The Numenist
A New Priest Class for Ravenloft
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Although numenists have no strictly historical parallel, they are inspired by a variety of spiritual beliefs and practices. One of the tenets of medieval pagan magick was the existence of daemons, spiritual beings which exist outside the realm of physical experience. These beings often provided the practitioner of magick with boons--particularly charms and secret knowledge--in exchange for offerings. The adoration and petitioning of angels has been immensely popular among Christians for centuries, from the near-deification of the archangel Michael in the Middle Ages to the modern New Age angel revival. Theology aside, the role of the angel in the spiritual life of many God-fearing Christians was (and is) startlingly close to that of more ancient elemental or celestial beings. The number of mystical and religious traditions which believe in spirit guides, guardian angels, tutelary spirits, celestial beings or the like are too numerous to detail here. Some readers may not like the idea of numenists, since the concept treads on some heavily metaphysical territory concerning not only the Demiplane of Dread, but the whole AD&D multiverse. Accordingly, I've written the class description in a manner which spares the reader from lengthy discussions of how a numenist's power functions. Instead, I've focused on giving players enough information to create an interesting and detailed character that they will enjoy playing. Those who want to learn about the true nature of the numenist should read the section titled "Here's the Chant" below, where numenists and their patrons are explained from the perspective of the Planescape campaign setting. Ravenloft DM's will probably want to restrict players from reading this section, but may find it a useful interpretation of the numenist for their own purposes. |
Introduction
assa and her companions inched along the corridor, pressed close to the tomb's wall. Their practiced steps were utterly silent on the smooth stone, for tonight they were on the hunt. The stillness in the air belied the chilling fear they all felt.
Cassa felt it perhaps more than the rest. The young woman clutched the thick bronze amulet that hung around her neck. She repeated the same words endlessly, silently to herself, the syllables stammering out through freezing lips:
". . . Tubiell protect me in my hour of need . . . Tubiell protect me in my hour of need . . . Tubiell protect me in my hour of need . . ."
Her companions sometimes chided her for her almost obsessive devotion to her guardian spirit. Cassa was not ashamed, however. Tubiell had never deserted her. Here, in the lair of the living dead, she could take comfort in little but the unseen presence of her holy protector.
Finally Allaroth, in the lead, raised his pale hand—a quick motion in the dim light. Understanding the wordless gesture, the companions silently fell to a halt. The elven woodsman had paused at the threshold of an archway. Gingerly, he strained to peer around the corner.
Turning so his companions could see his face, Allaroth mouthed the words that they all had expected but hoped were not true:
He has Gadrriata.
When the companions had awakened the previous morning to find their half-Vistani friend gone, they suspected the worst—that the nosferatu whose predations they had been trailing had decided to raise the stakes. The creature had a reputation for particularly cruel emotional games, and the companions had little doubt that the fiend had spirited away Gadrriata to change a hunt into a more problematic confrontation.
The deep, soft breathing of her companions told Cassa that they were ruminating over what to do next. Tiberius, the kind-hearted Rashemi warrior, startled her as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "It is time, Cassa. We need the blessing of your holy friend."
The numenist nodded. Reaching inside her satchel, she produced a thick glass vial. With trembling fingers, she removed the stopper and dribbled the holy water on her palms and then stone floor. As she did so, she intoned soft words that beseeched Tubiell to give them true blades and strong hearts.
Suddenly, the inky blackness of the corridor exploded into brilliant golden light. Arcs of spectral color flickered around Cassa, her body rigid and her eyes rolled back into her head. After a moment, the light dimmed to a soft glow that enveloped Cassa's form. Her eyes shone with the white-hot flare of a star. A voice that sounded like rushing water and blasting trumpets echoed throughout the chamber. It came from Cassa's lips.
"EVIL WILL NOT WIN THIS DAY, MY FRIENDS. WE DESTROY THIS THING HERE AND NOW. AND WE LEAVE WITH GADRRIATA ALIVE." Cassa pushed past her companions and strode through the archway and into inner sanctum of the vampire's tomb. The others exchanged a momentary glance and then quickly followed her. As inconvenient as they found his unexpected appearances, they knew better than to try to sway Tubiell
"So much for the element of surprise," Allaroth muttered, readying his long sword.
Numenists
Ability Requirements: Constitution 12, Wisdom 12
Prime Requisite: Wisdom
Races Allowed: Half-Elf, Half-Vistani, Halfling, Human
A numenist is an individual with a special relationship to a celestial being, a being who only numenist recognizes. Unlike a priest of an established church, the numenist does not belong to a holy order, and does not even necessarily worship a god at all. Rather, the numenist is a devoted enemy of evil, a champion of a moral code that he or she believes transcends divinity.
In order to put right what is wrong in the world, the numenist elicits the aid of a powerful celestial being, the numenist's patron. Usually, a numenist experiences a dream at a young age in which the patron visits him, and thereafter senses that the patron is always near him. Though the numenist cannot see or hear his patron, he is able to channel their holy power to perform magic.
Ability Requirements
In order for a character to be a numenist, she must have a Wisdom of 12 or better. A numenist must possess a deep understanding of the universe, including both the physical and the spiritual, and the Wisdom requirement reflects this. A numenist with a Wisdom of 16 or better receives a 10% bonus to the experience points she earns.
Additionally, because dangerous spiritual energies can at times infuse a numenist's body, she must also have a Constitution of 12 or better.
Alignment
A numenist is by definition one who opposes evil. Thus, player character numenists can be of any non-evil alignment. The vast majority of numenists are good, however. Lawful neutral and true neutral numenists are relatively uncommon, and chaotic neutral numenists are rare in the extreme.
Good numenists oppose evil for obvious reasons, because they find it morally reprehensible. Lawful neutral numenists believe that evil inherently supports anarchy, while the chaotic neutral numenist believes that evil breeds tyranny. The true neutral numenist seeks to destroy evil because they believe that the world’s balance is shifted so strongly towards evil in the Land of Mists.
Arms and Armor
Numenists devote themselves utterly to their patrons and the spiritual battle against evil. As such, they have little time for serious study of the arts of war. Nevertheless, their devotion sometimes dictates that they defend themselves against the forces they oppose. Their selection of weapons and armor is reasonable, but still fairly limited.
Numenists may only wear padded, leather, or studded leather armor, and they may not use shields. They favor weapons which are effective in combat but simple to use. Among the weapons which are available to numenists are the club, dagger, dart, staff, sling, spear, and short sword.
Spells and Magical Items
Much as priests must devote themselves to prayer for a portion of each day, numenists must take the time to make offerings to their patrons. There the similarities end, however.
Instead of petitioning for specific spells, numenists make offerings in return for mana. Mana is formless spiritual energy, which many numenists believe is created from the substance of the patron itself. The soul of the numenist acts like a reservoir for this energy, storing it until he shapes it into a spell. Each numenist makes offerings based on the desires of his patron. Typical offerings include food, drink, aromatic oils, incense, and pieces of paper or parchment covered with the patron's name. A numenist receives one mana per day for each silver piece worth of offerings he makes, up to a maximum designated by his level (see Table 1: Numenist mana and Spells). The offerings are destroyed or used up in the process of the numenist's supplications, and may not be used for other purposes (not to mention the fact that drinking a patron's wine is tantamount to blasphemy!)
Table 1: Numenist Mana and Spells
| Numenist's Level | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum Mana/Day | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Spell Level Available |
Additionally, just as other priests with high Wisdom recieve extra spells each day, numenists with high Wisdom have a higher maximum mana value day (see Table 2: Bonus Mana from High Wisdom).
Table 2: Bonus Mana from High Wisdom
| Numenist's Wisdom | ||||||||||||
| Maximum Mana/Day Bonus |
A numenist can spend her mana to cast priest spells. Numenists have major access to the spheres of all, charm, divination, guardian, healing, protection, sun, and wards. They have have minor access to summoning, travelers, and weather. Spells require an amount of mana equal to their level. Thus, a fifth-level spell would cost five mana. The spell levels a numenist has access to are limited by her experience level, and is quite similar to the skill of a traditional priest of the same level (see Table 1: Numenist Mana and Spells). Numenist spells still requires any verbal, somatic and/or material components that the casting of the spell in question would normally require. Furthermore, although the use of the mana itself is instantaneous, the spells of a numenist use the normal casting time listed.
Shaping a patron's mana into a magical spell can be a risky undertaking. At times, a numenist can accidentally tap the essence of the patron itself. This results in beatification, where the patron literally possesses the body of the numenist, infusing it with holy power. Although it can be a potent weapon against evil, beatification is exceedingly draining on the numenist. Beatification need not be unintentional; a numenist can also spend mana to undergo beatification willingly. See below for further details on beatification.
A numenist can use any magical items normally available to priests.
Turn Undead
A numenist is able to turn undead in a manner similar to many priests. He uses the Turning Undead Table on pg 264 of Domains of Dread, and is considered to be a cleric of equivalent level for this purpose. Instead of a holy symbol, a numenist employs an amulet inscribed with his patron's name.
The Way of Simplicity
Unlike priests of established faiths, numenists do not receive a stipend when they first venture out into the world. They must get by on their own means. Thus, a numenist's starting wealth is only 2d4x10 gold pieces. However, numenists may keep whatever wealth they do not spend at character creation.
Despite the fact that numenists do not tithe or take a vow of poverty, most are not concerned with material wealth and possessions. Their mission is a higher one. This is not to say that a numenist cannot possess equipment of high quality; rather, all financial and material concerns relate to their moral cause. Simply put, those who are interested in surrounding themselves with opulence and living comfortably are not the type of individuals who receive patronage.
Most numenists typically carry just enough wealth for one week's of room, board and offerings, trusting in their patrons to provide for them. A numenist who chances upon substantially more wealth than this must redistribute it directly to the service of their ethos. For instance, a numenist might give gold culled from a vampire's treasure to a poor family, rather than turning it over to a church's coffers.
Beatification
Numenists would probably be regarded as odd mystics by most folk if not for the astonishing phenomenon of beatification. Every time a numenist casts a spell, the player should make a beatification roll. This is a d100 roll with a chance or failure equal to 5% per level of the spell being cast, and modified by -1% per level of the numenist (see Table 3: Chance of Beatification Failure). A beatification roll can never have less than a 1% chance of failure.
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Regardless of the beatification roll's result, the spell works as normal. If the roll is a failure, however, the instant the casting is complete, the numenist begins to undergo beatification. The process takes one full round, during which the numenist is unable to take any other actions and is quite vulnerable to attack (+4 to opponents' attack rolls). Beatification, unlike spellcasting, however, may not be disrupted by attacks. The numenist becomes bathed in holy radiance without any apparent source, and his eyes glow brightly. The numenist's voice takes on an unearthly quality that varies from clarion to thunderous.
In effect, the patron possesses the numenist. The player need not relinquish control of his character, but must act out his alignment to the exclusion of all personal concerns. This does not necessarily include acting deliberately suicidal, but a beatified numenist may take outrageous risks that he would never normally contemplate. A beatified numenist, though he is no longer truly "himself", retains all of his memories and abilities.
The attack and damage rolls of a beatified numenist receive a bonus based on the numenist's level (see Table 4: Beatified Numenist Attack Roll Adjustments). These bonuses act like a magical bonus for the purposes of harming creatures which can only be struck by weapons of a minimum enchantment. Beatification lasts 1d10 rounds.
Although beatification seems advantageous, it is quite crippling to the numenist. Once the patron has relinquished control of the numenist, the unfortunate individual collapses, unconscious, for 1d6 rounds (he may not be roused any sooner, even by magical means). The numenist's Constitution also drops by 2d4 points (to a minimum Constiution of 1), with accompanying reduction in hit points if applicable. Consitution points are slowly regained at a rate of one per hour.
Despite these dangers, a numenist sometimes wishes to willingly submit to beatification, typically when confronting a powerful being of great evil. A numenist must spend ten mana to undergo beatification, and thus the use of this ability is in effect limited by the level and Wisdom of the numenist.
Hellcraze
Much of the shadowy reputation that hangs about numenists stems from incidents of beatification gone horribly wrong. Occasionally, the offerings of a numenist reach the proverbial ears of a demonic being instead of the intended patron. Unfortunately, such fell creatures can offer mana just as easily as beings of light. Every night, as a numenist makes his or her supplications, the DM should roll secretly to determine if a demonic being detects the offering before the patron. The chance of this occurring is one percent for every two levels of the numenist in question, rounded up (see Table 5: Chance of Infernal Attention).
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The numenist can use the tainted mana thus obtained normally, and is unaware that anything unusual has occurred. The unspeakable source of such energy is revealed, however, if the numenist undergoes beatification. Whether the beatification is the inadvertent result of spellcasting or willing submission, the result is the same—the demonic being that provided the mana possesses the numenist. Generally, this hellcraze is identical to beatification in most respects. The hellcrazed numenist gains the attack and damage roll bonuses, and the hellcraze ends in 1d10 rounds. The nemunist so affected, instead of acting in the name of righteousness, acts on the impulses of absolute evil, typically attacking friends and allies mercilessly. The alignment of the being which possesses a numenist is determined by Table 6. For those who witness a hellcraze, it is obvious that the numenist is in the thrall of an infernal creature: his eyes glow with putrescent light, his voice is a chilling croak, and wisps of smoke and brimstone swirl around him.
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Because she is possessed by a inhuman demonic force, the deeds committed by a numenist in hellcraze can be quite horrifying. The numenist, fortunately, is not subject to Powers Checks for her actions while in hellcraze, since it is not truly she who is acting. Nevertheless, the DM should require a numenist to atone for the unspeakable acts to which she unwittingly submitted
Level Advancement
Numenist advance in level as anchorites (see Table 89: Priest Level Advancement in Domains of Dread pg. 262).
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Elias Crackbone, Amateur Planar Scholar and Tiefling Drinking Champion, Speaks on Maecenates:
. . . Maecenates are a fairly recent development, cosmically speaking. The practice has become pretty popular in the last decade or so. Granted, the number of celestials who sponsor wards is still fairly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But considering that sponsorship spread mainly through word of mouth across the upper edge of the Great Ring, it's sodding amazing. As I said, it all started about ten years ago. Most stories say a leonal by the name of Cyrus the Golden was the first celestial to discover smokejewels and their link to the Dark. A smokejewel is the business end of a distress call, a message which a mortal somehow sends across the infinite reaches of the multiverse. This psychic signal takes the form of a small gem, filled with swirling dark vapors and hovering in the air near a particular celestial's head. A few graybeards figure that smokejewels have been appearing through the various heavens and paradises for a lot longer than most cutters realize. Cyrus, however, was the first blood to puzzle out their true nature. Cyrus learned that if he reached out and plucked the smokejewel out of the air, it instantly vanished. The gem reappeared daily, and Cyrus soon discovered that the smokejewel acted as a spiritual link to a Prime world overrun with great evil. Touching the smokejewel "anchored" Cyrus to a mortal who had learned the guardinal's name and had been petitioning him for aid against evil. Periodically, Cyrus' essence was plucked away to inhabit the body of this mortal, where he battled fell beasts. Cyrus termed the Clueless' nightmarish world the Dark. Terrible creatures plagued the residents of the Dark, and the kings of this world sat on thrones of misery and suffering. Eventually, Cyrus taught his closest guardianal allies about smokejewels and his strange journies into the Dark. He urged them to likewise anchor themselves to a ward if a smokejewel happened to come looking for them. Word spread among the celestials all over the Upper Planes about the Dark and its inhabitants. Your average celestial, being a celestial, is more than willing to become a maecenate if the opportunity presents itself. After all, it doesn't take much effort, and, incovenient as it can be, the chance to do battle with the evil of the Dark firsthand is attractive to most celestials. There's still plenty of mystery surrounding the maecenate-ward relationship. Most sods believe that a smokejewel actually draws the essence of the Upper Planes through the maecenate, which somehow provides power to the ward. No one has been able to discover just where the Dark is located. Attempts to trace a smokejewel through magical means fail before the trail even leaves the maecenate's plane. Descriptions indicate that the Dark resembles most Prime worlds, but no portals to it from Sigil or the Astral have ever been reported. The powers claim to know nothing about the Dark, and cannot be persuaded to explore the matter further. Indeed, many good deities actually disapprove of sponsorship, although they fail to explain why. Every time a maecenate's spirit enters his ward's body, a few more tantalizing details about the Dark are revealed, but unfortunately the maecenate can't bring his ward's knowledge back to the Outer Planes. The guardinals in particular would love to mount an all-out crusade into the Dark if they could ever find it. Perhaps the most puzzling mystery is how the mortals of the Dark—who seem to be utterly cut off from the rest of the multiverse—manage to reach the Outer Planes through the smokejewel. Some bashers think that a smokejewel is the physical manifestation of prayers directed at the celestial in question. Of course, this begs the question of how it is that the Clueless manages to find his maecenate in the first place in the vastness of the multiverse. These days, all maecenates are members of one of four planar races: archons, guardinals, eladrin and rilmani. The first three tend to sponsor cutters who share their outlook. Your typical archon, for instance, is usually a maecenate for a Clueless who supports Mount Celestia's brand of zealous righteousness. The rilmani, on the other hand, are the odd men out. Most graybeards think the Spire's natives learned about the need for maecenates most recently; the other celestials didn't think they'd be interested. It turns out that the rilmani were very intrigued about the concept. You see, the rilmani are all about Balance, and to them, the Dark represents a world about as far out of Balance as you can get. Unfortunately, there aren't many potential wards in the Dark who share the rilmani's outlook, so rilmani maecenates are still very rare. Accordingly, some rilmani've taken upon themselves to sponsor those who aren't into absolute Balance, but still oppose the Dark's evil because they think it promotes tyranny or anarchy. Of course, right about now you're probably asking yourself about all those other races on the Great Ring. Well bar that, berk. Only the celestials are really interested in being maecenates. They assist their wards because they sympathize with them. Modrons and slaadi aren't likely to care about some Clueless on a remote Prime world. As for fiends, they'd much rather get a nice little cult set up for themselves. Why help some pathetic mortal and get nothing in return when a little more effort will get you worship? Now, that doesn't mean that fiends don't interfere with a maecenate's ward occasionally. You see, once in a while a smokejewel makes a wrong turn somewhere on its way to the Outer Planes. Some sages say that it has to worm its way through the Astral to reach the sponsor, and that astral winds and other phenomena of the Silver Void can throw the signal "off course". Of course, no one's ever run into a smokejewel on the Astral, so the truth remains a mystery. Regardless, smokejewels sometimes end up reaching some random fiend instead of the ward's sponsor. Canny bloods wonder why the smokejewel never ends up bumping into another celestial or a nice benign monodrone. Such are the cruel whims of the multiverse, I suppose. Now here's where the bitter irony comes in: since the trick to anchoring oneself to a ward has spread throughout the Great Ring, the fiends have gotten wind of it as well. So when an osyluth or shator or whatever finds a smokejewel floating in his face, he happily hangs on to it on the off chance that his spirit might get whisked off to the Dark and stuck in a Prime's body. Some fiends do it to teach the ward a lesson about meddling with the multiverse, some do it for the chance to bob the forces of good, but most do it just to entertain their deranged fancies. Either way, gods help the poor sod on the other end of that smokejewel . . . |
