the human elven wars. Thanks.




- ---Pieter A de Jong wrote:
>
> Jeff Dunnett wrote:
> >
> > A note on Priest. My gaming group has recently been discussing the
> > topic of priests. We were trying to figure out first whether or not
> > regular clerics existed. Secondly, if specialty priest had to be
the
> > same alignment of their god, or could they be any alignment listed
on
> > the list of allowed alignments in the BoP. The DM finaling
decided to
> > make it that only blooded character could be specialty priest,
kind of
> > like mages, and that you had to be the alignment of your god to be a
> > specialty priest. I was wondering what everyone thought about this.
> >
> > __________________________________________________ _______
>
> Well, your DM's ruling is certainly a big change from what I get out
of
> the Birthright boxed set. IMC I say that 1) only the speciality
priests
> presented in the back of the original birthright book exist (for
humans
> at least). ie No generic clerics. 2) A priest can be any of the
> alignments listed as a acceptable in the BoP. 3) No bloodline is
> required to be a priest.
>
> Second I think you should seriously consider the implications of
making
> a bloodline a requirement for priest. It suggests that the humans had
> no priestly magic before Diesmaar, completely undercutting one of the
> main ideas about how the elves lost the initial elven-human war. Also,
> it suggest even in present times the humans have no hope of matching
> elven domains battle magic. It gives the elven domains an almost
> unbeatable edge, as unblooded elves can be true mages, whereas no
> unblooded human can wield battle magic (no, I don't think that
magicians
> should be allowed to use battle magic). Especially with the increased
> numbers of spellcasters that immortality is going to result in.
> --
>