Priest

While they vary dramatically by culture and function, at the heart of almost every religion or Faith path is a priestly order. Priests are individuals who both care for the sacred places of their Faith and minister to its followers. Completely devoted to their chosen Faith path, whether it be a deity or a philosophy, they are unshakable in their dedication and see themselves as responsible for maintaining or advancing its influence and reach. As either a conduit for their god into the physical world or a skilled teacher in their chosen path, a Priest is capable of performing miraculous feats through prayer, meditation, and supplication.

While Priests are typically some of the most prolific healers throughout the land, they should not be passed off as simple well-doers. They are just as capable at calling down the wrath of their gods to smite their enemies as they are in influencing a friend or foe with a vast array of powers. Some even delve into the sinister world of demonic forces, trading their very soul in exchange for immense power.

Despite lacking the versatility of a mixed Faith class, Priests are invaluable additions to any band of adventurers, providing the most reliable and potent application of Faith powers of any class. This comes at a price—wielding these miraculous powers with such proficiency requires a great deal of time and effort spent in quiet contemplation, leaving little time for martial training of any kind. This means that when a Priest takes to the field of battle, they typically do so wearing priestly robes and wielding ornamental weapons. They are extremely fragile and should be well-protected in combat to realize their full potential in a group.

Class Overview

Typical Roles: Healer, Support/Utility, Ranged Damage
Damage Types: Faith (Holy, Demonic, Psionic, Primal)
Class Mechanic: Faith

Default Stats: During Character Creation you may choose to use the default stat line shown below, before racial modifiers. This can be instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results.

During Character Creation you may choose to use the Default Stat Line, before racial modifiers, instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results

Proficiencies

Natural Armor Proficiency: Cloth
Trainable Armor Proficiency: none
Natural Weapon Proficiency: Knives, Bludgeons, Staves
Trainable Weapon Proficiency: Whips

See Equipment section for details. When using a weapon that your class is not proficient with, see Combat Penalties. There is no level or title prerequisite to train in a new proficiency, however you must receive the appropriate Training.

Class Skills

Class Passive Skill: Dedication, PLUS Dedicated Caster
Class Secondary Skill: Theologian, Runecraft, or Teacher

Primary Skills

Faith

Sacred Scriptures

Priests carry the words of their Faith with them wherever they go. This most often includes the accepted mainstream Text of their faith, but also could include scrolls or letters by scholarly sources or long dead heroes of the faith. Regardless of how a Priest chooses to carry the teachings of their faith with them, they guard them with their lives for they are sacred and set apart. It is also an essential repository of knowledge that acts as a source book of sorts for all of the Faith Powers that they would have access to as part of their faith. Depending on the circumstance and character background, a GM might choose to restrict what Powers are recorded within those sacred writings and scriptures, however unless otherwise stated it contains the entirely of what would be available for their choose Faith Path (i.e. if following the Holy Faith, it would contain all Holy Faith powers from all Disciplines)

From this repository, a Priest can memorize powers for day-to-day use and for use in combat. For additional details see Learning New Faith Powers.

Chanting and Ritual

In order to actually cast any of their powers, a Priest, Monk, or Shaolin must chant sacred verses or recite memorized scriptures while focusing their mind on the desired outcome. For Priests this may also include calling out words of power and invoking the names of the powers they serve. This must be paired with symbolic or ritualistic casting gestures, often made with a symbol, relic, idol, or other such device of their faith (see Methods of Casting).

Most Priests are ill suited to combat and prefer to remain in the relative safety of their temples and churches. However a times they are called upon to venture out into the wider world and when doing so they tend to hang back and support their allies from a safer distance if possible. In combat they therefore rely on the same methods for casting as they would within their temples and churches, making both the verbal and physical components of their casting highly ritualized and thus tend to be vulnerable to their foes. While they make exceptional allies, priests must be protected at all times.

Level Ups

Priests use the following chart for levelling up:

HP Dice (Frail): Small Race (1d6), Medium Race (1d6), Large Race (1d8)