Clerics - Brainstorming

[shadowmane]

As you all know, I'm working on the Church of Tah Supplement. As part of that project, I'm going to be developing the Cleric class a little bit beyond what is contained in the rule book. To that end, I would like some help in brainstorming. So far, this is some of the types of clerics I have come up with.

Healer - This is the basic healbot encountered in most Basic Fantasy games. Only in this version, I would strip out the fighter components and replace it with the Priest components from the supplement of that name for this game.

Holy Warrior - This is the standard cleric from the original rules, with a few additions (like ability to use martial weapons). Perhaps the Paladin would fit here better, but I have the Solomon Kane character in mind here. More of a finesse type of character wielding a sabre or rapier instead of a longsword, and wearing lighter armor. Add some sort of monk abilities and you arrive at the class.

Monk - This would be your standard monk with a little bit of Tahist uniqueness added to it.

Shaman - I'm still thinking about this class, and its just an idea about it right now. But I have been kicking around ideas on how Tah could relate with Shamans, given the origin I have given that particular diety.

Druidic - Again, going along with the origin I have given the diety, this particular class would make sense as a sub-class of Tahist Cleric.

Anyone have other ideas, or things to flesh out the above?

[SmootRK]

I worked on a Priest class... really just a cloistered cleric kind of idea... never really published it nor really playtested the idea. Essentially finished, but again, has not seen actual use or testing yet. Feel free to utilize any/all of the stuff.

Somebody else was working on the Rune Caster, which I think makes a good Shaman idea.
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[shadowmane]

I think I have that Priest supplement. Its actually the one I was referring to.

I agree on the Shaman thing. Rune Caster would make the ultimate Shaman.

[Dimirag]

There are some Shaman ideas I posted a long time ago... sadly I never finished it...

[Mr Dark]

My campaign uses a monotheistic system very similar to what you have in the Church of Tah (Mine is the Church of Deus). Here are few ideas I have had that I hope help:


Druids: Members of a sect started by a Saint Francis type priest who saw nature in need of protection and redemption from its fallen state. They are not the fanatical druids most see. They accept that humanity and demi-humanity will create cities, log forests and mine hills. However, they work to keep a balance between nature and industry. They also help farms and farming communities in times of need.

Clerics: There are three branches of Cleric. The first is a Knights Hospitaller type who heal the sick and injured and protect pilgrims. The second is somewhat like the old circuit riders; they work from church to church teaching and protecting their congregations. The third are the more militant cleric who work to drive demons, undead and other unholy things from the world. They also try to reclaim churches or monasteries that have fallen into evil hands.

Priests: Oversee the day to day activities of the church and lead flocks. They rarely adventure and only venture out in dire circumstances. A good example of this is a village parson or reverend. (Very similar to SmootRK's class)

Paladins: In a nutshell, the Knights Templar. There are two main divisions of Paladin. The first are strictly temple guards, they take care of security and defense of major cathedrals and churches. The second are sent out to execute church military business. A subgroup of the second are basically Knights-Errant who wander the lands and fighting evil where it is found.

I hope any of this helps.

[SmootRK]

In general, I find that clerics have tremendous potential for campaign building. The ability to tweak them out for particular mythos and the strife between good/evil, law/chaos, or just the rivalries between individuals within a pantheon (even when both deities are on the same side), makes for wonderful rpg material. Of course MU types have a certain allure, but Clerics have so much more to work with. Often the clerics, trying to "right the wrongs" or fight against the machinations of forces of darkness (evil or rival gods) are the driving parts of campaigns.

Some of my favorite characters types (when I get the odd chance to play) are clerical types... the ability to have characters whom are concerned with dogmatic adherence to certain behaviors appeals to me (not sure why). For this reason, I also favor Paladin type characters over more chaotic minded types. Just good stuff.

[Maliki]

I like the idea of the druid as part of the church, rather than a different faith. The non-combative Priest class and the Holy Warrior (Cleric) work well. To me Shamans don't work near as well, I always seen them as a non-clerics or at least outside the established religions. Monks I can take or leave, tying them to the church may take out some of the oriental feel that always made them troublesome (at least for me) to fit into a standard game.

I agree with SmootRK, how clerics are handled has a big impact on a setting or campaign. More than any other class, clerics (at least for me) must have some variety. An elven cleric must be very different than a dwarven cleric, or it just doesn't seem "right".

[shadowmane]

Mr. Dark, you've come very close to my vision there. I like how you've broken it down. That's very helpful for me here.

Maliki, the Shaman plays into the whole druid thing. Since Tah, in my supplement, came from the Sidhe, it makes Shaman sort of an extension of the druidic side. If you go all in and say that Druids recieve their power directly from the Fey (of which the Sidhe are a major race), then it would make more sense. The Shaman will seek out the "spirit world", and in seeking it out, he will find it, because it will have been provided for through the Sidhe. There is more than one kind of Shamanism. Animism is only one form. Druidism is, at its base, a shamanistic religion anyway. I'm simply trying to play that up here. But I'm still thinking about it and developing it.

Thought - The Saints are pretty much the demi-gods of the whole Tahists world view. They provide a means by which you can add many different levels to a monotheistic culture. They can also provide a contention point between the Reformists and the Bethites. I like Mr. Dark's idea of a St. Francis type who birthed the druidic side of Tahism. It makes a whole lot of sense. I can also see the Purists getting red in the face at the mere mention of a Saint. You can directly correlate that to religions in the real world, where fundamentalists get their hackles up about certain beliefs that they have which are different from the mainstream of the faith.

[Mr Dark]

Thank you very much for your kind words, Shadowmane. I have some other ideas that I will share when I get time and I will also get a more in depth blog post started. Incidentally, your idea on saints are fairly close to mine. While I don't consider them demi-gods, I do see them as ascended mortals given stewardship positions. While they are not worshiped they do intervene in mortal matters at the behest of Deus.

[shadowmane]

For me its kind of the same thing. I'm a fan of the Mentzer Immortal rules, so I see them as ascended mortals, but by that particular set of rules, they would also be considered demi-gods. At any rate, I think we're on the same page of music here. I welcome any and all ideas that can assist me here. I look forward to your blog.