Acolyte

You have spent your life in the service of a temple to a specific god or pantheon of gods. You act as an intermediary between the realm of the holy and the mortal world, performing sacred rites and offering sacrifices in order to conduct worshipers into the presence of the divine. You are not necessarily a cleric. Performing sacred rites is not the same thing as channeling divine power.

Choose a god, a pantheon of gods, or some other quasi-divine being from among those listed in appendix B or those specified by your GM, and work with your GM to detail the nature of your religious service. Were you a lesser functionary in a temple, raised from childhood to assist the priests in the sacred rites? Or were you a high priest who suddenly experienced a call to serve your god in a different way? Perhaps you were the leader of a small cult outside of any established temple structure, or even an occult group that served a fiendish master that you now deny.

Attribute Score Increase

Increase two mental attributes of your choice by 1.

Connections

  1. A beloved high priest or priestess awaiting your return to the temple once you resolve your crisis of faith.
  2. A former priest — exposed by you as a heretic — who swore revenge before fleeing.
  3. The wandering herald who rescued you as an orphan and sponsored your entry into your temple.
  4. The inquisitor who rooted out your heresy (or framed you) and had you banished from your temple.
  5. The fugitive charlatan or cult leader whom you once revered as a holy person.
  6. Your scandalous friend, a fellow acolyte who fled the temple in search of worldly pleasures.
  7. The high priest who discredited your temple and punished the others of your order.
  8. The wandering adventurer whose tales of glory enticed you from your temple.
  9. The leader of your order, a former adventurer who sends you on quests to battle your god’s enemies.
  10. The former leader of your order who inexplicably retired to a life of isolation and penance.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment:

  • an impact weapon
  • a leather underlay and a suit of scale mail
  • (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
  • (a) a priest’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
  • a wooden shield
  • a holy symbol
  • a prayer book or prayer wheel
  • 5 sticks of incense
  • vestments
  • a set of common clothes
  • a pouch containing 15 gp

Mementos

  1. The timeworn holy symbol bequeathed to you by your beloved mentor on their deathbed.
  2. A precious holy relic secretly passed on to you in a moment of great danger.
  3. A prayer book which contains strange and sinister deviations from the accepted liturgy.
  4. A half-complete book of prophecies which seems to hint at danger for your faith — if only the other half could be found!
  5. A gift from a mentor: a book of complex theology which you don’t yet understand.
  6. Your only possession when you entered the temple as a child: a signet ring bearing a coat of arms.
  7. A strange candle which never burns down.
  8. The true name of a devil that you glimpsed while tidying up papers for a sinister visitor.
  9. A weapon (which seems to exhibit no magical properties) given to you with great solemnity by your mentor.
  10. A much-thumbed and heavily underlined prayer book given to you by the fellow acolyte you admire most.

Feature: Shelter of the Faithful

As an acolyte, you command the respect of those who share your faith, and you can perform the religious ceremonies of your deity. You and your companions can expect to receive free healing and care at a temple, shrine, or other established presence of your faith, though you must provide any material components needed for spells. Those who share your religion will support you (but only you) at a modest lifestyle.

You might also have ties to a specific temple dedicated to your chosen deity or pantheon, and you have a residence there. This could be the temple where you used to serve, if you remain on good terms with it, or a temple where you have found a new home. While near your temple, you can call upon the priests for assistance, provided the assistance you ask for is not hazardous and you remain in good standing.