We had our first taste of snow this morning. A cold, wet, insta-melt snow powered by winds strong enough to blow the trampoline halfway across the yard, or about a hundred feet overnight. So, it seems only fitting that I continue our examination of the Arabian Adventures rulebook and get back to desert stuff.
So, we're looking at priest kits. No specialty priests; there aren't any in Zakhara. So, regardless of what god a Zakharan priest worships, he gets the same, standard clerical abilities based on his kit. There are seven kits to look at: the Clerics of Order (three kits) and the Free Priests (four kits). The Clerics of Order are the Pragmatists, the Ethoists, and the Moralists; the Free Priests include the Hakimas (wise women), Kahins (idol-priests), Mystics, and Outland priests (the outsiders).
We'll start with the Clerics of Order. The Pragmatists are the most common cleric of the Land of Fate, wandering about and preaching tolerance and mediation instead of kicking followers of other religions in the shins. They can and will fight when necessary, but it's not their go-to tactic for the most part. Any cleric (race, gender, etc.) can be a Pragmatist. They get Religion as a bonus proficiency, of course, and their most popular church is the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods. They get the standard spell spheres that clerics get, regardless of which deity (or deities) they serve. Basically, they're as close to a bog-standard D&D cleric as Al-Qadim has to offer.
Next up are the Ethoists, or Clerics of the Faith Ethical. These are the temple workers, the ones who maintain the mosques and monasteries, sort of like a parish priest. They can't be chaotic, but that's the only restriction on the kit in terms of who can take it. Eventually (around 8th level) they are the ones who set up new mosques and temples. They're less tolerant than the Pragmatists when it comes to religious ecumenism, insisting that those who don't follow the same faith they do are misguided. But they won't push people around about it, either. They get Religion and Bureaucracy as their bonus proficiencies, as well as a few special benefits from the kit. Safe haven, food and board within the temple, borrowing money, fighter-servants when needed, and an assistant once they've gained a few levels. Like the Pragmatist, the Ethoist gets the standard cleric spheres, and they can, of course, turn undead.
Third, we have the Moralists. These are the Taliban-types, the hardcore, strict types who follow every dietary law and consider themselves the 'purest' of all priests. Militant and arrogant, you're either part of their faith, or you're a godless heathen. Their favorite colors are black and white. Moralists must be lawful, and of any race or gender (although the Moralists do segregate men and women). They also take vows of celibacy and chastity, and give their lives entirely to the mosque. They are not at all fun at parties, and even the lawful-good ones can be implacable enemies of a group of PCs if they don't measure up. They get Religion and Debate as their bonus proficiencies, as well as the same benefits the Ethoists get. Their spells are cleric-standard. They also have some serious clout within their temple, able to push around lower-level moralists. However, this cuts both ways; higher-level moralists will tell them what to do, and they'd better get it done. Oh, and the temple gets 50% of whatever money they earn adventuring or whatever.
So, those are the 'traditional' clerics of Zakhara. Next up, we have the Free Priests, starting with the Hakima, or wise woman. These are not pacifists, but they aren't bloodthirsty fighters, either. These women (no men allowed) have a special ability to see the truth, which makes them valuable advisors to rulers and leaders. They don't do a lot of fighting, having only a few weapons to choose from, and while they get no bonus proficiencies, they are considered to have access to all NWP groups, meaning they don't pay extra slots for any proficiency regardless of who normally has access to it. Their primary power is their truth-sight, which allows them to detect all sorts of things, including disguised shapeshifters, depending on their level. They get a limited selection of spells, and can't turn undead. They also can't use any class-specific magic items, only the general-use ones. Only human and half-elven women can become Hakimas.
The Kahin, or idol-priest, worship powers that predate Zakhara's enlightenment, and thus are considered uncultured and uncivilized by the majority of the people. They are as close as Zakhara gets to having druids, but they aren't quite the same. They are always some variation of neutral in alignment, and there are no other restrictions on who can become a Kahin. They are wanderers and teachers, rather than settling down, and tend to preach a doctrine of moderation in all things in tune with the environment. No, they aren't Greenpeace. They get Survival as a bonus proficiency, but only get to wear hide armor and no shields. Their special abilities don't kick in until they get to 16th level, at which point they start collecting immunities to various things (weapons, elements, creatures, etc.). Their spells are limited, mostly the same as a druid would get. They don't turn undead, either.
Mystics are hermits in the desert, sort of like the desert dervishes of Arabian tales. They can use additional weapons beyond those a cleric normally can, and get Religion and one other bonus proficiency. The other proficiency has to relate to how they receive their spells; dancing, meditation, singing, etc. are typical methods to get spells. They get the standard clerical spells, and can turn undead. They even attract followers at high levels like standard clerics do. However, their spells can only be retrieved through their particular method, and Clerics of Order don't like them (2-point reaction penalty for Pragmatists and Ethoists, 4-point penalty for Moralists). Any race or gender can become a mystic, and demihumans with this kit can exceed their maximum level by 2.
Outland Priests are the outsiders, yadda yadda yadda, like the other 'non-kit' kits for non-Zakharan characters. They can even be specialty priests and have outsider kits. However, they get reaction penalties in Zakhara, which get worse with native priests (-2 for most people, -3 for pragmatists, and -4 for ethoists and moralists). Other than that, there's nothing special about these guys; they're visitors from another land, nothing more.
And that concludes our overview of the various kits of Zakhara. Next time, we'll tackle the new proficiencies of the Land of Fate.
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