2nd ed., priest spheres: Cold Rider and Hand of Azrai

[Lee]

After a long time away, I have been running a small game with 2e rules for my son and some of his friends. It's a pretty informal game, using good ol' Keep on the Borderlands as a basis.

Long ago, I started collating lists of priest spells for all of the Cerilian gods. Lately, I have made it into a spreadsheet, including Tome of Magic and Book of Priestcraft spells. But, I do not have any info on priest requirements and abilities for any bad-guy priests for the Cold Rider, nor the Hand of Azrai from the Gorgon's Realm.

Has anyone done stuff for those?

[Fizz]

After a long time away, I have been running a small game with 2e rules for my son and some of his friends. It's a pretty informal game, using good ol' Keep on the Borderlands as a basis.

Long ago, I started collating lists of priest spells for all of the Cerilian gods. Lately, I have made it into a spreadsheet, including Tome of Magic and Book of Priestcraft spells. But, I do not have any info on priest requirements and abilities for any bad-guy priests for the Cold Rider, nor the Hand of Azrai from the Gorgon's Realm.

Has anyone done stuff for those?

Well, by the book, the Cold Rider isn't well defined. He's a menacing figure, but no one really knows what the Cold Rider is. I like Rich Baker's description: "like a drop of oil in a pond, an evil sheen that slowly spreads over the entire surface" (something like that). So as such, the Cold Rider has no priests and no defined spheres.

The Hand of Azrai is a priestess to "Azrai, Belinik and Kriesha", so her spells would come from the latter two.

That said, if you are running a game where the Cold Rider has evolved into a full deity, then you've got some options depending on what you think he is.


-Fizz

[Thelandrin]

According to developer notes, the Cold Rider is actually the last remnants of Azrai's divine essence (quite how he survived Deismaar at all is anyone's business).

I think it's less complicated to go with the Cold Rider as some sort of ascended Shadow World entity, personally, but as it grants no spells and apparently has no priests, it's not really much of an issue.

[Fizz]

According to developer notes, the Cold Rider is actually the last remnants of Azrai's divine essence (quite how he survived Deismaar at all is anyone's business).

I think it's less complicated to go with the Cold Rider as some sort of ascended Shadow World entity, personally, but as it grants no spells and apparently has no priests, it's not really much of an issue.

True, but that was never put into any official publication as far as i know. But in-game, no one knows what the Cold Rider is, is what i meant.

-Fizz

[Lee]

Somehow I missed the Baker notes until this week, I don't need to evolve CR into a deity yet.

I still want a bad-guy church, possibly human-run, behind the monsters. I missed the bit that HoA has Belinik & Kreisha links, too. I'll go with Kreisha/Belinik for powers & spheres, then.

Ooo, another chance to use my painted White Witch mini!

[Fizz]

I still want a bad-guy church, possibly human-run, behind the monsters.

Well, there's also the orog deity Torazan, or the Goblin deity Kartathok. I could see either of them having a cult of human followers under a different name.

-Fizz