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petermcleod117
2018-04-16, 04:29 PM
Hey, so I got bored on the bus and decided to write up an affiliation score thing for a real-world organization. The problem is, I do not think I properly distributed the affiliation points required to go up each rank. Can anyone give me suggestions on how to better distribute the affiliation score points?

I know the rules, and I believe the restriction on real-world discussions merely prohibit proselytizing or stating opinions, rather than discussing crunch. And I am only asking that the crunch be examined.

The Church:
The Church is an organization devoted to the worship of God and the salvation of mankind. For that purpose, it possesses a veritable arsenal of mystical “weaponry”. Foremost among these are the seven Sacraments, defined as “outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace”; to put it more simply (though less accurately), they are particular rituals designed to give the faithful the power to achieve salvation. Sacraments draw directly upon the Power of God. There are also lesser rituals, called Sacramentals. Sacramentals do not draw upon the Power of God directly, but rather the collective merits of His saints (which is still ultimately His Power, albeit through a filter). The explanation for how this works is a bit difficult to explain, so I will not address it here; suffice to say, they are like mini-sacraments, which doll out significantly smaller but still useful amounts of spiritual power to aid the faithful in their fight against sin.

Normally in D&D, divine power is accesses by those with the Cleric character class, who cast divine “spells”. This is not, however, a very good way of representing the Power of the Divine in an Inquisition campaign. Priests do not join a character class; they are instead ordained, a process which changes them fundamentally at the spiritual level. Yet, they often still progress in whatever profession they possessed before, be they are doctor of the faith or a simple peasant. What matters is their ordination and their relationship with the church.

To reflect this particular aspect, I have decided to make the Catholic Priest an affiliation rather than a character class. Please note, that BECOMING a priest is an optional part of the benefits of the affiliation. Most members will never advance to the higher levels.

Table 1: The Church Scorecard:
Member Characteristic
Affiliation Modifier
Character Level (only applies after joining)
+1/2 PC’s level
5+ ranks in Heal or Knowledge (religion)
+1 each
Attend weekly religious services
+3
Converted new members to The Church (only counts if new members freely chose to join)
(+1/3 Hit Die)
Member of the Canonist or Investigato core classes
+7
Member of the Saint or Scholar core classes
+3
Exposed for practicing Theurgy or Diabolism
-6
Exposed for breaking vows
-6 per vow broken
Accepted vows (aside from Chastity, which is already assumed)
+3 per vow taken
Complete a quest for the Pope
+12 per quest
Preach to nonbelievers or volunteer to aid the
poor, homeless, etc.
+1/week
Excommunicated
-5
Charism feats
+1/3 number of Charism feats
Disobey the Pope
-2
Exorcise or defeat a demon
+1 per HD
Successfully save a soul from damnation (DM’s discretion)
+3 per soul definitively saved

Where the character’s piety score represents the character’s standing with God, his Church Affiliation represents how in-sync he is with the will of His Church, and thus how much of the Church’s power is available to him.

These are the benefits:
Table 2: Benefits of the Church
Affiliation Score
Rank and Benefits of Membership
3 or less
Defrocked: No benefits. If the character had already reached the rank of Priest, he is excommunicated as well (see below), and looses access to the ability to perform all the Sacraments except for Baptism
4 - 10
Deacon: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacrament of Baptism. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level.
11 - 20
Priest: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Confession, and Extreme Unction. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level. You gain a stipend of 100 gp per week, collected from tithes.
21 - 30
Pastor: Gains the ability to use Bless as the spell at will as a spell-like ability (as if cast by a cleric of your character level), and can convert a flask of normal water into holy water once per round, provided he has a pinch of salt for each flask. Also gains the ability to Exhort others during his homily (see below). You may request up to 3000 gp once per year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
31 - 40
Bishop: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, and can use Community Pact Magic without accumulating a negative affiliation score (angel constellation only, the Spirit must be Christ, see below). May bless the holy oils required for Confirmation, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction, and the anointing of a Holy Roman Emperor. From this point on you have a measure of control over your diocese. You may give an order to any member of the clergy of a lower rank than you, and unless they were given specific orders by the papacy not to obey you, they must do as you say.
41 - 50
Archbishop: Gains the ability to excommunicate or recommunicate anyone with a lower rank in the Church (see below). You may request up to 10,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
51 - 60
Cardinal: You may request up to 25,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. You may be called upon to elect the Pope in the case of his demise.
61 - 70
Patriarch: You may request up to 50,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
71 - 80
Pope: You gain the ability to appoint Papal Legates, members of the clergy who answer only to you, and you gain direct control over all military and mendicant orders in existence, commanding them with impunity. Finally, the Pope gains a number of supernatural abilities due to his rank. Once per year, the Pope may use Commune as a supernatural ability, with an effective caster level of 30. However, using this ability immediately puts the Pope under a 30th level Geas spell, forcing him to tell whatever information he learns to the Church as a whole, even if he would rather not. He may declare a crusade, impose an interdict, or crown a Holy Roman Emperor. By this point, his diocese is the entirety of western Christendom for the purpose of his ability to command others within the clergy. Player characters should never achieve this rank, even if they have a sufficient Affiliation score to do so.

The Seven Sacraments:
Baptism: You anoint a willing creature with holy water as a full-round action and welcome it into your religion. If the target worships a different deity than yours or worships no deity at all, it may immediately change its patron deity to yours and become a member of your faith. The subject of the Sacrament is also brought into a State of Grace, allowing them to take and use Charism feats and giving them immunity to the powers of a Diabolist until they enter a state of sin. This is a Supernatural Ability. Christian characters can only take Charism feats if they have received this Sacrament, and any Christian who dies without having ever received this Sacrament goes to Hell immediately.
Eucharist: This Sacrament is arguably the greatest asset the Church has at her disposal. The Sacrament takes approximately 1 hour to perform, though the time may be reduced to 30 minutes if rushed or if the readings are ignored, though doing so inflicts a -6 piety penalty to the priest. The priest takes bread and wine, and consecrate it to God, Who in turn changes it into His Body and Blood respectively, though both feel, taste, and look identical to their original appearance (though a Diabolist, Theurge, or Saint may identify a consecrated Host by sight). Any who consume a piece of the Body or a sip of the Blood are affected as if by a 30th level Consecrate spell so long as they are in a State of Grace, and if they have a piety score of 15 or higher may be affected as if by a Heroes Feast spell; if they are in a state of sin, they are instead afflicted with a -6 penalty to their piety score and have a 10% chance of being afflicted with a random curse as if by a Bestow Curse spell cast by a 30th level cleric. The Priest who performs the Sacrament gains an additional benefit: he may “bind” the level 3 pact spirit of The Christ, as per the pact magic rules in Secrets of Pact Magic (see below). However, in order to do so he must be at least 5th level. He may “bind” the 7th level version of The Christ at 13th level, and the 9th level version at 17th level. The Priest substitutes a Binding check with a Piety check for the purpose of this ability. He cannot bind any other spirit this way, and attempting to do so inflicts a -6 penalty to his piety score. Priests may take binding feats for the purpose of binding this Spirit. Priests often choose to use the Pact Battle Magic variant rules, allowing the congregation to benefit from the Power of God. If the character is of Bishop rank or higher, he is treated as if he possessed the Community Pact Magic feat from Secrets of Pact Magic for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit. Attempting to “bind” The Christ while in a state of sin is a grave offense against God, so the such a priest receives a penalty of -6*lvl of the Spirit if he attempts to do so.
Holy Matrimony: This Sacrament binds two characters together in marriage. Such characters gain a +3 supernatural bonus to all saves when within 15 feet of each other and both are in a state of grace. However, if one of them commits adultery, that one receives a -6 penalty to their piety score. A form of this sacrament may be applied to monks and nuns when they take their vows, causing them to gain a +3 supernatural bonus to all saves when on the grounds of their own or any other monastery and in a state of grace, but take a -6 penalty to their piety score if they break their vows.
Confession: This Sacrament allows the priest to absolve any one individual of their sins at will as a full-round action. This supernatural ability functions as an Atonement spell cast by a 30th level cleric. Any one who takes this Sacrament must confess all their sins since their last confession to the priest. The atonement also puts the subject in a State of Grace, and reduces a negative piety score to zero. There is also a 25% chance that any curse or negative ongoing spell that the subject is currently under will be immediately broken by receiving this Sacrament. If the subject does not confess all the sins they have commited that they can think of, not only are the benefits not received, but the subject also looses 6 pints of piety. As a side affect of the Sacrament, both parties are placed under a 30th level Geas. The priest comes under a permanent Geas which prevents him from ever purposely revealing or even hinting at whatever sins the other party confessed to him. The subject of the Atonement affect comes under a Geas to complete a task of the Priest’s choosing, usually something inconsequential, but not always. Such a Geas can never force the subject to perform an act which would reduce his piety score or put him in a state of sin, as that would defeat the purpose of this Sacrament. A priest may not absolve himself of sin, though one priest may absolve another.
Extreme Unction: This sacrament is typically performed when the subject is extremely ill or about to die. Once per day per subject, the Priest may perform this Sacrament. Normally no affect occurs; however, if the subject is in a State of Grace, he may make a DC 20 piety check. Success means that the subject is instantly cured of all conditions that are currently afflicting him, including disease, hit point loss, curses, ability damage, ect. This is a supernatural ability.
Confirmation: As a full-round action, the Bishop may anoint the subject as a full-round action. From that point on, the subject gains a permanent +1 bonus to all saves so long as they are in a state of Grace.
Holy Orders: This sacrament simply allows the subject to gain an affiliation score with the Church. Once granted, this Sacrament is permanent until the first time the character is defrocked. It requires the Bishop to anoint the subject with holy oils as a full-round action.

Sacramentals:
Bless: see the Pastor section above.
Create Holy Water: see the Pastor section above
Exhort: The Pastor preaches against a particular sin, and all those who hear the sermon become reluctant to carry out that sin for a number of days equal to the Pastor’s character level. Anyone who wishes to commit that sin must succeed with a Will save against a DC equal to 10 + one half the Pastor’s character level. The preaching must be to more than one person, takes at least ten minutes, and only those who can understand the sermon are affected.
Excommunication: The Bishop may exclude a persistent sinner from the congregation of the faithful. The target must have sinned, and refused to repent and confess. In general, the sin must be serious, but the ability affects those who are persistent in minor sins. A Bishop must try to convince the sinner to repent before resorting to excommunication, however. There is no saving throw, and spell resistance does not apply. In order to excommunicate someone, the Bishop must announce the excommunication publicly, typically from the pulpit or the church door. The Bishop must make a serious effort to ensure that everyone gets to know of the excommunication. An excommunicated sinner cannot enter churches or other consecrated places. Any attempt to do so is resisted by a force that is slightly stronger than the force the excommunicate is using to enter. In addition, all Christians know that he has been excommunicated, and he suffers a -5 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks when dealing with Christians. Most will simply refuse to have anything to do with him, as dealing with an excommunicate is itself a sin worthy of excommunication.
Recommunication: A Bishop may reverse any excommunication he has imposed. If he has authority over another Bishop (as is the case with Archbishops and Patriarchs), he may also recommunicate anyone a Bishop under his command has excommunicated.
Papal Infallibility: See the Pope section above.
Interdict: The Pope may declare a certain area to be under an interdict at will. Durring that time, all of God’s graces stop flowing to that area through the Church: no Sacrament or Sacramental may be performed by anyone except for the Pope himself within the specified area. The Pope may lift this restriction as well. Placing an Interdict without good reason is an evil act (because it has the potential to damn many souls), and inflicts a -6 penalty to the Pope’s piety score. The Pope can lift this restriction at will.
Anoint Holy roman Emperor: The Pope may anoint a particular king or warrior (who must have a piety score of +10 or higher at the time of the anointing) with Holy Oil as a full-round action. From that point onward, that particular ruler or warrior becomes the Holy Roman Emperor, and gains a +9 supernatural bonus on all charisma checks when dealing with Christians, and a +5 supernatural bonus to hit, damage, and armor class when dealing with undead, evil outsiders, and enemies of the faith, so long as he remains in a State of Grace.



The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 3):

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 12 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Heal 3 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 3 ranks, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must either have an affiliation score of 11 or higher with The Church, or possess the Beatific Vision Charism. Must be in the State of Grace when receiving (see above).
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.



The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 7):

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 21 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Heal 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must either have an affiliation score of 11 or higher with The Church, or possess the Beatific Vision Charism. Must be in the State of Grace when receiving (see above).
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Sanctuary: You can produce sanctuary effect as an immediate action, which means you can activate the effect even when it is not your turn. Creatures within the area receive a Will save to resist the effect. The DC to resist equals 10 + ½ your character level + your Charisma modifier. Those who fail their save cannot make an attack roll against you for a number of rounds equal to your character level unless you make an attack roll against them. Those who succeed on their save can attack you normally. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/3 your character level.
Divine Power: Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your binder level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per binder level. You may use this ability a number of rounds equal to your binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.
Shield of The Lord: The binder gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.
Zeal: You invoke a divine shield to protect you as you close with a chosen opponent. Choose a foe as you cast this spell. You gain a +4 deflection bonus to your AC against all attacks of opportunity from opponents other than the chosen foe. Also, you can move through enemies as if they were allies for the duration of this spell, as long as you finish your movement closer to your chosen foe than when you began it. This effect lasts one round per binder level + the number of hit dice your foe possesses. You may only use zeal against evil creatures, those who are possessed by or are currently channeling evil creatures, or those you have personally seen harm a Jew, Christian, or Angel.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Holy Aura: A brilliant divine radiance surrounds the binder, protecting him and all allies 20 feet around him from attacks, and causing evil creatures to become blinded when they strike the subjects. Each warded creature gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saves. This benefit applies against all attacks, not just against attacks by evil creatures. The ability blocks possession and mental influence, just as protection from evil does. If an evil creature succeeds on a melee attack against a warded creature, the offending attacker is blinded (Fortitude save negates, as blindness/deafness, but against holy aura’s save DC). This ability lasts for one round per binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.



The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 9):

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 33 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Heal 7 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 7 ranks, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must either have an affiliation score of 11 or higher with The Church, or possess the Beatific Vision Charism. Must be in the State of Grace when receiving (see above).
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Sanctuary: You can produce sanctuary effect as an immediate action, which means you can activate the effect even when it is not your turn. Creatures within the area receive a Will save to resist the effect. The DC to resist equals 10 + ½ your character level + your Charisma modifier. Those who fail their save cannot make an attack roll against you for a number of rounds equal to your character level unless you make an attack roll against them. Those who succeed on their save can attack you normally. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/3 your character level.
Divine Power: Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your binder level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per binder level. You may use this ability a number of rounds equal to your binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.
Shield of The Lord: The binder gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.
Zeal: You invoke a divine shield to protect you as you close with a chosen opponent. Choose a foe as you cast this spell. You gain a +4 deflection bonus to your AC against all attacks of opportunity from opponents other than the chosen foe. Also, you can move through enemies as if they were allies for the duration of this spell, as long as you finish your movement closer to your chosen foe than when you began it. This effect lasts one round per binder level + the number of hit dice your foe possesses. You may only use zeal against evil creatures, those who are possessed by or are currently channeling evil creatures, or those you have personally seen harm a Jew, Christian, or Angel.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.
Holy Aura: A brilliant divine radiance surrounds the binder, protecting him and all allies 20 feet around him from attacks, and causing evil creatures to become blinded when they strike the subjects. Each warded creature gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saves. This benefit applies against all attacks, not just against attacks by evil creatures. The ability blocks possession and mental influence, just as protection from evil does. If an evil creature succeeds on a melee attack against a warded creature, the offending attacker is blinded (Fortitude save negates, as blindness/deafness, but against holy aura’s save DC). This ability lasts for one round per binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Miracle: You may use Miracle once per day as a Supernatural Ability.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-16, 05:17 PM
Hm.

My immediate response is that
a) It's too easy to gain lots of affiliation points,
b) The benefits scale way too high.

For a):
I'm specifically identifying the following bonuses as problematic:

Attend weekly religious services
+3
Is this per week or what? Also, the ability to do a non-arduous task to get +3 is a huge bonus, and takes you 1/3 of the way through a tier; compare it to the other example tasks.
Converted new members to The Church (only counts if new members freely chose to join)
(+1/3 Hit Die)
"Recruits a new member into the organization" is +1.

Member of the Canonist core class
+7
Member of the Saint or Scholar core classes
+3
"Can cast divine spells" is +1. "Member of a relevant prestige class" is +2, and is harder to acquire than these requirements.
Complete a quest for the Pope
+12 per quest
"Completes a mission assigned by the affiliation" is +2.
Preach to nonbelievers or volunteer to aid the
poor, homeless, etc.
+1/week
This is an absurdly easy way to get affiliation for practically no cost.
Charism feats
+1/3 number of Charism feats
"Has a relevant feat" is +1, but can only be acquired once.
Exorcise or defeat a demon
+1 per HD
"Defeat a relevant enemy" is +1/4 the creature's CR, and the CR has to be equal-or-higher than the character's level.
Suddenly save a soul from damnation (DM’s discretion)
+3 per soul definitively saved

b) Compare this to the religious affiliations in Complete Champion, which go up to the level of Pastor-equivalent in terms of score. In addition, the titles gained are almost entirely titles- not jobs. Not vocations that would get in the way of adventuring.

Also missing is the scale of the organization; if it has a scale of 8-14 (City/county to continental/seafaring kingdom), divide all bonuses and penalties by 2; if it has a scale of 15 or above (Empire to cosmos), divide by 4 instead, to a minimum of 1/2.

It seems to me that you're mixing up the rules for being someone with a job in the organization and an adventurer who has an affiliation in the organization. It's entirely possible to attend services or be ordained without having an affiliation score, too.

If I were to use Christianity in a game, I would probably just use the Good Domain temple from Complete Champion.

petermcleod117
2018-04-16, 05:50 PM
Hm.

My immediate response is that
a) It's too easy to gain lots of affiliation points,
b) The benefits scale way too high.

For a):
I'm specifically identifying the following bonuses as problematic:
b) Compare this to the religious affiliations in Complete Champion, which go up to the level of Pastor-equivalent in terms of score. In addition, the titles gained are almost entirely titles- not jobs. Not vocations that would get in the way of adventuring.

Also missing is the scale of the organization; if it has a scale of 8-14 (City/county to continental/seafaring kingdom), divide all bonuses and penalties by 2; if it has a scale of 15 or above (Empire to cosmos), divide by 4 instead, to a minimum of 1/2.

It seems to me that you're mixing up the rules for being someone with a job in the organization and an adventurer who has an affiliation in the organization. It's entirely possible to attend services or be ordained without having an affiliation score, too.

If I were to use Christianity in a game, I would probably just use the Good Domain temple from Complete Champion.

Hey man, thanks for the prompt reply. I think I will adopt a lot (or most) of your advice immediately.
however, I do not think I will be using the normal divine spellcasting classes in my campaign, hence why they are not included.
Other than that, your advice is absolutely solid, and I am thankful for that. If you have any more suggestions, please let me know.

Also, the +3 for attending weekly religious services is a static bonus, which goes away when you stop attending (though if you reach the rank of Priest you can easily perform them yourself while on the go). So it's not a way to milk the affiliation system.

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-16, 06:34 PM
Right- the "Can cast divine spells" requirement is just for comparison- having levels in those base classes is of similar difficulty to having one level in cleric.

Have you posted your alternate classes? I tried to make a cleric remake (in my sig) that wasn't reliant on spellcasting, but ran out of ideas quickly.

petermcleod117
2018-04-16, 06:41 PM
Right- the "Can cast divine spells" requirement is just for comparison- having levels in those base classes is of similar difficulty to having one level in cleric.

Have you posted your alternate classes? I tried to make a cleric remake (in my sig) that wasn't reliant on spellcasting, but ran out of ideas quickly.

Actually, I have made several, though they are not likely balanced at all. They rely on Kellus's truenaming rules, the rules for the Mountebank class from the Dragon Magazine, and the rules for Warlocks in the Complete Arcane.
I can post them in a seperate post if you want.

As for the system I am crafting for this campaign, divine spellcasting relies on a combination of this affiliation, the Charism feats from the Medieval Player's Guide, the pact magic rules from Secrets of Pact Magic, and the piety rules from Mythic Vistas: Testament.

OK, here are my adjustments to the affiliation:

Table 1: The Church Scorecard:
Member Characteristic
Affiliation Modifier
Character Level (only applies after joining)
+1/2 PC’s level
5+ ranks in Heal or Knowledge (religion)
+1/2 each
Attend weekly religious services
+1/2 (static bonus, goes away when you stop attending)
Converted new members to The Church (only counts if new members freely chose to join)
+1/2
Member of the Canonist, Investigator, Saint or Scholar core classes
+1/2
Member of the Mystic, Hermit, Crusader, Knight Templar, or Prelate prestige classes
+1
Exposed for practicing Theurgy or Diabolism
-3
Exposed for breaking vows
-3 per vow broken
Accepted vows (aside from Chastity, which is already assumed)
+2 per vow taken
Complete a quest for the Pope
+1 per quest
Preach to nonbelievers or volunteer to aid the
poor, homeless, etc.
+1/month (max +3/year)
Excommunicated
-3
Charism feat
+1 (can only be gained once, does not count feats gained through class features)
Disobey the Pope
-1
Exorcise or defeat a demon
+1/4 demon’s CR
Successfully save a soul from damnation (DM’s discretion)
+2 per soul definitively saved

Where the character’s piety score represents the character’s standing with God, his Church Affiliation represents how in-sync he is with the will of His Church, and thus how much of the Church’s power is available to him.

These are the benefits:
Table 2: Benefits of the Church
Affiliation Score
Rank and Benefits of Membership
6 or less
Defrocked: No benefits. If the character had already reached the rank of Priest, he is excommunicated as well (see below), and looses access to the ability to perform all the Sacraments except for Baptism
7 - 20
Deacon: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacrament of Baptism. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level.
21 - 40
Priest: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Confession, and Extreme Unction. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level. You gain a stipend of 100 gp per week, collected from tithes.
41 - 60
Pastor: Gains the ability to use Bless as the spell at will as a spell-like ability (as if cast by a cleric of your character level), and can convert a flask of normal water into holy water once per round, provided he has a pinch of salt for each flask. Also gains the ability to Exhort others during his homily (see below). You may request up to 3000 gp once per year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
61 - 80
Bishop: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, and can use Community Pact Magic without accumulating a negative affiliation score (angel constellation only, the Spirit must be Christ, see below). May bless the holy oils required for Confirmation, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction, and the anointing of a Holy Roman Emperor. From this point on you have a measure of control over your diocese. You may give an order to any member of the clergy of a lower rank than you, and unless they were given specific orders by the papacy not to obey you, they must do as you say.
81 - 100
Archbishop: Gains the ability to excommunicate or recommunicate anyone with a lower rank in the Church (see below). You may request up to 10,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
101 - 120
Cardinal: You may request up to 25,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. You may be called upon to elect the Pope in the case of his demise.
121 - 140
Patriarch: You may request up to 50,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
141 and up
Pope: You gain the ability to appoint Papal Legates, members of the clergy who answer only to you, and you gain direct control over all military and mendicant orders in existence, commanding them with impunity. Finally, the Pope gains a number of supernatural abilities due to his rank. Once per year, the Pope may use Commune as a supernatural ability, with an effective caster level of 30. However, using this ability immediately puts the Pope under a 30th level Geas spell, forcing him to tell whatever information he learns to the Church as a whole, even if he would rather not. He may declare a crusade, impose an interdict, or crown a Holy Roman Emperor. By this point, his diocese is the entirety of western Christendom for the purpose of his ability to command others within the clergy. Player characters should never achieve this rank, even if they have a sufficient Affiliation score to do so.

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-16, 07:19 PM
Alright, the adjustments look pretty good- although the penalties for stuff like excommunication might need to be increased, since as I understand it that's literally a statement from the church leader that you're no longer part of it?

Anyway, the next thing I would look at is the scaling of the benefits.
Specifically, I would cut out all the benefit tiers past Pastor- and I just read through the stuff you get for being a Deacon and I would remove literally all of it except maybe the stipend because those Sacrements are not affiliation material wow. That's... wow.
Those are class features, maybe of a prestige class- they are definitely not things players should be able to do just for being members of an organization.

First off, here's the guidelines for affiliations, from Player's Handbook :
-Three to five benefits. Each benefit beyond the third comes with a duty attached.
-Three Executive Powers for those with rank 30 or above - the leadership of the organization. (Cardinals and such)

Some example appropriate benefits:
Affiliation score 11 or higher: +2 to a kind of skill check, situationally (i.e. Diplomacy to stop combat), 100 gp monthly stipend, requisition a single 1st level potion (or perhaps holy water?) per month, personal servant.
Affiliation score 21 or higher: Gather Information internationally, personal honor guard (4-6 EL 8 creatures), purchase spellcasting cheaply, claim audience with a king/theocrat within 1d6 days, maybe some bonus feats
Affiliation score 30 or higher: Can have up to 30,000 gp in items loaned out, personally; have a building or other monument built for yourself, personal biographer records your deeds.

Observe that these are organizational benefits, not religious benefits- you get them because your organization supports you and has a reputation and resources to back you up, not because of the magic powers you command as a member of the religion. The various Church benefits are generally in line with that.

The various sacrements are incredibly powerful benefits that are way out of line with those guidelines.

petermcleod117
2018-04-16, 07:53 PM
Alright, the adjustments look pretty good- although the penalties for stuff like excommunication might need to be increased, since as I understand it that's literally a statement from the church leader that you're no longer part of it?

Anyway, the next thing I would look at is the scaling of the benefits.
Specifically, I would cut out all the benefit tiers past Pastor- and I just read through the stuff you get for being a Deacon and I would remove literally all of it except maybe the stipend because those Sacrements are not affiliation material wow. That's... wow.
Those are class features, maybe of a prestige class- they are definitely not things players should be able to do just for being members of an organization.

First off, here's the guidelines for affiliations, from Player's Handbook :
-Three to five benefits. Each benefit beyond the third comes with a duty attached.
-Three Executive Powers for those with rank 30 or above - the leadership of the organization. (Cardinals and such)

Some example appropriate benefits:
Affiliation score 11 or higher: +2 to a kind of skill check, situationally (i.e. Diplomacy to stop combat), 100 gp monthly stipend, requisition a single 1st level potion (or perhaps holy water?) per month, personal servant.
Affiliation score 21 or higher: Gather Information internationally, personal honor guard (4-6 EL 8 creatures), purchase spellcasting cheaply, claim audience with a king/theocrat within 1d6 days, maybe some bonus feats
Affiliation score 30 or higher: Can have up to 30,000 gp in items loaned out, personally; have a building or other monument built for yourself, personal biographer records your deeds.

Observe that these are organizational benefits, not religious benefits- you get them because your organization supports you and has a reputation and resources to back you up, not because of the magic powers you command as a member of the religion. The various Church benefits are generally in line with that.

The various sacrements are incredibly powerful benefits that are way out of line with those guidelines.

heh, i told you it would need some adjustments. I'm really bad at balancing things.
I am, at the very least, going to keep confession, holy orders, and the eucharist, as without those the setting i'm building would literally fall apart. I can just say the others have no game affect.
However, a toning down of the Eucharist's abilities is almost certainly in order, and I would be highly receptive to ideas with regards to that. Just keep in mind that this is a setting which otherwise lacks any kind of divine spellcasting (not counting Charisms).

for reference, I was basing the Echarist after the pact spririt Jehotek, from Secrets of Pact Magic, who is a level 4 spirit with these abilities, which the character gains access to at the second level of affiliation:
Blessings: Your presence purifies spoiled food and water (as
the orison of the same name), turns pure water into holy water
as the bless water spell, and causes creatures who consume purified
food to gain the benefits of the bless spell for 24 hours. A
creature can only benefit once per day, and each pint of holy
water requires you expend 5 XP.
Detect Heretics: You can detect evil and chaos at will. You
merely concentrate as a standard action for the auras of all chaotic
and evil divine spellcasters or outsider creatures within
your visual range become clear to you. The strength of auras is
also instantly revealed.
Fireball: You can use fireball, inflicting 1d6 damage per
binder level (maximum 10d6), except the fireball only damages
chaotic and evil creatures. Lawful-good creatures within
the area are healed 1 hit points per creature burned. Creatures
that are specifically chaotic evil cannot use evasion or improved
evasion to escape the effect. Creatures with fewer Hit Dice than
you that are reduced to -10 or few hit points by the fireball are
left as corpses of hardened ash and salt. Once you use this ability,
you must wait 5 rounds before using it again.
Rebuke Heretics: You can rebuke clerics and other divine
spellcasters who are not lawful good in the same way that an
evil cleric can rebuke undead. Use the target’s Hit Dice to resolve
the attempt. See Table 7-9: Turning Undead and related
text in the Players Handbook for specific rules to turn undead.
Turn Undead: You can turn undead as a cleric. Your effective
cleric level for the purpose of turning equals your binder level.
See Table 7-9: Turning Undead and related text in the Players
Handbook for specific rules to turn undead.
Bane of Heretics: Up to five times per day you inflict an additional
+2d6 damage on weapon damage rolls or spell damage
rolls against chaotic and evil foes. The damage is untyped but
appears as a mix of scorching-bright holy fire and stinging salt.
Applying the bonus damage is automatic, less than a free action.
However, you must indicate whether you are using the ability
before you learn whether you hit (or the target of the spell
makes its/their save).
so, for the Eucharist, should I reduce the number of abilities each rank has access to, or something else entirely?

and thanks for quoting that. I was literally just looking at what other people had made and creating a weird hodgepodge. I have basically all the manuals, but I don't know where everything is in them.
making adjustments right now...

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-16, 08:10 PM
It's actually very simple.

Eucharist (General)
Requirement: Church affiliation 11 or more, piety 15 or more.
Benefits: You can perform the eucharist (magical verison). You can only bind the lvl 3 Spirit of the Christ.

Greater Eucharist Binding
Requirements: Eucharist, level 13 or higher.
Benefits: You instead bind the lvl 7 Spirit of the Christ.

Superior Eucharist Binding
Requirements: Eucharist, level 17 or higher
Benefits: You instead bind the lvl 9 Spirit of the Christ.

I haven't looked through the specific abilities they grant, as I'm not particularly familiar with Pathfinder-version binding.

I don't see the Holy Orders anywhere- are you referring to the various ranks? If they don't have mechanical effects other than rank within the church, they can probably stay (though they should probably be rescaled, given that 30 is the level of "leadership" in affiliations)

Confession can probably stay.

Affiliations are in Complete Champion (p. 28ish) and Player's Handbook II (p. 163). You can probably dig up a pdf if you need.

petermcleod117
2018-04-16, 08:34 PM
It's actually very simple.

Eucharist (General)
Requirement: Church affiliation 11 or more, piety 15 or more.
Benefits: You can perform the eucharist (magical verison). You can only bind the lvl 3 Spirit of the Christ.

Greater Eucharist Binding
Requirements: Eucharist, level 13 or higher.
Benefits: You instead bind the lvl 7 Spirit of the Christ.

Superior Eucharist Binding
Requirements: Eucharist, level 17 or higher
Benefits: You instead bind the lvl 9 Spirit of the Christ.

I haven't looked through the specific abilities they grant, as I'm not particularly familiar with Pathfinder-version binding.

I don't see the Holy Orders anywhere- are you referring to the various ranks? If they don't have mechanical effects other than rank within the church, they can probably stay (though they should probably be rescaled, given that 30 is the level of "leadership" in affiliations)

Confession can probably stay.

Affiliations are in Complete Champion (p. 28ish) and Player's Handbook II (p. 163). You can probably dig up a pdf if you need.

Actually, it's D20 binding, just a little more complex. I highly recomend you pick up Secrets and Villains of Pact Magic. It basically takes Tome of Magic binding and expands it until it is almost as flexible as Vancian spellcasting. They also have a pathfinder adaption, but I haven't read it. https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Pact-Magic-Dario-Nardi/dp/0979868408

ok here are the adjustments I have made so far. I may have gone overboard with the limitations. Essentially, any rank above Pastor becomes progressively more politically powerful, but less able to directly adventure themselves. I kept the Papal powers, because player characters shouldn't have them anyways.
These are the benefits:
Table 2: Benefits of the Church
Affiliation Score
Rank and Benefits of Membership
6 or less
Defrocked: No benefits. If the character had already reached the rank of Priest, he is excommunicated as well (see below), and looses access to the ability to perform all the Sacraments except for Baptism
7 - 20
Deacon: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacrament of Baptism. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level.
21 - 40
Priest: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Confession, and Extreme Unction. Only Confession and the Eucharist have a game affect. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level. You gain a stipend of 100 gp per week, collected from tithes.
41 - 60
Pastor: Gains the ability to use Bless as the spell at will as a spell-like ability (as if cast by a cleric of your character level), and can convert a flask of normal water into holy water once per round, provided he has a pinch of salt for each flask. You may request up to 1000 gp once per year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. At this level of affiliation, the Pastor is assigned to a single Parish, and must perform the Eucharist there at least once per month. If the Church notices the Pastor ignoring this duty, he may be demoted or, if the neglect is particularly egregious, may be immediately defrocked (DM’s discretion). Being a papal legate does not free the Pastor from this duty, but it does mean that the Pope may engage in pastoral gerrymandering to move the Pastor’s parish to a location near where the Pastor will be adventuring. Pastoral Gerrymandering takes anywhere from 3 days to a week, delaying how fast a pastor can mobilize.
61 - 80
Bishop: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, though only Holy Orders has a game affect (and only barely). He also automatically gains the Community Pact Magic feat, but only for the Eucharist. May bless the holy oils required for Confirmation, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction, and the anointing of a Holy Roman Emperor (no game affect). From this point on you have a measure of control over your diocese. You may give an order to any member of the clergy of a lower rank than you, and unless they were given specific orders by the papacy not to obey you, they must do as you say. You are no longer bound to a single parish either, and can complete your monthly mass requirement at any parish in your diocese. However, you may never leave your diocese (country) except during the election of the Pope (if you have achieved the rank of Cardinal) or during a Church Council. Again, if you are a Papal Legate the Pope may engage in ecclesiastical gerrymandering to move you to a more useful diocese, so this restriction really means that you cannot leave the borders of Western Christendom. Also, the Pope may have difficulty moving you to a country that is currently unfriendly to the Papacy (such as Spain durring the Spanish Inquisition, France during the execution of the Knight’s Templar, or Germany during the Protestant Reformation), preventing you from entering those areas as well. Diocese Gerrymandering takes about 2 weeks at best to accomplish, so mobility is significantly restricted. Players are permitted to decline from taking on this rank, but this prohibits them from advancing beyond it.
81 - 100
Archbishop: Gains the ability to excommunicate or recommunicate anyone with a lower rank in the Church (see below). Your diocese may count as up to 3 seperate countries. However, the Pope can no longer Gerrymander you wherever he pleases, so if you reach this rank your basically stuck only being able to move between those three countries.
101 - 120
Cardinal: You may request up to 10,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. You may be called upon to elect the Pope in the case of his demise.
121 - 140
Patriarch: You may request up to 15,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score.
141 and up
Pope: You gain the ability to appoint Papal Legates, members of the clergy who answer only to you, and you gain direct control over all military and mendicant orders in existence, commanding them with impunity (except when those Mendicants have become corrupted, in which case they do not answer to anyone). Finally, the Pope gains a number of supernatural abilities due to his rank. Once per year, the Pope may use Commune as a supernatural ability, with an effective caster level of 30. However, using this ability immediately puts the Pope under a 30th level Geas spell, forcing him to tell whatever information he learns to the Church as a whole, even if he would rather not. He may declare a crusade or impose an interdict. By this point, his diocese is the entirety of western Christendom for the purpose of his ability to command others within the clergy. Player characters should never achieve this rank, even if they have a sufficient Affiliation score to do so, as the Pope is the one of the most powerful figure in Europe.

The Seven Sacraments:
Baptism: Christians cannot enter a state of Grace unless they receive this sacrament. Otherwise no game affect.
Eucharist: This Sacrament is arguably the greatest asset the Church has at her disposal. The Sacrament takes approximately 1 hour to perform, though the time may be reduced to 30 minutes if rushed or if the readings are ignored, though doing so inflicts a -6 piety penalty to the priest. The priest takes bread and wine, and consecrate it to God, Who in turn changes it into His Body and Blood respectively, though both feel, taste, and look identical to their original appearance (though a Diabolist, Theurge, or Saint may identify a consecrated Host by sight). Any who consume a piece of the Body or a sip of the Blood are affected as if by a 30th level Consecrate spell so long as they are in a State of Grace, and if they have a piety score of 15 or higher may be affected as if by a Heroes Feast spell; if they are in a state of sin, they are instead afflicted with a -6 penalty to their piety score and have a 10% chance of being afflicted with a random curse as if by a Bestow Curse spell cast by a 30th level cleric. The Priest who performs the Sacrament gains an additional benefit: he may “bind” the level 3 pact spirit of The Christ, as per the pact magic rules in Secrets of Pact Magic (see below). However, in order to do so he must be at least 5th level. He may “bind” the 7th level version of The Christ at 13th level, and the 9th level version at 17th level. The Priest substitutes a Binding check with a Piety check for the purpose of this ability. He cannot bind any other spirit this way, and attempting to do so inflicts a -6 penalty to his piety score. Priests may take binding feats for the purpose of binding this Spirit. Priests often choose to use the Pact Battle Magic variant rules, allowing the congregation to benefit from the Power of God. If the character is of Bishop rank or higher, he is treated as if he possessed the Community Pact Magic feat from Secrets of Pact Magic for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit. Attempting to “bind” The Christ while in a state of sin is a grave offense against God, so the such a priest receives a penalty of -6*lvl of the Spirit if he attempts to do so.
Holy Matrimony: Basically marriage. No game affect.
Confession: This Sacrament allows the priest to absolve any one individual of their sins at will as a full-round action. This supernatural ability functions as an Atonement spell cast by a 30th level cleric. Any one who takes this Sacrament must confess all their sins since their last confession to the priest. The atonement also puts the subject in a State of Grace, and reduces a negative piety score to zero. There is also a 25% chance that any curse or negative ongoing spell that the subject is currently under will be immediately broken by receiving this Sacrament. If the subject does not confess all the sins they have commited that they can think of, not only are the benefits not received, but the subject also looses 6 pints of piety. As a side affect of the Sacrament, both parties are placed under a 30th level Geas. The priest comes under a permanent Geas which prevents him from ever purposely revealing or even hinting at whatever sins the other party confessed to him. The subject of the Atonement affect comes under a Geas to complete a task of the Priest’s choosing, usually something inconsequential, but not always. Such a Geas can never force the subject to perform an act which would reduce his piety score or put him in a state of sin, as that would defeat the purpose of this Sacrament. A priest may not absolve himself of sin, though one priest may absolve another.
Extreme Unction: This ritual eases the dying into the afterlife. No game affect.
Confirmation: Gives the character extra graces to resist temptation. No game affect.
Holy Orders: This sacrament simply allows the subject to gain an affiliation score with the Church. Once granted, this Sacrament is permanent until the first time the character is defrocked. It requires the Bishop to anoint the subject with holy oils as a full-round action.

Sacramentals:
Bless: see the Pastor section above.
Create Holy Water: see the Pastor section above
Excommunication: The Bishop may exclude a persistent sinner from the congregation of the faithful. The target must have sinned, and refused to repent and confess. In general, the sin must be serious, but the ability affects those who are persistent in minor sins. A Bishop must try to convince the sinner to repent before resorting to excommunication, however. There is no saving throw, and spell resistance does not apply. In order to excommunicate someone, the Bishop must announce the excommunication publicly, typically from the pulpit or the church door. The Bishop must make a serious effort to ensure that everyone gets to know of the excommunication. An excommunicated sinner cannot enter churches or other consecrated places. Any attempt to do so is resisted by a force that is slightly stronger than the force the excommunicate is using to enter. In addition, all Christians know that he has been excommunicated, and he suffers a -5 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks when dealing with Christians. Most will simply refuse to have anything to do with him, as dealing with an excommunicate is itself a sin worthy of excommunication.
Recommunication: A Bishop may reverse any excommunication he has imposed. If he has authority over another Bishop (as is the case with Archbishops and Patriarchs), he may also recommunicate anyone a Bishop under his command has excommunicated.
Papal Infallibility: See the Pope section above.
Interdict: The Pope may declare a certain area to be under an interdict at will. During that time, all of God’s graces stop flowing to that area through the Church: no Sacrament or Sacramental may be performed by anyone except for the Pope himself within the specified area. The Pope may lift this restriction as well. Placing an Interdict without good reason is an evil act (because it has the potential to damn many souls), and inflicts a -6 penalty to the Pope’s piety score. The Pope can lift this restriction at will.

I have started making adjustments in the areas you just mentioned, and will be posting an even MORE revised version shortly.

Also, are those feats, for the Eucharist? That seems like a good idea. I can make them Charism feats.

petermcleod117
2018-04-16, 09:04 PM
OK, here is what I have in total, now that the edits have been made.

The Church:
The Church is an organization devoted to the worship of God and the salvation of mankind. For that purpose, it possesses a veritable arsenal of mystical “weaponry”. Foremost among these are the seven Sacraments, defined as “outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace”; to put it more simply (though less accurately), they are particular rituals designed to give the faithful the power to achieve salvation. Sacraments draw directly upon the Power of God. There are also lesser rituals, called Sacramentals. Sacramentals do not draw upon the Power of God directly, but rather the collective merits of His saints (which is still ultimately His Power, albeit through a filter). The explanation for how this works is a bit difficult to explain, so I will not address it here; suffice to say, they are like mini-sacraments, which doll out significantly smaller but still useful amounts of spiritual power to aid the faithful in their fight against sin.

Normally in D&D, divine power is accesses by those with the Cleric character class, who cast divine “spells”. This is not, however, a very good way of representing the Power of the Divine in an Inquisition campaign. Priests do not join a character class; they are instead ordained, a process which changes them fundamentally at the spiritual level. Yet, they often still progress in whatever profession they possessed before, be they are doctor of the faith or a simple peasant. What matters is their ordination and their relationship with the church.

To reflect this particular aspect, I have decided to make the Catholic Priest an affiliation rather than a character class. Please note, that BECOMING a priest is an optional part of the benefits of the affiliation. Most members will never advance to the higher levels.

Table 1: The Church Scorecard:
Member Characteristic
Affiliation Modifier
Character Level (only applies after joining)
+1/2 PC’s level
5+ ranks in Heal or Knowledge (religion)
+1/2 each
Attend weekly religious services
+1/2 (static bonus, goes away when you stop attending)
Converted new members to The Church (only counts if new members freely chose to join)
+1/2
Member of the Canonist, Investigator, Saint or Scholar core classes
+1/2
Member of the Mystic, Hermit, Crusader, Knight Templar, or Prelate prestige classes
+1
Exposed for practicing Theurgy or Diabolism
-3
Exposed for breaking vows
-3 per vow broken
Accepted vows (aside from Chastity, which is already assumed)
+2 per vow taken
Complete a quest for the Pope
+1 per quest
Preach to nonbelievers or volunteer to aid the
poor, homeless, etc.
+1/month (max +3/year)
Excommunicated
-66
Charism feat
+1 (can only be gained once, does not count feats gained through class features)
Disobey the Pope
-1
Exorcise or defeat a demon
+1/4 demon’s CR
Successfully save a soul from damnation (DM’s discretion)
+2 per soul definitively saved

Where the character’s piety score represents the character’s standing with God, his Church Affiliation represents how in-sync he is with the will of His Church, and thus how much of the Church’s power is available to him.

These are the benefits:
Table 2: Benefits of the Church
Affiliation Score
Rank and Benefits of Membership
6 or less
Defrocked: No benefits. If the character had already reached the rank of Priest, he is excommunicated as well (see below), and looses access to the ability to perform all the Sacraments except for Baptism
7 - 20
Deacon: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacrament of Baptism. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level.
21 - 40
Priest: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Confession, and Extreme Unction. Only Confession and the Eucharist have a game affect. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level. You gain a stipend of 100 gp per week, collected from tithes.
41 - 60
Pastor: Gains the ability to use Bless as the spell at will as a spell-like ability (as if cast by a cleric of your character level), and can convert a flask of normal water into holy water once per round, provided he has a pinch of salt for each flask. You may request up to 1000 gp once per year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. At this level of affiliation, the Pastor is assigned to a single Parish, and must perform the Eucharist there at least once per month. If the Church notices the Pastor ignoring this duty, he may be demoted or, if the neglect is particularly egregious, may be immediately defrocked (DM’s discretion). Being a papal legate does not free the Pastor from this duty, but it does mean that the Pope may engage in pastoral gerrymandering to move the Pastor’s parish to a location near where the Pastor will be adventuring. Pastoral Gerrymandering takes anywhere from 3 days to a week, delaying how fast a pastor can mobilize.
61 - 80
Bishop: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, though only Holy Orders has a game affect (and only barely). He also automatically gains the Community Pact Magic feat, but only for the Eucharist. May bless the holy oils required for Confirmation, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction, and the anointing of a Holy Roman Emperor (no game affect). From this point on you have a measure of control over your diocese. You may give an order to any member of the clergy of a lower rank than you, and unless they were given specific orders by the papacy not to obey you, they must do as you say. You are no longer bound to a single parish either, and can complete your monthly mass requirement at any parish in your diocese. However, you may never leave your diocese (country) except during the election of the Pope (if you have achieved the rank of Cardinal) or during a Church Council. Again, if you are a Papal Legate the Pope may engage in ecclesiastical gerrymandering to move you to a more useful diocese, so this restriction really means that you cannot leave the borders of Western Christendom. Also, the Pope may have difficulty moving you to a country that is currently unfriendly to the Papacy (such as Spain durring the Spanish Inquisition, France during the execution of the Knight’s Templar, or Germany during the Protestant Reformation), preventing you from entering those areas as well. Diocese Gerrymandering takes about 2 weeks at best to accomplish, so mobility is significantly restricted. Players are permitted to decline from taking on this rank, but this prohibits them from advancing beyond it.
81 - 100
Archbishop: Gains the ability to excommunicate or recommunicate anyone with a lower rank in the Church (see below). Your diocese may count as up to 3 seperate countries. However, the Pope can no longer Gerrymander you wherever he pleases, so if you reach this rank your basically stuck only being able to move between those three countries.
101 - 120
Cardinal: You may request up to 10,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. You may be called upon to elect the Pope in the case of his demise.
121 - 140
Patriarch: You may request up to 15,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. Your diocese either extends to 5 countries, or extends to all of western Christendom, but in the second case your authority only applies to those of one of the smaller rites of the Catholic Church (Byzantine rite, ect).
141 and up
Pope: You gain the ability to appoint Papal Legates, members of the clergy who answer only to you, and you gain direct control over all military and mendicant orders in existence, commanding them with impunity (except when those Mendicants have become corrupted, in which case they do not answer to anyone). Finally, the Pope gains a number of supernatural abilities due to his rank. Once per year, the Pope may use Commune as a supernatural ability, with an effective caster level of 30. However, using this ability immediately puts the Pope under a 30th level Geas spell, forcing him to tell whatever information he learns to the Church as a whole, even if he would rather not. He may declare a crusade or impose an interdict. By this point, his diocese is the entirety of western Christendom for the purpose of his ability to command others within the clergy. Player characters should never achieve this rank, even if they have a sufficient Affiliation score to do so, as the Pope is the one of the most powerful figure in Europe.

The Seven Sacraments:
Baptism: Christians cannot enter a state of Grace unless they receive this sacrament. Otherwise no game affect.
Eucharist: This Sacrament is arguably the greatest asset the Church has at her disposal. The Sacrament takes approximately 1 hour to perform, though the time may be reduced to 30 minutes if rushed or if the readings are ignored, though doing so inflicts a -6 piety penalty to the priest. The priest takes bread and wine, and consecrate it to God, Who in turn changes it into His Body and Blood respectively, though both feel, taste, and look identical to their original appearance (though a Diabolist, Theurge, or Saint may identify a consecrated Host by sight). Any who consume a piece of the Body or a sip of the Blood are affected as if by a 30th level Consecrate spell so long as they are in a State of Grace, and if they have a piety score of 15 or higher may be affected as if by a Heroes Feast spell; if they are in a state of sin, they are instead afflicted with a -6 penalty to their piety score and have a 10% chance of being afflicted with a random curse as if by a Bestow Curse spell cast by a 30th level cleric.
Holy Matrimony: Basically marriage. No game affect.
Confession: This Sacrament allows the priest to absolve any one individual of their sins at will as a full-round action. This supernatural ability functions as an Atonement spell cast by a 30th level cleric. Any one who takes this Sacrament must confess all their sins since their last confession to the priest. The atonement also puts the subject in a State of Grace, and reduces a negative piety score to zero. There is also a 25% chance that any curse or negative ongoing spell that the subject is currently under will be immediately broken by receiving this Sacrament. If the subject does not confess all the sins they have commited that they can think of, not only are the benefits not received, but the subject also looses 6 pints of piety. As a side affect of the Sacrament, both parties are placed under a 30th level Geas. The priest comes under a permanent Geas which prevents him from ever purposely revealing or even hinting at whatever sins the other party confessed to him. The subject of the Atonement affect comes under a Geas to complete a task of the Priest’s choosing, usually something inconsequential, but not always. Such a Geas can never force the subject to perform an act which would reduce his piety score or put him in a state of sin, as that would defeat the purpose of this Sacrament. A priest may not absolve himself of sin, though one priest may absolve another.
Extreme Unction: This ritual eases the dying into the afterlife. No game affect.
Confirmation: Gives the character extra graces to resist temptation. No game affect.
Holy Orders: This sacrament simply allows the subject to gain an affiliation score with the Church. Once granted, this Sacrament is permanent until the first time the character is defrocked. It requires the Bishop to anoint the subject with holy oils as a full-round action.

Sacramentals:
Bless: see the Pastor section above.
Create Holy Water: see the Pastor section above
Excommunication: The Bishop may exclude a persistent sinner from the congregation of the faithful. The target must have sinned, and refused to repent and confess. In general, the sin must be serious, but the ability affects those who are persistent in minor sins. A Bishop must try to convince the sinner to repent before resorting to excommunication, however. There is no saving throw, and spell resistance does not apply. In order to excommunicate someone, the Bishop must announce the excommunication publicly, typically from the pulpit or the church door. The Bishop must make a serious effort to ensure that everyone gets to know of the excommunication. An excommunicated sinner cannot enter churches or other consecrated places. Any attempt to do so is resisted by a force that is slightly stronger than the force the excommunicate is using to enter. In addition, all Christians know that he has been excommunicated, and he suffers a -5 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks when dealing with Christians. Most will simply refuse to have anything to do with him, as dealing with an excommunicate is itself a sin worthy of excommunication.
Recommunication: A Bishop may reverse any excommunication he has imposed. If he has authority over another Bishop (as is the case with Archbishops and Patriarchs), he may also recommunicate anyone a Bishop under his command has excommunicated.
Papal Infallibility: See the Pope section above.
Interdict: The Pope may declare a certain area to be under an interdict at will. Durring that time, all of God’s graces stop flowing to that area through the Church: no Sacrament or Sacramental may be performed by anyone except for the Pope himself within the specified area. The Pope may lift this restriction as well. Placing an Interdict without good reason is an evil act (because it has the potential to damn many souls), and inflicts a -6 penalty to the Pope’s piety score. The Pope can lift this restriction at will.


Special Church Feats:

Eucharist Binding (Charism, Binding)
Description: Your deep connection with the One God extends to your experience of the Eucharist. You may now act as one.
Requirement:*Church affiliation 21 or more, Piety 15 or more, access to the Eucharist, lvl 5 or higher, papal legate
Benefits:*When receiving the Eucharist, you can bind the lvl 3 Spirit of the Christ.*
Special: Attempting to “bind” The Christ while in a state of sin is a grave offense against God, so the such a priest receives a penalty of -6*lvl of the Spirit if he attempts to do so.

Greater Eucharist Binding (Charism, Binding)
Description: As you deepen your connection with the One God, He can enact even greater miracles through you.
Requirements:*Eucharist, level 13 or higher.*
Benefits:*You instead bind the lvl 7 Spirit of the Christ.

Superior Eucharist Binding (Charism, Binding)
Description: After receiving the Eucharist, your body veritably hums with God’s Will and Power. Great wonders are left in your wake.
Requirements:*Superior Eucharist Binding or Beatific Vision, level 17 or higher, Piety 15 or more
Benefits:*You instead bind the lvl 9 Spirit of the Christ.*
Special: If you did not previously possess the ability to bind the lower level versions of The Christ (for example, if you are gaining this feat as after gaining the Beatific Vision feat through the Saint class), you gain that ability now.

Note: Most Priests who gain access to this feat (which is rare, as gaining the feat almost always requires the Priest to be a Papal Legate) choose to use the Pact Battle Magic variant binding strategy from Secrets of Pact Magic, so they can share the benefits of the Power of the Lord with other Legates who partake in the Sacrament. Saints who take Superior Eucharist Binding typically choose to bind normally, as they don’t necessarily possess the ability to perform the Sacrament themselves.



The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 3):

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 12 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Eucharist Binding feat, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must be in the State of Grace when receiving.
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.






The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 7):

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 21 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Greater Eucharist Binding feat, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must be in the State of Grace when receiving
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Sanctuary: You can produce sanctuary effect as an immediate action, which means you can activate the effect even when it is not your turn. Creatures within the area receive a Will save to resist the effect. The DC to resist equals 10 + ½ your character level + your Charisma modifier. Those who fail their save cannot make an attack roll against you for a number of rounds equal to your character level unless you make an attack roll against them. Those who succeed on their save can attack you normally. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/3 your character level.
Divine Power: Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your binder level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per binder level. You may use this ability a number of rounds equal to your binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.
Shield of The Lord: The binder gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.
Zeal: You invoke a divine shield to protect you as you close with a chosen opponent. Choose a foe as you cast this spell. You gain a +4 deflection bonus to your AC against all attacks of opportunity from opponents other than the chosen foe. Also, you can move through enemies as if they were allies for the duration of this spell, as long as you finish your movement closer to your chosen foe than when you began it. This effect lasts one round per binder level + the number of hit dice your foe possesses. You may only use zeal against evil creatures, those who are possessed by or are currently channeling evil creatures, or those you have personally seen harm a Jew, Christian, or Angel.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Holy Aura: A brilliant divine radiance surrounds the binder, protecting him and all allies 20 feet around him from attacks, and causing evil creatures to become blinded when they strike the subjects. Each warded creature gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saves. This benefit applies against all attacks, not just against attacks by evil creatures. The ability blocks possession and mental influence, just as protection from evil does. If an evil creature succeeds on a melee attack against a warded creature, the offending attacker is blinded (Fortitude save negates, as blindness/deafness, but against holy aura’s save DC). This ability lasts for one round per binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.





The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 9):

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 33 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Superior Eucharist Binding feat, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must be in the State of Grace when receiving
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Sanctuary: You can produce sanctuary effect as an immediate action, which means you can activate the effect even when it is not your turn. Creatures within the area receive a Will save to resist the effect. The DC to resist equals 10 + ½ your character level + your Charisma modifier. Those who fail their save cannot make an attack roll against you for a number of rounds equal to your character level unless you make an attack roll against them. Those who succeed on their save can attack you normally. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/3 your character level.
Divine Power: Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your binder level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per binder level. You may use this ability a number of rounds equal to your binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.
Shield of The Lord: The binder gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.
Zeal: You invoke a divine shield to protect you as you close with a chosen opponent. Choose a foe as you cast this spell. You gain a +4 deflection bonus to your AC against all attacks of opportunity from opponents other than the chosen foe. Also, you can move through enemies as if they were allies for the duration of this spell, as long as you finish your movement closer to your chosen foe than when you began it. This effect lasts one round per binder level + the number of hit dice your foe possesses. You may only use zeal against evil creatures, those who are possessed by or are currently channeling evil creatures, or those you have personally seen harm a Jew, Christian, or Angel.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.
Holy Aura: A brilliant divine radiance surrounds the binder, protecting him and all allies 20 feet around him from attacks, and causing evil creatures to become blinded when they strike the subjects. Each warded creature gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saves. This benefit applies against all attacks, not just against attacks by evil creatures. The ability blocks possession and mental influence, just as protection from evil does. If an evil creature succeeds on a melee attack against a warded creature, the offending attacker is blinded (Fortitude save negates, as blindness/deafness, but against holy aura’s save DC). This ability lasts for one round per binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Miracle: You may use Miracle once per day as a Supernatural Ability.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.

Feel free to take your time in reviewing this version, as I am going to be on the bus for awhile.
BTW, do you still want to see those non-vancian classes I made?

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-17, 12:23 PM
The affiliation tiers still need work.

From Complete Champion, there are the following standard affiliation tiers:
0-3: Not affiliated with the organization
4- (9-12ish): Lowest level member. Effects on par with the lowest tier of affiliation I mentioned.
(10-13ish)- (22ish): Medium level. Effects on par with the medium tier of affiliation I mentioned.
(23ish) - (29ish): High level effects. More stuff from the mid-tier levels.
(30+): Church leadership-tier; people of this level can usually request that the organization helps them out in specific ways (executive actions), plus some high-level effects.

Also, once again, these tiers do not correspond necessarily to having a job in the church! Someone can have affiliation 15+ without being a priest- but the organization acknowledges them as someone who has done very important things for them, and likely supports them.

So an example affiliation table would go as follows:



0-3
Not affiliated with the Church


4-12
Recognized ally of the church: Gain +2 to Diplomacy when dealing with Christians.


13-21
The Church recognizes you as a steadfast ally: You can request magical support from the Church at 2/3 the cost.


22-28
Blessed: You gain a bonus Charism feat.


29+
The church has a monument constructed for you- likely a cathedral named after you. You gain +2 to your Leadership score, and +2 to Intimidate and Diplomacy against people who have seen your monument.



Meanwhile and separately, there would be rules for your position in the church relating to advancement- it's likely to be a combination of affiliation and other factors like service time and such.

Affiliation rules are not well-constructed rules for constructing an organization and its bureaucracy- they're intended to be rules for an adventurer being affiliated with such an organization, receiving fringe benefits for doing so.

And yes, I would like to see your alternate casters.

petermcleod117
2018-04-17, 01:37 PM
The affiliation tiers still need work.

From Complete Champion, there are the following standard affiliation tiers:
0-3: Not affiliated with the organization
4- (9-12ish): Lowest level member. Effects on par with the lowest tier of affiliation I mentioned.
(10-13ish)- (22ish): Medium level. Effects on par with the medium tier of affiliation I mentioned.
(23ish) - (29ish): High level effects. More stuff from the mid-tier levels.
(30+): Church leadership-tier; people of this level can usually request that the organization helps them out in specific ways (executive actions), plus some high-level effects.

Also, once again, these tiers do not correspond necessarily to having a job in the church! Someone can have affiliation 15+ without being a priest- but the organization acknowledges them as someone who has done very important things for them, and likely supports them.

So an example affiliation table would go as follows:



0-3
Not affiliated with the Church


4-12
Recognized ally of the church: Gain +2 to Diplomacy when dealing with Christians.


13-21
The Church recognizes you as a steadfast ally: You can request magical support from the Church at 2/3 the cost.


22-28
Blessed: You gain a bonus Charism feat.


29+
The church has a monument constructed for you- likely a cathedral named after you. You gain +2 to your Leadership score, and +2 to Intimidate and Diplomacy against people who have seen your monument.



Meanwhile and separately, there would be rules for your position in the church relating to advancement- it's likely to be a combination of affiliation and other factors like service time and such.

Affiliation rules are not well-constructed rules for constructing an organization and its bureaucracy- they're intended to be rules for an adventurer being affiliated with such an organization, receiving fringe benefits for doing so.

And yes, I would like to see your alternate casters.

Well, the way I'm running things, affiliation with the Church essentially means you are a priest. I would have seperate affiliations for the lay or religious members. I'm doing things slightly differently, I suppose.
but I will try to tidy up the affiliation scores a little more.

OK, I am going to post my classes in a separate post.

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-17, 02:00 PM
I don't think that using an affiliation system is really appropriate for that purpose, though. Affiliation systems are based on summing up a set of factors that represent how much you're worth to the organization. However, there are some major differences between that and a religion:

-There are minimum requirements to perform the job requirements of Priesthood! Rank in the priesthood requires multiple separate thresholds that all must be met, rather than summing factors until they reach a threshhold- they need to be reasonably well-rounded. Currently, it's entirely possible to have an atheist Priest who was never bapitized, knows nothing about religion, and actively practices diabolism, as long as they are reasonably high level and killed a lot of demons. That makes little sense religiously, but it makes sense that such a character could be found, on balance, to be more of a help than a hinderance to the church.

-Politics are involved in the appointment of various positions. There's more to being a Pope than having saved 70 souls- you need to be appointed Pope by (depending on time period) a council of Church elders, or by a secular ruler, which involves establishing yourself above the other candidates. Bishops are only appointed when the previous bishop of a diocese dies or retires.

-Factors are nonlinear. Currently, you can accumulate 3 points per year, indefinitely, by volunteering 3 months per year. After 30 years of doing that, you are now an archbishop, right? Similarly, anyone who saves a total of 60 souls from damnation (say, by fighting a demon) is elevated to popehood- but one would presume that at some point, the extra souls stop meaning as much. This ties into the politics.

petermcleod117
2018-04-17, 02:41 PM
I don't think that using an affiliation system is really appropriate for that purpose, though. Affiliation systems are based on summing up a set of factors that represent how much you're worth to the organization. However, there are some major differences between that and a religion:

-There are minimum requirements to perform the job requirements of Priesthood! Rank in the priesthood requires multiple separate thresholds that all must be met, rather than summing factors until they reach a threshhold- they need to be reasonably well-rounded. Currently, it's entirely possible to have an atheist Priest who was never bapitized, knows nothing about religion, and actively practices diabolism, as long as they are reasonably high level and killed a lot of demons. That makes little sense religiously, but it makes sense that such a character could be found, on balance, to be more of a help than a hinderance to the church.

-Politics are involved in the appointment of various positions. There's more to being a Pope than having saved 70 souls- you need to be appointed Pope by (depending on time period) a council of Church elders, or by a secular ruler, which involves establishing yourself above the other candidates. Bishops are only appointed when the previous bishop of a diocese dies or retires.

-Factors are nonlinear. Currently, you can accumulate 3 points per year, indefinitely, by volunteering 3 months per year. After 30 years of doing that, you are now an archbishop, right? Similarly, anyone who saves a total of 60 souls from damnation (say, by fighting a demon) is elevated to popehood- but one would presume that at some point, the extra souls stop meaning as much. This ties into the politics.

Hmm, yes those are some problems. I will try to ellinate the ones you can just milk forever. I did mention, however, that a player character cannot become the Pope.

Also, in my campaign world there are some members of the clergy who ARE secretly practicing Theurgy and Diabolism. After all, they are the only ones who actually have access to books on the subject. They would still receive divine and secular powers, however, as long as they aren't found out. The power of the sacraments rests not in the virtue of the Priest, but in his status as an ordained member of the Clergy. Of course, if the Priest is found out by the rest of the clergy, he will be quickly defrocked. Furthermore, there are a number of instances throughout church history of priests who didn't believe in what they preached, so that doesn't necessarilly count them out either. Finally, uneducated priests were a PLAGUE on medieval europe. Many didn't even know how to read, and inquisitors (to their horror) would find out that they had been basically making up their scripture passages based on what they heard.

This is actually part of the reason I am making this an affiliation: it may not reflect what the modern Clergy is like, but it is significantly closer to what the medieval version of the church was like: a force for good, yes, but an absolute mess with regards to it's lower-ranking members, largely do to a lack of communication and the rarity of books or modes of education.

Yeah, there really should be a baptism requirement

Perhaps I could make it so that the ranks up to Pastor are freely available, but anything above that requires either papal approval or election by the cardinals in the case of becoming Pope.

The major reason why I am buffing the magical benefits of this affiliation is because the character's opponents are absurdly OP. They need something to go up against what they are facing, and since vancian divine spellcasting doesn't exist, this seems to be a at least somewhat decent way to go about it. In affect, I am turning the Cleric class into an affiliation benefit.
As such, it should be significantly harder to climb any ranks above Priest, akin to gaining levels in a character class.

I am going to give it prerequsites, and rename the affiliation to "The Priesthood" or somesuch in order to avoid confusion.



On a different note, I posted the extra classes you requested: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?556510-Requested-Alternate-non-vancian-quot-Divine-Spellcasting-quot-classes&p=23002415#post23002415

petermcleod117
2018-04-17, 03:04 PM
I don't think that using an affiliation system is really appropriate for that purpose, though. Affiliation systems are based on summing up a set of factors that represent how much you're worth to the organization. However, there are some major differences between that and a religion:

-There are minimum requirements to perform the job requirements of Priesthood! Rank in the priesthood requires multiple separate thresholds that all must be met, rather than summing factors until they reach a threshhold- they need to be reasonably well-rounded. Currently, it's entirely possible to have an atheist Priest who was never bapitized, knows nothing about religion, and actively practices diabolism, as long as they are reasonably high level and killed a lot of demons. That makes little sense religiously, but it makes sense that such a character could be found, on balance, to be more of a help than a hinderance to the church.

-Politics are involved in the appointment of various positions. There's more to being a Pope than having saved 70 souls- you need to be appointed Pope by (depending on time period) a council of Church elders, or by a secular ruler, which involves establishing yourself above the other candidates. Bishops are only appointed when the previous bishop of a diocese dies or retires.

-Factors are nonlinear. Currently, you can accumulate 3 points per year, indefinitely, by volunteering 3 months per year. After 30 years of doing that, you are now an archbishop, right? Similarly, anyone who saves a total of 60 souls from damnation (say, by fighting a demon) is elevated to popehood- but one would presume that at some point, the extra souls stop meaning as much. This ties into the politics.

Actually, I just did the math, and it might be close to impossible to move up the ranks, the way I have it set up. I think I put the affiliation sections to far apart; now basically the only way to advance to bishop or even just Pastor is to milk the system.
So I'll remove those parts, and fix the affiliation gradient.

aimlessPolymath
2018-04-17, 03:55 PM
The major reason why I am buffing the magical benefits of this affiliation is because the character's opponents are absurdly OP. They need something to go up against what they are facing, and since vancian divine spellcasting doesn't exist, this seems to be a at least somewhat decent way to go about it. In affect, I am turning the Cleric class into an affiliation benefit.
As such, it should be significantly harder to climb any ranks above Priest, akin to gaining levels in a character class.

I am going to give it prerequsites, and rename the affiliation to "The Priesthood" or somesuch in order to avoid confusion.


I'm not sure that bringing in magic through an affiliation, of all things, is the best way to handle this.

-Gating power and abilities through behavior never ends well
-There is a well established system for giving players extra power to handle harder foes, and it is having higher levels
-Looking over your classes, you already have several classes that are explicitly servants or priests of deities. Why does this deity not have a dedicated class?
-Actually, literally none of your classes are mentioned in the affiliation bonuses table- not even the Archivist? Which apparently is different from Scholar?

petermcleod117
2018-04-17, 03:59 PM
I don't think that using an affiliation system is really appropriate for that purpose, though. Affiliation systems are based on summing up a set of factors that represent how much you're worth to the organization. However, there are some major differences between that and a religion:

-There are minimum requirements to perform the job requirements of Priesthood! Rank in the priesthood requires multiple separate thresholds that all must be met, rather than summing factors until they reach a threshhold- they need to be reasonably well-rounded. Currently, it's entirely possible to have an atheist Priest who was never bapitized, knows nothing about religion, and actively practices diabolism, as long as they are reasonably high level and killed a lot of demons. That makes little sense religiously, but it makes sense that such a character could be found, on balance, to be more of a help than a hinderance to the church.

-Politics are involved in the appointment of various positions. There's more to being a Pope than having saved 70 souls- you need to be appointed Pope by (depending on time period) a council of Church elders, or by a secular ruler, which involves establishing yourself above the other candidates. Bishops are only appointed when the previous bishop of a diocese dies or retires.

-Factors are nonlinear. Currently, you can accumulate 3 points per year, indefinitely, by volunteering 3 months per year. After 30 years of doing that, you are now an archbishop, right? Similarly, anyone who saves a total of 60 souls from damnation (say, by fighting a demon) is elevated to popehood- but one would presume that at some point, the extra souls stop meaning as much. This ties into the politics.

OK, I fixed some of the things, and changed some other things. Basically, after you become a Bishop your affiliation score becomes irrelevant, and everything has much more to do with knowledge skills and diplomacy. I also added requirements for advancement.
For the purposes of the game, most players probably won't want to advance past the rank of Bishop anyways. And becoming Pope is such an insane feat of diplomatic skill that I doubt that any but the most munchkin-y players will even try to attempt it.

The Church:
The Church is an organization devoted to the worship of God and the salvation of mankind. For that purpose, it possesses a veritable arsenal of mystical “weaponry”. Foremost among these are the seven Sacraments, defined as “outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace”; to put it more simply (though less accurately), they are particular rituals designed to give the faithful the power to achieve salvation. Sacraments draw directly upon the Power of God. There are also lesser rituals, called Sacramentals. Sacramentals do not draw upon the Power of God directly, but rather the collective merits of His saints (which is still ultimately His Power, albeit through a filter). The explanation for how this works is a bit difficult to explain, so I will not address it here; suffice to say, they are like mini-sacraments, which doll out significantly smaller but still useful amounts of spiritual power to aid the faithful in their fight against sin.

Normally in D&D, divine power is accesses by those with the Cleric character class, who cast divine “spells”. This is not, however, a very good way of representing the Power of the Divine in an Inquisition campaign. Priests do not join a character class; they are instead ordained, a process which changes them fundamentally at the spiritual level. Yet, they often still progress in whatever profession they possessed before, be they are doctor of the faith or a simple peasant. What matters is their ordination and their relationship with the church.

To reflect this particular aspect, I have decided to make the Catholic Priest an affiliation rather than a character class. Please note, that BECOMING a priest is an optional part of the benefits of the affiliation. Most members will never advance to the higher levels.


Table 1: The Clergy Scorecard:
Member Characteristic
Affiliation Modifier
Character Level (only applies after joining)
+1/2 PC’s level
5+ ranks in Heal or Knowledge (religion)
+3 each
Attend weekly religious services
+1 (static bonus, goes away when you stop attending)
Converted new members to The Church (only counts if new members freely chose to join)
+1/2 (max +7 through entire career)
Member of the Canonist, Investigator, Saint or Scholar core classes
+1
Member of the Mystic, Hermit, Crusader, Knight Templar, or Prelate prestige classes
+2
Exposed for practicing Theurgy or Diabolism
-3
Exposed for breaking vows
-3 per vow broken
Accepted vows (aside from Chastity, which is already assumed)
+2 per vow taken
Complete a quest for the Pope
+1 per quest
Preach to nonbelievers or volunteer to aid the
poor, homeless, etc. one month per year
+3, non cumulative. It goes away if you stop
Excommunicated
Immediately defrocked
Charism feat
+1 (can only be gained once, does not count feats gained through class features)
Disobey the Pope
-1 each time
Exorcise or defeat a demon
+1/4 demon’s CR
Successfully save a soul from damnation (DM’s discretion)
+2 per soul definitively saved (max +5 throughout career)

Where the character’s piety score represents the character’s standing with God, his Church Affiliation represents how in-sync he is with the will of His Church, and thus how much of the Church’s power is available to him.

These are the benefits:
Table 2: Benefits of the Church
Affiliation Score/requirements
Rank and Benefits of Membership
3 or less
Defrocked: No benefits. If the character had already reached the rank of Priest, he is excommunicated as well (see below), and looses access to the ability to perform all the Sacraments except for Baptism
4 – 15, must be baptised, confirmed, and ordained.
Deacon: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacrament of Baptism. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level.
16 – 29, must be ordained, again
Priest: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Holy Matrimony, Confession, and Extreme Unction. Only Confession and the Eucharist have a game affect. This ability stays with the character even if his affiliation score decreases below this level. You gain a stipend of 100 gp per week, collected from tithes.
30 – 49, Knowledge (Catholicism) 5 ranks
Pastor: Gains the ability to use Bless as the spell at will as a spell-like ability (as if cast by a cleric of your character level), and can convert a flask of normal water into holy water once per round, provided he has a pinch of salt for each flask. You may request up to 1000 gp once per year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. At this level of affiliation, the Pastor is assigned to a single Parish, and must perform the Eucharist there at least once per month. If the Church notices the Pastor ignoring this duty, he may be demoted or, if the neglect is particularly egregious, may be immediately defrocked (DM’s discretion). Being a papal legate does not free the Pastor from this duty, but it does mean that the Pope may engage in pastoral gerrymandering to move the Pastor’s parish to a location near where the Pastor will be adventuring. Pastoral Gerrymandering takes anywhere from 3 days to a week, delaying how fast a pastor can mobilize.
50 and above, must possess at least 10 ranks in Knowledge (Catholocism), must be Ordained (AGAIN). Prior to this point, the Pope has not been paying much attention to you. However, each rank beyond this grants significant political power, and the Pope is not likely to allow you to climb the ranks unless he is absolutely certain of your character and qualifications.
Bishop: Permanently gains the ability to perform the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders, though only Holy Orders has a game affect (and only barely). He also automatically gains the Community Pact Magic feat, but only for the Eucharist. May bless the holy oils required for Confirmation, Holy Orders, Extreme Unction, and the anointing of a Holy Roman Emperor (no game affect). From this point on you have a measure of control over your diocese. You may give an order to any member of the clergy of a lower rank than you, and unless they were given specific orders by the papacy not to obey you, they must do as you say. You are no longer bound to a single parish either, and can complete your monthly mass requirement at any parish in your diocese. However, you may never leave your diocese (country) except during the election of the Pope (if you have achieved the rank of Cardinal) or during a Church Council. Again, if you are a Papal Legate the Pope may engage in ecclesiastical gerrymandering to move you to a more useful diocese, so this restriction really means that you cannot leave the borders of Western Christendom. Also, the Pope may have difficulty moving you to a country that is currently unfriendly to the Papacy (such as Spain durring the Spanish Inquisition, France during the execution of the Knight’s Templar, or Germany during the Protestant Reformation), preventing you from entering those areas as well. Diocese Gerrymandering takes about 2 weeks at best to accomplish, so mobility is significantly restricted. Players are permitted to decline from taking on this rank, but this prohibits them from advancing beyond it. Anyone of this rank must be directly appointed by the Pope. This is more a role-playing barrier than a mechanical one.
Papal approval (must be a aBishop, DC 30 Diplomacy check, Knowledge (Catholicism) 15 ranks)
Archbishop: Gains the ability to excommunicate or recommunicate anyone with a lower rank in the Church (see below). Your diocese may count as up to 3 seperate countries. However, the Pope can no longer Gerrymander you wherever he pleases, so if you reach this rank your basically stuck only being able to move between those three countries.
Papal approval (Must be an Archbishop, DC 40 Diplomacy Check, Knowledge (Catholicism) 20 ranks), achieving this rank prevents you from becoming a Patriarch.
Cardinal: You may request up to 10,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. You may be called upon to elect the Pope in the case of his demise.
Diocesan Approval (5 DC 45 diplomacy checks within the span of a week) followed by Papal Approval (Must be an Archbishop, DC 50 Diplomacy Check, Knowledge (Catholicism) 25 ranks). Must be Ordained (AGAIN) Achieving this rank prevents you from becoming Pope, as you are effectively a minor pope of a church under the Catholic umbrella.
Patriarch: You may request up to 15,000 gp once year from the church, though the money must either be given to the poor or used in a way that furthers the interests of the church (building a Cathedral, defending the land, rooting out heresy, ect). You must justify the request ahead of time, and failing to follow through may result in a reduced piety score. Your diocese either extends to 5 countries, or extends to all of western Christendom, but in the second case your authority only applies to those of one of the smaller rites of the Catholic Church. You are typically nominated by the Bishops in your diocese, and then if the Pope trusts you, he will appoint you to the position.
141 and up (Must be a Cardinal, Knowledge (Catholicism) 30 ranks, must succeed in using Knowledge (diplomacy) on every single member of the Diet of Cardinals within the span of a week (approximately 100-200 members, average DC 40-45, cannot take 10 or 20 on any of the rolls) or succeed on a single DC 77 piety check to convince God Himself. The current pope must have either died or retired) Needless to say, gaining this rank is nearly impossible.
Pope: You gain the ability to appoint Papal Legates, members of the clergy who answer only to you, and you gain direct control over all military and mendicant orders in existence, commanding them with impunity (except when those Mendicants have become corrupted, in which case they do not answer to anyone). Finally, the Pope gains a number of supernatural abilities due to his rank. Once per year, the Pope may use Commune as a supernatural ability, with an effective caster level of 30. However, using this ability immediately puts the Pope under a 30th level Geas spell, forcing him to tell whatever information he learns to the Church as a whole, even if he would rather not. He may declare a crusade or impose an interdict. By this point, his diocese is the entirety of western Christendom for the purpose of his ability to command others within the clergy. Player characters should never achieve this rank, even if they have a sufficient Affiliation score to do so, as the Pope is the one of the most powerful figure in Europe. If you are willing to allow a player to become Pope, however, the player must somehow convince the entirety of the Diet of Cardinals to elect you (or God, who can just convince all the Cardinals to vote for you). This should not be easy, especially if the player has made enemies among the other Cardinals.

The Seven Sacraments:
Baptism: Christians cannot enter a state of Grace unless they receive this sacrament. Otherwise no game affect.
Eucharist: This Sacrament is arguably the greatest asset the Church has at her disposal. The Sacrament takes approximately 1 hour to perform, though the time may be reduced to 30 minutes if rushed or if the readings are ignored, though doing so inflicts a -6 piety penalty to the priest. The priest takes bread and wine, and consecrate it to God, Who in turn changes it into His Body and Blood respectively, though both feel, taste, and look identical to their original appearance (though a Diabolist, Theurge, or Saint may identify a consecrated Host by sight). Any who consume a piece of the Body or a sip of the Blood are affected as if by a 30th level Consecrate spell so long as they are in a State of Grace, and if they have a piety score of 15 or higher may be affected as if by a Heroes Feast spell; if they are in a state of sin, they are instead afflicted with a -6 penalty to their piety score and have a 10% chance of being afflicted with a random curse as if by a Bestow Curse spell cast by a 30th level cleric.
Holy Matrimony: Basically marriage. No game affect.
Confession: This Sacrament allows the priest to absolve any one individual of their sins at will as a full-round action. This supernatural ability functions as an Atonement spell cast by a 30th level cleric. Any one who takes this Sacrament must confess all their sins since their last confession to the priest. The atonement also puts the subject in a State of Grace, and reduces a negative piety score to zero. There is also a 25% chance that any curse or negative ongoing spell that the subject is currently under will be immediately broken by receiving this Sacrament. If the subject does not confess all the sins they have commited that they can think of, not only are the benefits not received, but the subject also looses 6 pints of piety. As a side affect of the Sacrament, both parties are placed under a 30th level Geas. The priest comes under a permanent Geas which prevents him from ever purposely revealing or even hinting at whatever sins the other party confessed to him. The subject of the Atonement affect comes under a Geas to complete a task of the Priest’s choosing, usually something inconsequential, but not always. Such a Geas can never force the subject to perform an act which would reduce his piety score or put him in a state of sin, as that would defeat the purpose of this Sacrament. A priest may not absolve himself of sin, though one priest may absolve another.
Extreme Unction: This ritual eases the dying into the afterlife. No game affect.
Confirmation: Gives the character extra graces to resist temptation. No game affect.
Holy Orders: This sacrament simply allows the subject to gain an affiliation score with the Church. Once granted, this Sacrament is permanent until the first time the character is defrocked. It requires the Bishop to anoint the subject with holy oils as a full-round action.

Sacramentals:
Bless: see the Pastor section above.
Create Holy Water: see the Pastor section above
Excommunication: The Bishop may exclude a persistent sinner from the congregation of the faithful. The target must have sinned, and refused to repent and confess. In general, the sin must be serious, but the ability affects those who are persistent in minor sins. A Bishop must try to convince the sinner to repent before resorting to excommunication, however. There is no saving throw, and spell resistance does not apply. In order to excommunicate someone, the Bishop must announce the excommunication publicly, typically from the pulpit or the church door. The Bishop must make a serious effort to ensure that everyone gets to know of the excommunication. An excommunicated sinner cannot enter churches or other consecrated places. Any attempt to do so is resisted by a force that is slightly stronger than the force the excommunicate is using to enter. In addition, all Christians know that he has been excommunicated, and he suffers a -5 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks when dealing with Christians. Most will simply refuse to have anything to do with him, as dealing with an excommunicate is itself a sin worthy of excommunication.
Recommunication: A Bishop may reverse any excommunication he has imposed. If he has authority over another Bishop (as is the case with Archbishops and Patriarchs), he may also recommunicate anyone a Bishop under his command has excommunicated.
Papal Infallibility: See the Pope section above.
Interdict: The Pope may declare a certain area to be under an interdict at will. Durring that time, all of God’s graces stop flowing to that area through the Church: no Sacrament or Sacramental may be performed by anyone except for the Pope himself within the specified area. The Pope may lift this restriction as well. Placing an Interdict without good reason is an evil act (because it has the potential to damn many souls), and inflicts a -6 penalty to the Pope’s piety score. The Pope can lift this restriction at will.


Special Church Feats:

Eucharist Binding (Charism, Binding)
Description: Your deep connection with the One God extends to your experience of the Eucharist. You may now act as one.
Requirement:*Knowledge (Catholicism) 5 ranks, Clergy affiliation 16 or more, Piety 15 or more, access to the Eucharist, lvl 5 or higher, papal legate
Benefits:*When receiving the Eucharist, you can bind the lvl 3 Spirit of the Christ.*
Special: Attempting to “bind” The Christ while in a state of sin is a grave offense against God, so the such a priest receives a penalty of -6*lvl of the Spirit if he attempts to do so.

Greater Eucharist Binding (Charism, Binding)
Description: As you deepen your connection with the One God, He can enact even greater miracles through you.
Requirements:*Eucharist, lvl 13 or higher.*
Benefits:*You instead bind the lvl 7 Spirit of the Christ.

Superior Eucharist Binding (Charism, Binding)
Description: After receiving the Eucharist, your body veritably hums with God’s Will and Power. Great wonders are left in your wake.
Requirements:*Superior Eucharist Binding or Beatific Vision, lvl 17 or higher, Piety 15 or more, Knowledge (Catholicism) 5 ranks
Benefits:*You instead bind the lvl 9 Spirit of the Christ.*
Special: If you did not previously possess the ability to bind the lower level versions of The Christ (for example, if you are gaining this feat as after gaining the Beatific Vision feat through the Saint class), you gain that ability now.

Note: Most Priests who gain access to this feat (which is rare, as gaining the feat almost always requires the Priest to be a Papal Legate) choose to use the Pact Battle Magic variant binding strategy from Secrets of Pact Magic, so they can share the benefits of the Power of the Lord with other Legates who partake in the Sacrament. Saints who take Superior Eucharist Binding typically choose to bind normally, as they don’t necessarily possess the ability to perform the Sacrament themselves.



The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 3):
Angel Constellation

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 12 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Eucharist Binding feat, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must be in the State of Grace when receiving.
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.






The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 7):
Angel Constellation

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 21 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Greater Eucharist Binding feat, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must be in the State of Grace when receiving
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Sanctuary: You can produce sanctuary effect as an immediate action, which means you can activate the effect even when it is not your turn. Creatures within the area receive a Will save to resist the effect. The DC to resist equals 10 + ½ your character level + your Charisma modifier. Those who fail their save cannot make an attack roll against you for a number of rounds equal to your character level unless you make an attack roll against them. Those who succeed on their save can attack you normally. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/3 your character level.
Divine Power: Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your binder level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per binder level. You may use this ability a number of rounds equal to your binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.
Shield of The Lord: The binder gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.
Zeal: You invoke a divine shield to protect you as you close with a chosen opponent. Choose a foe as you cast this spell. You gain a +4 deflection bonus to your AC against all attacks of opportunity from opponents other than the chosen foe. Also, you can move through enemies as if they were allies for the duration of this spell, as long as you finish your movement closer to your chosen foe than when you began it. This effect lasts one round per binder level + the number of hit dice your foe possesses. You may only use zeal against evil creatures, those who are possessed by or are currently channeling evil creatures, or those you have personally seen harm a Jew, Christian, or Angel.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Holy Aura: A brilliant divine radiance surrounds the binder, protecting him and all allies 20 feet around him from attacks, and causing evil creatures to become blinded when they strike the subjects. Each warded creature gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saves. This benefit applies against all attacks, not just against attacks by evil creatures. The ability blocks possession and mental influence, just as protection from evil does. If an evil creature succeeds on a melee attack against a warded creature, the offending attacker is blinded (Fortitude save negates, as blindness/deafness, but against holy aura’s save DC). This ability lasts for one round per binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.





The Spirit of The Christ (lvl 9):
Angel Constellation

Summoning Rules
The following rules describe the requirements and rituals for “binding” the third level version of Jesus, The Christ. (please note, the different versions represent the Priest gaining a deeper connection to the Sacrament, not the different powers of the Sacrament. The Sacrament remains equally valid no matter who performs it or receives it)
Binding DC: 33 (make a piety check in place of a binding check for the purpose of “binding” this Spirit.
Requirements: Superior Eucharist Binding feat, must be of a good alignment, cannot be bound with any other spirit, able to imbibe holy water without harm. Special: Must be in the State of Grace when receiving
Ceremony: Receive the Eucharist in either or both of the Species. The Eucharist may be performed by your hand (if you are a Priest) or another’s hand, and may even be received an indefinite amount of time after the Sacrament was performed, so long as the Species received has not been defiled.
Manifestation: Despite the Power of this particular spirit, it’s manifestation is barely noticeable. Upon receiving the Sacrament, anyone observing who succeeds on a DC 15 spot check may notice a slight flash or blue-white light in the receiver's eyes, or reddish-black if the Sacrament is received unworthily (see the Eucharist entry above).

Turn/Rebuke Spirits: You can turn or destroy undead and evil outsiders with a simple gesture (pantomiming a Cross). Good Outsiders may instead be rebuked, bolstered, or commanded using this ability. You are considered a cleric of your character level for the purpose of this effect. You gain a +3 bonus to your turn check if you use it in conjunction with a Crucifix. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your charisma modifier. The binder must know that the target qualifies for the effect. Otherwise, the attempt passes over the target.
Sanctuary: You can produce sanctuary effect as an immediate action, which means you can activate the effect even when it is not your turn. Creatures within the area receive a Will save to resist the effect. The DC to resist equals 10 + ½ your character level + your Charisma modifier. Those who fail their save cannot make an attack roll against you for a number of rounds equal to your character level unless you make an attack roll against them. Those who succeed on their save can attack you normally. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/3 your character level.
Divine Power: Your base attack bonus becomes equal to your binder level (which may give you additional attacks), you gain a +6 enhancement bonus to Strength, and you gain 1 temporary hit point per binder level. You may use this ability a number of rounds equal to your binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.
Shield of The Lord: The binder gains a +2 deflection bonus to AC, with an additional +1 to the bonus for every six levels you have (maximum +5 deflection bonus at 18th level).
Good Hope: This spell instills powerful hope in the subjects. Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. This ability targets one living creature per binder level, no two of which may be more than 30 feet apart, and who can be a maximum of 100 feet +10 per binder level away from the binder. All effects last for one minute per binder level.
Resurgence: The binder can make a second attempt to save against an ongoing spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, such as dominate person, a chaos beast’s corporeal instability, or the sickening effect (but not the damage) from unholy blight, by making a quick gesture (pantomiming a cross). You gain a +3 bonus on this second check if you use it in conjunction with a holy symbol of The Lord (a Crucifix). If the binder is subject to more than one ongoing magic effect, the binder chooses one of them to retry the save against. If the binder succeeds at the saving throw on the second attempt, the effect ends immediately. Resurgence never restores hit points or ability score damage, but it does eliminate any conditions such as shaken, fatigued, or nauseated that were caused by the spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability. If a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability doesn’t allow a save (such as power word stun), then resurgence won’t help the binder recover. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the binder’s charisma modifier.
Zeal: You invoke a divine shield to protect you as you close with a chosen opponent. Choose a foe as you cast this spell. You gain a +4 deflection bonus to your AC against all attacks of opportunity from opponents other than the chosen foe. Also, you can move through enemies as if they were allies for the duration of this spell, as long as you finish your movement closer to your chosen foe than when you began it. This effect lasts one round per binder level + the number of hit dice your foe possesses. You may only use zeal against evil creatures, those who are possessed by or are currently channeling evil creatures, or those you have personally seen harm a Jew, Christian, or Angel.
Prayer: With a simple prayer to The Lord, you bring favor upon yourself and your allies while penalizing your foes. You and all your allies within 40 feet gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves and skill checks, while each foe without 40 feet suffers a -1 penalty on such rolls (no saving throw). The effects of the prayer last 1 round per binder level.
Holy Aura: A brilliant divine radiance surrounds the binder, protecting him and all allies 20 feet around him from attacks, and causing evil creatures to become blinded when they strike the subjects. Each warded creature gains a +4 deflection bonus to AC and a +4 resistance bonus on saves. This benefit applies against all attacks, not just against attacks by evil creatures. The ability blocks possession and mental influence, just as protection from evil does. If an evil creature succeeds on a melee attack against a warded creature, the offending attacker is blinded (Fortitude save negates, as blindness/deafness, but against holy aura’s save DC). This ability lasts for one round per binder level. You may split up the duration of this ability throughout the day, using it as you need it.

Signs & Influence
This Spirit may affect you in the following ways.
Physical Sign: There is no overt physical sign for this Spirit. Failing the binding check simply results in the Spirit not manifesting any power at all, aside from the standard benefits of
Alignment Shift: If you succeed on your binding check, your alignment moves a step closer to Lawful Good for 24 hours. Otherwise, there is no affect. If the character is already Lawful Good, they instead temporarily gain +3 to their Charisma score.
Personality Influence: Christ’s motivations are three-fold: Love, Mercy, and Justice. While bound to this Spirit, you must uphold these tennants in your every action, regardless as to if you failed the binding check or not. Failure to do so may result in Christ leaving you at best, or causing full-body paralysis in you at worst (DM’s discretion). The Power of God is not to be called upon lightly.
Favored Ally: All good outsiders and those who possess Charism feats.
Favored Enemy: All evil outsiders, Theurges, and Diabolists

Capstone Granted Ability
You gain the following ability when you pass your binding check by 10 or more.
Miracle: You may use Miracle once per day as a Supernatural Ability.

Tactical Bonus
While bound to this spirit, apply a +1 bonus to all your d20 rolls for the round you meet any of these criteria:
» Call upon Christ’s name, pantomiming a cross (or holding up a crucifix) as a move action.
» Say a quick prayer to one of the saints.
» Stand within 5 feet of an Angel, Saint, or Relic.
» Use an aid-another action.