I still like the S&S Priest Class I came up with but I am becoming more and more unsatisfied with the name. I don't think it really fits the role that I envision. After all, a priest of Mitra doesn't fit the Priest Class whereas a priest of Set might better fit the current Sorcerer Class.Two options:
1. Rename the Priest Class something else - such as Mystic or something else.
2. Rename the Priest Class as a "Sorcerer" and then rename the Sorcerer Class something else - such as wizard, warlock, etc.
What do you think?
As I am ever-pimping my favorite game, Magic Realm, I can offer you the approach used in that game. They use 5 colors of magic (white-divine, grey-natural, gold-fairie, purple-elemental, black-infernal) to define all magic-using characters. Depending on which kind of magic you have access to defines your class. Pilgrim and White Knight have access to white, while the Warlock and Witch have access to black. Sorcerer has access to purple and black. Elves and the Woodsgirl have access to Gold. The Wizard has access to grey and purple. The Magician has access to everything but white.
ReplyDeleteWitch/Warlock works well for someone who is being powered by infernal entities.
ReplyDeleteI like Sorcerer better for those who are not specifically tied to an infernal entity (there may be one in the background that the Sorcerer is not aware of, perhaps the Sorcerer is deluded in thinking it is by his power/knowledge alone that he weilds his magic)
How about "Cultist"?
ReplyDeletetry something from the old deities and demigods
ReplyDeletedivide the world into users of
black magic (magic user spells) such as sorcerors, seers, wizards and evil priests and
white magic (priest spells)such as healers, shamans and clerics
spells known would determine the character's role in the campaign
Cultist isn't bad.
ReplyDeleteRE white & black magic - It doesn't quite fit in the "feel" I am going for. I want all magic to be on the iffy-side where grey is about as god as it gets.
Cultist could be good, yep - I'd say there's another option - merge some cleric & magic user into a sorcerer.
ReplyDeleteI want to keep them separate as one of the goals I have is to use slightly modified versions of the existing B/X classes.
ReplyDeleteTheurgist, Magi,
ReplyDeleteFor me it depends a bit on how you are defining alignment for your game system...as human "personality," or as actual "alignment," as in "with the forces of law or chaos."
ReplyDeleteIf the latter, than make the class "alignment specific:" Priests (for example) would be of Lawful alignment (regardless of their deity), because they are promoting order and civilization and human dominance; priests are law-givers (or law originators) and have temples and shrines within cities and towns.
"Sorcerers" would be the title given to Chaotic priests (i.e. clerics) as they still receive their magical knowledge from the outer planes, but they pursue nothing more than their own path to power and the (incomprehensible) motivations of their Dark Lords.
I would leave out anything like a "neutral" cleric altogether in this cosmology...all callers-upon of divine powers would need to be piously-bent ("aligned") to law or chaos. Most non-Priest/Sorcerer characters (i.e. non-Clerics) would be Neutral unless excessively devout (perhaps a trace un-sane).
IF, on the other hand, you choose alignment to simply represent personality (e.g. is the character heroic, selfish, or trecherous), THEN you may want to simply call any character that trucks with the divine (i.e. clerics) "mystics" or "god-touched" and terms like Priest simply be titles of office (not necessarily ones that carry divine powers, either! Lots o false priests in those old S&S stories).