Evil (Philosophy)

All evil thoughts and deeds generate negative energies, and priests of the Philosophy of Evil can tap into those energies, much as a "real" priest receives energies from his god.

The goal of these priests is to spread as much evil as possible throughout the universe. They especially delight in causing suffering among the sentient races (humans, elves, dwarves, etc.). They kidnap, torture, murder, steal, humiliate, and degrade in the name of their philosophy.

The priests of this philosophy are on good terms with the priests of Disease. They are sometimes (at the DM's discretion, based on the nature of his campaign) allies of the priests of Death and Mischief/Trickery. The priests of this philosophy dislike the priests of Divinity of Mankind, Everything, Fortune/Luck, Good, Healing, Love, Redemption, and Wisdom.

Alignment: This philosophy is evil, and its priests may be of any evil alignment (chaotic evil, neutral evil, lawful evil). All belong to the same sect, so the lawful, neutral, and chaotic priests have to cooperate. Members of the flock may be of any evil alignment.

Minimum Ability Scores: Wisdom 9. Wisdom 16 means +10% experience.

Races Allowed: Dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, halflings, humans.

Nonweapon and Weapon Proficiencies: Nonweapon Proficiencies Required: Religion. Nonweapon Proficiencies Recommended: Reading/Writing. Weapon Proficiencies Required: None. Nonweapon Proficiency Group Crossovers: Priest, General, Warrior.

Duties of the Priest: Missions: These priests are dedicating to spreading evil and misery across the world, and their whole lives are spent in missions against happiness, goodness, contentment, and beauty. Vigilance against the doings of any good priests, especially priests of the Philosophy of Good.

Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Weapons Permitted: Bill, crossbow, dagger/dirk, dart, knife, net, picks (all), polearm, scourge, scythe, sickle, stiletto, sword/long, sword/rapier, sword/sabre, sword/short, whip. Armor Permitted: All armor and shields. Oriental Campaigns: Also katana, shuriken, wakizashi. All together, these constitute Good combat abilities.

Other Limitations: None.

Spheres of Influence: Major Access to All, Charm, Necromantic. Minor Access to Animal, Protection (may only use reversed forms of the spells).

Powers: The priest can cast the detect good spell (the reversed detect evil ) three times per day in addition to all other spells. Inspire Fear (as per the Designing Faiths chapter). Control Undead (same as the evil Cleric ability).

Followers and Strongholds: The followers are received at 9th level, and consist of one third-level priest and two first-level priests of the same order, plus one fifth-level fighter, three third-level fighters, and six first-level fighters to act as soldiers, and one third-level thief and two first-level thieves to act as special agents; all will be of the exact same alignment as the priest they follow. The priest may take the following on adventures: Two priests, two fighters, and one thief of his choice. The priesthood will pay for half of the cost of stronghold construction at 9th level. Temples of Evil typically have torture chambers and dangerous, trapped dungeons as part of their construction, but this is a tendency, not a requirement of the order.

Possible Symbols: Skeleton.

Notes: It is easy to make this into the priesthood of a specific god of evil. You don't need to change any of the requirements and abilities of the priest; the only difference is that the priest of a god of evil will receive orders from the deity all the time, instead of being always able to cook up his own schemes of destruction.

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