The Location
Altars don’t need the continuous maintenance or skilled pool of laborers and
craftsmen that a wizard’s laboratory requires. Because of this, the altar can be
located anywhere the priest wishes to put it, within reason. The general site
should be someplace within the deity’s sphere of interest, so an altar
dedicated to a sea-god should be near the sea, while one dedicated to a druidical power
should be located in a pristine wilderness. Considerations such as the
distance to the nearest large city or convenience for the character are secondary, at
best.
There are two types of location that are ideal: a location that is easily
accessible to a large body of the power’s worshippers, or a location that has
special significance to the power. A priest of Tempus (a god of storms and battle
from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting) could meet the first condition by
locating his altar in a fortress manned by a number of soldiers who follow Tempus,
or a city that included a large congregation of Tempus’ worshippers. Or, he
might find an ancient battlefield or storm-lashed peak to be appropriate, since
they meet the second condition. The DM is the final arbiter of what is or isn’t
an appropriate location for a particular deity’s altar.
Like the wizard’s laboratory, the priest’s altar represents a significant
investment of time, energy, and money. Thieves may attempt to loot the rich
trappings of the altar, and enemies of the faith will not hesitate to desecrate an
altar left unprotected. As a result, once a place suitable for his patron deity
has been found, the priest should make the security and safety of the altar a
primary goal.
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