Priest Powers

[Michael Gerard Kothakota]

Has anyone else noticed that priest's of some gods are more powerful than
other? In their granted powers, I mean. A priest of Cuiracean can use all
weapons, all armors, cast spells while wearing them and at ninth level they are
resistant to lightning and something else. Of course on the way to ninth level
they also have other powers that surface such as #of attacks of a warrior their
own level. What need to be a warrior? A priest of Cuiracean could,
theoretically, command law and temple holdings, prevent wizards from
controlling sources, be quite the warrior and expand his kingdom easily. It
will not go against his calling to destroy things (that is part of the storm
portfolio). He's pretty much free to conquer whoever he wants.
Then look at a priest of Ruornil: Very few powers of which one is the
spells of a magician half his own level. The two key words here are half and
magician. half the level is weak. And magicians can't cast spells worth a
$*#^. Too add to that, there weapon supply is very limited, and they can't
wear any armor. Bummer.
Now, look at a priest compared to other characters: They hold the
power of investiture, and as long as they wish, it's very difficult for a
warrior out of favor with the priest to gain control of a province. Warriors
can always be seen as good or evil. Priests, on the other hand, have followers
who believe they are the messenger of the god they serve. If a priest can
convince everyone in his realm to follow his god, then think how much harder it
will be for there to be a revolt.
Wizards control awesome amounts of power, but have little chance to use
it. They must always watch their sources, slowly building them up and
protecting them from other wizards. A wizard who controls a province is also
in deep *&%!. He has other things on his mind than the people of his realm.
Thieves can control a lot of influence in the domains, but have little
supernatural power at their disposal.
Of course all of these can be used to an advantage with good
role-playing, equaling out the power used. But priests just don't have to work
as hard. Anybody agree or disagree?

[Kurt Wiegel]

On Tue, 5 Aug 1997, Michael Gerard Kothakota wrote:

> Has anyone else noticed that priest's of some gods are more powerful than
> other? In their granted powers, I mean. A priest of Cuiracean can use all
> weapons, all armors, cast spells while wearing them and at ninth level they are
> resistant to lightning and something else. Of course on the way to ninth level
> they also have other powers that surface such as #of attacks of a warrior their
> own level. What need to be a warrior? A priest of Cuiracean could,
> theoretically, command law and temple holdings, prevent wizards from
> controlling sources, be quite the warrior and expand his kingdom easily. It
> will not go against his calling to destroy things (that is part of the storm
> portfolio). He's pretty much free to conquer whoever he wants.

I've never thought about that. I suppose that the major drawback to
that is that most people don't like that priesthood, thus supplying the
name "Hidden shrine of..." I can never say that name. And, due to the
chaotic nature of that god, I suppose few priest would ever want to get
dominance over anyone, as that would be at odds with their natures. I
think of thgis priesthood as being similar to the priesthood of
Tritherion in the Greyhawk setting.

> Now, look at a priest compared to other characters: They hold the
> power of investiture, and as long as they wish, it's very difficult for a
> warrior out of favor with the priest to gain control of a province. Warriors
> can always be seen as good or evil. Priests, on the other hand, have followers
> who believe they are the messenger of the god they serve. If a priest can
> convince everyone in his realm to follow his god, then think how much harder it
> will be for there to be a revolt.

Priests do hold a lot of power in the realm, but all it takes is a
little bad PR about a god to pull the power right out from under them
like an overpriced Khinasi rug. Priests, in my opinion, base their power
more on the goodwill of the people in the temple than he other types of
regents (such as Fighters, who can muscle over the people, and thieves
who would sneak around them.) A good priest puts precedence on the people
almost as high as the dedication to their god, and personal ambition
should come second. The ruler of the Western Imperial Temple in Avanil
has done just the opposite of this, and I plan for something hideous to
befall him soon.
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> > 'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
>

[Frederic Lavallee]

Michael Gerard Kothakota wrote:
>
> Has anyone else noticed that priest's of some gods are more powerful than
> other? In their granted powers, I mean. A priest of Cuiracean can use all
> weapons, all armors, cast spells while wearing them and at ninth level they are
> resistant to lightning and something else. Of course on the way to ninth level
> they also have other powers that surface such as #of attacks of a warrior their
> own level. What need to be a warrior? A priest of Cuiracean could,
> theoretically, command law and temple holdings, prevent wizards from
> controlling sources, be quite the warrior and expand his kingdom easily. It
> will not go against his calling to destroy things (that is part of the storm
> portfolio). He's pretty much free to conquer whoever he wants.
> Then look at a priest of Ruornil: Very few powers of which one is the
> spells of a magician half his own level. The two key words here are half and
> magician. half the level is weak. And magicians can't cast spells worth a
> $*#^. Too add to that, there weapon supply is very limited, and they can't
> wear any armor. Bummer.
> Now, look at a priest compared to other characters: They hold the
> power of investiture, and as long as they wish, it's very difficult for a
> warrior out of favor with the priest to gain control of a province. Warriors
> can always be seen as good or evil. Priests, on the other hand, have followers
> who believe they are the messenger of the god they serve. If a priest can
> convince everyone in his realm to follow his god, then think how much harder it
> will be for there to be a revolt.
> Wizards control awesome amounts of power, but have little chance to use
> it. They must always watch their sources, slowly building them up and
> protecting them from other wizards. A wizard who controls a province is also
> in deep *&%!. He has other things on his mind than the people of his realm.
> Thieves can control a lot of influence in the domains, but have little
> supernatural power at their disposal.
> Of course all of these can be used to an advantage with good
> role-playing, equaling out the power used. But priests just don't have to work
> as hard. Anybody agree or disagree?
>
I disagee with you on some point. I my opinion, the priest of Ruornil
are one of the most powerfull priest of BR. Their combination of priest
and mage spells are limitless. Let's see a 10 level priest of that god.
He will have 4/4/3/3/2 spells from priest plus 4/2/1 spells from the
mages. I have played before a multi-class mage/cleric and boy was he
powerfull! Supplementing my healing, detection and helpfull spells, i
had mage's ataack spells. With little luck, i destroyed a beholder at
level 7/6 all by myself!

Sure the priest seems more powerfull than the warrior or a mage. But the
mage possesses devastating battlespell (the kind that can destroy an
army in a blink of an eye) and the warrior correctly equiped in
arms/armors is a nearly unstoppable killing machine.

Fred

[Michael Gerard Kothakota]

On Aug 5, 1:16pm, Frederic Lavallee wrote:


> I disagee with you on some point. I my opinion, the priest of Ruornil
> are one of the most powerfull priest of BR. Their combination of priest
> and mage spells are limitless. Let's see a 10 level priest of that god.
> He will have 4/4/3/3/2 spells from priest plus 4/2/1 spells from the
> mages. I have played before a multi-class mage/cleric and boy was he
> powerfull! Supplementing my healing, detection and helpfull spells, i
> had mage's ataack spells. With little luck, i destroyed a beholder at
> level 7/6 all by myself!
Is your mage/cleric a true mage, or a magician? BY your wording I'm guessing
he is a true mage, because that's the only way to get decent attack spells.
Now, I'm just talking about the pure priest also. the pure priest would not
have that much power and probably not much of a chance to gain that power.
This is why priests of Ruornil have so small a clergy. And plus, I was
talking about their arms and armor. With no arms and armor, a normal priest
would never have the means to defend themselves against foes with magic
resistance. BUMMER!

> Sure the priest seems more powerfull than the warrior or a mage. But the
> mage possesses devastating battlespell (the kind that can destroy an
> army in a blink of an eye) and the warrior correctly equiped in
> arms/armors is a nearly unstoppable killing machine.

My point exactly. A priest of Haelyn or Cuiracean could also be an unstoppable
killing machine. And then their is your take on the priest of Ruornil, who
would be able to cast battle spells and such. However, wizards don't have the
influence that priests mostly do. It's like someone said about PR, nobody
wants to get on the bad side of a GOD! So a priest with a mage ally is
probably more dangerous that a fighter with a mage ally.

MIKE
> Fred
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>-- End of excerpt from Frederic Lavallee