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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