Low Powers

Low Powers are those which are of some usefulness in situations which arise occasionally in the campaign, or are of great usefulness in situations which hardly ever arise. Here are some examples of Low Powers:

Analysis, Detection, Identification

With this power, the priest can identify a category of persons, places, or things. He must be within 10' of the object in order to identify it correctly; he does not have to see it, and the object can be hidden. In some cases, it could even be buried.

If the DM designs it as part of the ability, the priest can also analyze the object and get additional details about it. The type of information brought about by this analysis varies from object to object, as we'll discuss below.

Here are some examples:

A priest of the god of healing could identify and analyze injury and illness. He could look at an injury and see not just where it hurts, but also if it is infected or poisoned, how long ago it was inflicted, etc. He could look at a sick person and determine which disease afflicts him, what stage of advancement the disease is in, and what the sick person's chances of recovery are.

A priest of the god of good could detect evil , as per the first-level Priest spell; analysis would let him know whether the evil were lawful, neutral, or chaotic in orientation.

A priest of the god of goldsmithing could detect gold , including refined gold that has been hidden or unmined gold still under the earth.

Some of these powers of identification and analysis are especially useful, such as those which duplicate detect good, detect evil , and detect magic spells. These may only be used three times per day. Other powers may be used any number of times per day. These powers are not automatic; the priest must concentrate for a full round in order to use this power.

Immunities

As a Low Power, Immunity can act in one of two ways.

A granted Immunity can give the priest an automatically-successful saving throw against one specific type of poison or magic spell. For example, a priest could automatically save against cobra venom, or against the fireball spell.

Alternatively, such an Immunity could give the priest a +2 bonus to Saving Throws against a narrow category of spells; a narrow category of special powers; or a narrow category of poisons. These are the same categories the Medium Power immunities are broken down into; the difference here is that the Low Power immunity only grants a +2 bonus to saves vs. those attacks, instead of providing an automatically successful saving throw.

Therefore, a Low Power immunity could give a priest automatic success against the charm spell; a different one could give the priest automatic success against the paralysis brought on by the ghoul's touch; a different one could provide a +2 bonus to all saving throws vs. all enchantment spells; another one would provide a +2 bonus to all saving throws vs. any sort of paralysis ability or spell.

Language and Communication

As a Low Power, the priest receives one extra language appropriate to the priesthood. If the campaign uses the nonweapon proficiency rules, this power consists of an extra nonweapon proficiency slot which must be used to take one specific extra language.

Soothing Word

With this power, the priest can remove the effects of the fear spell or can sway the attitude of a hostile crowd or mob.

The priest can use this power three times per day. A single use can either: Dispel one application of the fear spell on one victim; eliminate one warrior's berserker rage; or momentarily calm down a number of characters or monsters (equal to 2x the priest's experience level in hit dice; therefore an 8th level priest could momentarily calm 16 HD of angry mob, for instance).

This power is primarily useful for getting the attention of an angry group of people and allowing the priest to address them. The combination of the soothing word , the respect that many cultures have for their priests, and the speaking abilities of many priests can often defuse an angry mob.

As described above, this power is most appropriate to priests of the gods of healing, love, music, peace, and wisdom.

If the DM limits this power still further, it becomes appropriate to other classes of priest. For instance, if the soothing word only works on animals, it becomes appropriate for priests of the gods of animal protection, the earth, fertility, and hunting. If it only works on dwarves, it is appropriate for priests of the god of the dwarven race.

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