Hierodules (Archons & Armigers class)
The cleric is one of the weirder things to have made it into ‘canonical’ D&D: A mishmash of crusading knight and Van Helsing with Catholic trappings in a supposedly polytheistic universe. I don’t hate it, but it is odd. What I’m less a fan of is how similar cleric spells are to wizard spells, and the fact that they are called ‘spells’ at all.
So the following is the Hierodule: a gimmicky OSR-ish class that’s my take on the cleric, using my very silly homemade tarot-based religion. The tarot provides an archetypal mono-myth that (in my opinion) is slightly less brazenly ridiculous than the default pseudo-Catholicism while generic enough for players to grok.
The Icosidyad
Make haste: the webs of death and birth
Are brushed away, and all the threads of earth
Wear to the breaking; spaceward gleams
Thine ancient pathway of the suns,
Whose flame is part of thee;
And deeps outreach immutably
Whose largeness runs
Through all thy spirit's mystery.
Go forth, and tread unharmed the blaze
Of stars where through thou camest in old days;
Pierce without fear each vast
Whose hugeness crushed thee not within the past.
A hand strikes off the chains of Time,
A hand swings back the door of years;
Now fall earth's bonds of gladness and of tears,
And opens the strait dream to space sublime.
The Icosidyad is the dominant religion of the Latter Aeon. Twenty-two gods beginning with The Fool and ascending ever more rarified emanations until reaching THE BOUNDLESS COSMOS.
It is the task of the righteous to honor each and follow the precepts of the chain of being so that the soul may transmigrate from fallen sin and ignorance to a state of pleromatic unity.
There are those that say the Icosidyad is a synthesis of all prior religions, burned into the deepest parts of the soul and destined to re-emerge throughout time. The materialistically-inclined claim that it is a program of cosmic redemption instituted by Outsiders to facilitate humanity’s resumption of interstellar life.
The Hierodule:
Hit Die: whatever the ‘middle’ hit die in your preferred system is.
Proficiencies: whatever you want, really. I went with armor & blunt weapons just for fun. They should have a way to fight, as the benedictions are less flexible than spells.
Benedictions:
Instead of spells, Hierodules get benedictions, drawn from the Major Arcana cards of a tarot deck before an adventure. Each can be used once per [session/long rest/adventure/large-ish time unit]. Some benedictions have multiple possible effects — choose one. Amount of benedictions drawn per level can be scaled according to desired power. I’m inclined to hand out three at level one and two extra after so that a level 10 Hierodule
Benedictions are always drawn randomly.
The Fool: Auto-succeed on a single save against mind-altering effects. Increase experience gained by 10%
The Magician: Gain a one-sentence answer to any (mundane) question. Receive a needed item from a stranger.
The High Priestess: Heal 1d6 HP/level. Can be split across multiple recipients.
The Empress: Sense the full length of any corridor, including traps and threats.
The Emperor: Part 5'x5'x5'/level of stone.
The Hierophant: Unlock a single door.
The Lovers: Max out a single reaction roll.
The Chariot: Auto-succeed on a single evasion save.
Strength: Auto-succeed on a single physical save.
The Hermit: Auto-succeed on a single mental save.
The Wheel of Fortune: Intentionally fail a save to succeed a later save, or intentionally take maximum damage to deal maximum damage later.
Justice: Force a monster or NPC of equal or lower HD to obey one order.
The Hanged Man: Pause time for 1 round/level.
Death: Breathe life back into a dead ally within 10 minutes/level of death.
Temperance: Become immune to heat and cold for an hour/level.
The Devil: Become invisible for an hour/level. Enthrall a being of equal or lesser HD to your will (daily mental save to break).
The Tower: Call down a lightning bolt dealing 1d6 damage/level but dealing half to you.
The Star: A light appears to guide you out of danger or toward treasure. Lasts [level] exploration turns
The Moon: Receive a vision of one distant item or person.
The Sun: Create a powerful light lasting one round/level causing undead, constructs, extrasolarians, and cacogens with HD equal to or below your level to cower or flee.
The Final Judgement: Deliver a mighty blow dealing maximum damage + your level.
The World: Invoke any other benediction.
Notes
I'm not a tarot expert but I've put time into learning the meanings of the cards for non-D&D-related reasons. Most of the powers bear some relation to thematic elements in the cards.
- Players who know the cards well could probably pitch benediction effects
I like the idea of some cards being get-out-of-save-free cards, and the like. These are gifts from benevolent deities; unlike wizard spells the powers are not wholly the Hierodule's to direct.
- Thus also the random draw each adventure.
