Priest Prayer System  
                                                        by  Array50

For: All editions

“Where does our power come from? Ask a wizard that, and he will spill babble about other planes and about ‘natural energies.’ This is less than knowledge - it is foolishness. Our power comes from our goddess and only through our faith can we hope to use her strength as our own. But there is a danger my young student. If your faith is not strong, Aphrodite will know and your prayers will not be answered in the way you think they will.” Shalmara; Priestess of Aphrodite...

In both the AD&D world and our own history, priests are characters of faith. But game mechanics often treat the priest class as nothing more than another version of the wizard class. Although never developed, it is hinted at in the rules that a priest’s power is not completely magical in nature, but instead is based on faith. With this in mind, I have created a system that uses faith (instead of “memorization” like the wizards) as the basis for a priest’s power. Each prayer spell level has an increasingly difficult faith “level” and the priest gains more faith as he gains character levels. This allows the priest to use more powerful prayers as he achieves higher levels.

Instead of the classical method of praying for spells each morning (i.e. memorizing spells), the priest prays for the desired spell effect to occur when he needs it. Thus they are able to “cast” any of their allowed spells at will up to their daily limit, as long as their god will allow it. This power is offset by the need to pass a faith check (see below) whenever a prayer is made.

This system actively encourages strong role playing of priest characters. DM’s are encouraged to assign bonuses and penalties to the priests faith checks based on how close he adheres to the tenets of his deity. For example, if the religion commands that it’s priests be humble, and the priest has been boasting of his prowess, assign a penalty. If he has taken a vow of poverty, yet hoards his money to buy a new mace, assign a penalty. If the priest of a god of life has spent the day tending to the sick and injured during a battle, without actually engaging in battle himself, assign a bonus.

Determining Faith Score
At 1st level, a priest’s faith score is 0 (he is new to the use of divine power and he has no strong belief in it yet). Priests with high Wisdom receive a natural bonus to this score according to the following table:

Table 1 : Faith bonus for high wisdom
Wisdom          Faith Bonus
  10-11                  +0
  12-13                  +1
  14-15                  +2
  16-17                  +3
  18-19                  +4
  20-21                  +5
  21-22                  +6
  23-24                  +7
  24-25                  +8

As a priest gains in levels, he gains more faith. For each level after 1st the priest gains a +1 bonus to his faith score.

Rolling for a prayer
Whenever a priest wishes to “cast” a prayer spell, he must roll a faith check. The DC is based on the prayer spell level (see table 2 below). The character cannot choose to “Take 10” or “Take 20” on a faith check.

Table 2: Spell DC
Spell Level            DC
       0                      5
       1                      5
       2                      8
       3                    10
       4                    13
       5                    15
       6                    18
       7                    20
       8                    23
       9                    25

Allowing automatic success (rolling a 20) or automatic failure (rolling a 1) is up to the DM.

Casting above the current level
Because a priest’s power is based on his faith, it is possible to cast a prayer of a higher level than the character is currently allowed. In this case, the base DC is 20 +1 for every prayer level above the one he is able to cast. The casting time is doubled (1 action becomes 1 round, 1 round becomes 2 rounds, etc.). In addition, the cleric must sacrifice a number of spell levels (a 3rd level spell has 3 levels, a 5th level spell has 5, etc.) equal to the spell being cast + 1.

If the cleric does not have sufficient spell levels available, then he will lose whatever spell levels he has and still be able to attempt to cast the spell. The spell is cast as if the priest were at the minimum level to cast it (for purposes of range, damage, etc.). A priest cannot attempt to cast a spell level that is higher than his wisdom will allow (for example: a priest with a 15 wisdom cannot cast any spell above 5th level). A priest should only attempt to cast above his level in dire situations. Attempting to do so when in it not necessary will anger his god and can result in a faith penalty that will remain until proper penance is made.

Rolling criticals
Critical successes (rolling a natural) and critical failures (rolling a natural 1) can have a profound effect on the result of the spell. DM’s are encouraged to modify the effects of the prayer based on the situation.
Critical Failure Example: The spell does go off, but against the priest. Perhaps the priest has angered off his god or maybe the moons were not aligned. The ways of gods are unknown to mere mortals.
Critical Success Example: The spell goes off with an added kick, perhaps doing more damage, lasting longer, or affecting more targets.

Example 1: Salamander Mourning, a 3rd level priest of Aries, wishes to cast the second level prayer Barkskin. Salamander has a wisdom of 18, giving him a faith score of 6. The DC for casting a second level prayer is 8. Salamander has been faithful and has often given a great deal of gold and worked hard to promote his god’s faith, so he has no penalties on his check. He rolls a 6, giving him a total of 12, and the prayer goes off without a hitch. Had he been less faithful, he could have had a penalty on the roll, perhaps a -5. His giving a total score would have been 7, which is not enough to allow the prayer to be granted. The spell would fail and Salamander would be in distress.

Example 2: Our friend Salamander is in a lot of trouble. His party is caught on the edge of a cliff, they are low on arrows and both the wizard and thief are heavily injured. He knows that the only way they will live is to get off that cliff. So he decides to try and pray for Air Walk, a 5th level prayer. The DC for casting this type of spell is 23 (spell level (5) - max casting level (2) + 20 = 23). With his faith score at 6, Salamander needs to roll a 17 or better to succeed.