Dianic Priestess

Witches and Sorceresses

While Diana has been worshipped on Saltwave for a very long time, only recently have common folk known about this worship. Priestesses of Diana were previously known as witches, and many powerful and experienced priestesses may be members of the witch prestige class, further confusing the issue.

Diana is the goddess of women, the hunt, healing, and the moon. She watches over women who need protection, women warriors, and those who feel close ties to the spirits of nature. Diana is chaotic good and her worshippers are most often chaotic good, neutral good, neutral, or chaotic neutral. Her priestesses must have alignments within one step of chaotic good. There are many male worshippers of Diana, but no known priests.

Dianic ceremonies are old, and rooted in rituals of fertility and sexuality. It is small wonder that these primal celebrations are frowned upon by faiths that emphasize advancement of human thought and character, such as that of Komatscience. As "worshippers of forbidden gods," followers of Diana have traditionally had to keep their worship secret to avoid persecution by the monotheistic church as heretics. However, the Ishan faith has only passing reference to worship of other deities, and is much more tolerant of such differences.

Game Rule Information

Priestesses of Diana follow most cleric rules from the Player's Handbook (PHB), but with some significant differences.

  • Abilities: Wisdom and Charisma are the most important attributes for a priestess of Diana. Wisdom determines the strength and number of spells the priestess can cast. Charisma is useful for many of her favored skills. Intelligence is also very helpful to give her access to more skill points and languages. Dexterity and Constitution help the priestess in combat, when negotiation and subtlety fail. Strength is her least important attribute.
  • Alignment: Chaotic Good, Neutral Good (rarely Chaotic Neutral or Neutral).
  • Hit Die: d8.

Class Skills

The Dianic priestess's class skills reflect her roles as a diplomat, peacemaker, healer, and scholar. Restraint is a hallmark of this sisterhood. Only when other means have been exhausted will she use force. Even in Diana's aspect of the Huntress, her priestesses seek to stalk and strike quickly, rather than to wade into combat with their foes.

  • Class Skills: Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (any, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int).
  • Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
  • Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are features of the Dianic Priestess. Note: The priestess does not gain any ability to turn undead or channel positive energy as standard clerics do.

  • Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Priestesses of Diana are not proficient with any types of armor or shields. Armor does not interfere with their spellcasting ability, however. Wearing armor with which you are not proficient imposes a penalty to actions equal to the armor check penalty (PHB 3.5, p. 122). The priestess has proficiency in all simple weapons, the short sword, and self-drawn bows. As the Huntress, Diana's favored weapon is the longbow.
  • Spells: Dianic priestesses cast divine spells according to Table 3-6 in the PHB (p. 31).
  • Domains: The priestess may choose two domains from Healing, Nature, Summoner (from the Complete Divine book), and War. The Nature Domain is described below.
  • Spontaneous Casting: The priestess may spontaneously cast cure spells in place of prepared spells of the same or higher level, as a good cleric.
  • Familiar: The priestess gains the ability to summon a familiar, following the same rules and with the same powers as a sorcerer or wizard of her priestess level. Sorcerer and wizard class levels, if any, stack with priestess levels for the purpose of determining the familiar's abilities.
  • Wizard School Access: The Dianic priestess may prepare and cast Sorcerer/Wizard spells from the Conjuration, Enchantment, and Universal schools as divine spells. She does not have to keep a spellbook and understands which spells are available from these lists just as she knows which cleric spells available to her.

Nature Domain

Granted Power: You gain Track as a bonus feat and Survival is a class skill for you. You may choose from either of the domain spells available to you for each level of spells you can prepare. You may change your selection each time you prepare spells.

Nature Domain Spells

  1. Charm Animal or Entangle
  2. Barkskin or Speak with Animals
  3. Dominate Animal or Plant Growth
  4. Command Plants or Summon Nature's Ally IV
  5. Commune with Nature or Wall of Thorns
  6. Antilife Shell or Repel Wood
  7. Animal Shapes or Animate Plants
  8. Control Plants or Summon Nature's Ally VIII
  9. Shambler or Shapechange

Last updated 28-Oct-2004
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