Clerics of various deities have long received special favors, abilities, and powers as a result of their devotion to a particular divinity. These specialty priests have been more in tune with the needs and aims of their gods and tended to reflect more of their gods' basic temperament than the standard AD&D(R) game priest (called a "cleric"). The cleric was better known and his spells and abilities common knowledge among the followers of the various gods, but the specialty priest reflected more of the god's philosophy and the areas the god watched over or represented.
The most common type of specialty priest is the druid, as described on page 35 of the <Player's Handbook>. The druid is a specialty priest worshiping those powers which control nature--in the Kitaran Sea Area, this portfolio is spread among a number of deities, including Chauntea, Mielikki, and Silvanus. All these gods have druids as followers. Some in addition have specialty priests whose abilities are more tailored to the individual gods.
Players, when choosing a priest character, can choose to be a standard cleric or specialty priest of one of the particular gods. In the main, clerics are more common, and make up the majority of "standard" adventuring priests. Specialty priests can be adventurers, they may be part of the organized clergy (those who stay in towns and maintain temples, shrines, and the church hierarchy), or they may be part of a completely separate order. Relationships between the various types of priests range from very good and cooperative among peaceful gods, to factionalized squabbling and infighting among the evil gods.
Each of the following entries describes the specialty priests (if any) of the various major deities of the region. Each entry names the god and its common alternate name (such as Bane, the Black Lord). The native plane and power level (greater power, lesser power, or demipower) is listed next, along with alignment. The power level dictates the abilities of the god as laid out in the <Manual of the Planes>.
The god's portfolio is those areas where the god is considered to focus most of his or her attention: nature, war, strife, inventions, rangers, etc.
The requirements listed are those basic ability scores required to become a specialty priest of that church. A character can be a cleric of the church (if that church has clerics) with the standard minimum ability scores for a cleric.
Weapons, armor, spells, and magical items allowed outline the limitations of the specialty priest in those areas. The spells are broken down into major and minor spheres, with limitations as noted on page 34 of the <Player's Handbook>. Often there is an additional limitation on spells, such as the priest being allowed to cast only the reversed version of the spell, or only those spells which create or effect a particular element (called an aspect).
Granted powers lists the special abilities that are available to the specialty priest of the faith: Whether they can turn undead, summon lightning, gain a benefit in combat, etc. Clerics do not get these granted powers and may not use them; only specialty priests get them. Similarly, clerics have their own limitations on weapons, armor, spells, and magical item use which apply to all clerics of all levels.
The Other Notes section deals with the organization of the church and its god. It states whether the god has an organized clergy and clerical hierarchy or exists as a scattered group of temples and shrines. Nonhuman Deities
The various pantheons of elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and other sentient creatures have not to date developed specialty priests. Their deities are specified in the various handbooks (Complete Book of Elves, Complete Book of Dwarves, etc.) and are not repeated here.
Copyright © 2000, Michael Friedman.