Vancian Magic (Divine Edition)
A PIOUS PERSPECTIVE (DIVINE EDITION)
“We prostrate ourselves before the fish-god Yob, who seems as efficacious as any.”
― Jack Vance in Cugel the Clever
Last week we looked at the iconic D&D “spell slot” magic system from a wizard’s perspective. Today, I’d like to look at the same mechanic from the perspective of the clerics and druids bound by it.
Personally, I mildly dislike using the same game mechanics for different magic systems in general and for arcane and divine magic, in particular, unless there’s no difference in the narrative setting between wizards and priestly spellcasters. (And sometimes there’s not.) Although it makes an extra system players (and DMs) have to learn, I like the clear separation that having different rules makes between two different types of magic.
There are definitely significant benefits to having a combined magic system--I don’t dispute that, and I admire an elegant rule mechanic as much as anyone. However, the tendency for people to confuse equivalent rule systems with equivalent narrative systems is too much of a problem for me to ignore. As such, I always advocate making as many in-game distinctions between rule systems for different types of magic, even when they use the same underlying rule mechanic.
You’ll see what I mean as I go on (and on) about the rules later.
SPELL SLOTS BY THE SYSTEM
We discussed the source material for D&D spells in regards to wizards last time; in this system, the mechanical processes of memorizing and casting magical spells for priestly classes is essentially the same: i.e., the spell embeds itself in the caster’s mind, straining against the mundane limitations of the mortal’s physical shell. When the caster goes to access the magic using processes revealed by the living knowledge that possesses hir, the spell erupts into the physical plane through the conduit provided by the caster hirself. The actual components used in priestly spells tend to rely more on holy symbols and less on material fetishes. The processes are similar enough, though, that a superstitious commoner, unacquainted with the workings of magic, might not notice much difference between the two.
The first difference between a divine caster and an arcane caster, and the most important one, is the source of their magic. Wizards hoard mystical knowledge in tomes and scrolls, writing down formulae in their spellbooks that can imprint the eldritch might of a proper spell into their own minds and thereby taking into themselves the metaphysical pathways that let them use it. Priests gain magic through supplication: they request magic from their patron deity, who places a spell into the caster’s mind with divine power and thus grants hir subject access to it.
This difference is more than just modus operandi, too. While wizards spend their time poring over old tomes and scouring ancient libraries seeking arcane knowledge, priests have but to ask for power, and they receive it. The wizard is always seeking new understanding because ze has to find it for hirself. The priest doesn’t have to concern hirself with mystical power; ze is at leisure to pursue hir deity’s ordinances and precepts because the god provides hir with all the mystical ability ze needs. The fundamental disconnect here affects everything from the character’s goals and ambitions to hir everyday bearing and relationship with hir peers.
In the simplest terms, this means that a cleric has time to devote to learning self-defense, in addition to learning magic. The implications aren’t entirely beneficial to the divine practitioner, though. Since a priest is relying on a force outside hirself for the power ze wields, ze always faces the possibility that hir patron will refuse hir request. Usually, players tend to think of this in terms of apostate priests that abandon their alignments entirely, but in reality, it’s much more complicated.
Delightfully complicated, in fact--these sorts of moral dilemmas are the bread and butter that make playing a priest, pilgrim, or paladin compelling. Does the priestess of Silvanus accept a powerful magic item as payment from the clearcutting noble that makes his fortune stripping forests? Can the priest of Pelor trust a master vampire long enough to join forces and rid the land of an evil sorceress and her minions? Will the paladin of Boldrei stop to help the people in the burning village, or will she ride after the wily bandits that started the fire?
For a wizard, these kinds of moral quandaries may keep the character up at night, but they’ll never keep hir from casting the spells ze needs to do hir job. For a cleric, though, that’s precisely what it means.
A CHARACTER’S VIEW
So, how does the spell slot system look to the cleric that lives under it? Anirias, an elven cleric of Mishakal, is a feisty, headstrong vagabond with a weakness for human girls that loves to travel to see new lands and meet new people. He has his Lady’s infinity symbol tattooed on his arm and wears it in a silver, sapphire-studded band around his neck. Because of the nature of his recreational preferences, he tends to fall in with mercenaries and thieves, so he prepares a lot of prayers for healing wounds and curing poison.
Anirias always rises in time to spend the dawn in prayer to his goddess, no matter how late he stays up encouraging the weak. (Ideally, he prefers to spend the dawn in prayer to his goddess with a naked woman beside him. Humans are so cute when they’re sleeping!) During this devotional period, he prepares his mind for the three spells Mishakal will give him. He doesn’t have to perform any rituals or read any spellbooks for this to work; he simply asks Mishakal for her blessing, and she grants it.
The better to serve his party, Anirias also wields substantial knowledge of healing tonics and tinctures, and after he finishes serving the poor or the sick in whatever local temple he finds himself, he spends a lot of downtime preparing healing potions and antivenins. Beyond that, he sets aside time to scour through the shops and the personal collections in every town he visits to find useful scrolls and magic items that will help him to protect and strengthen his allies during an adventure. His connections in and out of the temples frequently get him discounts. The coin he makes adventuring covers the rest.
He doesn’t just practice magic and healing, though; Brother Anirias also practices faithfully in his warcraft every single day, training with any willing sparring partner he can find. This often forms connections in the local guards and guilds that come in handy, should he find himself in need of coin or protection in his travels. He’s found that seeking out new opponents every day is an excellent way to pick up new tricks in combat and to analyze different styles and stances.
In an encounter, Anirias never worries about saving his prayers until they might have the greatest effect. He has his scrolls and potions to bolster his own magic, he’s confident that he can always stand as a strong shield to defend his allies, should the need arise, and he knows that his allies will stand with him and that Mishakal will provide whatever else he may need.
Overall, Anirias loves being able to cast magic in service to his goddess, but what he really loves is the ability it gives him to help people.
THE RULES
The considerations we spoke of last week regarding arcane spellcasters and magic items are still fully in force--by its nature, Vancian magic relies heavily on external magic sources, no matter what kind of spellcaster uses it. Divine spellcasters in D&D typically concern themselves more with healing magic, so they’ll often need to carry potions and scrolls that will give their allies succor when they take wounds. If they don’t have access to all the items they’ll need, it will mean shorter adventuring days and more danger for the party when extended combats or running engagements do prove necessary.
Now, mark well the rules differences between wizards and priests, because they provide the most dependable distinctions your players will experience when they play arcane casters, as opposed to divine casters:
Most priests in D&D have to prepare spells at a particular time of day, either dawn or dusk. That makes their spell preparation more inflexible than it is for wizards. Also, many prayers have a divine focus component, so the caster has to present hir holy symbol during casting. This is important because it’s the surest sign that the caster is a priest instead of a mage.
Finally, a priest has to remain in good standing with hir patron to continue receiving the abilities ze grants. That makes any moral dilemmas a cleric faces far more weighty than the ones through which a wizard might go.
In all honesty, this critical morality is also going to be one of the central driving factors in most clerics’ development arcs.
For a wizard, a lot of hir story is going to revolve around hir quest for more power, how ze relates to that obsession and how it affects hir. The achievements central to growing as a wizard might include finding a cache of scrolls hidden behind a secret door, or uncovering the location of a lost codex, or convincing a master wizard to teach a new spell. Most of these are the kinds of things that PC parties do anyway during the course of exploring dungeons.
For most clerics, though, the things that make them grow as a character typically involve championing the faith or fighting against those of opposed alignment. A cleric might perform feats like protecting the helpless, feeding orphans, or rendering judgment in a crime. These situations may not come along as organically during play, so we have to be more intentional about inserting chances for clerics to excel in our stories. (If we don’t, it leads people to the false impression that clerics are boring ‘healbots’ with nothing better to do than cast Cure.)
Good players will go looking for chances for their clerics to shine by spending downtime giving alms, mediating disputes, treating the sick, or performing other such devotions. This gives the DM plenty of opportunities to provide character-building situations for priests. Less experienced players, though, may not know about such tactics, so it falls to us as DMs to bring opportunities for character development to them.
Here are my take on houserules for divine casters in D&D:
Priests can cast a spell with a ritual instead of memorizing it.
As can wizards in my rules. A priest doesn’t need spellbooks nor extensive preparations to access hir prayers; ze simply has to request and receive the spell from hir patron. It takes 5 to 15 minutes, depending on need and the DM’s fiat, for a priest to conduct a spell ritual, and ze doesn’t have to have the spell prepared beforehand to cast it.Priests can pray for additional spells in combat, even when they’re out of spell slots.
In times of trouble, a priest can pray for a spell on hir list that ze doesn’t have prepared. This takes longer than normal spellcasting, and it’s entirely up to the DM whether the prayer actually works or not. The success of the spell should be based on need, merit, and random chance (the workings of the gods are mysterious to us mortals, after all). If it does work, the spell shouldn’t take effect until the caster’s next turn at the earliest. In general, I’d expect that it would be much more likely for a patron to grant a spell with which ze is closely aligned than one that doesn’t match the patron’s portfolio. For example, it’s probably a pretty good chance that Heironeus might grant an extra Protection from Evil spell, but it’s less likely that he’d grant Cause Fear. Depending on the patron in question, this request should not generally be transactional in nature--at least, not on the DM’s part. Characters offer up all sorts of things to the gods if only they’ll (fill in the blank) all the time, but those aren’t the kinds of requests most deities tend to honor. Deities of commerce, deities of balance, and any sort of demon might make standard exceptions to this rule. In general, this sort of thing should only be allowed at most once per session. It doesn’t have to be uncommon, necessarily, but it shouldn’t be something the character comes to rely on.
The D&D cleric is a complex and rewarding character class to play, and they’re often maligned simply because inexperienced gamers don’t know how to use them or inexperienced DMs don’t know how to challenge them. In Vancian Magic, they run very similarly to wizards, but there are vital distinctions that make all the difference in playing them.
Do you like playing a cleric? What’s the most enjoyable thing about playing a cleric? What do you like least? Let me know!
Game well, my friends.
Jonathan
