Gods and Their Specialty Priests

Helm (He of the Unsleeping Eyes)

Lesser Power of Nirvana, LN

Portfolio: Guardians, protection Requirements: Strength 14, Wisdom 13 Major Spheres: All, Astral, Combat, Divination, Guardian, Protection, Sun Minor Spheres: Creation, Elemental, Healing

Weapons Allowed: All bludgeoning weapons Armor Allowed: Full plate and shield Magical Items Allowed: Same as clerics, but in addition priests of Helm may use crystal balls as wizards do.

Granted Powers

• Specialty priests of Helm gain an advantage against being surprised. A specialty priest of Helm, if alone, gets a +2 bonus on his surprise roll. If accompanied by others who are not specialty priests, this is reduced to a +1. This benefit is not cumulative with other advantages to surprise, but may be affected by penalties (an elven thief trying to sneak up, alone and unarmored, on a priest of Helm would still cause the priest to subtract 4 from his surprise die roll, but this is cumulative with the priest's +2 bonus).
• Specialty priests of Helm may create a short-term <glyph of warding>, as per the spell, but which lasts only one day per level. The priest may choose the glyph from those spells he is capable of casting, glyphs or any other, regardless of the sphere of the spell involved (though the level requirements must be observed).
• Specialty priests of Helm may turn undead normally. They will not command undead, as that is objectionable to their god. This restriction applies also to the clerics who venerate Helm.

Other Notes

Specialty priests of Helm are called Watchers, or Godseyes (the last is derisive, and usually used behind their backs). Their ceremonial gear is full plate mail, with an open-faced helm (a visor reduces vision) topped with a plume. In the magical regions of the South, the armor is made of gold, but in the North it is usually steel or iron, occasionally inlaid with patterns of other metals. In areas where heavily-armored clerics are frowned on, the armor is reduced to a set of heavy shoulder plates, but the helm remains in any case.

Because of the useful nature of the ceremonial gear of the priests of Helm, it is worn in the field as well, unless it is so valuable that the priest fears it will attract thieves, in which case a more utilitarian version of the same armor is worn. In either case, the armor is dominated by the symbol of the eye on the chest, often shown as a sun or as the topmost level of a stepped pyramid.