Priests eschew combat to tend to a local congregation of believers. They are ecclesiastical scholars in service of a particularly deity, almost always living in a temple or monastery and serving as the spiritual leader of the local community. They have few combat skills, but they connection with their patron deity and the prestige in the community are powerful tools in their own right.
Priests prefer a peaceful life of quiet reflection and study cloistered away in their abbeys, punctuated by regular religious services and the occasional feast day. They generally leave the adventuring to the more traditional clerics, who are trained for life in the field. Priests form the hierarchy of the church, and they usually assign missions to others of the faithful rather than undertake the task themselves; however, they may occasionally receive instructions from their deity to perform some sort of ordeal personally, thrusting them into the outer world.
Priests typically belong to monastic orders as recluses and scribes, to clerical orders serving as local spiritual leaders, or to a local temple, church, or such as one of the clergy. Their life is customarily spent within the quiet confines of a temple or monastery and serving the local community. They generally are required to maintain their own temples, abbeys, or monasteries, and so have some craft skills to perform the needed repairs. Priests serve to form a sense of continuity and permanence to those around them, conducting the daily tasks required by faith: prayers and rituals, rites and ceremonies, sermons, the teaching of theology and doctrine, watching over the flock, and bringing new believers into the fold.
Priests seldom have the power to decide their own agendas. They must follow the hierarchical orders and directives of their church. While falling out with one’s church may not alienate you from your deity, you may lose your support and following among the faithful.
Role
In an adventuring party, priests serve much the same role as the party cleric, except that they tend to have fewer offensive abilities. When near a temple of their faith, they have more useful abilities, causing them to prefer to be near places of power dedicated to their deity. They are adept leaders, inspiring and directing members of their faith to do the will of their deity.
| Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Spellcasting | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | ||||||
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Aura, channel divinity, domains | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Erudition | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Religious authority +1 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | — | 6 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Bonus feat | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Erudition | 6 | 5 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Religious authority +2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | — | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | — | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Bonus feat, erudition | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 11th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Religious authority +3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| 12th | +6/+1 | +4 | +4 | +8 | — | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 13th | +6/+1 | +4 | +4 | +8 | — | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | — | — | — |
| 14th | +7/+2 | +4 | +4 | +9 | Erudition | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | — | — |
| 15th | +7/+2 | +5 | +5 | +9 | Bonus feat, religious authority +4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | — | — |
| 16th | +8/+3 | +5 | +5 | +10 | — | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | — |
| 17th | +8/+3 | +5 | +5 | +10 | — | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | — |
| 18th | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +11 | Erudition | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| 19th | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +11 | Religious authority +5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| 20th | +10/+5 | +6 | +6 | +12 | Bonus feat | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Academics, Arcane Lore, Deception, Heal, Insight, Linguistics, Perform (oratory), Persuasion, Profession, and Theology.
Class Features
A Priest does not gain the Spontaneous Casting class feature.
A priest has poor base attack bonus and fortitude saves, and the Hit Die is reduced to a d6.
Class Skills
A priest adds Deception, Linguistics, and Perform (oratory) to his class skill list. He also gains 2 additional skill points per class level.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A Priest is proficient with the club, dagger, light crossbow, and quarterstaff. They are proficient with light armor but not with shields.
| Level | 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 4 | 1+d | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | 5 | 2+d | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | 5 | 2+d | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | 5 | 3+d | 0+d | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | 5 | 3+d | 1+d | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th | 5 | 4+d | 2+d | 0+d | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th | 5 | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th | 5 | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d | 0+d | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d | — | — | — | — | — |
| 10th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d | 0+d | — | — | — | — |
| 11th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d | — | — | — | — |
| 12th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d | 0+d | — | — | — |
| 13th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d | — | — | — |
| 14th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d | 0+d | — | — |
| 15th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d | — | — |
| 16th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d | 0+d | — |
| 17th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d | — |
| 18th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d | 0+d |
| 19th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 1+d |
| 20th | 5 | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 4+d | 3+d | 2+d |
Spellcasting
A priest casts divine spells, which are drawn from the cleric spell list. However, his alignment may restrict him from casting certain spells opposed to his moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below. A priest need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his spells per day for that spell level. He does not have to decide ahead of time which spells he’ll cast.
To learn or cast a spell, the 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 cleric’s Charisma modifier.
A priest can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Priest. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.
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 his daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a priest can prepare spells.
Spells Known
A priest’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A priest begins play knowing four 0-level spells and one 1st-level spell of your choice. At each new priest level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Priest Spells Known.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered priest level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a priest can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the priest “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level cleric spell the priest can cast. A priest may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells
A priest can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.
Domains and Domain Spells
A priest adds the spells from his domains to his list of spells known. If he gains additional domains later, he does not automatically learn the new domain’s spells but may select them as one of his spells known, even if the spell is not normally on the cleric spell list. He does, however, gain the benefit of the new domain’s granted power.
A priest does not have domain slots the way a cleric does. He may cast his domain spells with any spell slot of the appropriate level.
A priest may not choose to forget a domain spell to replace it with another spell the way he can with other spells when gaining an even-numbered level.
Orisons
Priests know and can cast a number of orisons, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: Priest Spells Known. These spells are treated like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again.
Channel Divinity
A priest gains the Divine Conduit ability, a limited form of the Channel Divinity ability granted to most clerics. Divine conduit is useful only for activating Divine Feats. A priest may use divine conduit a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier.
Erudition
Priests spend a great deal of their time studying and copying religious manuscripts. As such they slowly gain a wider understanding of skills related to their profession. At 2nd level, a priests gains a +2 insight bonus to one skill chosen from the following list: Decipher Script, Heal, any one Knowledge skill, or Spellcraft. The priest must have at least one rank in the selected skill to gain this bonus.
At 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter (10th, 14th, and 18th), a priest may select another skill to gain this bonus. In addition, at each such interval, the insight bonus to one skill (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by 2.
Religious Authority
At 3rd level, a priest is viewed as a spiritual authority and quickly gains the respect of their community, becoming recognized as a leader of the faith. The priest gains a +1 circumstance bonus to reaction rolls and to Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive skill checks when dealing directly with members of his own religious organization. The other individual must be aware of the priest’s role as a priest for this bonus to apply.
At 7th level and every four levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1.
Bonus Feats
At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a priest gains a Divine Feat as a bonus feat. The priest must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.