Skills For High-Level Priests

The following skills are available to clerics, specialty priests, and druids who meet the listed requirements.

Divine Strength: Priests with this skill can marshal divine energies to provide a temporary bonus to their Wisdom, Strength, or Charisma scores.

By concentrating for one round and making a successful skill check, the priest can improve one of the three eligible ability scores to the value listed on the table below. The improvement lasts one round per character level. Because the majority of the character’s energy is directed to the improved ability score, the other two ability scores are reduced by two for the same duration. The priest can end the boost and restore the values of the other scores at any time. If the character’s ability score is already higher than the value listed on the table, this skill has no effect. If the optional subabilities rule from Skills & Powers is in play, both subabilities in the increased ability score are raised to the same value.

Priest Level
Improved Score
10–14
18
15–19
19
20–24
20
25–29
21
30+
22

Table 46:

Priest Spell Progression

Level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
*
20
9
9
9
8
7
5
2
1
21
9
9
9
9
8
6
2
1
22
9
9
9
9
9
6
3
2
23
9
9
9
9
9
7
3
2
24
9
9
9
9
9
8
3
2
25
9
9
9
9
9
8
4
3
26
9
9
9
9
9
9
4
3
27
9
9
9
9
9
9
5
4
28
9
9
9
9
9
9
6
4
29
9
9
9
9
9
9
7
4
30
9
9
9
9
9
9
8
4

* The number of true dweomers—10th-level spells—the character can prepare, have prepared, or cast in one day (see Chapter 6).

The priest can take no other actions during the round the character is concentrating on raising the selected ability score. Each attempt to raise an ability score, successful or not, during a single day lowers the base skill score by two; the skill cannot be used once the base score falls to zero or less.

Bonuses from an increased score are applied immediately when the skill succeeds and are lost immediately when the boost’s duration ends. For example, a priest who chooses to increase Wisdom immediately gains saving throw bonuses against mental attacks but loses them again when the character’s Wisdom score returns to normal. Likewise, the effects from altered ability scores are applied immediately. The priest does not gain any bonus spells from this skill but does gain immunity to certain spells for a Wisdom score of 19 or higher (see Player’s Handbook, Table 5).

A character can have only one ability score improvement from this skill operating at any given time.

Requirement: Priest 10+, Eminence Skill

Relevant Ability: Wisdom/Willpower

Success: 4
Cost: 1 (3)

Divine Voice: Priests with this skill can speak with divine authority.

To use the skill, the priest must speak loudly and clearly for a full round. With a successful skill check (made at the end of the round), the priest’s voice takes on a divine quality. Every creature within 180 feet can hear the priest speaking unless it has been magically deafened. The divine voice penetrates silence spells and up to 10 feet of solid rock or three inches of lead. Antimagic shells, prismatic spheres, cubes of force, and 10th-level ward spells shield their occupants.

Creatures that hear the voice are automatically enthralled (as the 2nd-level priest spell) if they have less than 5 Hit Dice or levels. Other creatures can save vs. spell to avoid the effect. Creatures do not have to understand the priest’s words, they merely have to hear them. Undead and creatures normally immune to charm spells, such as golems and creatures with Wisdom/Willpower scores of 19 or more, are not affected.

The priest can hold an audience enthralled for up to one hour, as per the enthrall spell, but excessive jeering can break the effects (see the spell description in the Player’s Handbook). The priest can also utter a mass suggestion to creatures the character has enthralled; this functions as the 6th-level wizard spell of the same name except that it effects every creature currently enthralled regardless of the priest’s level. There is no saving throw vs. the mass suggestion if it is completed before the enthrall effect ends. The priest can issue only one mass suggestion per use of the divine voice skill.

Each use of this skill reduces the priest’s base eminence score by two for one week. If the priest’s eminence score is zero or less, the divine voice skill is ineffective.

Requirement: Priest 15+, Eminence Skill

Relevant Ability: Charisma/Leadership

Success: 4
Cost: 1 (3)

Divine Will: Priests with this skill can call upon divine aid to bolster their own strength of will and resist any form of compulsion imposed upon them.

When subjected to any form of unnatural compulsion from a spell, creature, or magical item, a priest can roll a skill check. If the check succeeds, the effect is negated, and no saving throw is necessary. If the check fails, the priest still gets a saving throw if one is normally allowed.

Divine will is effective against any effect that causes the priest to act according to another creature’s will, including all forms of charm, geas, quest, fear, magic jar (the invading psyche is ejected), beguiling, command, etc.

Each use of this skill, successful or not reduces the priest’s base eminence score by two for one day. This skill is ineffective when the character’s eminence score has been reduced to zero or less.

Requirement: Priest 10+

Relevant Ability: Wisdom/Willpower

Success: 4
Cost: 1 (3)

Detect Deception: A priest with this skill can see through illusions and falsehoods of all sorts.

A successful skill roll allows the priest to uncover any falsehoods the character encounters, be it a false image from an illusion or a false statement from another creature. This skill lasts for a short time, detailed on the table below:

Priest Level
Duration
15–17
1 Turn
18–20
2 Turns
21–23
3 Turns
24–26
4 Turns
27–30
5 Turns

If the skill check is unsuccessful, the priest is aware of the failure and must wait one turn to try the skill again. If the skill check succeeds, the priest detects all forms of spoken falsehoods automatically for the duration of the skill’s effect. Unlike a detect lie spell, the priest knows when a creature is deliberately evading the truth. The skill does not tell the priest what the truth is, it only reveals that fact that the priest has heard a lie or evasion. If the priest encounters magic that allows falsehoods to be spoken, the priest is unable to hear the magically protected creature speak; this reveals the falsehood indirectly.

While the skill is in effect, the priest also gains an immediate saving throw vs. spell to see through any false vision or visual distortion created by a spell, magical item, or creature. The DM should make the roll secretly. If successful, the priest sees the false image as a fine, semi-transparent mist. This power works against all forms of false and misleading images, including mirror image, blur, shadow door, phantasmal force, and other spells that mislead or visually confuse viewers. Illusion spells that do not create an image, such as invisibility, are not affected. The power also defeats cloaks of displacement, robes of blending, and similar magical items. The skill has no power against effects that disguise things through physical changes, such as polymorph self or shape change.

Each use of this skill, successful or not, lowers the priest’s base eminence score by two for one week. If the priest’s base eminence score falls to zero or less, this skill is ineffective.

Requirement: Priest 15+, Eminence Skill

Relevant Ability: Wisdom/Intuition

Success: 6
Cost: 1 (3)

Eminence: This skill allows priests to wrap themselves in an aura of divine power.

A successful check creates an aura that lasts one round for each level the caster has attained. The aura is undetectable except by a true seeing spell, which reveals it as a bright silver, inky black, or pearl gray halo depending on the priest’s alignment. The aura gives the priest a +4 encounter reaction bonus when dealing with worshippers of the priest’s deity or creatures of the same alignment.

Any hostile creature feels a shudder of fear when within 30 feet of the priest. If the priest wills it, the fear takes hold, causing creatures of less than 4th level or 4 Hit Dice to flee until the priest is no longer in sight. More powerful creatures are allowed a saving throw vs. spell to negate the fear. The skill works against all types of creatures—even those normally immune to fear attacks, such as undead. A cloak of bravery or remove fear spell breaks the effect, as does a successful use of the warrior skill bravery or the priest skill divine will. Once a creature has resisted the fear effect once, it is not subject to fear effects from the same priest for the rest of the day.

Creatures within 30 feet of an opposing priest using the eminence skill are not subject to the fear effect if the second priest’s level is equal to or higher than the priest using the fear effect.

Each attempt to raise the aura, successful or not, reduces the priest’s base eminence score by two for one week. When the character’s base eminence score is reduced to zero or less, the skill is ineffective.

The eminence skill is a prerequisite for the divine strength, divine voice, divine will, detect deception, and invincibility skills. Each time one of these skills are used, the character’s base eminence score is reduced by two for either one day or one week, depending on the skill used. Once the priest’s base eminence score falls to zero, the character cannot use eminence or any of the other skills. The smite skill is also connected to the priest’s eminence score, but can be used (at some risk to the priest) when the eminence skill has been reduced to zero or less, see page 167.

Requirement: Priest 10+

Relevant Ability: Charisma/Leadership

Success: 6
Cost: 1 (3)

Invincibility: Priests with this skill can draw upon divine power to temporarily delay the harmful effects of special attacks, but not physical damage. If given sufficient time to rest, this skill allows priests to recover from such attacks without additional aid. It is very similar to the warrior skill hardiness

When subjected to a harmful special effect from a spell, creature, or magical item, a priest can roll a skill check. If the check succeeds, the effect is delayed for the period of time shown on the table below. If the check fails, the priest suffers the effect normally. If the effect allows a saving throw, the priest rolls the save before checking this skill.

Priest Level
Delay
21–23
5 Rounds
24–26
10 Rounds
27–30
15 Rounds

Invincibility does not delay simple damage from any source, including continuing damage, such as Melf’s acid arrow or a sword of wounding, or special forms of purely physical damage, such as severed limbs or broken bones. This skill does not protect against effects that are not directly harmful, such as magical charms, entanglement, or imprisonment.

If the skill succeeds, the priest suffers no harm from the delayed effect until the delay ends, but he is aware of what the effect is. If the priest receives the appropriate cure before the delay ends, there is no harm to the character. If the harmful effect’s duration is shorter than the delay there also is no effect.

For example, a 25th-level priest with 52 hit points left (from a total of 107) is battling a wizard who casts power word kill on him. After making his invincibility skill roll, he delays the effects of the spell for 10 rounds. Four rounds later, after killing the wizard, he casts heal on himself. When the delay effect is over, the power word kill effect occurs, but his hit points are now over 60 and he is immune to the spell. If he had not healed himself, he could have lapsed into unconsciousness in an effort to avoid the effect of the power word, as detailed below.

If the harmful effect has not expired or been cured when the delay ends, the priest must either suffer the full force of the effect or lapse into unconsciousness while the character’s body struggles to resist. The length of time the character remains unconsciousness depends on the extent of the injury, as noted on the table below.

Injury
Recovery Time
Minor
1 Day
Severe
1 Week
Extreme
1 Month

Minor: These effects impair—but do not incapacitate—the character, such as blindness, deafness, and ability score reductions. Spells such as antipathy/sympathy (antipathy effect), cause blindness/deafness, color spray (most of the time), contagion, and holy word are examples of minor effects.

Severe: Includes effects that incapacitate or completely transform the character, such as petrification, polymorphing, and death. Severe spell effects include hold person, phantasmal killer, polymorph other, power word kill, and power word stun.

Extreme: Includes effects that wrench the character’s very being, such as energy drains (per level drained) and magical aging (per year aged). Two notable examples include the 9th-level wizard spell energy drain and the 6th-level priest spell age creature from the Tome of Magic.

At the end of the recovery time, the character attempts a system shock roll. If the roll succeeds, the character awakens—fully healed—and the effects of the delayed magic are nullified. If the roll fails, the character awakens, but suffers the full force of the effect. Thus, it is possible for a character to rest for months and then wake up only to die from the effects of the delayed magic.

For instance, if our priest from the above example had decided to sleep off the effects of the power word kill, he would have been unconscious for a week. The player rolls the character’s system shock roll (15 Constitution) and rolls 96%—6% over what he needed. Since the power word would have killed him at the time he lapsed into unconsciousness, the character awakens just long enough to be killed by the spell.

If a character is suffering from multiple effects, the character makes system shock rolls at the end of each recovery period. The player can choose the order in which the checks are made, but the character does not awaken until checks have been made for all the effects. For example, a character who was drained by a vampire and paralyzed by a lich remains unconscious for nine weeks—one month to revive from each of the two levels the vampire drained and another week for the paralysis.

If an appropriate cure is applied while the character is unconscious, the character recovers immediately and automatically.

Heroic Effort: As a last-ditch effort to continue a battle, a priest can use the invincibility skill to extend his life. Instead of dying at zero hit points (or falling unconscious at zero hit points and dying at –10 if the optional Hovering at Death’s Door rule is in play), a priest who makes a successful invincibility check can continue fighting until reaching –20 hit points. The character can function in this state for a number of rounds equal to his delay effect, suffering the appropriate consequences for reduced hit points at the end of the delay.

Use of this skill is not without its drawbacks, however. If the priest is reduced to –20 hit points or less, the character is struck unconscious and dies once the delay expires. Once a character’s hit points drop to –20 or less, death is inevitable at the end of the delay period unless unusual conditions exist (see below).

Curative spells can allow a priest struck unconscious by being reduced –20 hit points or less to rejoin a battle, but death still occurs at the end of the delay period. A raise dead or resurrection spell cast during the delay period prevents death from occurring.

It is possible that a character with the ability to regenerate (from a magical item or high Constitution score) can continue fighting even after being reduced to –20 hit points or less. If regeneration increases the priest’s hit points to –19 or more during the delay period, the character regains consciousness and does not die if he receives enough healing to restore him to positive hit points before the delay ends. Even if death occurs, regeneration usually restores a character much more quickly than the rest period the invincibility skill requires. A character returned to life through regeneration need not make a system shock roll.

An amulet of life protection also allows a priest to continue fighting after being reduced to –20 hit points or less if the character receives sufficient healing to restore him to –19 hit points or more. The character still lapses back into death at the end of the delay period, but any form of magical healing can restore him to life (see page 79) and no system shock roll is required.

Each use of the invincibility skill lowers the priest’s base eminence score by two for the rest of the day. The skill is ineffective if the character’s base eminence score is reduced to zero or less.

Requirement: Priest 21+, Eminence skill

Relevant Ability: Wisdom/Willpower

Success: 4
Cost: 2 (6)

Loan: Priests with this skill can transfer physical vitality between themselves and other living creatures.

With a successful skill roll, the priest transfers a small amount of his own hit points to a living creature (or vice versa). If the priest tries to borrow hit points from an unwilling donor, an attack roll is required before the character can make the skill roll. The number of hit points that are transferred depends on the priest’s level:

Priest Level
Amount of Loan
15–19
1d8+2 Hit Points
20–24
2d6+4 Hit Points
25–29
3d6+6 Hit Points
30+
4d6+8 Hit Points

Transferred hit points are immediately subtracted from the donor’s hit point total and added to the recipient’s total. The hit points are lost to the donor, just as though the donor was subjected to a damaging attack. Donated hit points can be restored through rest or magical healing just as any other form of damage. If the donor has insufficient hit points to supply the transfer, only those available are transferred and the donor dies. Transferred hit points remain with the recipient for 24 hours or until lost in an attack.

Each attempt to use this skill lowers the base score by two for one week. The skill is useless once the base score falls to zero or less.

Requirement: Priest 15+

Relevant Ability: Wisdom/Intuition

Success: 4
Cost: 1 (3)

Smite: A priest with this skill is empowered to direct a wave of destruction at beings who have wronged the priest or offended the priest’s deity.

When the priest uses this power, a cone of divine force issues from the priest’s body in any direction the character wishes. The cone is 5' in diameter at the priest’s body and 30' in diameter at the far end. Its maximum length depends on the priest’s level as shown below:

Priest Level
Cone Length
18–20
30'
21–23
50'
24–26
70'
27–29
90'
30
110'

The priest has no control over the precise effect of the smiting, which the DM chooses from the list below. No matter what the effect, only the priest’s enemies are harmed. Allies, innocent bystanders, and worshippers in good standing with the priest’s deity are not affected.

Awestruck: This is the default effect when the deity does not feel the targets are offensive or threatening. It also is granted when the deity feels that a simple demonstration of its power is sufficient to handle the situation.

A two-dimensional depiction of the deity or the deity’s symbol appears in front of the priest, causing the priest’s enemies to stare at it in awe if they are within the cone. Creatures with more than 10 Hit Dice or levels are allowed a saving throw vs. spell. Even if the save succeeds, creatures are awestruck for one round, regardless of personal immunities granted by spell or high ability scores.

Creatures remain awestruck only as long as the priest remains motionless and concentrates on the effect, but no longer than one round per level of the priest, plus 1d8 rounds, in any case. Enemies who enter the cone after the image appears are fully subject to the awe effect, even if they avert their eyes. Any motion or the slightest break in the priest’s concentration ends the effect, as does any offensive action by the priest’s allies. Distractions to the awestruck characters also end the effect. Loud noises, magical displays, attacks, or attempts to steal the awestruck creatures’ equipment, damage their property, or otherwise cause them harm are sufficient to break the effect.

Blinded: Deities grant this effect when they find the target creatures offensive, but not particularly dangerous.

Only creatures with 12 or more levels or Hit Dice are allowed a saving throw vs. breath weapon to avoid the effect.

Blinded creatures move at 2/3 the normal rate and suffer a –4 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, initiative rolls, and ability checks. Blinded spellcasters cannot cast spells unless they can touch their targets. Blindness lasts until the victim receives a heal or cure blindness or deafness spell.

Burned: This effect is granted when the targets are violent and pose an immediate physical threat to the priest, a sacred site, or to creatures friendly toward the priest. The cone fills with a mass of heatless flames that burn the priest’s enemies for 6d8 points of damage, save vs. breath weapon for half. Creatures killed by the flames are reduced to piles of ash and no regeneration is possible. Though the heatless flames do not harm the area, they can affect the target’s equipment. If a target creature fails the breath weapon saving throw or is killed by the flames, any equipment the creature carries must save vs. disintegration or be reduced to dust.

Deafened: This effect occurs when the targets have not greatly offended the deity or when the priest is not in significant peril. Only creatures with 12 or more levels or Hit Dice are allowed a saving throw vs. breath weapon to avoid the effect.

Deafened creatures move at 3/4 the normal rate and suffer a –2 penalty to attack rolls, initiative rolls, and ability checks. There is a 50% chance that any spell a deafened spellcaster attempts fails outright. Deafness lasts until the victim receives a heal or cure blindness or deafness spell.

Death: Deities grant this effect only when deeply offended or when the priest is in extreme danger. Enemies within the cone are immediately reduced to dust if they have 4 Hit Dice/levels or less. Other enemies suffer a doubled burning effect (12d8 points of damage, save vs. spells for half damage).

Immobilized: Deities commonly grant this effect when the targets are genuinely dangerous or offensive. Creatures of 6+1 Hit Dice/levels or less are automatically paralyzed, their flesh turning into a rigid, crystalline substance that is easily shattered. Other creatures are allowed a save vs. petrification to negate the effect. The immobility lasts 1d4+2 turns. Free action is useless against this effect.

Immobilized creatures can be killed by striking their crystalline bodies with any hard object. For each strike, the creature must make a saving throw as rock crystal versus crushing blow. Only bonuses granted from magical rings, cloaks, and armor count toward the saving throw. Failure results in death.

Plagued: The deity grants this effect when the targets are offensive, but do not pose any danger to the deity’s interests. The priest’s enemies are affected as if struck by a cause disease spell. The disease inflicted is debilitating (see the reversed form of the 3rd-level priest spell cure disease) and causes the victim to radiate a foul stench. The disease is neither contagious nor fatal. It can be cured by a cure disease or breath of life spell from a caster of higher level that the priest who called down the plague.

Slowed: This effect is granted when deity is offended, but the enemies pose no immediate threat to a sacred site, the priest, or creatures friendly toward the priest or the deity. The effect is the same as the 3rd level wizard spell slow, except that creatures with less than 8+1 Hit Dice or levels get no saving throw. The slow effect lasts for 1d4+2 turns.

Each use of this ability reduces the base score for the priest’s eminence skill by two for one week. As long the priest has a positive eminence score, the priest need not make a skill roll to smite enemies. If the priest’s base eminence skill score is zero or less, however, the priest must roll an eminence check to successfully smite enemies. Note that this is possible only if the priest has a Charisma/Leadership bonus large enough to offset a negative base score. If the roll fails, the deity is displeased. At best, no smite effect occurs, at worst, the deity directs a smite effect upon the priest.

An example: Marissa has an eminence score of 4 and a Charisma/Leadership bonus of +4. She can freely smite enemies twice a week as long as her eminence base score is not reduced by using other skills. During an adventure, she uses her smite skill once and the divine voice skill once. This reduces her eminence skill to zero. If she wishes to use her smite skill again, she must roll a 4 or less on 1d20 to succeed.

Undaunted, Marissa smites a group of passing kobolds she has come upon. Her 1d20 roll is a 3, so the smite works. Marissa’s deity isn’t too worried about the kobolds, who were minding their own business when Marissa came along, and grants Marissa an awe effect. The kobolds are briefly entranced, but a fighter from Marissa’s party wades into the kobolds, making an all-round attack. The attack breaks the awe effect.

Feeling threatened by the swarm of kobolds, Marissa foolishly tries to smite them again. Her base eminence score is now a –2, but her Charisma/Leadership bonus increases that to a 2. Melissa rolls an 18 and fails. The deity is getting a little tired of all Melissa’s attempts to call for special aid and bestows a deafness effect on her. Fortunately, her saving throw succeeds. Marissa’s base eminence score is now a –4, leaving her no chance to smite the kobolds again even if she was silly enough to try it again.

Requirement: Priest 15+, Eminence Skill

Relevant Ability: N/A

Success: N/A
Cost: 2 (6)

Spell Talisman: This skill allows a priest to cast one or more spells at the beginning of each day, making them available for instant use.

When a priest with this skill is finished praying for spells, the character can attempt to cast the spell and direct its magical energy into a special container or talisman. A talisman is a small object such as a jewel, crystal bead, or holy symbol blessed by the priest. A talisman must be worth at least 100 gp per spell level.

A successful skill roll is required to place a spell into a talisman. If the roll fails, the spell is wasted. The priest must have all necessary material components on hand and must meet all the usual requirements to cast a spell. If casting the spell has an effect on the priest, such as unnatural aging, the priest suffers the effect even if the spell was not placed in the talisman.

The total levels of spells a priest can have stored in talismans cannot exceed the priest’s level. The highest level spell a priest can place in a talisman depends on the priest’s level, as shown below:

Priest Level
Maximum Spell Level
12–14
1st
15–17
2nd
18–20
3rd
21–23
4th
24–26
5th
27–29
6th
30+
7th

For example, Wulf, a 21st-level priest, can have up to 21 levels of spells stored, but no stored spell can be higher than 4th level. Wulf might choose to store two spells of 4th level, two 3rd, and seven 1st-level spells.

To release a spell from a talisman, the priest must be holding or carrying the item and have the opportunity to concentrate briefly and utter a few words. Though the initiative modifier for releasing the spell is +2, the release cannot be disrupted (though a gagged or silenced priest could not release the spell). Once the spell is released, it functions as if cast normally in all respects, destroying the talisman in the process.

A spell can be stored in a talisman for a maximum of 24 hours. If not used in the allotted time, or if separated from the priest for more than one hour, the talisman crumbles into dust and the spell is lost. No being other than the priest who stored the spell can release the stored energy.

A portion of the spell stored in a talisman lingers in the priest’s memory. If the priest memorizes spells again before the 24 hours have expired, the character cannot regain the spell stored in the talisman. The priest cannot transfer a spell from a talisman back into memory. If a talisman is destroyed, the spell is lost. A spell fades from the priest’s memory when it is released or lost.

Spells stored in talismans can be cast on worlds where the local magical factor would not allow the spell to be cast (see Chapter 2). A spell cannot be stored in talisman, however, unless the local conditions allow the spell to be cast. The initiative modifier for releasing a spell from a talisman is never affected by the local magical factor.

Requirement: Priest 12+

Relevant Ability: Intelligence/Knowledge

Success: 4
Cost: 1 (3)

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