Core Class - Priest (Low-magic)

[Megatron]

This class is used to replace the cleric in my homebrew setting; reviews, comments, and critiques welcome.

Priest/Priestess
Hit Die: d6
The Priest's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information, Heal (Wis), Listen, Knowledge (Religion, History, Nobility) (Int), Sense Motive, Spot (Wis), Profession (Wis).
Skill Points per level: 4+Int modifier

BAB: ½
Fort: Good
Reflex: Poor
Will: Good

Aura/Alignment: Priests have an alignment and a corresponding aura as dictated by their patron.
Weapons and Armor Proficiency: Priests are only proficient with Basic (simple) Weapons, Light Armor, and no shields. Priests are also proficient with their patrons favored weapon.

Turn or Rebuke Opposed Alignment: Any creature that directly opposes the priest’s alignment is turned as if it were undead. Living creatures effectively have Turn Resistance equal to their Ego Score (the sum of their Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma modifiers)

Spirit Sight (Ex): A Priest has the ability to see ethereal creatures at will. They appear as semi-transparent figures painted in muted and blurred hues. An ethereal creature that is aware of the Priest's ability and wishes to remain invisible can attempt a Will Save against DC 10+the Priests level + the priests wisdom modifier.

Lay on Hands (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a Priest with a Wisdom score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her priest level x her Wisdom bonus. A priest may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn't have to use it all at once. Using lay on hands is a standard action.
A Priest can use her Lay on Hands ability to damage undead.

Benediction (Su): Beginning at 4th level a Priest can bless another person by touching them. This grants the person a weak aura of alignment like the Priests, and gives them a +1 bonus per 4 Priest Levels on all Saving Throws and AC for the a number of minutes equal to the Priests Wisdom score. The act of Benediction takes one full-round action.

Holy Weapon (Su): Once a Priest reaches 6th level anytime he wields his patrons favored weapon it is treated as if it were magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.

Consecration (Sp): At 8th level the Priest as the ability to consecrate areas as the spell a number of times equal to his wisdom score before he has to rest for 8 hours. This ability is a full-round action.

Protection from Good/Evil/Law/Chaos (Sp): At 10th level the Priest gains the ability to grant Protection, as the spell, at will. This ability is a full-round action.

 

[Jack Simth]

Umm... the save on the Spirit Sight will quickly outpace pretty much anything's saves (a creature's good save(s) go(es) up every other level, while the Spirit Sight save DC goes up every level) so after about level ten or so, most things will only save on a natural 20.

 

[Megatron]

Umm... the save on the Spirit Sight will quickly outpace pretty much anything's saves (a creature's good save(s) go(es) up every other level, while the Spirit Sight save DC goes up every level) so after about level ten or so, most things will only save on a natural 20.

Yeah, that's right.

 

[Nyaricus]

do these priests still have full spellcasting, otherwise i'd call them very underpowered.

More comments to follow, just the first one, for now . . .

 

[Megatron]

do these priests still have full spellcasting, otherwise i'd call them very underpowered.

More comments to follow, just the first one, for now . . .

No spell casting, I included the entire class in the first post & it is underpowered, compared to the Cleric

 

[the Jester]

This class is underpowered compared even to the bard.

Give them d6 or d8 hp and you're still underpowered.

If you want to avoid spells, I am not entirely certain how to fix that.

 

[Nyaricus]

no spellcasting at all? Is the level of power in your campaign lower than in the PHB? do fighters get feats less often, for example? Because i'd have to say that these guys, although they have nice flavour with all their abilities, pretty much suck. I'd never want to take this class, if all the other classes are per the PHB.

Please explain your reasoning here though, i'm interested in your point of veiw man, since i also have created a low magic campaign (clerics have changed to a "Priest" class as well, but not so dramatic).

cheers!

 

[Kisanji Arael]

For starters, you might want to up the healing of Lay On Hands. As it is, a Preist with 16 Wisdom, generally considered strong for a *cough* non-spellcasting class, will only be able to heal 6 points of damage a day.

lol. I know how to make it a balanced healer. Healing is equal to her (preist level) ^ Wis modifier. Or, to make it slightly more balanced at higher levels, preist level x Wisdom score.

 

[silvermane]

This version could perhaps fit within Iron Heroes... where magical healing is rare.

 

[Megatron]

This class is underpowered compared even to the bard.

Give them d6 or d8 hp and you're still underpowered.

If you want to avoid spells, I am not entirely certain how to fix that.

They already have d6 HD, which is the highest I'm prepared to have a priestly-class go.
I've actually done away with Vancian magic entirely and wrote a new magic system. Currently the only classes that can cast spells are Wizard and Sorcerer. Druid has been rewritten to a) remove spell casting and b)more fit the traditional 'Judge, Historian, Mystic' idea of a druid. I reworked bards so that they no longer cast spells, but instead can learn a variety of feat-like songs. I also use the magic-less variants of the Paladin and Ranger from complete warrior - just because they fit.

no spellcasting at all? Is the level of power in your campaign lower than in the PHB? do fighters get feats less often, for example? Because i'd have to say that these guys, although they have nice flavour with all their abilities, pretty much suck. I'd never want to take this class, if all the other classes are per the PHB.

Please explain your reasoning here though, i'm interested in your point of veiw man, since i also have created a low magic campaign (clerics have changed to a "Priest" class as well, but not so dramatic).

Is the level of "power" lower IMC? not really, but the level of magic definitely is. It's a shame you'd never play this class, because I've had players that played an even lower-powered unrevised version of this and had a great time.
Priests in my setting aren't "White Mages" and they aren't "Battle-clerics". They're priests; they study, they pray, and they work in the community as scribes, mediators, and teachers.

For starters, you might want to up the healing of Lay On Hands. As it is, a Preist with 16 Wisdom, generally considered strong for a *cough* non-spellcasting class, will only be able to heal 6 points of damage a day.

lol. I know how to make it a balanced healer. Healing is equal to her (preist level) ^ Wis modifier. Or, to make it slightly more balanced at higher levels, preist level x Wisdom score.

that's 6 points of damage at second level, 9 at third, 12 at fourth and so on. I don't see a problem here at all at 10th level and a Wis of 18 he could heal 40 hp, considering that no other class has the ability to heal hp, it doesn't seem that bad to me.

This class is supposed to be more generic than the cleric - it's able to fit almost any culture. If anyone has more suggestions on how to power it up or any added abilities that fit the niche please post them~