Ritual Prayer

A priest is an ordinary human, and his spell powers represent nothing more than the favor of his deity. Without his patron power’s blessing and attention, the priest is completely incapable of wielding magic. Thus, in order to invoke a spell, a priest must engage in preliminary prayers, invocations, and rites designed to attract his deity’s notice. When the power responds, the priest is infused with the spell points necessary for his spell.

In this system, the deity or power is concerned more with the priest’s show of devotion and observance of the proper form, and considers the priest’s actual situation to be irrelevant—after all, martyrs are made every day. The priest purchases his initial selection of spells by allocating spell points to free and fixed theurgies of the various spell levels. These represent very specific prayers that he will use to focus his deity’s power, if the power chooses to respond.

The normal options and rules governing priestly spell points are in use. In addition, the priest may make use of the reduced spell cost option, choosing the prolonged casting time in exchange for a 25% reduction in the spell cost. This extends the casting time of a spell to the next highest time increment, so a spell with a casting time of 4 would require four rounds to cast, and a spell with a casting time of a full round would take a turn to cast.

Before the priest can cast a spell, he must first invoke his deity’s attention by speaking various preparatory prayers and performing other actions favorable to his power. In game terms, he must accumulate enough spell points to power the desired spell. Low-level spells are very easy to cast, requiring nothing more than a moment’s concentration and a brief invocation. However, it can take a long time to build a higher-level spell. A ritual priest gathers 2 spell points per round through his invocations and prayers, but the cost to cast a spell is reduced by the priest’s level. For example, a 1st-level priest casting a 1st-level spell must gather 3 spell points (4 for the spell, less 1 for his level), which would require one full round of prayer, plus part of a second round.

If the priest’s level reduces the spell’s cost to 0, the priest need not spend any time gathering spell points and casts the spell with the normal casting time initiative modifiers. In the example above, a priest of 4th level or higher reduces a 1st-level spell to a cost of 0, which means he can cast the spell without spending time to gather his deity’s favor beforehand. In effect, the spell is minor enough that the power trusts the priest not to misuse his or her divine energy.

In many cases, the priest’s gathering time will require more than one round. The 1st-level priest described above must gather 3 spell points to cast his spell, which means that he gathers 2 points in the first round of concentration, and the remaining point in the round in which he casts the spell. There is a slight initiative modifier for this, as shown on
Table 30 : Initiative Modifiers for Ritual Prayer.

The initiative modifier is based on the number of spell points accumulated in the round in which the spell is cast. For example, a 5th-level priest casting a 3rd-level spell must draw 5 spell points (10 for the spell, less 5 for his level), which requires two full rounds of concentration and part of a third—but since he only needs to gather 1 spell point in the last round, he gains a –1 bonus to his initiative when he actually casts the spell.

There are ways to accelerate this otherwise tedious process. Invoking the deity’s power in a sanctified place, making a sacrifice pleasing to the deity, or staying true to the deity’s precepts are all good ways to ensure that the deity in question will be willing to empower the priest with spell energy. See
Table 31 : Modifiers to Ritual Preparatory Times for examples.

Place/Site of Interest: The priest is located in some place favored by the god. This could be a forge for a deity of smithery, a business for a god of commerce, or a battlefield for a power of war.

Sanctified or Holy Place: The priest is located in a shrine, temple, or place of special and unique significance to the deity he serves.

Offerings: The priest destroys or surrenders items or materials pleasing to his patron power. This could range from treasure, weapons, or gems to such things as exotic spices, candles, or specially-prepared libations. A deity of war or battle might consider a gem-decorated sword to be a minor offering, a sword of special significance or quality to be a moderate offering, and a magical weapon to be a major offering. As a rule of thumb, a small offering must be worth at least 50 gp, a moderate worth 500 gp, and a major offering 2,000 gp or more.

Purity and Faithfulness: This is a subjective call on the part of the DM. Has the priest been careful to follow the precepts of both his temple and his alignment? Has the player gone out of his way to role-play his character’s dedication, or has he been lazy in portraying the priest? If the character has been played well and is in favor with his superiors and his deity, this bonus applies.

Previously Expended Spell: While the ritual priest generally expends spells normally, it is possible for him to gather spell energy in order to re-use a spell that he already cast. However, this is quite difficult, and unless the priest has some other factor going for him—an offering or a good location from which to cast—he will be unable to attract the divine power necessary to re-use a spell.

Regaining Spell Points: As noted above, ritual priests expend their spells normally, striking them from memory as they cast the enchantments. In order to ready himself to use a spell again or change his spell allocation, the priest must rest for at least eight hours and spend approximately 10 minutes per spell level praying for the spells he desires. Despite the fact that ritual priests gain spell energy directly from their deities, the complicated prayers and forms required to cast a spell must still be refreshed occasionally.

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