Mahnan

Description: Mahnan is the god of luck and fortune. She is a fickle Lord, giving her blessing, and curse, with random abandon. Gamblers, adventurers, and many thieves will call on her for luck. Temples to Mahnan are unassuming buildings. Worshipers are offered a choice of entrances: one for those who feel lucky (and may or may not be trapped), and another for those who do not.

Sects: There are no sects of Mahnan's priesthood.

Attend Gambling. Any time a bet or gamble is made, the priest must give the bettor(s) a blessing. Such a blessing takes 3 segments.

Choose Lucky Number. When the priest joins the order, she must choose a lucky number - so long as it is not a one or a 20. Any time the player rolls that number, the priest gains 20xp.

Guidance. Priests of Mahnan must promote risk-taking and gambling wherever they go. They must encourage adventurers to go on dangerous journeys, wealthy people to put all their money on one bet, thieves to go after high stakes.

Law of Chance. Once each day, the priest must determine something by chance. This can range from flipping a coin to decide between venison or beef for dinner, to deciding the fate of an entire nation on the roll of a die.

Taking a Chance. Whenever the priest finds an opportunity to take a great risk, he must roll percentile dice. If he rolls less than his level times 3, he must take it. If the priest is successful in the task, he gains a +1 to the next die roll that fails by 1 (i.e. if three years later, the priest misses a save by 1, this bonus means he'll make it). If the priest fails, he gains a -1 to the next die roll that barely succeeds (i.e. if one week later, the priest rolls exactly what he needs to make a proficiency check, he fails). Afterwards, the bonus/penalty is gone. Note that these bonuses/penalties are cumulative.

Tithe. Each priest must spend at least 25% of her monetary possessions in gambling or betting (not with other party members). At least half of any money won as a result must be given to the nearest temple to Mahnan.

Identification: Mahnan's priest have a 2% chance per level to Identify (as the 2nd level Mage spell) magical or non-magical devices. This includes only the possible uses of an item, not its actual history.

Invisibility to Undead: Gained at 1st level. This power operates continuously. It is not detectable by Detect Magic or Detect Invisible magics.

Magic Items. Ability to use any item pertaining to chance (Wand of Wonder, Deck of Many Things, Ring of Spell Turning, etc). Further, priests of Mahnan roll twice and choose the more beneficial of the two rolls.

Luck: The priest's holy symbol functions as a luck stone while on his person.

Phenomenal Luck: A priest may, at his option, reroll any "succeed or fail" (such as to hit rolls, saving throws, proficiency checks, etc) die, without any bonuses, once per week. Only the second roll is counted as far as success/failure goes. If both rolls are failures, the priest failed the attempt utterly and will take full damage, penalties, etc. in spite of any protective magics. If both rolls were successful, the priest made a spectacular success, inflicting full damage, take no damage, makes an item of quality, etc.

Set, Lord of the Night, Prince of Serpents

Description: Set is the Lord of Darkness, King of snakes, Ruler of the night. His priests prefer to work in darkness and shadows, spreading their influence slowly, carefully. They are feared even more than those of Bael, God of Destruction. With the Prince of Serpents, one never knows if one will become a favored servant, or a sacrifice.

The Lord of Darkness seeks to overthrow the other Greater Powers and dominate the Prime Material Plane so that he can send it into everlasting night. His plots are many and deep. And like the snakes He loves, He is willing to bide his time, waiting to strike.

Many are his followers, seemingly friendly and peaceful. But quick to arouse and strike when called for. There is no land anywhere on Avamor that does not have Set’s taint upon it.

Sects: There are two sects of Set’s priests: Chosen and Minions.

The Chosen are the priests of Set. They maintain the temples, convert followers, and so forth. They tend to be very organized and tenacious.

Minions of Set are the guardians of His temples. Of all of Set’s followers, Minions are the most feared, for they can take the form of any kind of snake - from a giant cobra to a harmless-seeming grass snake. No form of magical detection will work on a minion. They are dedicated body and soul to Set’s service.

Minions advance as Illriggers (a special type of lawful evil unholy warrior). At 5th level, all Minions gain the ability to Shapechange at will into any form of serpent, snake, or reptile, gaining all the abilities of that form while retaining all the mental abilities of their true form. Additionally, while shapechanged, Minions can not be harmed by normal weapons. Only magical or cold iron weapons can affect them.

Proficiencies:
Bonus Proficiencies: Animal Handling (Reptiles), Spellcraft.
Nonweapon Proficiencies Required: Herbalism.
Nonweapon Proficiencies Recommended: Animal Training (Reptiles), Healing, Reading/Writing, Religion.
Weapon Proficiencies Required: None.
Nonweapon Proficiency Group Crossovers: Thief, Priest, General.

Dress. When on a holy mission, all Chosen and Minions are required to wear Set’s symbol somewhere on their person. The symbol does not have to be worn openly, but cannot be covered by invisibility or illusion. The only exception to this is when the priest is preparing for combat or escape. In these cases, the symbol may be covered with invisibility or other disguising magics. However, the symbol must never be taken off by the priest.

Most Chosen and Minions have their holy symbol tattooed on their bodies. In this case, the only way to remove the priest’s holy symbol is to remove the tattoo.

Missions can include assassinations, negotiations with other organizations, and information gathering (i.e. spying).

Protection. All priests of Set consider true reptiles to be holy. True reptiles include any and all snakes, serpents, and non-sentient scaly creatures. Whenever a reptile is threatened, the priest is required to protect that reptile. This does not mean that the priest must commit suicide. If the reptile is harmed or killed, the priest immediately loses experience points to the bare minimum required to retain his/her/its current level. Until the perpetrators of this crime are sacrificed on an altar to Set, the priest may not gain any experience points.

Service. All Chosen must follow their superior’s orders to the fullest. No deviation from the instructions is allowed. Note that Minions serve Set directly and receive their orders from Him. Minions are under this same restriction, but with a penalty: Should the Minion deviate in any way from the assigned task, he, she, or it will immediately and permanently lose 1 level or hit die.

Subterfuge. Priests of Set almost always work behind the scenes and in secret. If a priest’s plots are uncovered, he or she immediately loses 10% of his gained experience points and can not gain any experience points for completing the plot, although he must strive to do so or face Set’s wrath. Set is not very tolerant of failures.

Charm by Gaze. Gained at 10th level. Useable 1/day. Victims suffer a -8 penalty to their saving throws (-40% to magic resistance or Elven immunity).

Hide In Shadows. Priests of Set gain a cumulative 5% chance to hide in shadows per level of experience up to a maximum of 50% at 10th level. This ability works exactly as the thief ability and is affected by dexterity and armor.

Immunity to Poison. Gained at 4th level. The priest is immune to all forms of poisons, both natural and magical.

Infravision. 6" range. Same as the Elven ability.

Limited Immunity to Charms/Geases. When given a mission, no priest of Set can be turned from it. Any orders given to a charmed/geased, or otherwise controlled priest, that would deviate from the mission will immediately break the control.

Move Silently. For every level of experience, the priest gains a 5% chance to move silently as a thief up to a maximum of 50% at 10th level. Adjustments for armor and dexterity apply.

Shapechange. Upon reaching 8th level, any priest of Set can Shapechange once per day into a snake of his/her/its choice, gaining all the abilities of the new form while retaining all the mental abilities of their true form.

Summon Snakes. At 4th level, priests of Set may summon 1-4 giant snakes, who will act as servitors, carrying out the priest’s orders even if it means certain death. This ability is exempt from the Protection duty described above. Set protects His own. At succeeding levels, the priest may summon different types of giant snake: Giant constrictors at 4th, spitting snakes at 7th, and giant poisonous snakes at 11th (see the Monstrous Compendium for details of each type). This ability is usable 1/month.

Turn Undead. Same as the standard priest ability. Also allows for the control of undead.

Childe of the Night. Minions or Chosen, who have remained strong and true in their faith, will be specially favored by Set. These special few will, at 14th level, gain a special guardian - the snake-like Childe of the Night. The Childe’s stats are: (Ac: -3; Mv: 16” HD: 10; Hp: 80; THACO: 2; #Att: 3 (bite+poison/spit poison/constrict); Dmg: 4-11+poison (1d8+3)/as poison/3d10+special; SA: Gaze causes fear (save vs spells -3), Poisonous bite (take 3d8hp/rnd for 4 rnds, save for half), spit poison 60’ (same effects), constrict (80% pin both arms, 10% pin one arm, negate all dex & shield bonuses, armor & other large items worn must save vs. crushing blow or be destroyed); SD: Hit only by +3 or better weapons, immune to fire, cold, electricity, poison, and charm-type magics, can not be Dismissed (as the wizard spell), and does not count as a summoned creature for spells such as Protection from Evil; MR: 45%; S: G (15-20’ long); XPV: 11,000). It appears as a naga with a set of scorpion’s legs about midway down the body. The Childe’s face is that of the priest it serves. It can be held at bay if faced with the rising sun symbol of Avaryan. If the Childe is slain, Set will be very angry.

Role-Playing Notes: Chosen are very snake-like in manner. They stare. They don’t blink. They invade your personal space. Chosen and Minions are very organized, competent, and venomous. In conversation, a Minion or Chosen should speak slowly, sibilantly, stare unblinking at the other person, and get up close to them, using slow, careful movements. The characters (if not their players) should be left with a strong aversion, if not outright phobic fear, of Settites. Whenever someone gets poisoned, assassinated, loses out on a contract, etc, Settites should be blamed - especially if they’re not responsible (this way, they can take their accusers to court, sue them for more money they can possibly have, and then let the poor fellow(s) work off the debt in the slave mines). Priests of Set are not nice people.

All Minions are also members of the Knights of the Dark Skull - an ordained order of knighthood that is recognized by nearly every nation (except for the enemies of Avernia). Murdering or killing one dishonorably will incur the wrath of other knightly orders, resulting in legal and military persecution of the perpetrators. Remember, in most nations, knighthood carries far more rights and privileges than the average PC has (such as being able to own and use armor and certain weapons, certain forms of address, and so forth). Play this up. Minions go toe-to-toe with Paladins on the Field of Honor and in the court system.

It’s also important to realize that this order can be negotiated with. They will surrender if presented with an untenable position. The order will ransom its own (paying gold for Chosen, Minions, and members of the nobility). They will also bargain with opponents in order to achieve some gain out of a no-win situation. Like the followers of Bael, THESE ARE THE BAD GUYS! Worse, THEY’RE LIKE LAWYERS! In general, they will keep to agreements they’ve made, unless it is obvious the other party is trying their best to shaft them. In which case, they will hold to the absolute letter of the agreement. Make sure that in negotiations with this order that ALL the terms of the agreement are written down, so that you are prepared when you start bending those terms your way. Also remember that it’s highly unlikely that the typical adventurer or soldier will be legally-savvy - so make the PCs play their characters (and give them an xp award if they role-play well, especially if it’s to their disadvantage).

Viper Ring. This is a ring worked into the form of a serpent, including fangs. When striking an opponent with this ring, the victim is immediately affected by a powerful, magical venom. Unless the victim makes a saving throw versus poison at -6, he, she, or it will immediately drop to 0 hit points. The victim’s heart and breathing will stop - to all appearances the victim will be dead. If the save is successful, the victim will lose 10 hit points per round until reduced to 0 or fewer (at which time the effects described above will come into play). A Neutralize Poison spell cast by a 12th level priest of Avaryan is the only cure for this poison.

Snakespear. This is a long iron spear +3 whose haft is worked into the shape of a snake. When it strikes an opponent, the spear will come alive, turning into an exceptionally large and magical serpent. The snakespear will then entangle its target as a Rope of Entanglement and continue to bite (at the wielder’s normal to hit roll and inflicting normal spear damage +3). Further, the snakespear will constrict the target and inflict an automatic 1-4 hit points of damage each round.

Note from Guardian: The above information is for use in a FANTASY GAME. I do not advocate or condone any of the practices described above. If your inclinations lie in the above directions, or if you think mine do, seek professional help Now! Don’t talk to me about it. I’m not a professional.