CHAPTER 6
The Priest Sphere
We entered into the catacombs of Moradask by night, so as not to attract the
Society to our presence, but we stumbled across the high priest in the dungeons
anyway. Luckily for us, he did not notice us at first because of the darkness
spell Talib used to hide us. Silent as wraiths, we glided behind the priests
until they reached the Idol of Ishistu, hewn from solid ivory, with diamonds for
eyes. Only in the temple did they finally seem to sense our presence, slamming
the doors and sealing us inside.
I will not recount in detail the horrors I experienced that night. The Plague
Priests caused our limbs to blister and decay in front of our very eyes, and we
would have all been lost had not our sister Jal’ been a paladin, naturally
immune to their afflictions. Cursed with blindness, Talib hurled spells wantonly
about the chamber, sundering the idol and several priests with his lightning. In
the end we triumphed, but we did not linger to savor our victory. I could hear
the high priest calling upon Ishistu’s aid, back in the sanctuary, and I had
no wish to confront the albino rat god when he arrived. Of course, before we
made our hasty retreat, I managed to pick up the diamond eyes of the shattered
statue, but the gems served only as chilling mementos of that evening, since no
one would buy them.
—From Leyla’s Lost Journal
The necromantic priest sphere does not bear the same negative stigma as the
wizard school, probably because most of the clerical spells in the Player’s Handbook are first described in a positive or even life-giving context. However, from
the perspective of a death priest, the paltry and somewhat bland selection of
spells in the necromantic sphere leaves much to be desired. This chapter
presents over a dozen new and distinctive spells, arming the death priest with a much
wider and more potent array of magic.
Not every cleric with knowledge of the necromantic sphere should automatically
gain access to all of these new spells. The majority of these rites represent
the most jealously guarded secrets of a few, highly specialized priesthoods.
These sacred mysteries are rarely shared with outsiders, and they can only be
discovered through careful research. As noted in the previous chapter, most
necromantic priesthoods have access to only a few spells from this chapter.
Many of the new spells in this section are only granted to priests serving
evil deities, greatly restricting their use by good or heroic characters. At the
DM’s discretion, a carefully selected minority may be made available to PC
clerics. Beneficial spells like spectral senses, hear heartbeat, death’s door, spirit bind (or its reverse, spirit release), cure insanity, and drain undead are perfectly appropriate for neutral or
good priests with access to the necromantic sphere, provided the characters
devote the requisite time to prayer and research. The remainder of the new spells
should be reserved for NPC death priests.
All spells belonging to the revised necromantic priest sphere have been listed
in Appendix Three. The sphere has been slightly expanded to include such
standard spells as slow poison, remove paralysis, speak with dead, neutralize poison, and dispel evil, which would obviously help priests involved with the dying or the dead. In
addition, evil priests need access to the spells poison and dispel good.
Finally, since Appendix Three is intended to help the DM choose spells for NPC death
priests (who tend to be evil), all spells have been listed according to their
harmful title (not the helpful reverse, as they are listed in the PHB).
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