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  1. #1
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    This is my first ever attempt at writing a PrCl, so any critique that people may have I would appreciate.

    The genesis of this stemmed from the proposals in the Chapter 1 discussions and a discussion recommending that the Paladin Class be disallowed to Dwarves. This is intended to give them Holy support on the battlefield.


    BATTLEPRIEST OF MORADIN

    For over two thousand years, the Karamhul have been locked in an endless struggle with the orogs beneath the depths of the earth. Over the last five hundred years, the Orogs have become more powerful and pressed the Karamhul to the edge of breaking before they managed to push back.
    Part of the Karamhul success came in the use of battlepriests – priests of Moradin who chose to take up arms and fight shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers on the front lines, testing their own mettle in combat, seeing to the spiritual needs of the soldiers and striking the fear of the Soulforger in the hearts of the orog vermin.

    More to be added and fleshed out later.

    Hit Die: d10.

    Requirements
    To qualify to become a Battlepriest of Moradin, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
    Base Attack Bonus: +6.
    Lead: 6 ranks.
    Warcraft: 6 ranks.
    Feats: Endurance, Leadership.
    Spells: Protection selected as one of the priest's domains.
    Class Skills
    The battlepriest class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Lead (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Warcraft (Int). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook and Chapter 1 in the d20 Birthright Campaign Setting for skill descriptions.
    Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
    Class Features
    All of the following are class features of the battlepriest prestige class.
    Weapon and Armour Proficiency: battlepriests have proficiency with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armour, and all shields.
    Spells per Day: A battlepriest continues advancing in divine spellcasting ability. When a battlepriest gains a new even-numbered level, the character gains new divine spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever divine spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (more frequent remove disease, etc.).
    For example, an 8th-level cleric/2nd-level battlepriest gains divine spells per day as if he had risen to 9th level as a cleric. When he next gains a level as a battlepriest, making him an 8th-level cleric/3rd-level battlepriest, his number of divine spells per day does not change; but when he improves his battlepriest level to 4th, he gains divine spells per day as if he had risen to 10th level as a cleric.
    If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class before he became a battlepriest, the player must decide which class to assign each even-numbered level of battlepriest for the purpose of determining divine spells per day.
    Turn or Rebuke Undead[/b] (Su): Levels of battlepriest count toward cleric levels when turning or rebuking undead.
    Bonus Domain: Upon adopting the battlepriest class, the character gains access to the domain of War
    At fifth level, the battlepriest gains access to the domain of Destruction.
    Rally (Ex): A battlepriest who currently is not suffering from a fear effect can use this ability as a free action in a warcard battle. Allied units within one warcard space who are routed and who can hear the battlepriest are allowed an immediate Morale saving throw at DC 15, with a +1 morale bonus per battlepriest level. This ability may be used a number of times equal to the battlepriest's Cha bonus per battle.
    Righteous Fury (Ex): When included as part of a Hero unit in a warcard battle, the battlepriest increases the EL of the Hero unit by 3. This bonus persists even if the battlepriest casts a battlespell or performs a function that negates his contribution to the Hero unit.
    Heal Unit (Sp): By channelling power directly from Moradin, once per day, the battlepriest may heal 1 hit on the unit he is with. The use of this ability counts as one use of his turn/rebuke ability.
    Will of Moradin (Su): Once per day the battlepriest can project a fear aura to the warcard unit with which his unit is engaged. Foes must make a Morale save (DC 10 + battlepriest level + Cha bonus) or be immediately routed.
    Iron Resolve (Sp): At 10th level, the battlepriest can channel enough positive energy to the warcard unit he is fighting with that they will continue to fight even after suffering mortal wounds. Using this ability requires concentration and like casting a spell, negates the battlepriest's contribution to the Hero unit he is with. While in use, if the warcard unit takes enough damage to cause its destruction, it ignores the effects of that damage and continues fighting. Unit destruction occurs instantly at -2 hits. When the ability ends the full effects of all damage take effect immediately. Using this ability counts as one use of his turn/rebuke ability.

    Additional information:
    BAB: as Fighter
    Good save: Fort
    Bonus Domain: War, Rally @1st
    Righteous Fury @3rd
    Bonus Domain: Destruction @5th
    Heal Unit @7th
    Will of Moradin @9th
    Iron Resolve @10th
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

  2. #2
    Senior Member RaspK_FOG's Avatar
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    I would have both Fortitude and Will as good saves if I were you.

  3. #3
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    I think the class could benefit from a rewrite where the special abilities have some use outised the mass combat system. E.g. Rally can either give a bonus to fear based saves or possibly allow a reroll of a failed save. Similarly the Heal Unit could have a Mass Cure spell equivalent.

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    And here I thought that my proposed special abilities were too powerful.

    I wanted to keep the abilities on the warcard scale, not only to give the Dwarves a viable bonus to their combat abilities, but also to keep this PrCl different enough from the standard Warpriest PrCl, which IIRC does not fall under the OGL.

    I've made the changes to the Will save as suggested by RaspK, but am not sure how to proceed otherwise, or even if anything else should be changed, lest I throw it all out of balance.
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

  5. #5
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    I think the power level of the class depends entirely on the way one allows the powers to be used. Healing one warcard hit per day at no RP cost is an incredibly powerful ability if one allows it to be used with no limitations. The character could heal up to 30 hits for free, the equivalent of 75RP through the usage of the Cure Unit realm spell. While this ability have limited use in a battle, it could dramatically affect the outcome of the war of attrition between the dwarves and orogs.

    A fundamental question here is whether one should allow domain scale effects from character abilities. If one does the upcoming battle wizard could IMO easily become a problem balance wise.

  6. #6
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    Looking at the battle magic rules in the BRCS, which I assume this PrC is aimed for, I noticed that the Warcraft skill is a fundamental one when for spellcasters in battle. An ability that might work well with this class could be to add the class level to any warcraft checks for casting battle magic.

    Another would be to allow the battlepriest to use battle magic without the need of units with the 'Magical Support' special training option. This way the battlepriest can fight alongside regular dwarven units without dragging a huge altar along, something that gives me too many Warhammar associations.

  7. #7
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    Healing one warcard hit per day at no RP cost is an incredibly powerful ability if one allows it to be used with no limitations. The character could heal up to 30 hits for free, the equivalent of 75RP through the usage of the Cure Unit realm spell. While this ability have limited use in a battle, it could dramatically affect the outcome of the war of attrition between the dwarves and orogs.
    Keep in mind Don, that the character doing this would be 13th level, minimum. There are no dwarven characters of that level in the Ruins of Empire. The highest is Ruarch Rockhammer at 12th, but he's the Archprelate of Moradin's Forge , and a pure Cleric to boot. Grimm Greybeard is close, at 10th, but he's split between Cleric and Fighter - a 5/5 split.

    I seriously doubt that there has been any Dwarf in history *yet* who has managed to achieve Battlepriest 7, hence the lack of any significant shift in the Dwarf/Orog wars.
    Looking at the battle magic rules in the BRCS, which I assume this PrC is aimed for, I noticed that the Warcraft skill is a fundamental one when for spellcasters in battle. An ability that might work well with this class could be to add the class level to any warcraft checks for casting battle magic.

    Another would be to allow the battlepriest to use battle magic without the need of units with the 'Magical Support' special training option. This way the battlepriest can fight alongside regular dwarven units without dragging a huge altar along, something that gives me too many Warhammar associations.
    I like these ideas. With your permission, I'll include them into Build 2 of the PrCl.

    Regards, Mike
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

  8. #8
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    Originally posted by Athos69@Jul 26 2004, 06:59 AM
    Keep in mind Don, that the character doing this would be 13th level, minimum. There are no dwarven characters of that level in the Ruins of Empire. The highest is Ruarch Rockhammer at 12th, but he's the Archprelate of Moradin's Forge , and a pure Cleric to boot. Grimm Greybeard is close, at 10th, but he's split between Cleric and Fighter - a 5/5 split.

    I seriously doubt that there has been any Dwarf in history *yet* who has managed to achieve Battlepriest 7, hence the lack of any significant shift in the Dwarf/Orog wars.
    While you argument is a good one with regards to personal power of such a high level character, it is IMO unwise to allow the poersonal power of one indivdual to have too great an effect on the domain level of play. The BRCS conversion have on purpouse (I assume) toned down the power of battle magic, something I think was a good idea. I think the general trend should be that powerful domain effects should be limited to powerful domains, i.e. the requirements of RP, holdings etc. instead of high character levels.

    That said, it is your PrC so you're the one to decide One suggestion I would recommend you implement is to change the usage from 1/day to X/week. The war moves are all done in weekly rounds, making it a bit easier to adjudicate how the power is to work. One solution would be to allow the use of the power 1/week per three levels of the class. This way the character could have some immediate effect in a battle, without making the effect too great overall.

    I like these ideas. With your permission, I'll include them into Build 2 of the PrCl.
    You're more than welcome. Any suggestions are meant for use.

  9. #9
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    Build 2

    BATTLEPRIEST OF MORADIN

    For over two thousand years, the Karamhul have been locked in an endless struggle with the orogs beneath the depths of the earth. Over the last five hundred years, the Orogs have become more powerful and pressed the Karamhul to the edge of breaking before they managed to push back.
    Part of the Karamhul success came in the use of battlepriests – priests of Moradin who chose to take up arms and fight shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers on the front lines, testing their own mettle in combat, seeing to the spiritual needs of the soldiers and striking the fear of the Soulforger in the hearts of the orog vermin.
    More to be added and fleshed out later.
    Hit Die: d10.

    Requirements
    To qualify to become a Battlepriest of Moradin, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
    Base Attack Bonus: +6.
    Lead: 6 ranks.
    Warcraft: 6 ranks.
    Feats: Battlecaster, Endurance, Leadership.
    Spells: Protection selected as one of the priest's domains.

    Class Skills
    The battlepriest class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Lead (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Warcraft (Int). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook and Chapter 1 in the d20 Birthright Campaign Setting for skill descriptions.
    Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

    Class Features
    All of the following are class features of the battlepriest prestige class.
    Weapon and Armour Proficiency: battlepriests have proficiency with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armour, and all shields.
    Spells per Day: A battlepriest continues advancing in divine spellcasting ability. When a battlepriest gains a new even-numbered level, the character gains new divine spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever divine spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (more frequent remove disease, etc.).
    For example, an 8th-level cleric/2nd-level battlepriest gains divine spells per day as if he had risen to 9th level as a cleric. When he next gains a level as a battlepriest, making him an 8th-level cleric/3rd-level battlepriest, his number of divine spells per day does not change; but when he improves his battlepriest level to 4th, he gains divine spells per day as if he had risen to 10th level as a cleric.
    If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class before he became a battlepriest, the player must decide which class to assign each even-numbered level of battlepriest for the purpose of determining divine spells per day.
    Turn or Rebuke Undead[/b] (Su): Levels of battlepriest count toward cleric levels when turning or rebuking undead.
    Bonus Domain: Upon adopting the battlepriest class, the character gains access to the domain of War
    At fifth level, the battlepriest gains access to the domain of Destruction.
    Rally (Ex): A battlepriest who currently is not suffering from a fear effect can use this ability as a free action in a warcard battle. Allied units within one warcard space who are routed and who can hear the battlepriest are allowed an immediate Morale saving throw at DC 15, with a +1 morale bonus per battlepriest level. This ability may be used a number of times equal to the battlepriest's Cha bonus per battle.
    Enhanced Battlemagic: In additiona to adding the Battlepriest Class level to any Warcraft checks when casting Battlemagic, a battlepriest may cast battlemagic without the support of a specially trained warcard unit.
    Righteous Fury (Ex): When included as part of a Hero unit in a warcard battle, the battlepriest increases the EL of the Hero unit by 3. This bonus persists even if the battlepriest casts a battlespell or performs a function that negates his contribution to the Hero unit.
    Heal Unit (Sp): By channelling power directly from Moradin, once per warcard scenario, the battlepriest may heal 1 hit on the unit he is with. The use of this ability counts as one use of his turn/rebuke ability.
    Will of Moradin (Su): Once per warcard scenario the battlepriest can project a fear aura to the warcard unit with which his unit is engaged. Foes must make a Morale save (DC 10 + battlepriest level + Cha bonus) or be immediately routed.
    Iron Resolve (Sp): At 10th level, the battlepriest can channel enough positive energy to the warcard unit he is fighting with that they will continue to fight even after suffering mortal wounds. Using this ability requires concentration and like casting a spell, negates the battlepriest's contribution to the Hero unit he is with. While in use, if the warcard unit takes enough damage to cause its destruction, it ignores the effects of that damage and continues fighting. Unit destruction occurs instantly at -2 hits. When the ability ends the full effects of all damage take effect immediately. This ability can be used once per warcard scenario.

    Additional information:
    BAB: as Fighter
    Good saves: Fort, Will
    Bonus Domain: War, Rally, Enhanced Battlemagic @1st
    Righteous Fury @3rd
    Bonus Domain: Destruction @5th
    Heal Unit @7th
    Will of Moradin @9th
    Iron Resolve @10th

    I have limited the use of several abilities to "once per warcard scenario". Since there are only 4 batles/month maximum, that cuts usage from 30/month to 4/month.
    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion -- and usually easier."

    - R. A. Heinlien, from The Collected works of Lazarus Long

  10. #10
    Birthright Developer irdeggman's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Athos69@Jul 25 2004, 08:15 PM

    The genesis of this stemmed from the proposals in the Chapter 1 discussions and a discussion recommending that the Paladin Class be disallowed to Dwarves. This is intended to give them Holy support on the battlefield.
    There has been exactly one person that has posted opposition to Cerilian dwarves having paladins (i.e., Gary) even though he has posted his opinion frequently it is still only one person's opinion. There have been several others taking the opposite stand.
    Duane Eggert

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