| Ability Requirement: | Wisdom 9+ | |
| Prime Requisite: | Wisdom | |
| Races Allowed: | Any except Half-Vistani |
Clerics are holy men who travel the land in a quest to promote their values (usually those of good). They defend their church against its enemies and give aid to those who share their religion or values. A priest who does not fit into any other category is assumed to be a cleric.
Ability Requirements
In order to become a cleric, a character must have a Wisdom score of at least 9. Spells cast by a character with a score below 13 have a chance of failing, however, so a higher score is recommended. If a cleric has a Wisdom score of 16 or better, he receives a 10% bonus to any experience points that he earns.
Because clerics deal with people on a regular basis, a high Charisma score is valuable to them as well. Of course, the benefits to be gained from a good Constitution and Dexterity score cannot be overlooked, for many clerics serve a secondary role as warriorlike defenders of the faith.
Alignment
Cleric player characters can choose any alignment except evil, although they most frequently mirror the values of their patron deity. Generally, good clerics are healers and protectors; neutral clerics are often mystics and ascetics who value all the diverse things of the world. Lawful clerics seek to bring order and often work with government officials. Chaotic clerics think of the needs of the individual over those of society and foster the belief that all must pay homage to the gods in their own way.
Arms and Armor
Clerics are allowed more freedom in this category than any other class of character except those of the warrior group. A cleric can wear whatever armor he wishes, even the full plate mail of a mounted knight. Similarly, he can freely use a shield to defend himself against attack.
Clerics are forbidden to use edged weapons, although the variety of arms open to them is still quite extensive. In game terms, this means that a cleric can only use bludgeoning weapons, not those that pierce or slash.
Spells and Magical Items
While clerics depend heavily on their weapons and armor, they would be little more than lesser warriors if it were not for their magical abilities. A cleric can cast a number of spells (as indicated in the general information about priests), based on his level and Wisdom score.
Clerics created in Ravenloft have major access to most spheres, although they have only minor access to the spells of the elemental spheres and no access to the animal, chaos, law, plant, and weather spheres. In addition, a cleric has access to the spheres of numbers and thought only if he has an Intelligence score of 13 or better.
Turn/Control Undead
Good-aligned clerics can also exert the power of their faith to drive away (or even destroy) undead creatures. Neutral clerics can attempt to either turn the undead or control them and order them to do their bidding. Table 91: Turning Undead (Cleric) indicates the chance of success that a cleric has of turning undead while in Ravenloft.
Table 91: Turning Undead (Cleric)
| Undead Type/ Level |
Level of the Cleric | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10-11 | 12-13 | 14+ | |||||||||||||
| Skeleton/1 HD | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | ||||||||||||
| Zombie | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | ||||||||||||
| Ghoul/2 HD | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 1* | 1* | ||||||||||||
| Shadow/3-4 HD | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | 1* | ||||||||||||
| Wight/5 HD | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1* | 1* | ||||||||||||
| Ghast | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1* | |||||||||||||
| Wraith/6 HD | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Mummy/7 HD | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Spectre/8 HD | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Vampire/9 HD | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Ghost/10 HD | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | 10 | ||||||||||||
| Lich/11+ HD | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | 13 | ||||||||||||
| Special | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | 19 | 16 | ||||||||||||
| * | If the undead cannot flee at its maximum movement rate or get out of the cleric's sight, it is destroyed. |
Followers and Holdings
Clerics in Ravenloft do not attract followers or gain the right to establish a religious stronghold as their peers in other campaign worlds do. This is not to say that an individual character cannot opt to do so, only that he has no special advantage when doing so. In most domains, of course, a cleric who wishes to build a temple of any sort must be careful to neither run afoul of the region's lord or become a pawn of that malevolent creature.
