Priests and Spell Points Just as wizards can create or customize their own spell progression by using spell points, priests can as well. Instead of memorizing the “standard” array of spells of each level, a priest can concentrate his magical power into a small number of spells at the highest level of power available to him, or he can instead memorize a greater than normal array of low-level spells. (Table 26 : Priest Spell Point Progression shows the number of spell points available to a priest as he progresses in level.) Other considerations include the following:

The priest must be well-rested and have access to a quiet place suitable for prayer. It takes about 10 minutes per spell level to commit a spell to memory.

The priest is limited in the maximum spell level he may cast, based on his character level. For example, a 5th-level priest is still limited to spells of 3rd-level or lower.

The priest is limited in the maximum number of spells of each level that he can memorize, regardless of how many spell points he has available; for example, a 5th-level character can’t memorize more than six spells of any given spell level.

Bonus Spell for High Wisdom: In addition to the base number of spell points available at each level, priests with high Wisdom scores gain a special bonus to reflect their piety and devotion. (This is a standard rule in this spell point system, unlike the optional bonus spell point rule for wizards with high Intelligence scores.) The number of bonus spell points depends on the character’s Wisdom score and the maximum spell level available to him, as shown in Table 27 : Bonus Spell Points for Priest Characters.

A 2nd-level priest with a Wisdom of 18 is still limited to spells of 1st-level or less, so his spell point bonus would be 8 points—enough to purchase the two 1st-level bonus spells he would receive under the PHB rules. A 4th-level priest with a Wisdom of 16 is limited to 2nd-level spells, so he would gain 20 bonus spell points, or enough to select the two 1st- and two 2nd-level spells he would normally be entitled to.

Note that as a character rises in level, and his maximum spell level increases, the number of bonus points available to him may increase as well!

Naturally, all of the normal considerations of choosing a spell apply; the priest does not need a spell book and can choose any spell that falls within his spheres of access. Spells may be chosen as pre-memorized fixed theurgies (the priestly equivalent of magicks), or the priest can leave a theurgy open to use any spell he wishes to by selecting a free theurgy (see the description for wizards .)

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