Priests, clerics and Deity

[TippetsTX]

A few things to unpack here...

Originally Posted by Jpot

I think a lot of people here resort to "hey it's just magic" and end up dismissing a myriad of great storylines, character play, and interesting situations.

The drama of having a pantheon or pantheons of gods active in your TFT world, how it affects the profession of Cleric and those they interact with in that world, is profound.

I'm not convinced that the lack of 'active' gods limits roleplaying opportunities. Sure, there are many potent plots and classic conflicts drawn from theology and mythology, but most can be implemented w/o the need for direct divine intervention. In TFT (on Cidri at least), religious characters must walk by faith which IMO is potentially a more interesting state (certainly more dynamic) for adventures. And most traditional fantasy settings generally lock you into a particular set of gods... an exclusive pantheon for that world. Cidri, on the other hand, is potentially much more diverse with hundreds if not thousands of belief systems inherented from all of the varied parallel Earths that the Mnoren drew the populace from.

In my own campaign, 'clerics' are still very much a thing though they may not fit the D&D paradigm. To that end though, let's shift focus back to the mechanics proposed here.

Originally Posted by Jpot

Anyway, I digress. I came across this build-out for a TFT Cleric at the link below. Maybe it's author hangs out here, and it's already been posted. If not, I don't have his name but wanted to give him credit. Obviously, Cleric profession of a sort under TFT rules requires a bit more background work from the GM.

REQ: Priest skill (2) and holy symbol.

Here's my first issue with this approach. I'm all for more spells (see my long-running "Show Me the Magic" thread), even spells clearly influenced by concepts of divine or profane powers, but I don't like the idea of having a talent unlock access to those spells. Would you require a wizard to select a (hypothetical) talent called ORACLE in order to learn SCRYING or PATHFINDER?

Originally Posted by Jpot

Detect Evil IQ9 1 ST
Detects the presence of Evil creatures within 2 megahexes of the casters megahex. Requires contact with holy symbol.

Repel Evil IQ10 3 ST + 1 ST/turn
As the MegaHex Avert wizard spell, but only effects evil creatures. Requires holy symbol.

Resist Evil IQ13 2 ST + 1 ST/turn
As Stone Flesh spell but only works against evil

Destroy Evil IQ14 All ST?
As Death Spell, IQ 16, but only works against evil creatures. Requires holy symbol and Theology skill.

Smite Evil IQ15 2 ST +1 ST/turn
Increases the damage done by the target against evil creatures by +2.

This type of magic is problematic IMO for the reasons that @Shostak and others have outlined earlier... what is 'evil' in a game w/o alignment? Do these spells only work against supernatural evil or is the effect subjective based on each caster’s religion or personal morality?

Also, given that several appear to duplicate existing spells, I'm not clear what the point would be. Why cast RESIST EVIL to protect oneself from a demon when you can have STONE FLESH to protect you from the demon and everything else.

Originally Posted by Jpot

A priests Holy Symbol has the following innate enchantments, counting as one enchantment.

Detect Evil by touch, 1 ST

Detect Evil magical casting with 2 mega hexes

Counts as a Mace vs evil creatures, doing +1 damage. Must know how to use a Mace.

Can SLOW all evil creatures within a single adjacent megahex on a successful IQ roll. A critical roll will count as a STOP. Lasts one round only, must be re-tried each round, 1 ST per attempt. More powerful evil may resist this effect.

This feels like it should be a variant of the STAFF spell.