Cleric
Ability Requirements: Wisdom 9
Prime Requisites: Wisdom
Races Allowed: All
Alignments Allowed: Any
Automatic Proficiencies: Reading/Writing
The most common type of priest is the cleric. The cleric may be an adherent of any religion within the mythoi present in the campaign world. Clerics are generally good, but are not restricted to good; they can have any alignment acceptable to their order. A cleric must have a Wisdom score of 9 or more. High constitution and Charisma are also particularly useful.
Clerics are sturdy soldiers, although their selection of weapons is limited. They can wear any type of armor and use any shield. Most clerics, being reluctant to shed blood or spread violence, are allowed to use only blunt, bludgeoning weapons. There are exceptions to this: See Weapons Allowed below. They can use a fair number of magical items including priest scrolls, most potions and rings, some wands and rods, staves, armor, shields, and magical versions of any weapons allowed by their order.
The cleric receives his spells as insight directly from his deity (the deity does not need to make a personal appearance to grant the spells the cleric prays for), as a sign of and reward for his faith, so he must take care not to abuse his power lest it be taken away as punishment.
Clerics vs. Undead
The cleric is also granted power over undead -- evil creatures that exist in a form of non-life, neither dead nor alive. The cleric is charged with defeating these mockeries of life. His ability to turn undead enables him to drive away these creatures or destroy them utterly (though a cleric of evil alignment can bind the creatures to his will). Some of the more common undead creatures are ghosts, zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and mummies. Vampires and liches (undead sorcerers) are two of the most powerful undead.
Followers
Upon reaching 8th level, the cleric automatically attracts a fanatically loyal group of believers, provided the character has established a place of worship of significant size (>2000 sq ft.). The cleric can build this place of worship at any time during his career, but he does not attract believers until he reaches 8th level. The cleric attracts 90 to 200 of these followers; they arrive over a period of several weeks. Some of these followers are 0-level soldiers, ready to fight for the cleric's cause. The others are normal 0-level people of various non-adventuring professions (in a pinch, they could serve as a peasant mob). After the initial followers assemble, no new followers trickle in to fill the ranks of those who have fallen in service. The DM decides the exact number and types of followers which are attracted by the cleric. The character can hire other troops as needed, but these are not as loyal as his followers.
The player should roll (d12*10)+80 to determine the total number of followers s/he attracts. Roll for each category (all are 0 level men-at-arms) until the total number is reached. If the total rolled for exceeds what was rolled on this table, the remaining are non-martial followers.
Clerics' Followers
| 10-60 (10d6) light infantry, padded armor & shield, spear and club |
| 5-30 (5d6) heavy infantry, ring mail, heavy crossbow and short sword |
| 5-30 (5d6) heavy infantry, chain mail, pole arm* and hand axe |
| 5-20 (5d4) heavy infantry, splint mail, battle axe and long sword |
| 5-30 (5d6) light cavalry, studded leather & shield, light crossbow and pick |
| 3-12 (3d4) medium cavalry, chain mail & shield, lance, flail and short sword |
| 2-8 (2d4) heavy cavalry, plate mail & shield, lance, broad sword, and mace |
| * Select type or types randomly or assign whichever you desire |
At 9th level, the cleric may receive official approval to establish a religious stronghold, be it a fortified abbey or a secluded convent. Obviously, the stronghold must contain all the trappings of a place of worship and must be dedicated to the service of the cleric's cause. However, the construction cost of the stronghold is half the normal price, since the work has official sanction and much of the labor is donated. The cleric can hold property and build a stronghold any time before reaching 9th level, but this is done without church sanction and does not receive the benefits described above.
Clerics of Specific Deities
Requirements
Before a character can become a priest of a particular deity, certain requirements must be met. These usually involve minimum ability scores and mandatory alignments. All priests, regardless of mythos, must have Wisdom scores of at least 9. Beyond this, your DM can set other requirements as needed. A god of battle, for example, should require strong, healthy priests (13 Str, 12 Con). One whose sphere is art and beauty should demand high Wisdom and Charisma (16 or better). Most deities demand a specific type of behavior from their followers, and this will dictate alignment choices.
Weapons Allowed
Not all deities are opposed to the shedding of blood. Indeed, some require their priests to use swords, spears, or other specific weapons. A war deity might allow his priests to fight with spears or swords. An agricultural deity might emphasize weapons derived from farm implements -- sickles and bills, for example. A deity of peace and harmony might grant only the simplest and least harmful weapons -- perhaps only lassoes and nets. See the Deities in the World of the Mercia Campaign for details.
Spheres of Influence
Deities all have particular spheres of influence. As such, they are able to grant their priests more power within those spheres.
The spheres of influence are as follows: Animal, Astral, Chaos, Charm, Combat, Creation, Divination, Elemental, Guardian, Healing, Law, Necromancy, Numbers, Plant, Protection, Summoning, Sun, Thought, Time, Travelers, War, and Weather.
Within the spheres of his deity, a priest can use any spell of a given level when he is able to cast spells of that level. For spells not belonging to the spheres of the priest's deity, he can cast spells only up to 4th level. The Deities in the World of the Mercia Campaign page details in which spheres each diety can grant high level spells to their priests. See more information in the Magic section.
Cleric Experience Levels and Spell Progression
| Cleric Level | XP | Hit Dice (d8) | Spell Level | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6* | 7** | |||
| 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2 | 1,500 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 3 | 3,000 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 4 | 6,000 | 4 | 3 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 5 | 13,000 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 6 | 27,500 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 7 | 55,000 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| 8 | 110,000 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| 9 | 225,000 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 10 | 450,000 | 9+2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -- | -- |
| 11 | 675,000 | 9+4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 12 | 900,000 | 9+6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | -- |
| 13 | 1,125,000 | 9+8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | -- |
| 14 | 1,350,000 | 9+10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
* 6th level spells are usable only by clerics with 17 or greater Wisdom.
** 7th level spells are usable only by clerics with 18 or greater Wisdom.
All clerics gain one eight-sided Hit Die (1d8) per level from 1st through 9th. After 9th level, clerics gain 2 hit points per level and they no longer gain additional hit point bonuses for high Constitution scores.