ftp.ee.pdx.edu/2014.02.ftp.ee.pdx.edu.tar/ftp.ee.pdx.edu/pub/frp/warhammer/religion/godofdead.txt.Z/godofdead.txt

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From warhammer Tue Feb  5 16:14:04 1991
Date:     Tue, 05 Feb 91 18:31:33 +0000
From: [e-mail]
To: wfrp <[e-mail]>


Below is a cult devised by one of the people here at Kent, commets etc
are welcome on the mail-list, though please redirect private comments to
the author, rather than the originator of this article - see  the
signature at the end.

Steve

======================================================================
God of the Dead.

Description. The god of the dead, is ruler of a demi-plane which moves
through warp space. It is normally depicted as a gaunt, almost skeletal
figure almost 10' tall. His prime directive is to rob Morr, The God of
Death, of the souls of the dead, and to curse them to a state of undeath,
both on earth and within his realm. He is a cruel God, and as other evil
Deities, is outlawed, more or less universally.

Alignment. Evil.

Symbol.A silver scythe. This design is usually worn as a pendant,
on a black leather thong. Clerics, and other followers of this God
often wear something black. The high cleric always wears garments
of black, relieved only by silver edging.

Area of Worship. At present, The Cult of the Dead only has one
secret temple complex, somewhere in Altdorf. There are, however,
rumours of another Cult being set up within The Empire.
He is worshipped by those who wish eternal life, for whatever
reason, and by those who seek power by The Art of Necromancy.

Temples. Due to the illegal nature of The Cults activities, the
temple in Altdorf is a maze of secret underground passages. It
follows that any subsequent temples built would follow a similar
pattern.
    Most worshipers have a small, secret shrine dedicated to
the God of the Dead, in their homes. This is usually a small statuette
representing the deity.

Friends and Enemies. The Cult of the Dead have few friends, although
they get on reasonably well with Khaine, the God of Murder, and Khorne,
The Blood God. All the other Chaos Gods treat the God of the Dead with
antipathy at best. Of the deities fully described in the WHFRP rules,
all hate the God of the Dead, but none more so than Morr. Any clerics
of Morr, who encounter a cleric of The God of the Dead, or vica-versa,
will immediately try to slay the other, in mortal combat, or more often
send their personal retainer to fight for them.

Holy Days. Four times a year, the temple must sacrifice two human lives
to their God. Young virgins are preferred. The priests rape, and ritually
abuse them and then spill their blood over the temples altar. Usually
one male and one female is chosen, as the Cults priests are usually 50%
male, 50% female. If a special favour is required by a priest, then again,
a ritual sacrifice is required.

Cult Requirements. At any one time, in any one temple, there can only
be four priests at each rank ( 1-4 ), with an additional priest(ess)
as the head of the order. Every year, on the Day of the Dead, all the
priests vote on who will become the next High Priest, and who will be
selected to be trained to advance to the next rank.

There is only one High Priest, who runs the church. When his/her
term of office has finished, they either step down, join the ranks
of the 4th rank priests, and are given the chance to be re-elected
next year, or, if after been chosen three times as High Priest, undertake
a trial, which if successful will transform them into a lich. The trial
is very tough however, and very few succeed. Those that don't are either
taken to their Gods realm, or cast out into the Underworld, there to be
punished by Morr, for their sinful lives. This is usually dependant on the
whim of The God of the Dead, and how well the participant did in the trial.

All Clerics of Death suffer the penalties as described under Necromancer
just as if they were Wizards of the appropriate level. The exception to
this is that for their period of office, the High Cleric is cured of all
penalties, but they return, at midnight of the day af his/her deselection.

Strictures. All initiates, and Clerics of the God of the Dead must abide
by the following strictures:

    They must oppose followers of Morr whenever and wherever they can.

    They must oppose Druidical Priests whenever and wherever they can.

Spell Use. Priests of Morr may use all Petty Magic, Battle Magic & Necromantic
Spells, as requested from their Deity. In special circumstances, a Cleric may
ask for the use of an Illusionist Spell, on a "one-off" basis, but only if its
use is directly linked to furthering the cause of the God of the Dead.

Skills. Initiates of Death gain Arcane Language - Necromancy in addition
to those normally available at initiate level. Clerics of Death may choose
two of the following skills at each level; Demon Lore, Manufacture Drugs,
Identify Magic Artifact, Cryptology, Spot Trap, and Night Vision.
    Instead of buying two of these skills, a Cleric of Death may spend
100 Experience Points to gain a 10% modifier to all Illusion Magic, and any
spell cast by a Cleric of Morr. Likewise, Clerics of Morr also have a 10%
modifier against spells cast by Clerics of Death, when they take a similar
option. Again, this may only be taken once.

    At each level, clerics of Death may try to gain the ability to
affect undead, as noted below.
    By intoning an aincient ritual phrase, the cleric may either control,
or disrupt the control of the undead. ( Clerics choice ). These are new
skills only available to clerics of Death, and 100 experience points must
be payed to learn each skill, as normal. However this skill is not bestowed
upon the cleric automatically, and it is up to the GM to determine whether
the cleric has been faithful, and thus deserving of the special skill. Only
if the cleric has been exceptionally faithful will the skills be given
outright, and it is usual for a trial, to undertaken before the skills
are granted. Whether the skill is granted or not, the cleric must still
spend the 100 points.

Control undead. The cleric trying to affect the undead
              must make a Willpower test, and so must the undead's
        controller. If the undead are not controlled, then the
        Willpower test is made against the undeads WP.

        Should the Cleric make their WP test, and the undead
        controller fail, then the cleric can control as many
        undead, as they have Int/10 ( rounded down ).

        Should both make the test, or both fail, then neither
        side is affected, and the cleric may attempt to control
        the undead again next turn.

        However if the Cleric fails and the undead controller
        makes their WP test, then the undead count as 'frenzied'
        as long as they, and the cleric who tried to control
        them are alive. This also breaks the control of the
        undeads controller, and he must try to re-establish
        control when, and only when, the undead in question
        have disposed of the unfortunate cleric.

        Note this does not work on Liches or Vampires. Their
        magic and force of will is so strong, that a mortals
        WP is just not strong enough to affect them.

Disrupt undead. This again is a WP test, but this time made by
        the cleric only. If successful, a number of
        wounds caused on the undead is equal to the
        Clerics (WP + Int.)/10. This may be distributed
        over several victims if the cleric desires, as
        long as the victims are in line of sight. These
        wounds are actual damage, irrespective of the
        targets toughness or armour, but magical protection
        such as Auras or rings will reduce damage. The
        wounds must all be made in the same round, but
        the cleric may try again the following turn.

        Should the cleric make a particularly good test,
        ( by 30 or more ) then the damaged caused is twice
        that noted above.

        Undead creatures may make a WP test to avoid the
        affects of the damage caused, but may do nothing else
        for the remainder of that turn.

Trials. Trials set by The Death God typically further the ends of
Necromancy, such as working as a Necromancers assistant for a fixed
period of time, or until some task is completed, such as recovering
the bones of some great hero, so that he/she may be reanimated to
further the ends of Death.

Blessings. Favoured skills include Identify Undead, Magical Awareness,
and Night Vision. Favoured tests include Fear, Terror, and all poison,
disease, and other tests made to counter the special attack forms of
any undead creature. Harbingers of Death always visit their Cleric at
midnight, in typically cowled form, carrying either scythe or sword.

=======================================================================

    BTW I'll send additional rules for Harbingers,
and the revised rules for Clerics, as the new rules affect
them, their spell learning, and their spell points.

    < watch this space >

    Regards

******************************************************* Rockin' The Campus ***
 Robert J. Walker | Life is a game played by people | U.K.C. Radio 999Khz AM
The Captain Ebony |    who don't know the rules.    |   Friday 22:00-00:01
******************************************************************************

submitted to the mailing list by:-

    Steve Bartlett, for UKC Adventure Gaming Society,

          [e-mail]


From warhammer Tue Feb 19 12:21:07 1991
From: [e-mail]
Subject:  Death Sequel : Harbingers


What follows is the sequal to the  Death God article. This is posted for
Rob Walker by the Adventure Gaming Soc ([e-mail]). Any replies
etc will be forwarded. He does recieve this mail distribution.

Steve

=============================================================================

Harbingers.

    These are the messengers of the Gods. They are the spirit
form of that particular gods' minor demons, and one is assigned to
each Cleric, to ensure that he/she doesn't step out of line, and to
generally keep in touch with each of the deities representitives on
the world. It is through harbingers that the clerics learn their spells,
and gain spell points on a day to day basis.

    At a particular time every day, usually at dawn or midnight
( depending upon the particular deity, it may be at any time ), the
clerics Harbinger visits him/her. Depending on the behavior of the
cleric during the past day, the harbinger bestows the clerics Magic
Points for that day. In normal circumstances the cleric is allowed
his/her normal allowance ( as rolled ), however if the cleric has
been a little wayward, then some Magic Points may be withheld as
a form of punishment.

    In exceptional circumstances, when the cleric has done some
great deed in the eyes of his/her harbinger, whether greatly benificial
to, or greatly against the deities doctrine, the harbinger may be
accompanied by a more senior member of the pantheon ( usually a major
demon ). It is this demon who rewards the cleric or mets out the
punishment that he/she deserves.

    When asking for spells ( spending Experience Points ), the
clerics harbinger appears, to grant them, or deny them, according to
its instructions. However harbingers may only grant Petty Magic and
First Level spells. For higher levels, the harbinger must again be
accompanied by a major demonso that the major demon may bestow the
spell. This reliance on major demons for higher level spells means
that occationally a cleric, upon reaching Fourth Rank, has his/her
harbinger replaced by a major demon.

    At the appropriate level, all clerics gain the ability
to cast a "Summon Demon" spell. However only the clerics harbinger
will appear, and will ( usually ) be friendly, with no need to control.
The MP cost, casting time, etc is all the same as listed under the
appropriate spell heading.


Hope this is of use to some of you...

*****************************************************************************
|     Robert J. Walker       |      Life is a game played by people         |
|     The Captain Ebony      |         who don't know the rules.            |
*****************************************************************************

====
Reposted by:-  UKC Adventure Gaming Soc. [e-mail]