Divine Classes and Cosmological Considerations

Allow me to rant a little. See, I’m a great fan of adventures that revolve around hard choices and tough decisions that always cost something for the heroes. For me those are things like conflicting loyalties, dubious allies, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, characters with second (and secret) motivations… stuff like that. The components of a good drama.

The problem?

I’m also a great D&D and Pathfinder fan, games that many believe to be the antithesis to most of the aspects listed above. Some blame the alignment system, others certain divination spells. And there those that point to the origins of the game as a proof of its incompatibility with such intrigue-rich scenarios.

Well, I don’t buy it.

First, you just have to see beyond Good x Evil as a source for conflicts. Even without a full-fledged setting, a traditional d20 game (like Pathfinder) gives you – right at the Core Rulebook – a ton of factions and divergent groups, all ready to start plotting and performing some skullduggery. The Good/Evil axis is just one of many: we have races, religions and – always forgotten – classes! Please note that I didn’t even mentioned the old Law x Chaos cliché. There are also d20 settings full of intrigue and some of the dramatic elements mentioned above.

As my first example, take a look at classic computer games like Baldur’s Gate II and Torment, where the main hero is always forced to deal (or even ally) with the “other side”. We’re not talking here of corruption or any “temptation of the Dark Side”, but of necessary alliances and – again – tough choices with dramatic consequences. Some may even remember the AD&D 2^nd product trilogy Jakandor (of the Odyssey line), where we had two rival cultures totally divorced from the Good/Evil axis (and both accessible to player characters). The classic Gazetteer series for the Known World setting (a.k.a. Mystara) for OD&D also presented plenty of realms and cultures with opposite values, most without even touching on the alignment subject.

In the last years, two campaign settings caught my attention by creating some truly unique and intelligent sources for conflict and intrigue adventures.

The setting of Valus, released by the small press Different Worlds Publications, introduces us to a world born of divine strife and disdain, where a pantheon of petty siblings squabbles constantly for power, without any sympathy or care for their mortal worshippers. The rich mythology of the setting, along with a more realistic and medieval world, generates a lot of situations where alignment lines are crossed due to nationality, religion and race. Of course, Valus is a gritty setting, with mature themes like racism and sex are common.

Let’s take a look at a more “traditional” setting.

The Scarred Lands setting from Sword & Sorcery Studios, launched soon after the D&D 3^rd, had an elaborate cosmology involving a recent struggle between titans and gods. In one side we had the divine races, followers of the gods; in the other site the titanspawn, servants of the imprisoned titans. The catch was that, while the later were usually more primitive and aggressive, they were not necessarily evil and destructive. Actually many of the divine races were a lot worse: slavers, zealots or merciless conquerors. This duality created – again, totally outside the alignment system – an excellent hook for all kind of stories, especially if the party has member of both factions (yes, it was possible, another good point for this outstanding setting).

Well, I talked more than I meant. This article is supposed to be about divine classes of Pathfinder and world-building.

When writing a new setting the question of whatever using or not using the cleric class is always my first point of consideration. After all, clerics imply all kind of cosmological assumptions: there’s a real divine source of power and, probably, a higher order of beings capable of influencing the material realm. Who are these beings? Are they really gods? Or just powerful spirits? Why do they require worship? Etc.

As you can see, I have a preference for complex and factious scenarios and I believe that classes are a good starting point. Specially divine classes (in the other words: cleric, druid, paladin, spellcasting ranger, oracle and inquisitor).

For a more “pure” Sword & Sorcery world, I would probably remove the cleric. One crazy idea was to take all clerical domains and convert them to feats, accessible only to “initiates” of the various cults and temples. That way, you could have the classical evil sorcerer servant of the Serpent God, with access to the Evil and Death domains (two feats). But let’s leave that idea for another day.

What I’m really seeking here is a setting where all official divine classes of Pathfinder are allowed and represent different holy (or unholy) traditions in a very complex war for the control of the Material Plane. I don’t want them to be necessary hostile to each other, but also not open friend, at best uncertain allies (in very specific situations). I want conflict and tension. Drama.

Ok, I’ll start with the oracle class from the Advanced Player’s Guide. I REALY like the feel of this class. It has a S&S or Odyssey-like vibe. They are scary and mysterious, “blessed” by strange divine forces. I’ll make oracles the servants of the Old Gods, the first divine order of the world. Ancient and inscrutable beings, more placated and feared than worshipped. They are powerful, but also distant, spending most of their forces and attention in the Outer Planes. They rarely pay note to the affairs of mortals (for which these are thankful). Their interventions are rare but potent (or better, cataclysmic), usually around old relics, artifacts and sacred places. Think about the Abrahamic god of the Old Testament, the old chthonic gods of Greece, and about the early Middle-eastern deities. Oracles don’t follow a specific deity, which made them perfect for this elevated and uncaring pantheon. The oracles are divided by temple, not deity.

The clerics in this proposed setting are the divine agents of the Ascendants. These gods represent heroes, champion, sages and legendary creatures who achieved divine status during the last age of the world (think about all the heroes and monsters of classical Greek myth, for examples). The Ascendants are a lot more “humane” and fathomable, but also are very ambitious and passionate beings, who hated to be denied. They are the “new kids on the block” and possess many of characteristics, flaws and extravagances of Greek, Germanic and Celtic gods. Their main goal is to the reach the vast sources of power in the Outer Planes, but these paths are closed and guarded by the Old Gods and their chthonic servants. Because of that Ascendants seek mortal support (through worship), artifacts and places of power in the Material Plane. Ascendants live in far realms and mythic locations of the Material Plane and are a lot more present than the old pantheon.

Oracles and clerics don’t get along too well, in part because the Ascendants clearly desire to supplant the Old Gods. Neutral and good Ascendants are more tolerant, as are oracles from temples of such alignments. Tolerant oracles have an almost fatherly attitude toward clerics of like-minded Ascendants.

Now druids. Usually druids are servants of old, barbaric and Celtic-like pantheons. Let’s change that. I’m thinking about making my druids the followers of a new pantheon. They’re the result of an  invading divine force from Outer Planes. Druids are the priests of this alien pantheon of elemental and primordial creatures, more natural forces than rational entities. Druids don’t care about morals or philosophies. All their want is to increase the influence of elemental god they serve.

Finally we are left with paladins and inquisitor. I don’t like very much of inquisitors, the class is just too powerful and versatile for my tastes*. But paladins are a classic element of D&D/Pathfinder. For my home setting I’ll steal an idea from Valus that I love: paladins don’t follow gods but celestials. Each paladin is directly sworn to a planetar, solar or more powerful angel. This create a closer bond between this holy champions and their “deities”. Also this explains with paladins have such number of “Christian knight” trappings.

*But if I must: I would make all inquisitor members of an unique divine order (maybe divided by alignments?) who seek to keep outsider influences out of the Material Plane. That include any spirit or extraplanar creatures servants of any deity. And that ALSO includes manifested Ascendants. If these younger gods want something, they must use their clerics. Whom the inquisitor work for? Maybe the Creator himself (a thesis deem heretical by other religions?). Maybe not even the inquisitor know from where their power come from. That could be a dark secret (imagine if the inquisitor are actually pawns of Archdevils?).

Weird Arcana - Curse of the Unruly Dweomer (New Spell)

Another 'Weird Arcana' entry. I'll try to post something different next time.

CURSE OF THE UNRULY DWEOMER

School conjuration (summoning)

Level bard 3, cleric 4, sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 4

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range close (25 ft. + 5ft./2 levels)
Target one spellcasting creature
Duration 1 round/level;
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance none
This irksome curse turns any invoked dweomer against its caster. Any spell cast by the targets is instantly converted to a summon monster spell of equivalent level, with the difference that the summoned creature is not under the target caster control. Actually, the beast is totally hostile against the target caster and appears adjacent to him.

The curse bestowed by this spell cannot be dispelled, but it can be removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish spell.

Flesh Wounds (House Rule)

Sometimes I want to run a more ‘epic fantasy’ campaign. And while Pathfinder is already a very heroic game (especially at high-levels where you easily cross to a ‘super-heroic fantasy’, something I never remember reading in novels of the genre), I’m normally aiming for a more traditional style of heroism. “Sword & Sorcery heroism” if you like. Other times, I just have a party without any cleric or healing-capable player character. In both situations I use the following house rule.

Flesh Wounds

After any combat encounter, all Player Characters recover a number of hit points equal to their Character Level. These hit points are not actually “healed”, just ignored. They reflect bruises, minor wounds and battle fatigue that are quickly ignored after a short rest.

The logical limitation to this rule is that a PC can’t recover more hit points than those lost during the last encounter. For example: a  6^th level Fighter has a full HP score of 50 and is down to 35 hps before getting into a fight with a trio of goblins. During the combat he suffers only one strike and loses 3 hps. After the encounter he’ll recover only those 3 hps, not 6 (his Character Level).

This house rule requires a little extra bookkeeping (and trust in your players), but I found that it simulates nicely a more cinematographic or swashbuckling  style of play. It’s also a good way to make ‘healing-less’ parties work without constant interruptions to rest and heal.

Weird Arcana - Charm Against Woe (New Spell)

In each 'Weird Arcana' entry I try to create an unusual or exotic dweomer, artifact or lore.

CHARM AGAINST WOE

School abjuration 

Level bard 1, sorcerer/wizard 2, witch 1

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (silver amulet worth 20 GP)
Range touch
Target one willing creature (see text)
Duration 1 minute/level, see text;
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance none
This spell protects the target against bad luck, allowing him to ignore one (and just one) critical failure result. For the duration of this spell the target treats his next natural 1 rolled on a d20 check as an 11. As soon as this happens, the effect ends.

The target of this spell must the wear the material component for the duration of the effect. When charm against woe ends, the silver amulet turns to iron and instantly rusts. If the amulet is stolen from the target while the spell is still active, the effects ends and the next d20 checks made by the target is an automatic failure.

Virtual Caster Levels (House Rule)

This little article is based on a house rule from my current Pathfinder campaign. I originally found it in a Greyhawk brazilian site some years ago and used it in many D&D games. That was before prestige classes like the mystic theurge. Unfortunately I never found the  site (or its creators) again to give them proper credit. Please, bear in mind that this house rule greatly improves the power of spellcasting classes (which is fine by me, since I  see that rather as a feature than a “bug”  - in other words: I like powerful spellcasters in my fantasy worlds).

Caster Level Progression and Virtual Caster Levels

Like the Base Attack Bonus progression, all spellcasting class keep improving their caster level while multiclassing in non-spellcasting classes, but they are susceptible to a special limitation.

For every two levels in another class, a spellcaster increases his caster level, spells per day and spells known (if applicable) by +1. This works exactly as the “+1 level of existing spellcasting class” feature of many prestige classes. These “ghost levels” of spellcasting are called Virtual Caster Levels (VCLs).

The maximum number of VCLs any character may gain is equal to half their real caster level (round down). For example: a 6^th level sorcerer could gain a maximum of +3 VCLs by multiclassing in other classes. Some levels later, the now 6^th sorcerer/4^th rogue (a 10^th level character) would cast spells as a 8^th level spellcaster. In the future, as  6^th sorcerer/8^th rogue (a 14^th level character) his caster level would be 9 (6 from his sorcerer class, plus 3 from VCLs).

Weird Arcana - Golden Apple of Discord (New Spell)

In each 'Weird Arcana' entry I try to create an unusual or exotic dweomer, artifact or lore.

GOLDEN APPLE OF DISCORD

School enchantment (compulsion) [mind-affecting] 

Level bard 4, sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 5

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M
Range close (25 ft. + 5ft./2 levels)
Target one creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart
Duration 1 round/level, see text;
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes
You make a magic golden apple appear floating between your designated targets. All those who fail their saving throws suffer an irrational urge to take and eat the magic fruit. They'll first try to take the fruit. Following that, they'll attack any other pretender fighting for the golden apple, even if that creature was before an ally. Only after all contestants are defeated, the "winner" will eat the apple (if the spell is still in effect).
The golden apple has AC 14 and 1 hit point. It can be damaged normally. Eating the fruit requires a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. If one the targets affected by this spell manages to eat the apple, the spell ends and he gains a +2 morale bonus to all attacks, damages and rolls made against the caster. This bonus last 24 hours.
If an outsider effect (like an attack or area spell) cause damage to any target, he is automatically free from this spell's effects.
This spell requires a rotten apple as a material component.

Augury - The Summoner's Circle (Advanced Feats)

The Summoner’ s Circle is the third installment of the Advanced Feats’ line for Pathfinder.

What we have here is, basically, a 19-page PDF, with 30 new feats, a detailed look at the summoner class (a new core class from the Advanced Player’s Guide) and three complete character builds. The product also have a very handy eidolon sheet.

Ok, first the feats. Like other Advanced Feats products, we have “director’s commentaries” after some of the feats. For example:

Enhanced Scent

You have trained yourself to take full advantage of your keen sense of smell.

Prerequisite: Scent ability

Benefit: You double the range at which you can detect and pinpoint creatures using the scent ability.

Commentary—Scent can be a handy tool for finding creatures normally warded by magical invisibility or who are using the Stealth skill and can be hard to defend against. While this is intended for an eidolon, some summoners may make use of it directly.

As you can see from the case above, not all feats are specific for the summoner class (or eidolons).

Some other interesting feats:

Cannibalistic Casting – the caster can suffer Constitution damage rather than use spell slots for casting;

Clockwork Summoning – a metamagic feat to summon clockwork versions of the traditional monsters;

Shifting Wall – another metamagic feat, this one allows the caster to move their walls spells 5ft. in any direction, once per round as a swift action.

The Summoner’s Circle has a good number of more “normal” feats, like Improved Resistance, Enlarge Wall and Improved Concentration (this last one should have being in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook). Some feats appears to be taken from house rules of the author’s campaigns, like Giant Step. Other are just updated versions from the SRD, like Fleet of Foot and Improved Multiweapon Fighting.

Some feats have the potential to become all-time favorites: Vampiric Summoning lets the caster drains hit points from every summoned servant to himself, while Hardened Spell increases considerably the DCs against identify and dispel attempts.

The character builds at the end of the product are especially useful because of the complete eidolon evolutions given. The summoner is a complex core class and many players are intimidated by the eidolon construction rules. Some examples and guidelines are always welcome.

Weal or Woe?

For its price, definitely “WEAL”. The Summoner’s Circle is a good product. You have an excellent selection of feats, a few probably overpowered, but the majority are a fine addition to your Pathfinder game (even if the summoner is not your favorite class). The eidolon builds are great and have already become an obligatory part of my Advanced Player’s Guide.