Chapter 1 - Class - Character Kits - Priest Kits
Savage Priest
Note: This kit is taken from the Complete Priest's Handbook.
This is a shaman of a savage tribe. This character is a member of the
tribe. The tribe itself is a technologically and culturally primitive one (by the standards
and in the opinions of more "civilized" cultures), but is also one which is attuned to the
natural forces of the world. The Savage Priest interprets the will of his god and acts as an advisor or leader to the members of his tribe.
This character might be an animal-totem shaman who assigns all the tribal warriors
their animal totems. He might be the witch-doctor who insists on the deaths of the
adventurers from the outside world. Take a priestess of a nature-god and give her the
Savage Priestess kit, and you end up with something very like a nymph. Whether the
Savage Priest is good or evil, filthy or clean-limbed depends on the nature of the tribe
itself; the DM decides what the tribe is like.
To be a Savage Priest, a character must have a minimum Strength score of 11 and a
minimum Constitution score of 13.
In abandoning this kit, the character is renouncing his membership with the tribe and
accepting citizenship in some other culture. This frequently happens with Savage Priests
who join adventuring parties, stay with them in travels through the world, and learn so
much of the outside world that they no longer feel like part of their tribe.
Barred: Priests of the following god and philosophies may not take this kit: Disease,
Divinity of Mankind, Evil, Good.
Priests of the following gods are most appropriate to this kit: Animals, Earth,
Elemental Forces, Fire, Hunting, Nature, Sky/Weather, Vegetation.
Role: In a campaign, this character usually plays the role of the primitive who finds his
world-view shattered by his experiences in the outer world... but who might teach his
"civilized" companions something about simple truth and justice as he adventures with
them. The DM should insist that the character role-play his tribal origins in the first four
or five experience levels, until the character is more used to the outside world; this priest
will be baffled by "high-technology" inventions (iron and steel weapons, boats made out
of more than a single log, hourglasses, anything more sophisticated than the tools of his
tribe), by civilized morals and ethics, and especially by the strangeness and unfairness of
the laws of civilized men.
Secondary Skills: The Savage Priest character must take Fisher, Forester, Groom,
Hunter, or Trapper/Furrier as his Secondary Skill (player choice, based on the activities
of his character's tribe).
Weapon Proficiencies: The Savage Priest is limited to the weapons his actual priestclass permits him, and is further limited (when he is first created) to the following set of
proficiencies: blowgun, long bow, short bow, club, dagger, javelin, knife, sling, spear.
After he has adventured in the outer world, the character may learn other proficiencies.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Bonus Proficiencies: (General) Direction Sense or
Weather Sense (player choice), (Warrior) Endurance or Survival (player choice).
Recommended Nonweapon Proficiencies: (General) Animal Handling, Animal Training, Fire-Building, Fishing,
Riding (Land-based), Rope Use, Swimming, (Warrior, double slots unless the priest-class
dictates otherwise) Animal Lore, Bowyer/Fletcher, Hunting, Mountaineering, Running,
Set Snares, Tracking, (Priest) Healing, Herbalism, Local History, Religion, (Rogue,
double slots unless the priest-class dictates otherwise) Jumping, Tightrope Walking,
Tumbling, (Wizard, double slots unless the priest-class dictates otherwise) Herbalism.
The Savage may not take Etiquette or Heraldry when first created.
Equipment: The Savage Priest, with his starting gold, may buy no armor other than
leather armor and shield, and may buy no weapon not listed above under "Weapon
Proficiencies." He must spend all his gold when he is created, or lose any "change" he has
left over.If you have The Complete Fighter's Handbook, use the Equipment rules for the Savage
Warrior Kit instead.
Special Benefits: The Savage Priest has a special Detect Magic ability, resembling the spell of the same name, which he may use once per day per experience level he has (i.e., a 5th-level savage could use his ability five times per day). The rules for this power are:
->Detect Magic. The Savage Priest is in tune with nature and can feel when there is something magical in the vicinity. As with the first-level Priest spell, he has a 10% chance per experience level to determine the sphere of the magic.
Special Hindrances: The Savage Priest is imposing and strange, and he worships his
gods "all wrong" (i.e., civilized folk and priests recognize that his rites are different,
unlike theirs). Therefore, he suffers a -2 reaction adjustment from all civilized folk
(NPCs, that is; PCs can decide for themselves how they react to him).
Wealth Options: The Savage starts out with only 3d6x5 gp. After the campaign starts,
he will encounter money, and the player may decide either that he likes the stuff or
rejects it as a stupid city-human idea.
Races: No special limitations.
