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#Post#: 1329--------------------------------------------------
Ceremony -Priest
DIR By: Dungeon Master
Date: March 11, 2026, 5:28 am
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[center]Ceremony [/center]
Ceremony -Priest Spell
The ceremony spell represents certain functions carried out by
religious organizations and has various applications, depending
on the level of the priest. A ceremony does not leave behind an
aura of magic (although in some cases an aura of good or evil
might be present and thus detectable), and the effects of a
ceremony cannot be dispelled. Specific ceremonies vary from
religion to religion, but usually encompass these functions:
1st level cleric: coming of age, burial, marriage
3rd level cleric: dedication, investiture, consecrate item
5th level cleric: ordination, special vows
7th level cleric: consecrate ground
9th level cleric: anathematize
Each of these varieties of the ceremony spell requires a priest
of the indicated/level or a higher one, with additional
restrictions as described below. All ceremony spells except
anathematize have no saving throw, since the recipient is either
inanimate or presumed to be willing; these simply fail if
performed on someone unwilling to receive the benefit. Briefly,
the ceremonies listed do the following things:
Coming of age is a limited form of a blessing spell that is
performed upon a young man (and in some cultures a young woman)
at some point relatively early in life, often at the age of 12.
A young person who undergoes this ceremony receives a +1 bonus
to any single saving throw, which can be taken at any time after
the coming-of-age ceremony is completed. In some cultures, the
coming-of-age ceremony has a symbolic significance, such that an
adolescent must receive this blessing before he or she can enjoy
the rights and privileges of adulthood.
Burial magically protects a corpse and bestows it with the
blessing of the religious organization. The body is shielded for
one week as if by a protection from evil spell, and anyone
trying to disinter the corpse within that time must make a
saving throw vs. spell or stop and flee in fear for one turn.
Marriage has no tangible after-effect (it does not guarantee
happiness or harmony), but it usually carries a moral or legal
significance, not dissimilar to the various rites of marriage
that are performed in our real world.
Dedication allows the recipient of the spell to be taken into
the ranks of the performing priest's religion, making that
person a sanctioned worshiper of the priest's deity. The effect
of a dedication is permanent, unless the worshiper demonstrates
a desire to change allegiance to a different deity. In such a
case, the earlier dedication can be overridden by a new
dedication performed by a priest of a higher level than the one
who performed the previous dedication.
Investiture must be performed on any aspiring priest before that
individual can achieve the status of a 1st level priest.
Consecration must be performed on any object to be placed on an
altar or in some other location within a religious edifice. Holy
(or unholy) water must be kept in a properly consecrated
container to prevent it from losing its potency.
Ordination must be performed on a priest before the individual
can assume responsibility for a congregation or assume similar
duties, and even an adventuring priest must be ordained before
he or she can gain followers and establish a following or other
sort of group. In all cases, the priest performing the
ordination must be of a higher level than the recipient; this
ceremony is often conducted as part of the training a priest
receives in order to advance from 2nd to 3rd level.
Special vows can be received by a would-be paladin or knight
before that individual embarks upon a career in the desired
profession. The effects last for as long as it takes the
individual to gain enough experience points to rise to the upper
limit of the current level. The special vows can then be
renewed as part of the individual's training between levels, or
at any time during advancement through the next higher level. A
paladin who has received special vows is immune to the effects
of bestow curse spells (but not cursed items) for as long as the
special vows remain in effect. Additionally, this ceremony
renders the subject more susceptible (-4 on saving throw) to any
quest spell cast upon him or her by a priest of the same
alignment as the one who performed the special vows ceremony.
Consecrate ground should be performed upon an area before any
holy (unholy) structure is built on the site. A religious
edifice constructed on ground that has not been consecrated will
slowly but irrevocably fall into a state of disrepair, having a
1% chance per year cumulative of actually collapsing as a result
of this oversight. This ceremony must be performed before the
area in question is altered in any way (for example,
landscaping) and before any construction materials are brought
to the site; it has no effect if it is done as an afterthought.
Consecrate ground can be used on a plot of land destined for use
as a graveyard, and in such a case, the graveyard itself
automatically turns undead each round with the same
effectiveness as a 3rd-level cleric. (Or, if the consecration of
a would-be graveyard is performed by an evil cleric, any undead
creatures occupying the area are treated as if they were being
protected and controlled by an evil cleric of 3rd level.)
Anathematize is a form of excommunication by means of which the
offender is literally branded on the cheek, forehead, arm, or
hand with a symbol. sigil, or sign that identifies the subject
(to those who understand the symbol) as someone who has
committed a serious offense in the eyes of his or her deity. An
unwilling subject of this spell is allowed a saving throw vs.
spell, at -4, to escape its effects. If the recipient is not
truly deserving of the telling brand, the ceremony fails when
performed. A successful atonement causes the brand to fade, and
possibly vanish. If the offending actions were caused magically
or by some other external force, the brand utterly disappears.
If the offending actions were willful, the brand cannot be
completely removed.
The components for the various ceremony spells vary from
religion to religion, but the material component always involves
the use of the cleric's holy symbol in one way or another.
Standard costs for performing these ceremonies are as follows:
coming of age, 5-15 sp; burial 5-50 gp; marriage, 1-20 gp;
dedication, 1-10 sp (or sometimes free); investiture, 1-100 gp
(or sometimes free); consecrate item, usually free; ordination,
usually free but possibly as much as 200 gp, special vows, 1-100
gp (or sometimes free); consecrate ground, 100-600 gp depending
on the size of the area and the level of the priest; and
anathematize is always performed at no charge, since this
ceremony is always deemed to be in the best interests of the
priest's religion.
Notes: Common for clerics.
Other Clerical Ceremonies
These ceremonies have been published in Dragon Magazine as
spells. Here, they are presented as additional ceremonies.
3rd level cleric: bless newborn
7th level cleric: Desecrate ground
Bless Newborn: This ceremony protects a newborn infant from
possession and other ill effects. It must be performed within 14
days of birth, and the effects last for 6 months. A protected
infant has a saving throw bonus of +2 against any form of
possession. Further, the infant will not be stolen by faerie
folk or replaced by a changeling. The usual cost for the
ceremony is 2-5 gp.
Desecrate Ground: This ceremony, the reverse of the consecrate
ground ceremony, is generally used against a building or area
consecrated to an opposing alignment. It goes beyond mere
physical pollution or defilement; the affected area requires
extensive ritual purification before an attempt can be made to
reconsecrate it. Any general alignment-based bonuses the site
provides are reduced or negated. Further, a desecrated building
is 1% likely per year to collapse; this chance is not
cumulative.
This ceremony is also used by evil priests to remove the
protections placed on burial grounds. This makes those buried
within more vulnerable to animation, and makes those interred
later 5% likely to become restless spirits of some type.
Further, any priest in the burial ground attempting to turn its
undead operates as if two levels lower than he or she actually
is. There is, of course, no charge.
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