Menu

Priest

The priest is a divine caster that focuses on knowledge rather than martial combat ability. Unlike the cleric, the priest is usually not found on the front lines, preferring to advise from a distance while healing wounds and asking for divine assistance. In civilized lands, priests are often found in the upper echelons of religious orders, running monasteries and temples while their cleric brethren protect them from harm.

Role: The priest has a support role within a typical adventuring party. Like the sorcerer or wizard, the priest usually stays in the back, supporting the front line with her spells. The priest is also useful when knowledge must be brought to bear to solve ancient puzzles or read forgotten texts.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d6.

Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Class Skills
The priest’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis) and Spellcraft(Int).

Skill Points per Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Table: Priest
Level
BAB
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Spells Per Day
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1st
+0
 +2
+0
 +2
Aura, channel energy 1d8, Domains, Lore
3
1
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
2nd
+1
+3
+0
+3
Bonus Feat, Holy Symbol
4
2
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
3rd
+1
+3
+1
+3
Channel energy 2d8
4
2
1
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
4th
+2
+4
+1
+4

5
3
2
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
5th
+2
+4
+1
+4
Channel energy 3d8
5
3
2
1
—
—
—
—
—
—
6th
+3
+5
+2
+5
 Bonus Feat
5
3
3
2
—
—
—
—
—
—
7th
+3
+5
+2
+5
Channel energy 4d8
6
4
3
2
1
—
—
—
—
—
8th
+4
+6
+2
+6

6
4
3
3
2
—
—
—
—
—
9th
+4
+6
+3
+6
Channel energy 5d8
6
4
4
3
2
1
—
—
—
—
10th
+5
+7
+3
+7
 Bonus Feat
6
4
4
3
3
2
—
—
—
—
11th
+5
+7
+3
+7
Channel energy 6d8
6
5
4
4
3
2
1
—
—
—
12th
+6/+1
+8
+4
+8

6
5
4
4
3
3
2
—
—
—
13th
+6/+1
+8
+4
+8
Channel energy 7d8
6
5
5
4
4
3
2
1
—
—
14th
+7/+2
+9
+4
+9
 Bonus Feat
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
—
—
15th
+7/+2
+9
+5
+9
Channel energy 8d8
6
5
5
5
4
4
3
2
1
—
16th
+8/+3
+10
+5
+10

6
5
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
—
17th
+8/+3
+10
+5
+10
Channel energy 9d8
6
5
5
5
5
4
4
3
2
1
18th
+9/+4
+11
+6
+11
 Bonus Feat
6
5
5
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
19th
+9/+4
+11
+6
+11
Channel energy 10d8
6
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
3
3
20th
+10/+5
+12
+6
+12
6
5
5
5
5
5
4
4
4
4

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the priest.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Priests are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor. A priest who chooses the War domain receives the Weapon Focus feat related to her deity’s weapon as a bonus feat. She also receives the appropriate Martial Weapon Proficiency feat as a bonus feat, if the weapon falls into that category.

Spells
A priest casts divine spells, which are drawn from the cleric spell list. However, her alignment may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her moral or ethical beliefs (see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below.) A priest must choose and prepare her spells in advance (see below).

To prepare or cast a spell, a priest must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a priest’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the priest’s Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a priest can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Priest. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. A priest also gets two domain spells of each spell level she can cast, starting at 1st level. When a priest prepares a spell in a domain spell slot, it must come from one of her three domains (see Deities, Domains, and Domain Spells, below).

Priests meditate or pray for their spells. Each priest must choose a time at which he must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain her daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a priest can prepare spells. A priest may prepare and cast any spell on the priest spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.

Aura (Ex)
A priest of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). Priests that don’t worship a specific deity but choose the Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful domain have a similarly powerful aura of the corresponding alignment.

Channel Energy (Su)
Regardless of alignment, any priest can release a wave of energy by channeling the power of his faith through her holy (or unholy) symbol. This energy can be used to cause or heal damage, depending on the type of energy channeled and the creatures targeted.

A good priest (or one that worships a good deity) channels positive energy and can choose to deal damage to undead creatures or to heal living creatures. An evil priest (or one that worships an evil deity) channels negative energy and can choose to deal damage to living creatures or heal undead creatures. A neutral priest that worships a neutral deity (or one that is not devoted to a particular deity) must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed. Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living) in a 30-foot radius centered on the priest. The amount of damage dealt or healed is equal to 1d8 points of damage plus 1d8 points of damage for every two priest levels beyond first. Creatures that take damage from channeled energy receive a Will save to halve the damage. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + ½ the priest’s level + the priest’s Charisma modifier. Creatures healed by channeled energy cannot exceed their maximum hit point total – all excess healing is lost. A priest may Channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her charisma modifier. This is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A priest can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect. A priest must be able to present her holy symbol to use this ability.

Domains
Most priests worship deities associated with knowledge and learning. A priest’s deity influences her alignment, what magic she can perform, her values, and how others see her. A priest chooses two domains from among those belonging to her deity. A priest can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if her alignment matches that domain. In addition to any domains selected from her deity’s list, a priest automatically gains the Knowledge domain as a bonus domain (even if the Knowledge domain is not normally available to clerics of that deity). She gains the Knowledge domain granted power and may select her bonus domain spells from the Knowledge domain or from one of his two regular domains.

If a priest is not devoted to a particular deity, she still gains the Knowledge domain and selects two domains to represent her spiritual inclinations and abilities. The restriction on alignment domains still applies. Each domain gives the priest access to a domain spell at each spell level she can cast, from 1st on up, as well as a granted power. The priest gets the granted powers of both the domains selected as well as the Knowledge domain.

With access to three domain spells at a given spell level, a priest prepares two of the three each day in her domain spell slots for each spell level that she can access. If a domain spell is not on the priest spell list, a priest can prepare it only in her domain spell slot.

Lore (Ex)
Thanks to long hours of study, a priest has a wide range of stray knowledge. This ability is identical to the bard's bardic knowledge class feature, using the priest’s class level in place of the bard level.

Orisons
Priests can prepare a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, each day. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again.

Bonus Feat
Starting at 2nd level and every 4 levels after the Priest may choose a bonus feat which she meets the prerequisites for. These feats must be General, Channeling, Metamagic or Item Creation Feats.

Holy Symbol
Starting at 2nd level whenever the Priest currently possesses her holy symbol she is granted a boon from her deity. This boon is a supernatural effect which provides +1 wisdom and +1 Deflection Armor Class for every 4 cleric levels (Min +1, maximum +5 at 20th level)

Spontaneous Casting
A priest can channel stored spell energy into domain spells that the priest did not prepare ahead of time. The priest can “lose” any prepared spell that is not a domain spell in order to cast any domain spell of the same spell level or lower. The priest may only choose one of her domains for this purpose. The domain is chosen when the first priest level is taken and cannot be changed later.

If cure or inflict spells are not part of the priest’s domain, she may choose to spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells instead of domain spells (as if she were a cleric). A priest that channels positive energy may spontaneously cast cure spells, while a priest that channels negative energy may spontaneously cast inflict spells.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells
A priest can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Bonus Languages
A priest’s bonus language options include Celestial, Abyssal, and Infernal (the languages of good, chaotic evil, and lawful evil outsiders, respectively). These choices are in addition to the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.

Ex-Priests
A priest who grossly violates the code of conduct required by her god loses all spells and class features, except for proficiency with light armor and simple weapons. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a priest of that god until she atones (see the atonement spell description).