Building a Norse Type Priest...

[Scribble]

Anyone have any ideas on what cleric abilities and powers I could mess around with to make a more Nordic type priest?

Or if you have any good info on what a Nordic priest was even like...

 

[Rampant]

Um they really didn't.

You see the Norse Gods didn't really do the whole Organized church thing. ( at least not to my knowledge ) No temples, no dedicated priests, and no divine magic. The gods' powers were based on thier own Hugr, or mindforce. As was the power displayed by extra ordinary mortals. Gods and Goddesses lead by example in the Norse mythology. If you wanted Odin's help with something you had to physically find the guy. The closest thing the norse gods had to priests, were the skalds who told stories about them, (i.e. bards and multiclass-bards).

 

[Scribble]

Um they really didn't.

You see the Norse Gods didn't really do the whole Organized church thing. ( at least not to my knowledge ) No temples, no dedicated priests, and no divine magic. The gods' powers were based on thier own Hugr, or mindforce. As was the power displayed by extra ordinary mortals. Gods and Goddesses lead by example in the Norse mythology. If you wanted Odin's help with something you had to physically find the guy. The closest thing the norse gods had to priests, were the skalds who told stories about them, (i.e. bards and multiclass-bards).

Well in that case then, I'll need to invent my own... Anyone have any suggestions on "norse flavored" abilities to swap out with the standard Cleric?

 

[Zurai]

I would give them abilities that allow them to emulate things that their individual deity did. For some examples using actual Nordic gods:

A priest of Thor might get a bonus when attacking Giants.
A priest of Odin might be able to command ravens or temporarily blind himself to gain useful knowledge.
A priest of Baldr might get a deflection bonus to AC against non-plant creatures.

etc.

Basically, I would try to make the actual religion/mythology of the deity more involved in the way the priests acted.

 

[Nellisir]

Um they really didn't.

You see the Norse Gods didn't really do the whole Organized church thing. ( at least not to my knowledge ) No temples, no dedicated priests, and no divine magic. The gods' powers were based on thier own Hugr, or mindforce. As was the power displayed by extra ordinary mortals. Gods and Goddesses lead by example in the Norse mythology. If you wanted Odin's help with something you had to physically find the guy. The closest thing the norse gods had to priests, were the skalds who told stories about them, (i.e. bards and multiclass-bards).

In some cases. It's important to remember that most information about nordic religion comes from outside observers. There's some evidence that as Christianity increased, concepts like religious buildings and idols were absorbed into Norse culture. There were certainly rituals and cults.

In any rate, you can certainly have "nordic-type" priests. If you want big, giant-butt-kicking Thor-priests, then give them giant-butt-kicking abilities - favored enemy would be OK, but also quasi-magical abilities that can bolster the party against giants and their plots. Norse giants were tricksy folk. Odin-priests would be enigmatic and mysterious and have lots of divination and misdirection abilities, plus maybe a raven familiar or animal companion. The idea of "finding" a god isn't a bad one either. Alot of fertility events are intended to invoke a divinity, usually via a stand-in. It wouldn't be hard to assume that in D&D, the gods actually do manifest at these things, either via possession or as an actual (very, very minor) aspect. Such aspects are guilty of tunnel vision and short tempers -- if you talk Thor into showing up to kick giant butt, you better have a giant's butt around to be kicked. No standing around asking stupid questions about which way to go on your quest.

 

[White Whale]

Anyone have any ideas on what cleric abilities and powers I could mess around with to make a more Nordic type priest?

Or if you have any good info on what a Nordic priest was even like...

AFAIK, they had limited or no magic abilities.

I would rather make a fighter/barbarian type with a strong religious belief. Maybe if you talk with your dm you can create some minor magic by sacred rituals and sacrifices. [Like, if you know you are going to a battle you can perform a ritual/sacrifice to gain a sacred/luck/morale bonus to rolls].

As for play-style, this is what I suggest:
A chubby, ale-drinking, bearded guy is a must. Drinking is a contest of manhood. Be overly jovial among friends, overly suspicious towards strangers. Power is hierarchical; to gain power you have to replace someone above you (which is often done by killing them). Yet, honor is important; play by the rules (which are not 'normal' rules). If you are somehow offended by a person, you are allowed to challenge him to a duel to death ("Holmgang"). If he rejects he loses honor. If he accepts, fight until one is dead. Holmgang used wisely can be a tactic to remove those above you, but beware of those below.

Also, when going to battle, mushrooms are your friends!

 

[Phlebas]

Even into the christian era, the nordic church had cults dedicated to a particular deity (though worshipping them all). These cults had leaders / mystics and in a fantasy world magic would make sense for them.

to be honest, the standard cleric seems a pretty good fit for a nordic type priest without many mods.

Strength & War for Thor
Luck & Trickery for loki (maybe cloistered cleric or levels of rogue would be better for ths skill points)
etc

The difference would be in play style - you wouldn't be giving sunday sermons but inspiring people through acts of bravery to follow the traditions of the nordic gods (and in some cases doing the rituals to make sure the gods don't take to active and malevolent interest in your people...)

If you want traditional viking, ie helmet with long horns, off for a spot of rape and pillage and then back for pickled herring, then a few levels of barbarian (or even ranger) wouldn't go amiss.

Zurai's idea of a few flavour abilities make sense, maybe replacing domain abilities is the easiest mechanically

 

[White Whale]

If you want traditional viking, ie helmet with long horns, off for a spot of rape and pillage and then back for pickled herring, then a few levels of barbarian (or even ranger) wouldn't go amiss.

Ironically, the viking helmets never had horns. They look cool though

 

[Griffith Dragonlake]

Ironically, the viking helmets never had horns. They look cool though

But some of the priests did as part of fertility rituals. IIRC, Tacitus (or maybe Julius Caesar) made mention of white-robed priests. Also each head of household, clan head, chieftain, war king, etc. was expected to perform rituals and gain the favors of the gods. There are a number of documented cases of sacrificial victims both before a battle and in peacetime.

What I did was to use druids for priests of the Vanir and all leaders (chieftains, sea-kings, etc.) as clerics. Of course this meant that only NPCs were clerics. Also I don't think it's too much of a stretch to have paladins of Baldr and Tyr.

Ever read Beowulf? He's presented very much as a Lawful Good PC.

Consider allowing half-Celestials and Assimars for PCs as well. Their native powers are IIRC mostly clerical.

And in closing, please don't have your dwarves worship the Norse Gods. The Germanic dwarves (dvergr) were arms merchants and artificers to the Gods and Giants. Thor hated dwarves. One such example is when Thor was mourning Balder's death, he kicked a dwarf unto Baldr's funeral pyre! The poor dwarf was just an innocent bystander who became a victim of a hate crime.

 

[Elemmakil]

AFAIK, they had limited or no magic abilities.

You know, it's amazing how many real-life figures had limited or no magical abilities. In fact, I believe that all such historical figures, of all religions, qualify.

Seriously, D&D's mechanical interpretation of a priest doesn't have a whole lot to do with the real archetype, but in this case I think that it matches Norse priests pretty well, because you probably want a militant flavour. As others have suggested, strength + war domains sound good for a priest of Thor. Then make sure that you prepare appropriate spells. Spell choice matters every bit as much (or more than) domain choice, in my opinion. The cleric is a really versatile class - you should be able to be very selective in your spell choice and still do fine. A cleric with appropriate domains should do fine.