Sunday 24 October 2010

The Clerics of OSRIC-HARN

One of the major issues encountered when integrating a game world into a specific D&D rules-set (or, more commonly, when creating a home-brew setting) is how to integrate Gods and divine spell casters into the rules.

Religion, or rather, religious detail, is one of the many great strengths of Harn as a setting. It's relatively small number of Gods when compared to many other settings (less than a dozen) mean that the designers have been able to detail (in a single supplement) all the many religious orders, fighting orders, rituals and holy days of Harn's deities.

Here, I'll go through each of the God's in turn (also dealing with the animistic religions of the various human barbarian tribes) detailing the various OSRIC rule variants that will apply to their clerics clerics on Harn.

Agrik:

Agrik is a fiery, evil God of war, the breeder of violence for its own sake. He is favoured by those who enjoy rapine, pillage, cruelty and destruction. He is worshipped by dozens of squabbling clerical sects each sponsoring one or more fighting orders. His faith is illegal throughout most of Harn, but is legal in the nearby Thardic Republic. In OSRIC-HARN Agrik is Lawful Evil. His clerics may be lawful evil, lawful neutral or neutral evil. Clerics of Agrik can only use weapons which inflict great pain and suffering on their foes: Morning Star, Whip, Battle-Axe, Crossbow, Daggers, Flaming Oil and (barbed) Javelins

Halea:

The Goddess of Wealth and Pleasure, she demands unswerving devotion from her adherents. Only women can enter her clergy but her temple guards are most often male. She is popular among the merchant classes and those who revel in decadence. Halea is Chaotic Neutral. Her clerics can be of any non-lawful alignment. Helea prefers that he worshippers avoid violence through honeyed words and bribery rather than engaging in combat. As a result, her clerics are permitted the use only of daggers, slings, staffs and clubs.

Ilvir:

The creator of the Ivashu (monster-kind). His followers are individualistic, creative and mystical. Dozens of sects worship Ilvir, although his adherents are few and mostly found in distant Orbaal. However, many pass through Trobridge on pilgrimage to the most sacred site on Harn: the home of the God himself. Ilvir is True Neutral. Unique amongst the Gods of Harn, Ilvir has no clerics. His worshippers are led by Druids who must share his True Neutral alignment. The Druids of Harn are closer in temperament to the ancient druids of the Celts than they are to modern druids or druids as portrayed in later editions of D&D. All normal rules restrictions apply.

Larani:

The Lady of Paladins is the goddess is chivalry and battle, favoured by the feudal nobility and their men-at-arms. She is served by many saints who embody the ideals of chivalry and who are counted as masters of one knightly weapon. Larani is Lawful Good. Her clerics may be of any lawful alignment, even lawful evil. Her clerics are restricted to knightly weapons such as the longsword, the lance, the dagger and any weapon designed to be used from horseback. All Harn's paladins are worshippers of Larani. Larani has no church in Trobridge, though the village's Peonian priest has requested that a cleric or Paladin of Larani be despatched to the town.

Morgath:

Morgath is the master of chaos, evil and the undead; who despises all things fair and noble. His church is dour and ruthless and infamous for it's rituals of human sacrifice. Having been corrupted by the Shadow, Morgath is Chaotic Evil. His clerics must either share his chaotic evil alignment or else follow the path of neutral evil. His clerics prefer to let their undead servants (and in some cases, masters) fight on their behalf. They follow all the normal restrictions for clerical weapons but add the dagger to their list. They may not cast any curative, healing or resurrection spells. Morgath will not grant them.

Naveh:

A god of darkness, best known as the Bringer of Nightmares, worshipped by thieves and assassins. His fanatical clerics have been known to commit suicide as a sign of their devotion. Naveh is Neutral Evil. His clerics may be of any evil alignment and may freely multi-class as Assassins following the rules for demi-humans. All clerics (whether multi-classed or not) follow the assassin class restrictions for weapons and armour.

Peoni:

The Goddess of agriculture and healing. She is worshipped by most rural folk. Her clergy are divided into celibate (and chaste) male and female orders. Both maintain many hospitals. Temples are always situated close to areas of poverty. Peoni is Neutral Good.

She is the most commonly worshipped deity on Harn, the patron of the common folk. Her clergy are technically superior to those of Larani, just as the Goddess Larani serves as the protector of Peoni herself. In practice, the two faiths are independent, but allied, temples; with no one faith having control of the other. Her clerics can be of any good or True Neutral alignment. They are expected to be pacifists. In OSRIC-HARN, this is reflected by their weapon choice. They are restricted to using weapons that do not (technically) shed blood. For conservative clerics, this means club or staff. Those less concerned with the spirit of the law use any weapon normally permitted to the cleric class.

Sarajin:

The God of Battle-lust. He demands honour and bravery from his adherents, mostly humans of Lythian descent. His sport is war. He has been known to join in human battles. Sarajin is Chaotic Neutral. His clerics must be chaotic in alignment, though few are chaotic evil. They are allowed only two weapon: choices: the warhammer and any variety of axe. There is a small temple to Sarajin in Trobridge. However, the priests are often out among the barbarian tribes, performing missionary work, and can rarely be found there except scheduled ceremonies.

Save-K'Norr:

The God of knowledge and seeker of enlightenment, The Sage of Heaven. His adherents believe that a safe and ordered society precludes evil behaviour. They are devoted to providing guidance to the powerful, furthering knowledge, and spying on political and religious groups in the furtherance of the former two goals. Save-K'Norr is Lawful Neutral. His clerics may be any lawful alignment or True Neutral. His clerics prefer to avoid combat and are permitted only the staff, club and dagger as weapons. They may not wear metal armour.

Seim:

The benign God of mystery, magic and dreams. He is the special deity of elves and dwarves. Siem's worshippers favour a personal approach to the deity, communing in private rather than through organised worship. Most Harnic rangers are followers of Seim. Seim is Chaotic Good. His clerics must be chaotic good or neutral good. They may not wear metal armour but add the longbow, short-bow and spear to their list of permitted weapons.

Tribal Priests:

The many human barbarian tribes worship a variety of deities and minor spirits, apparently capable of granting some magical power. Those few barbarian clerics who follow one of the true gods of Harn follow the rules for their deity listed above. All others count as either a Shaman or a Witchdoctor. Both varieties of spell-caster may be found in any given tribe, they are not automatically mutually exclusive.

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