Originally posted by whb3
Would such a Wizard12/Contemplative1 acquire two ordinary domains (like those an ordinary 1st level cleric would)? Would he be able to add those domain spells to his Wizard spellbook? If so, gaining the abilities AND spells of three clerical domains seems a small price to pay for 1 arcane caster level...
Hmmmm...
Wow.
Domains are actually a part of clerical spellcasting--not a feature of the cleric class.
So, yeah, you get to pick up two regular domains and one prestige domain if you're, say, a Wizard 12 that gets a Contemplative level.
Granted, you have to be really careful which domains you select. Many regular domains are based on cleric level, not cleric caster level or caster level in general. But if you pick the right domains, you're golden.
Originally posted by Bad Juju
I'm confused. Can the Sacred Exorcist turn evil outsiders? Pg. 77 of DotF says as much, but I find no reference to it elsewhere. Mistake?
If not, how would I run such an encounter (e.g., allow turning on *any* evil outsider, or just devils, etc.)?
Has there been an official ruling on this?
Not as far as I can tell. It's a mistake, if it's not listed in the class description. If you want to allow the turning of evil outsiders, go for it--don't let me stop you from tweaking the class. By the book, though, the ability isn't listed.
Originally posted by shakespeare_101
Was the Inner Armor abilty spell resistence changed to 10 plus character level(20sr) or did you really mean 10? :D
No, I meant 10.
You get the ability for all of one level of the class--the final level. And it grants SR equal to the class's level--10. It would be a little better if it was 10 + SF levels or something, but it's not. It's bad.
General Acknowledgements/Thanks: I'd like to thank the other FAQ maintainers for helping to improve the quality of the boards, and WizO Paradox for giving me the opportunity to produce this FAQ. Finally, I'd like to thank Rich Redman for his input to the community on the Defenders of the Faith board.
*****
FAQ
Q. What is the purpose of this FAQ?
A. This FAQ is designed to answer questions pertaining to the Guidebook for Clerics and Paladins known as Defenders of the Faith. In general, only Cleric/Paladin questions inspired by Defenders of the Faith (DotF) will be answered in this FAQ.
Q. Are there FAQs which might be more appropriate to my other questions?
A. There sure are. Check out The Boards FAQ Index.
In addition, you can download the official D&D FAQs from the Wizards web site right Several of the questions answered in the WotC-produced Defenders of the Faith FAQ will be answered in this FAQ as well.
Q. How do I submit new Q&A or corrections to this FAQ?
A. Simply reply to this thread with the new Q&A or correction you wish to submit.
Q. Where can I find official online errata for this book?
A. You can't, technically. From my understanding, WotC briefly posted official errata, but then took it down. Currently, then, anything considered official errata would be located in the D&D FAQs.
Defenders of the Faith Q&A
Chapter 1: Clerics and Paladins
Q. What happens to a cleric who switches deities?
A. The cleric must typically go on a quest to prove his devotion to his new deity. When this is accomplished, a cleric of the new deity grants the first cleric an atonement. At this point, the first cleric regains all of his old class powers and abilities, and chooses two domains for his new deity (p. 18).
Q. Does the feat Divine Might require a standard action to activate?
A. No, it can be activated without counting as any sort of action at all. Simply declare you're using it as you attack, just as you would with Power Attack or Expertise. Note that this ruling, which came out of the official Defenders of the Faith FAQ, contradicts the text in the book.
Q. Is Armor of Speed (p. 24) always activated?
A. Yes. It has been widely suggested (even by James Wyatt, the author of DotF) that an Armor or Shield of Speed should have the same restrictions as Boots of Speed, but that has not been made official errata yet. An alternative suggestion is to allow the ability of Armor of Speed to remain the same, but increase the market price modifier to +7.
Chapter 2: Churches and Organizations (no questions yet)
Chapter 3: Prestige Classes
Q. Which prestige classes listed in this section can add spellcaster levels to either divine or arcane spellcasters?
A. Only the Divine Oracle and the Sacred Exorcist PrCs can add spellcasting levels to arcane casters.
Q.So, the Contemplative only gets Spell Resistance of 10+his Contemplative level. Isn't that low?
A. Perhaps, but it will at least provide a small measure of protection. At any rate, it's better than nothing.
Q. After errata, what changes have been made to the Hospitaler PrC?
A. This is somewhat lengthy. Under Class Features on p. 60, ignore the "Spells" feature, and use the "Spells per day" feature instead. Hospitalers gain extra spellcasting levels each time they level up; these extra spellcasting levels can only be added to divine spell lists (so a cleric10/hospitaler2 would cast spells exactly as a cleric12).
Hospitalers now gain the Turn Undead ability at third level, not first. This means that, when calculating just how well a Hospitaler can turn undead, you "ignore" the first two hospitaler levels.
Q. Do levels of Hunters of the Dead stack with levels of classes such as Cleric and Paladin when it comes to turning undead?
A. Officially, no. Rich Redman, Monte Cook, James Hyatt, and Skip Williams all agree that the class ought to increase one's turning ability. No official change has been noted in the D&D FAQ, however.
Q. Can Knights of the Chalice use their class features against devils or other evil outsiders?
A. No. Most abilities of the Knights of the Chalice only function specifically against demons. The spells they get as part of the class function as normal, however, and the Consecrated Aura ability always functions. Demons and devils are detailed further in the Monster Manual.
Q. After errata, what changes have been made to the Master of Shrouds PrC?
A. Ignore the sidebar entitled "Ghosts and Vampires" on p. 67. If you really want a Master of Shrouds to summon a ghost or vampire, however, it has been suggested that you should simply make the summoned ghost or vamp the same CR as whatever undead the Master of Shrouds would normally summon at that level.
Q. The Sacred Exorcist requires 7 ranks in Knowledge: The Planes. Isn't that a bit steep? Clerics don't even have that as a class skill.
A. Rich Redman, James Hyatt, and Skip Williams all agree that requirement should be changed to 5 ranks. While this change has not yet been reflected in the D&D FAQ, it's quite reasonable to make, and allows a cleric to get his first level of Sacred Exorcist as early as level 8.
Q. After errata, what changes have been made to the Sacred Fist PrC?
A. This one is also somewhat lengthy. For starters, ignore the "0" and "5" levels on the Sacred Fist spell list, which starts on p. 71. Also ignore the restriction about Sacred Fists only being allowed to cast touch-range spells; they are allowed to cast whatever spells they could normally cast.
The Sacred Fist gains a free domain; add this domain to the Spells per Day of the Sacred Fist, instead of to any other spellcasting classes he may have. This means he gets one extra spell slot per level, and that slot must be filled with a domain spell.
Q. Can a Sacred Fist's domain be chosen from the Prestige Domain list as well as the regular domain list?
A. Yes. In an example in the D&D FAQ, the Sacred Fist has the Celerity domain. Furthermore, the first paragraph in the Prestige Domains section on p. 77 supports this.
Q. Do the attack and damage bonuses to No Shadow Blows count as enhancement bonuses?
A. No, only the bonus No Shadow Blows grants to overcome damage reduction is an enhancement bonus. This means that, for example, the bonus Greater Magic Fang grants to attack and damage rolls stacks with it.
Chapter 4: Divine Magic
Q. Am I allowed to apply the domains granted by Prestige Classes to a character's non-Cleric class, as long as that character has at least one level of Cleric?
A. No. If a character has even just one level of Cleric, the domain or domains granted from a Prestige Class must go towards the Cleric class. The other classes do not receive any benefit. This is due to the character not being a non-cleric. Note that the Sacred Fist seems to be an exception to this rule, as noted earlier in this FAQ.
Q. When an arcane spellcaster gains a prestige domain through one of the PrCs in this book, does he get an additional spell slot each level in which to cast domain spells?
A. No. He would instead add each domain spell to his list of spells known. Note that this allows sorcerers who acquire prestige domains to exceed the regular limit on spells known per level.
Q. Does this apply even if a PrC only grants divine spellcasting levels?
A. By a strict reading of the "Prestige Domains" section on page 77, yes. For example, a 12th level Wizard picks up a level of Contemplative. While he could not add the +1 spellcasting level to his Wizard class, he would still be able to choose a Prestige Domain. He would add the spells granted by the Prestige Domain to his spellbook.
Q. What about a character that can cast both divine and arcane spells? Does he get the benefits of a Prestige Domain twice?
A. Yes, assuming that he has no class levels in Cleric. The afore-mentioned Wizard12/Contemplative1 casts spells as a 12th level Wizard and 1st level Cleric (if a character doesn't have any divine spellcasting when he becomes a Contemplative, he starts gaining caster levels as a Cleric would, although he is not literally a Cleric). A Wizard12/Contemplative 8 would add all Prestige Domain spells to his Wizard spellbook. Furthermore, he would cast spells as a Cleric8, which means that he could cast 4th level Cleric spells. At each of those spell levels, he has one extra Domain slot, just as a Cleric would.
Q. Does Greater Aspect of the Deity give all of the bonuses of the other two Aspect of the Deity spells as well?
A. No. The line of text that says "As Lesser Aspect of the Deity" simply refers to the 'stat block' on that spell, the block that states the duration, allowed targets, etc. of the spell.
Vocabulary
DotF: Defenders of the Faith, the book that inspired this FAQ.
PrCs: Prestige Classes.
However, you're literally asking questions about every book but DotF, so I can't help you much.
Reinhart: I'm not all that familiar with Savage Species. However, note that the bonus to attack and damage are not enhancement bonuses per se--only the bonus to overcome damage reduction is.
Yes, this means that Greater Magic Fang + No Shadow Blows = awesome.
If a Wizard12 picks up a level of Contemplative, he does get two regular and one Prestige Domain.
However, only the Prestige Domain grants extra spells to wizards and sorcerers--the regular domains follow the rules for regular domains.
That can still be a good deal, though--picking up domains like Luck and War is still a good idea. You just don't get a ton of spells added to your arcane list, that's all. Only the Prestige Domain spells are added.
Originally posted by Oberoni
Q. What about a character that can cast both divine and arcane spells? Does he get the benefits of a Prestige Domain twice?
A. Yes, assuming that he has no class levels in Cleric. The afore-mentioned Wizard12/Contemplative1 casts spells as a 12th level Wizard and 1st level Cleric (if a character doesn't have any divine spellcasting when he becomes a Contemplative, he starts gaining caster levels as a Cleric would, although he is not literally a Cleric). A Wizard12/Contemplative 8 would add all Prestige Domain spells to his Wizard spellbook. Furthermore, he would cast spells as a Cleric8, which means that he could cast 4th level Cleric spells. At each of those spell levels, he has one extra Domain slot, just as a Cleric would.
Would such a Wizard12/Contemplative1 acquire two ordinary domains (like those an ordinary 1st level cleric would)? Would he be able to add those domain spells to his Wizard spellbook? If so, gaining the abilities AND spells of three clerical domains seems a small price to pay for 1 arcane caster level...
So, to answer your question more specifically, the bonuses from the Arm of Nyr stack with everything.
Was that supposed to be the granted power, like the elemental turning granted by elemental domains?
That seems much more useful, in any event.
The description of Arm of Nyr does not call out specifically what "type" of increase these bonuses are so I am unclear.
There's no specific text about this in DotF but when reading through the prestige domain descriptions i get the impression that those domains may only be chosen by the listed deities.
Which would mean that i will have to use the deity conversion table on page 9 of the FRCS which would render a lot of racial deities (including Shevarash) without any prestige domains...
Am i correct with this
If not, how would I run such an encounter (e.g., allow turning on *any* evil outsider, or just devils, etc.)?
Has there been an official ruling on this?
Originally posted by Oberoni
Cap: Also, it's quite possible that other PrCs that grant prestige domains exist.
However, you're literally asking questions about every book but DotF, so I can't help you much.
Yes, I know. But I thought that the DotF users would like to know if there are any other sorces for prestige domains, as DotF is the original source for this mechanic.
Especially Sorcerers seeking to circumvent their Known spells limit! :D
Q. Is Armor of Speed (p. 24) always activated?
A. Yes. It has been widely suggested (even by James Wyatt, the author of DotF) that an Armor or Shield of Speed should have the same restrictions as Boots of Speed, but that has not been made official errata yet. An alternative suggestion is to allow the ability of Armor of Speed to remain the same, but increase the market price modifier to +7.
Indeed i found the official D&D Frequently Asked Questions (last updated 6/27/03 (you can download this looking for it in the WotC site) talking about Armor of Speed in this way:
Q: I and many others have found the armor of speed, which gives a permanent haste effect to the wearer, far more powerful than its +3 enchantment cost ascribes. Are there any official errata or words of advice on how to rule usage of armor of speed in a game?
A: Yes, the armor works like boots of speed (command
activated, up to 10 rounds of haste each day). The speed armor
quality costs the same as +2 armor bonus.
Hope this can help.